Question

Write a note on the Mansabdari system.

Hint:

Every mansab had two numbers: zat (status) and sawar (cavalry to maintain).

Answer 1

Step 1: What the system was: The Mansabdari system was the Mughal administrative and military ranking framework, systematized by Akbar, under which every officer (mansabdar) was assigned a numerical rank (mansab).

Step 2: Zat and Sawar ranks: Each mansab had two components: 'zat,' indicating the holder's personal status/salary, and 'sawar,' indicating the number of cavalrymen he was obliged to maintain for the emperor's army.

Step 3: Payment and land assignment: Mansabdars were usually paid through the assignment of a jagir (a right to collect land revenue from a territory) rather than direct cash, though cash salaries were also used.

Step 4: Purpose and effect: The system centralized control over the nobility, tied military service directly to rank and reward, and prevented mansabdars from developing hereditary, independent power bases, since jagirs were transferable and mansabs were not automatically inherited.

Final Answer: Mansabdari was a graded rank-cum-salary system (zat + sawar) that organized the Mughal nobility and military, with mansabdars typically compensated through transferable jagir assignments.