Main features of the Mansabdari system under the Akbar (Mughal).
The term "Mansab" is a Persian word which means 99 an office or status. The individual who received Mansab by the king was known as Mansabdar. The Mughal army was entirely based on Mansabdari system. Akbar gave Mansabdari system a systematic and scientific structure. The lowest rank was 10 and the highest was 5000 for the nobles but towards the end of the reign of Akbar it was raised to 12000. During the rule of Akbar Raja Man Singh, Mirza Aziz Koka and a few other officials were promoted to the rank of 7000, The Mansab of 8000 and above were reserved for the royal blood.
Meaning of Zat and Sawar: The rank of Mansabdars were divided into two-Zat and Sawar. The word Zat means personal. It fixed the personal status of a person and also the salary due to him. The Sawar rank indicated the number of cavalrymen a person was required to keep.
Classification of Mansabdars : There were three categories of Mansabdars such as:
A. Mansabdars of 10 to 400 rank.
B. Mansabdars of 500 to 2500 rank.
C. Mansabdars of more than 3500 were known as Umara-i-Azam.
In the later period the Mansabs were divided into several categories. Mansab above 15000 were called Sawar. The Mansabdars below the rank of five thousands were divided into first second and third category. The rank of Zat indicated towards the number of soldiers and Sawar indicated towards the horsemento be maintained by Mansabdars.
Main characteristics of Mansabdari System:
Following were the main characteristics of the Mansabdari system:
Method of Recruitment : The emperor was in charge of all recruitment of imperial officers. He could appoint anyone as Mansabdar and they could retain the Mansab so long as he so desired. Akbar was very much efficient in the appointment of officers related to Mansabdari system. The emperor possessed the authority of promotion, degradation and dismissal of the Mansabdar. Generally a Mansab of 8000 was given to the members of royal family.
Salary structure: The Mansabdars were enjoying a lucrative salary. Sometimes the revenue of a particular Jagir was assigned to them as salary. They had to manage their own, their horsemen and horses expenditure from their own salary. They were also expected to maintain a crops of elephants, camels, mules and carts. A Mansabdar of 5000 got from Rs. 28,000 to Rs. 30,000 per month out of which he would spent Rs. 16,000 to maintain the soldiers and the other obligations. It is pointed out that some of the corrupt and dishonest Mansabdars did not maintain the exact number of soldiers and received salaries according to their fictious pay rolls. Thus they misappropriated the royal treasury for personal luxury and comforts.
Duty of the Mansabdars: The Mansabdars played an important role in the administration of the Mughal Otra Empire. They maintained Sawars and horses which they sent to the emperor in need of war. Mansabdars could also be sent to the battle field during military campaign as military commanders or under some other commander, who himself was a Mansabdar. They could be called upon to crush revolt, conquer new area or perform non-military and administrative duties.
Restrictions on Mansabdars : The Mansabdars were instructed by the emperor to recruit experienced and faithful Sawars. They were asked to keep a record of the description (Huliya) of each horsemen. Besides, the practise of branding the horses was also maintained by the Mansabdars to check the corruption and evils which was prevalent among the dishonest Mansabdars. Every Mansabdar had to bring his contingent for periodic inspection before persons appointed by the emperor for the purpose. The horses were carefully inspected and only good quality of horses of Arabic and Iraqi breed were employed.
Merits of Mansabdari system:
i) The Mansabdari system brought to an end of the defects of the Jagirdari system. The Mansabdars had bos to come to emperor every month for their pay. Thus emperor could maintain direct contact with the Mansabdars every month.
ii) This system developed the military talents among the Sawars who achieved efficiency in the field of warfare.
iii) Under the Mansabdari system the loss of national treasury was prevented and national prosperity improved.
iv) According to some scholars this system raised The moral standard of military officials because Mansabdari system was not hereditary.
v) The son of a Mansabdar could not get the Mansab after the death of his father. Other efficient persons were appointed in his place. Thus the smooth functioning of the govt. was not hampered.
Demerits of Mansabdari system:
i) The Mansabdari system allowed the Mansabdar to lead luxurious and corrupt life.
ii) Regarding appointments or recruitment of Sawars, corruption prevailed among the Mansabdars.
iii) The soldiers were loyal to the Mansabdars instead of central authority because they were recruited directly by the Mansabdars and received their salaries from the Mansabdars.
iv) The Mansabdars allowed the officials to carry their wives along with them which demoralised the army. Prostitutes and slave boys and girls also went with the army and it affected the discipline of the army. vi) Dishonest officials and dishonest Mansabdars used to ally together and during inspection they used to borrow horses from the other Mansabdars and thus maintained their full quota only on paper. Thus Mansabdari system was beneficial but at the same time it brought certain weaknesses which exhausted national treasury. After the death of Akbar the Mansabdari system began to decline.
