Mansabdari System

Mansabdari System

 Mansabdari System

The Mansabdari system was introduced by Mughal Emperor Akbar. The Mughal army was based on the Mansabdari system. Although the signs of Mansabdar system were visible during the Sultanate period but Akbar gave it a scientific structure. Normally Mansab means rank and honour, so the post of Mansab can be said to be of a government officers who was paid salary or Jagir according to his Mansab by the imperial treasury. Irwin writes, “Mansabdari was the measure of status under the Mughal government which determined a Mansabdari’s rank, his salary and his office in the Royal court.” The Mansabs were from 10 to 10,000 in the beginning but later they were enhanced up to 50,000. Generally mansabs above 5000 were reserved for the princes but during the reign of Jahangir and Shahjahan the mansabs of 7,000 and 8,000 were awarded to the nobles. The members of the royal family were awarded mansabs up to 40,000 and 50,000.

Classification of Mansabdars

There were three categories of Mansabdars :

1.        Mansabdars of 10 to 400 rank.
2.            Mansabdars of 500 to 2,500 rank who were known as Umra.
3.            Mansabdars of more than 3,500 were known as Umara-i-Azam.

Khan-i-Jahan was also a high military officer but Khan-i-Khana was the highest army officer during Mughal period.

Later on, these mansabs were further divided into several categories. Mansabs above 15,000 were called Sawar. The Mansabdars below the rank of five thousand were divided into first, second and third category. Use of the words ‘Zat’ and ‘Sawar’ become necessary for the proper understanding of these categories. Although historians are not unanimous about it. But perhaps the number of Zat indicated the category of the Mansabdar while Sawar indicated his rand. Blackmann observes that a mansabdar had to maintain as many soldiers as shown by his rank of Zat and Sawar indicated towards the horsemen which he was required to maintain. But Irwin opines that Zat indicated the cavalry to be maintained ans Sawar was only an additional honour. Dr. Srivastava also expresses that while the rank of Zat indicated towards the number of soldiers, Sawar indicated towards the sawars (horsemen) to be maintained by Mansabdars.

Method of Recruitment

The emperor was in-charge of all recruitment of imperial officers. He was at liberty to award any mansab to anybody with whom he was pleased. Promotion, degradation and dismissal were also in the hands of the emperor. Akbar was an expert in the selection of right persons and he often appointed efficient persons direct to high mansabs. Abul Fazl writes, “His Majesty sees through some men at the first glance and confers upon them high ranks.” The devotion and faithfulness of a Mansabdar contributed a lot to him promotion to the high ranks.

Salary Structure

Normally cash salaries were given to the Mansabdars and they were paid very highly. In case, any Jagir was awarded to some high rank officer it was not given to him permanently and changes were introduced from time to time. The Mansabdar led a luxurious life because even after meeting the expenditure, they saved a lot of money from the amount they received from the imperial treasury. A Mansabdar was paid a monthly salary of rupees 100, 82.5, and 75 to the first, second and third category, respectively. A Mansabdar of each class was required to keep specific number of horses for which he was paid 44 rupees per month. The soldiers of the Mansabdars, being part of royal army, received their salary in cash from the royal treasury and not from the Mansabdars, as has been pointed out by some of the scholars. At the same time, it is evident that some of the corrupt and dishonest Mansabdars did not maintain the exact number of soldiers and received salaries according to their fictitious pay rolls. Thus, they embezzled a great part of imperial treasure for their own benefit and luxuries.

Merits and Demerits of Mansabdari System

Merits :- Mansabdari system was a progressive system adopted by Akbar for the reorganization of the army. No other Indian ruler had ever thought and planned on such lines as followed by Akbar. He tried to establish a link between chieftainship and feudalism through Mansabdari. Some of the Mansabdars were given liberty to recruit their soldiers from their own tribe and religion but they had to owe unconditional allegiance to the central government. The system of Mansabdari freed the emperor from the grips of the feudal lords as it put an end to the Jagirdari system. The post of a Mansabdar was not hereditary; hence every new Mansabdar received his mansab from the emperor. His promotion and demotion also depended on the mercy of the emperor, hence he had to be faithful and devoted to the emperor, failing which he was deprived of all the privileges by the emperor. It lessened the chances of revolt in the empire. Akbar also sought the help of his hereditary martial elements and brave citizens to join the royal army and he, thus, contributed to the political unification of the country.

Demerits :- Besides these merits there were also certain demerits of the Mansabdari system. As most of the Mansabdars were foreigners, they did not have any love towards Indian empire, hence Akbar failed to organize a national army with the help of these mansabdars. Moreover as the soldiers were recruited by the Mansabdars and they received their salary and promotion from the Mansabdars, they remained loyal to their masters instead of the Mughal emperors.

The central army remained weak as the soldiers of the Mansabdars had different training of arms and discipline with their Mansabdars. They failed to coordinate with the royal army at the time of repel. As no systematic training was imparted to the soldiers by the central government before waging wars, their fitness remained always in doubt and their weapons and standards remained poles apart from one another. The failure of Kalinjor expedition was a glaring example of military weakness of the Mughals. They failed to strengthen the artillery and to maintain a powerful navy. Whatever steps were taken for strengthening the army, they were taken during the reign of Akbar. No ruler made any serious effort before and after him for the development and organization of army.

With the passage of time the Mughal army began to deteriorate, the high officers of the army began to take their wives and concubines with them on the battlefields which affected the power and speed of the army otherwise. Prostitutes and slave boys and girls also went with the army. They affected the discipline adversely.

The Mansabdari system created some malpractices in the army system. As the soldiers received their salaries through Mansabdars, they embezzled a lot of amount in transaction. Moreover, these Mansabdars did not maintain the required number of soldiers and horses and thus amassed a huge amount. High ranking military officers such as Amir-ul-Umra and Khan-i-Jahan, literally rolled in wealth and led a comfortable and luxurious life. Their demoralization also adversely affected the army discipline and brought decay and downfall of the Mughal Empire.

However, Dr. R.P. Tripathi lavishly praises the army organization of Akbar, “It was even superior to that of Babur which had been pronounced as ‘efficient and successful’ and hardly inferior to the Ottoman army of Sulaiman the magnificent which was admittedly one of the best of its kind in Europe.” His successors failed to follow in his footsteps and the army structure of Akbar collapsed under the regime of his successors.

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Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.

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