INTRODUCTION

Akbar established the Mansabdari system of government. Mansabdars or

officials/nobles received jagirs under this arrangement (land revenue assignments). The
number of soldiers under a Mansabdar's command depended on his rank. The title was
not inherited, and he received a financial wage. When required by the king, a
Mansabdar was needed to conduct both civil and military service. The Mughal
Emperor chose them and removed them.
The son of Humayun and Hamida Banu Begum, Akbar was born on October 15, 1542,
in Umerkot, Sindh, modern-day Pakistan. His parents were seeking safety from the
local tyrant Rana Prasad in a Rajput stronghold, where he was born. In Kabul, he was
brought up by his uncles and aunts. Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar was his
full name. After being defeated by Sher Shah Suri of the Sur Dynasty in roughly 1540,
Humayun retreated to Sindh, and it wasn't until 1555 that he was able to retake the
Mughal Empire. But in 1556, he passed away after only a few months, leaving his 13-
year-old son Akbar in charge of the kingdom. In Kalanaur, Punjab, Akbar was
proclaimed Shahanshah by his regent Bairam Khan. Before being replaced by Akbar in
1560, Bairam Khan served as regent. Through military victories and clever political
unions with Rajput families, Akbar went on to significantly expand his father's
dominion. He ruled over Malwa, Lahore, Multan, Agra, and Delhi. From 1561, he
concentrated on Rajputana and waged war against the Rajputs. He was able to
subjugate nearly the entirety of Rajputana through conquests. After defeating the
Rajputs, he constructed a new capital, Fatehpur Sikri. He later acquired Kabul,
Baluchistan, and Kandahar. He also annexed Bengal and Gujarat.

MANSABDARI SYSTEM
WHO WERE MANSABDARS

Mansabdars were officers in the Mughal administration. Those nobles who joined

Mughal service were enrolled as mansabdars. The term mansabdar refers to an
individual who holds a mansab (rank). The Mansabdars were appointed to all civil and
military posts. They were liable to be transferred from one branch of the administration
(civil) to another (military).
ORIGINS OF THE MANSABDARI SYSTEM
Officers in the Mughal government were known as mansabdars. Mansabdars were the
title given to nobility who enlisted in the Mughal army. A person who has a mansab is
referred to as a mansabdar (rank). All civil and military positions were filled by the
Mansabdars. They may have been moved from the civil branch of government to
another (military).

NUMBER OF MANSABDARS

There were roughly 1,800 Mansabdars during Akbar's reign.

There were roughly 14,500 Mansabdars under Aurangazeb's administration.

RECRUITMENT OF MANSABDARS
The Mughal Emperor held the authority to choose and advance Mansabdars. Typically,
Mansabdars were also hired based on recommendations made by "Mirbakshi," who is
in charge of selecting candidates for the position in each province and presenting them
to the monarch for selection.
All racial and religious groups were hired by the Mughals for positions in the
government. A noble had to offer a tajwiz to the emperor on behalf of someone who
wanted to enter the royal service. A nobleman petitioned the emperor with a tajwiz,
urging him to appoint a candidate as mansabdar.

At first, there was only one rank but later, the ranks were divided into two-
o Zat Rank – Zat means "personal" in Arabic. It established a person's
status personally and the compensation owed to him.
o Sawar Rank – It specified how many cavalrymen (sawars) a person had
to keep on hand.
In every rank, there were three categories (mansab). A person in the first category of
that rank was expected to maintain the same number of sawars as his zat; if he
maintained half or more, he was in the second category; and if he maintained less than
half, he was in the third category.
Mansabdars were those with ranks below 500 zat, amirs were those with ranks between
500 and below 2500, and amir-i-umda or amir-i-azam were those with levels beyond
1500. Mansabdar, however, is occasionally used to refer to all classifications. An amir or
an amir-i-umda might have another amir or mansabdar to serve under him, but a
mansabdar could not do so. This classification had significance aside from position.
People were typically appointed at low mansab levels and then gradually advanced
based on their accomplishments and the emperor's favour.
The mansabdar had to use his pay to maintain a set number of horses, elephants, beasts
of burden (camels and mules), and carts in addition to covering his own expenditures.
Later, these were centrally maintained, although the mansabdar was still responsible
for covering the costs out of his income. The highest-paid service in history was founded
by the Mughal mansabdars. It was done according to the chehra (descriptive roll of
each soldier) and dagh (branding of horses) systems. Each nobleman was required to
bring his group for a routine examination before officials chosen by the emperor.
According to the ideal 10-20 rule, the mansabdar was required to keep 20 horses for
every 10 cavalrymen. It's interesting to note that a sawar with just one horse was only
regarded as half a sawar. It was planned that the noble contingent would be diverse,
including members of the Mughal, Pathan, Rajput, and Hindustani clans. Thus, Akbar
made an effort to counteract the tendencies of localism and tribalism. A noble cannot
have more than 5000 Zat and 5000 Sawar. Man singh was the only Mugal who
outnumbered 7000. 

FALL OF MANSABDARI SYSTEM

By the conclusion of Aurangzeb's reign, there were 14,499 Mansabdars, up from

Akbar's 1,803 at the time. There were 29 mansabdars with a rank of 5,000 zat during
Akbar's reign; during Aurangzeb's rule, there were 79 mansabdars with this rank. The
rise in Mansabdars under Aurangzeb's reign caused the Jagirdari and agrarian crisis,
which ultimately caused the Mansabdari system to collapse.The system was nearly
flawless during Akbar's rule. The Mansabdar's income from his jagirs, which he
transferred to the Emperor, was sufficient to cover both his designated wage and his
personal expenses. In the early days, these jagirs were carefully evaluated such that
their revenues were nearly equivalent to the mansabdar's wage. However, there was a
scarcity of jagirs in the final stages. Additionally, the jagirs' size began to decrease. This
system came to an end during the Aurengazeb era because the money that Mansabdars
raised for the government was insufficient to cover their designated salaries.