Question

Who were mansabdars? What were their responsibilities?

Answer 1

Hint: Mansabdar was a military unit in the administrative system of the Mughal Empire. It was introduced by Akbar.

Complete answer:
The word mansab is of Arabic origin which means rank or position, i.e. the system was used to determine the rank and status of different government officials and generals. The mansabdars were nobles, high civil or military officials, provincial governors or military commanders who had the right to hold jagir, or revenue assignment for services rendered by then.

This system was also used as a grading system by the mughal to fix ranks, salary and military responsibilities. For example: Abul’Faz’l the court historian mentioned 66 grades of mansabdars, but in practise there were only 33.

The highest grade was 5,000 and the lowest was 1,000, this was during the early reigns of Akbar, later on the highest grade was increased / raised to 7,000.

The responsibilities of the mansabdars were –
-A mansabdar had to perform civil and military duties as and when asked.
-A mansabdar holding a rank of 5,000 had to maintain 340 horses, 100 elephants, 400 camels, 100 mules and 160 carts.
-For every ten cavalry men, the mansabdar had to maintain twenty horses for horses that had to be provided rest while on a march and replacements were necessary in times of war.
-The mansabdar had to bring his cavalrymen for review, get them registered and get their horses branded.

Note:
i) The troops under the mansabdars were known as Dakhili, they were raised by the emperor but not paid directly by the state but were under the mansabdars.
ii) Disadvantage of the system – the troop was loyal to its mansabdar rather than the King or the emperor.
iii) Difference in the categories of mansabdars: During the time of Jahangir and Shah Jahan, the number of categories’ of mansabdars was reduced to 11 as against 33 mentioned by Abul’ Faz’l in his book Akbarnama.