Mandabdari System

1. Prepared by
Dr. Seelam Srinivasa Rao
Faculty of History

2.  The word Mansab has been derived from the Arbic term
Mansib
 Mansab meaning - a post –rank or status
 The Akbar introduced the Mansabaari system?
 It was promulgated in 1570
 Division of the civil and military functions of the state
during Mughal rule
 The sepoys performed various duties
Defending international borders
Manned and forts
Military men
Police men

3.  All the imperial officers of the state
were styled as Mansabdars
 They were classified into 66 grades-
from 10 to 10,000
 In practice 33 grades were
constituted
 Rank below 500 was called
Mansabdar. However, term was
used for all categories

4.  The categories of the Mansabdars holds
the ranks of 500 and above come to 18
only
 At the initial stage Mansabs above 5000
were reserved for princes of royal blood
 The highest rank of 10,000 was given
exclusively to Salim the crown prince
 Akbar raised to 12,000
 Dara- 6,000, 7,000- Raja Man Singh-Mirza
Abdul Aziz Koka

5.  Amirs- grandees (nobleman) of the
empire
 On the bases of actual No. of soldiers it
was subdivided in to 3 categories/grades
Yazbashi – 100 1st class
+50 2nd class
-50 3rd class
Confusion of functioning –lack of proper
information about the exact No. of
soldiers

6.  It was the decimal system of Changez Khan that
inspired Akbar
 The concept of Zat & Sawar was introduced in 1577
 Mansib =Zat -status/stands for administrative
hierarchy
 Zat= Personal rank and salary due to him...
 Swar- Rank indicated the number of cavalrymen a
person required to maintain- Indicated actual No. of
soldiers held by the offices- Military rank
 Zat/Swar 100/100 1st class
 Zat/swar(-) 100/50+ 2nd class
 Zat/swar (-50) 100/less then 50 3rd class

7.  The military general had to keep besides
soldiers, a number of horses, camels,
bullock carts as specified by the swar as
part of their establishment
 Irrespective of the class to which he
belonged, he had to keep 4 horses of
specified breeds as his establishment
(Only Arabian horses – 6 categories of
horses and 5 category of mules)
 A Sawar with one horse was regarded
only as a half Sawar or Nim-Sawar

8.  Imperial officers was kept exclusively in
his won hands by the emperor
 Appoint any one- promote/downgrade
/dismiss- with out any reason
 In case of military commander as soon as
he passed muster (arrange) by presenting
the requisite No. of well armed and well
disciplined troops, he was promoted to
the next higher rank

9.  Mughals, Pathan, Hindustani, Rajput groups
 Mansabdar- below 500
 More then 500 to 2,500- Amirs
 2500+ Amir-i-Umad, Amir-i-Azam, Umrah
 Akbar introduced the Dagh & Chehra in 1574
 Dagh=Branding Chehra=descriptive

10.  Cash and Jagir
 Emoluments are high
 Fixed rate of pay
 Who got cash salary were called Naqdis
 A Munisib of 10 gets Rs. 100/82.5/75
 Irrespective of the class to which he belonged,
he had to keep 4 horses of specified breeds as
his establishment /Rs. 44

11.  Talab Khasa was salary given to
Mansabdars Rs. 240 per annum under
Akbar and Rs. 200 under Jahangir
 Tabinani was salary given to the soldiers
 The solider of the Mansabdars part of the
imperial army –received substantial
salary from the state treasury from the
Mir-Bakhshi
 Foot solider – 240 to 500 dams or Rs. 12.5
 Dakhali trooper (who receives horse and
weapons from the state ) – 160dams or
Rs. 4 per month

12.  Bandukchi or matchlock man – dams 260 to 300
dams -
 A Mansabdar of rank 5,000 could get a salary
of Rs. 30,000 per month
3,000 will get Rs. 17,000
1000 will get Rs. 8,200
 Amir or Grandees/ Munisib of 500 comprises
30 horses and 12 elephant, 10 camels, 2 mules
and 15 wheeled carts
 With the handsome salary , the grandees of the
empire could establish a big harem maintained
an army of domestic servants and slaves

13.  Mansabdari and Zagirdri were two
fundamental systems created by the Mughals
 Akbar in 1576 appointed amils in every area ,
they also acted as a class of Jagirdars
 Tuyul & Tuyuldar were also used in place of
jagir or jagirdhar
 Nagadi- salary in cash to Mansibdhars and
those who got land are called jagirdhars
 Its was transferable
 Not hereditary

14.  Jagir Tankha- Jagir for salary
 Mashrul Jagir- Jagir on some condition to
maintain additional troops and additional pay
 Inam Jagir- Jagir with no obligation
 Altamgha Jagir- Jagir to pious Muslims
 Watan Jagir – Jagir to Hindu Rajas
 The Jagir could appoint Fautedar, Amalguzar &
Qajqun for revenue collection
 Diwan of Suba used to keep a watch on Jagirdars

15.  Dahbashi- Munishibdar of 10 to Dah-hazari-
Munisibdar of 10,000
 Hazaris- 1000
 Hasht-sadis- 800
 Haft-sadis- 700
 Pan-sadis- 500
 Sadis-Commander of 100

16. Imperial army consists – Infantry,
cavalry, artillery and elephantry
Infantry
Two Types
1.Mansubdars
2. Vassal Chieftains- heritage from the old feudal or
Jagardari system
Foot soldiers- Ahshams- first rate warriors
Sehbandis- sort of militia (assists in the revenue
collection, apprehended the dacoits etc...)
Dhakhilis were known as supplementary troops

17.  Flower of the army
 The standard army of the Akbar contained about
25,000 horsemen
 Imperial army 3 to 4 lakhs –the best in Asia
 Bargirs- The horsemen mounted and equipped by
the state
 Yak-aspa- a solider with a single horse
Changes made by Jahangir
 Du-aspa- who maintained two horses
 Seh-aspa- who maintained three
 Chahar-aspa- who maintained four horses

18.  Allowances befitting the breed of the horse-
it varied from Rs. 12 to 30 per Annam
 Dahbashi- Munishab of 10 expected to at
least 8 horses
 Ahadis- gentlemen troops –brought their
own horses and weapons – emperor himself
and assigned a personal pay which was
sometimes as high as Rs.500 per month
 Ahadis had their own Bakhshi and Diwan to
look after their ministerial and financial
affairs

19.  Mir-i-Atish- office in charge of artillery
 Two types – heavy field guns & Imperial
army- 12,000 musketeers
 Animals- elephants, camels etc...

20.  Mir-i-Bahr- the officer in charge –rivers
 Akbar was deeply impressed by the life-long
dedication of the Jesuit missionaries to the
cause of spreading Christianity in the world

21.  Changes made by Shajahan
 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5
 1/3 Mansabdars
 1/5 Hindustani - used rarely
 1/4 outer parts
 Monthly salary Scale was introduced
Sih-maha- 3 Months
Shash-mala- 6 months

22.  Progressive system adopted by Akbar
 Unconditional allegiance and under Cent. Govt
 No longer to depend on feudal lords
 It put an end to the Jagirdari system
 No officer was hereditary
 Every Mansabdar was held personal
responsibility to the monarch
 Akbar invited all the hereditary citizens to join
the imperial army

23.  Too grading
 2/3 of the Mansabdars are foreigners or
immediate descendents
 Not liberal but secular
 9% of imperial cadres are Hindus
 Non regimentation
 Mansabdars were free to recruit –own
tribe/race/realigion /region
 No systematic training /uniform standards

24.  Loyal to commander? Emperor ?
 High standard of life but not hereditary
 For maintenance overdraw form the royal
treasury

25. Thank you