What is Mansabdari System ?
People from diverse backgrounds joined the Mughal service as the empire
expanded. They were known as mansabdars.
Mansabdari was a grading system used by the Mughals to fix rank, salary and
military responsibilities of those in their service. The numerical value of zat
determined the rank and salary of mansabdars.
Mansabdars’ military responsibilities required them to maintain a specified
number of cavalrymen.
Mansabdars received their salaries as revenue assignments called jagirs, similar
to iqtas. The rights of the mansabdars were limited to the revenues from
jagirs.
During Akbar’s reign, these jagirs were carefully assessed so that their
revenues were roughly equal to the salary of the mansabdar.
During Aurangzeb’s reign, there was a huge increase in the number of
mansabdars. This created a shortage in the number of jagirs. Jagirdars tried to
extract maximum revenue due to which the peasantry suffered.