MEDHA BISWAS

ROLL NO. 220092

TOPIC: AKBAR'S MANSABDARI SYSTEM: TRACING
THE HISTORY AND ANALYSING THE SYSTEM OF
MANSABDARI
LEGAL HISTORY II
SEMESTER 4
Table of Contents
AKBAR'S MANSABDARI SYSTEM: TRACING
THE HISTORY AND ANALYSING THE SYSTEM
OF MANSABDARI...................................................2
INTRODUCTION: Beginning of the Mansabdari
System....................................................................2
DIVISION IN RANKS OF THE MANSABDARI
SYSTEM................................................................3
GRADUAL CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT TO
THE MANSABDARI SYSTEM..............................5
POSITIVE IMPACTS OF THE MANSABDARI
SYSTEM................................................................5
LACUNAE AND LOOPHOLES IN THE SYSTEM.6
DOWNFALL OF THE MANSABDARI SYSTEM:
CONCLUSION.......................................................7
 AKBAR'S MANSABDARI SYSTEM: TRACING THE
HISTORY AND ANALYSING THE SYSTEM OF
MANSABDARI

INTRODUCTION: Beginning of the Mansabdari System

The Mughal ruler Akbar was the mastermind behind the creation of the mansabdars and formally
instituted the Mansabdari system in 1571AD. Mansab is an Arabic term that means rank or
status. As a result, Mansabdar refers to a person who holds a position of authority, such as an
officer. The Mansabdari system originated in Central Asia. There were 66 categories of
Mansabdars in total, but there were only 33 in practice. The appointment of Mansabdars
followed a decimal system, and within this system, Akbar attempted to unite the three principal
functionaries, namely the aristocracy, the armed forces, and the bureaucracy, into one
administrative pool.1
As previously mentioned earlier, the mansabdari system is thought to be originated from Central
Asia and is said to begin with emperor Babur. During the reign of Babur, the term wajahdar was
used instead of the term mansabdar. Under the administration of the mughal emperor Akbar, the
Mansabdari system became the backbone of military and civil administration.
They can be compared to the present bureaucratic system India has in place currently. The
mansabdars were employed in the capacity of officers in Mughal administration. They were
mainly employed to oversee the administration mainly of civil and military nature and transfers
could take place easily amongst the different branches. 2
The Mughal rulers followed a non-discriminatory approach towards the recruitment of
individuals to the ranks of the mansabdars. They recruited people from all walks of life- people
1 Moreland, W. Rank ( manṣab) in the Mogul State Service. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain &
Ireland. 68. 641-665. 10.1017/S0035869X00084914 (2011).
2 P. Saran. Provincial Administration under the Mughals.
from any caste, creed, race, religion. The recruitment process included the people interested to
apply to the mansabdari system and had to file a petition expressing their interest to a nobleman
in the court of the ruler. They presented this to the tajwiz to the emperor. The Tajwiz was akin to
a letter of recommendation that an applicant wanted to be recruited as a mansabdar. If the
application was processed successfully and the candidature of the individual was approved then
the mansab or the rank was granted to him. The higher mansabs were granted to people who
were direct descendants of royalty and to the Rajput rulers who had accepted the supremacy of
the mughal emperor.

DIVISION IN RANKS OF THE MANSABDARI SYSTEM

As the rank of the mansab gets higher, the salary, status and position of influence increases with
it. The lowest mansab was ranked 10 and the highest was 10,000. However, during Akbar's
reign, the maximum was 5000, and Akbar only bestowed the mansab of 7000 to a few notable
lords of the time, namely Mirza Ajij Koka and Raja Maan Singh, the former being Akbar's
foster brother and the latter by matrimony. Despite the fact that mansabdar was a generic name,
only those with ranks of up to 500 were referred to as mansabdars, those with ranks of 500 to
2500 were referred to as Amirs, and those with ranks of 2500 and above were referred to as Amir
Umda or Amir-i-azam. Because it was a single service, a person should presumably start at the
bottom and work his way up. However, the monarch had the power to appoint distinguished
persons to higher positions, and he did so frequently.
By 1591AD, the mansab member had been adopted in the form of a pair. The Zat was the pair's
initial value, and Sawar was the pair's second value. The Sawar ranked the real number of riders
he was supposed to entertain, while Zat signified his personal income and aristocratic standing.3
The mansabdars were divided into three types, according to Abul Fazl:
a) He belonged to the first category of mansabdar if the Zat and Sawar mansab were equal.
b) The mansabdar belonged to the second category if the Sawar mansab was half of the Zat
mansab.
c) The Sawar mansab fell into the third group if it was less than half the size of the Zat mansab.

3 Ali, M. Towards an interpretation of the Mughal Empire Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain & Ireland (New Series). 110. 10.1017/S0035869X00134215 (1978).
4
There were various hierarchies of the mansabs. The most prominent and lowest ranked among
them were the Amirs. The Amirs were the Mansabdars whose rank was 1000 or below. The great
Amirs were placed above the Amirs and were above 1000. They were also known as Amir-al
Kabir. The highest position in the hierarchy was accorded to the Amir al Umara or the Amir of
Amirs. They had ranks higher above 5000 and occupied the highest position in the social starta
of that time.
The amount of salary or remuneration paid to the mansabdars were according to their ranks. The
mansabdars who were compensated monetarily and were known as Naqdi. There were also a
class of mansabdars who were paid through land and they were known as jagirdars. The jagirs
were not liable for transfer and were not allowed for accretion of wealth and salaries which they
received from the emperors. After a mansabdar died all his jagirs and wealth were confiscated.
Only under exceptional situations, like as during a war or foreign incursion, would the number of
Sawar mansab exceed the number of Zat mansab. Mashrut mansab was the name given to this
additional increase in Sawar, and it was removed after the necessity was met.
Only the ruler may appoint mansabdars. The mansabdar, on the other hand, were appointed
purely on MirBakshi's advice. However, if the mansabdar was promoted, he was promoted on
the basis on the number of Zat, which increased his pay. The notion of relegation for poor
performance existed, but it was rarely used. Each Mansabdar was tasked with both civil and
military responsibilities. Dahbisti was established by Akbar. The basic norm was that there
should be 20 horses for every ten sawars (i.e., each mansabdar should be assigned to him). This
was done to ensure the nobility of the mughal cavalry, which was the mughals' principal fighting
force. If the first horse became tired, hurt, or died, a replacement was required. Second horse was
needed as a replacement if the mount was tired or injured or dead.

GRADUAL CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT TO THE MANSABDARI

SYSTEM

The Mansabdari system was founded by Akbar, but it remained in place throughout the Mugal
dynasty, with modifications made by Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

4 Abul Fazl, Ain-i-akbari (1574).

After Akbar's death, Jahangir slashed the Mansabdari system in half, from two Aspas to one.
This meant that the number of soldiers might be increased unofficially if the mansabdar desired
it, but that the number of sawar granted to them could not be written in the sawar numerically.
The benefit was that he was able to keep a larger number of soldiers without incurring additional
financial costs.
The Mansabdari system underwent another modification under Shah Jahan's reign. The number
of Mansabdars grew, but land became scarce due to the Jagirdari issue. During Shah Jahan's
reign, an order was issued to restrict the number of sawar under the control of a specific
Mnasabdar. Mansabdar would now be paid on a monthly basis.
If a mansabdar does not receive the full 12-month wage, he may reduce the number of sawars
under his command. He could no longer afford to pay Mansabdar's entire salary. If a mansabdar
could not acquire a six-month salary, he was authorised to bring a massive reduction in the
number of sawars, but their rank and classification were not affected. The Jahangir crisis
occurred during this time period in India.

POSITIVE IMPACTS OF THE MANSABDARI SYSTEM

The mansabdari system was extremely efficient and had various merits and positive impact on
the lives of the citizens under the reign of Akbar. The Mansabdari system was a one-of-a-kind
and distinct system that served as the Mughal administration's backbone. It is stated that the
mughal state functioned well till the system was in place. It established the Uniformity Concept
in administration, which led to political unification. The caste and feudal systems were also
weakened.5 The time's two primary flaws. As a result, the mansabdars were required to appoint
soldiers from all castes and faiths. This system was used by Shiva ji and Sher Shah. There was
no prejudice based on caste or religion, and they have now been placed on a level playing field.
As a result, the monarch was able to win the allegiance of his subjects. Mansabdari's approach
was successful in limiting feudal and noble dominance. They were no longer considered nobility,
but rather administrative class members who were subjected to a set of severe conditions. The
ruler's power was expanded by the Mansabdari system, which further solidified and crystallised

5 Subrahmanyam, Sanjay The Mughal state—Structure or process? Reflections on recent western historiography.
Indian Economic and Social History Review. 29. 291-321. (1992). 10.1177/001946469202900302.
the monarchial polity, and the mughal state progressed towards an intense type of administration
from the reign of Akbar. Merit was also recognised in the Mansabdari system. To counteract the
dynastic dominance, Akbar adopted drastic steps.6

LACUNAE AND LOOPHOLES IN THE SYSTEM

However, the system was intrinsically flawed, as contemporary writers, particularly Badayuni,
have detailed how throughout Akbar's first half rule. Mansabdars defrauded the government by
bringing in persons dressed in military costume from the streets and passing them off as soldiers.
It was far from uncommon for troopers to replace poor horses for nice ones provided by military
agencies. It took Akbar a long time to eradicate corruption. But this was only possible due of
Akbar's exceptional leadership and administrative abilities, as well as his vigilance and
discipline. The mughal empire lacked strong successors, which gave Mansabdar enormous
power. They attempted to enter political issues and played an aristocratic role. Because the
Mansabdari system was a highly centralised type of government, it could only function under a
powerful monarch. 7As a result, a lot depended on the ruler's personality, and this weakness
emerged shortly after Aurangzeb's death, as the mughal empire saw a series of weak and
incompetent rulers, leading to factionalism in the empire's administration, as each mansabdar
wanted to work on their own interests, making it difficult to maintain a balanced and uniform
system of administration.8 The Mansabdari system lacked an organic centre and lacked the
unified force that a national army must always have. The emperor paid the mansabdars' pay, and
they paid their men' salaries themselves. The troops became more loyal to the mansabdars than to
the monarch as a result of this.
The pomp and circumstance that had become second nature to the mandabdars became a
hindrance to military efficiency. Despite its flaws, the mansabdari system had a significant
impact on the mediaeval military structure. However, it could only function under capable
leadership, which was only achievable under Aurangzeb's rule. Later, the Mansabdari system
6 THE MANSAB SYSTEM 1595-1637, Irfan Habib, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 29, PART I
(1967), pp. 221-242,Indian History Congress.
7 Kent Bob Huzen, How did the evolution of the Mansab system contribute to Mughal power? Huzen, Kent. (2019)
10.13140/RG.2.2.16986.70081.
8 Athar Ali, Mughal Nobility Under Aurangzeb.
proved to be weak, leading to the empire's breakup. It did, however, come with a number of
advantages, such as the diplomatic use of certain Rajput Mansabdars against other Rajput chiefs
with whom they were at odds. The mansabdars' loyalty to the ruler was ensured by this
arrangement. As a result, we can argue that the Mansabdari system was possibly Akbar's most
important administrative institution.

DOWNFALL OF THE MANSABDARI SYSTEM: CONCLUSION

One of the most landmark reforms of Akbar’s times was the evolution of the Mansabdari
system.even then it gradually had to come to a stop. The revenue used to be collected by the
mansbdars from the jagirs and went to the treasury of the emperor. The jagirs had a pay which
was almost equivalent to the remunerations paid to the mansbdars. In the later stage of time,
there was an acute shortage of the right candidates for jagirs. Thus, the population pool for the
jagirs began to shrink.
Gradually, by the time the reign of Aurangzeb came around, the revenue which were collected
by the mansabdars were inadequate to pay the salaries and other necessary remunerations and
thus this system of mansabdari failed.