Evolution of Mughal Administrative System : Mansabdri and Jagirdari System

The term mansab determined the holder status in the graded official hierarchy
Mansabdar held both military and civil positions.
Power Check & Balance: reliance on salaries, frequent transfers, diversion revenue to treasury.
As a result they had limited opportunities to develop local contacts or financial means to raise private armies.
Abul Fazl claims that Akbar provided 66 grades of Mansabdars ranging from commanders 10 horsemen to commanders 10000 horsemen.
To maintain a specific no. of contingent with horses & necessary equipment.


The term mansab determined the holder status in the graded official hierarchy
Mansabdar held both military and civil positions.
Power Check & Balance: reliance on salaries, frequent transfers, diversion revenue to treasury.
As a result they had limited opportunities to develop local contacts or financial means to raise private armies.
Abul Fazl claims that Akbar provided 66 grades of Mansabdars ranging from commanders 10 horsemen to commanders 10000 horsemen.
To maintain a specific no. of contingent with horses & necessary equipment.

1. Evolution of Mughal Administrative System : Mansabdri and Jagirdari System Made By : Name : Shruti Jha Roll No. : 21518041 Subject : History Of India V (1500-1600) Semester : 4 th Course : BA HISTORY HONRS.

2. Mansabdari System : The term mansab determined the holder status in the graded official hierarchy Mansabdar held both military and civil positions. Power Check & Balance: reliance on salaries, frequent transfers, diversion revenue to treasury. As a result they had limited opportunities to develop local contacts or financial means to raise private armies. Abul Fazl claims that Akbar provided 66 grades of Mansabdars ranging from commanders 10 horsemen to commanders 10000 horsemen. To maintain a specific no. of contingent with horses & necessary equipment.

3. Zat and Sawar under Mansab System. Personal salary and the size of the contingent were represented by a single rank of Zat . From 1595-96 both the Zat and Sawar began decide within Mansab system. Zat refers to Mansabdar’s personal income, or Talabkhasa and his official position. Sawar refers the horses and horsesmen maintained by the Mansabdars as well amount he was paid to keep his contingent. There is no consensus among experts on the nature of sawar . Different versions were presented by William Irvine, Abdul Aziz & Athar Ali.

4. Appointment and Promotion of Mansabdars An elaborate procedure involving the D iwan , mir bakshi and others followed after which it went to the Emperor confirmation . The most favoured category were the sons and close kinsmen of persons who were already in service. This group was called khanazad . The main areas were Uzbek, Safavi & Deccan kingdoms. Included one Irani . Turani , Iraqi and Khurasani . The rulers of autonomous principalities yet another group which received preferential treatment such as category of Rajput king . Promotions were generally given on the basis of performance and lineage. However, in actual practice racial cmsiderations played important role in promotions. Unflinching loyalty was yet another consideration.

5. THE MANSABDARS WERE SEPERATED INTO 3 CLASSES 1595-96 FIRST CLASS SECOND CLASS THIRD CLASS The 1 st class comprised of Jat and Sawar in equal no. The 2 nd class of Jat and half or the more than half of Sawar . The 3 rd class of Jat and less than half of Sawar . Individuals with 500 or less referred as Mansabdars Those who were b/w 500 to 2500 were known as Amirs While those more than 2500 were known as Amir- i - Umda , Amir-I- Aam , or Amrahs .

6. Changes in Mansabdari System Du- aspah sih-aspah system Introduced by Jahangir The term du- aspah sih - aspah literally means trooper with two or three horses . Under this system, selected nobles could be allowed to maintain a large quota of soldiers without making any change in their Jat rank. It implied that a mansabdar or noble holding du- aspah sih-aspah rank had to maintain double the quota of troopers indicated by his sawar rank. They were paid accordingly Month-ratio or Month-scale system Introduced by Shah Jahan It was a new scaling device under which the salaries Mansabdar’s salaries were put on a month scale: 10, 8, 6 months or even less. The obligations of the mansabdars for main taining a quota of sawars were brought down accordingly. The month-scale system was applied to both jagirs and those who were paid in cash .

7. Functions of Mansabdari System : While Akbar had 1803 Mansabdars while at that time of Aurangzeb it was 14499. The emperor can raise the status of Mansabdars by raising no. of mansabdars entrusted to him. Those Mansabdars who were paid in cash referred as Naqdi . While those were paids through Jagir known as Jagirdars . No Mansabdars could keep the specific jagir for an extended period of time. The mansabdar’s post, honour or dignity was not hereditary. With death or removal of mansabdars poperty reverting to the state. Akbar added new aspects such as introduction of conditional rank ‘ Mashrut ’ which refer to temporary increase of sawar rank. During the time Aurangzeb with increase of mansbdars resulting Jagirdari and agrarian crises eventually lead the downfall of this system.

8. Jagirdari System : Jagirdari system some how inspired Iqta system . The Mughal Emperors, too, did the same. These assignments were given in lieu of cash salaries The Jagir system was regarded as an institution that was primarily utilized to store surplus from the peasant class. Jagir system was employed to disperse revenue resources among the ruling classes. It must be made clear that it was not land that was assigned, but the income/ revenue from the land/area was given to the jagirdars . The institution of month-scale or ratios was made possible by this system become all pervasive. This appear to have resulted from a difference b/w J agir ( Jama ) assessment and actual revenue collection (basil). The phrase Jagirdari was created by merging two Persian words J agir (land holding) and Dar (official). A Jagir is a feudal land granted by sovereign to an army chieftain in exchange for acknowledgement of his military service.

9. Early phase : Babur, after his conquest, conferred upon them assignment of approximately more than one-third of the conquered territory. The holders of such assignments ( wajh ) were known as wajhdars ( wajh means remuneration ). A fixed sum was assigned as wajh out of the total revenue of the area The rest of the revenue of the terrtories was deemed to be a part of the khalisa . The zamindars continued in their respective areas, but in other conquered areas Babur ruled through hakims (governors). The same pattern perhaps continued under Humayun . The proper concept of Jagirdari system started under Akbar reign . He has divided the land in 2 part K halisa part and J agir part of the land.

10. Organisation of Jagir System The responsibility of tax collection was largely delegated according to the jaghirdar’s rank As a result the Mansabdars were given the most land. The word Jama Ojamadari was to described to estimated revenue of treasury. When a man obtained a jagir whose Jama (sum of saved money) equals of his annual salary claim ( Talab ). He may find it only yield half or 1/4 th of his claim. The Jagir was allegedly referred to as ‘ Shash maha ’ (6 monthly) or ‘Sib Maha ’ (3 monthly). Jama Ojamadari was measured in ‘Dam’ a small copper coin. The Jama also include land revenue, port customs & other taxes among other things . jaghirdar recruited Patawari , Tashildar , Amil , Fotedar & Diwan etc .

11. Jagir Land Ratio : In the 31st year of Akbar's reign, the jama of the khalisa in the province of Delhi, Awadh and Allahabd amounted to less than 5% of the total revenue. Under Jahangir, almost 9/10 th of the territory was assigned in jagir and only 1/10 was available for the khalisa . Under Shah Jahan , it rose to one - eleventh and, by the 20th year, it was nearly one-seventh. The trend continued in the next reign; in the 10th year of Aurangzeb, the jama of the khalisa amounted to almost 1/5 th of the total. However , in the later part of Aurangzeb's reign, there was a great pressure on the khalisa as the number of claimants for jagir increased with the increase of the number of mansabdars

12. TYPES OF JAGHIR JAGIR TANKHA INAM JAGIRS MASHRUT JAGIR WATAN JAGIRS Jagirs given in lieu to pay Those with no service obligation and were independent of rank Conditional Jagir Jagir which were granted Zamindars in their home land Tankha jagirs are transferable every three or four years watan jaglirs remained hereditary and non-transferable. Sometimes watan jagir was converted into khalisa for a certain period as Aurangzeb did in case of Jodhpur in 1679 . When a zamindar or a tributary chief was made a mansabdar , he was given jagir tankha ,, watan jagir , at another place if the salary of his rank was more then the income from his watan jagir . Maharaja Jaswant Singh, holding watan jagir in Jrlarwar , held jagir , tankha in Hissar .

13. Management of Jagirs The jagirdar was allowed to collect only authorised revenue in accordance with the Imperial regulations. He employed his own officials ( karkun ) like amil , ( arnalguzar ), fotadar (treasurer), etc. who acted on his behalf. The Imperial officials kept watch on the jagirdars . The diwan of tlhe suba was supposed to prevent the oppression on the peasants by the jagirdars . From the 20 th year of Akbar, amin was posted in each province to see that the jagirdars were following Imperial regulations regarding collection of revenue. The faujdar often helped the jagirdar to collect revenue whenever difficulties arose . It appears that from the period of Aurangzeb, bigger jagirdars were having faujdari powers, too.

14. Local A dministration : Subah divided into sarkars . Sarkars divided into Paraganas . Paraganas into villages . District governed by a shiqdar or a faujdar Amalguzar : head of revenue administration (aka Krori ) Revenue collectors were under orders not to oppress the cultivators while collecting the state demands Other Officiers : Bitikchi : record keeper of land revenue Khazandar : treasury officer Sarkar divided into paraganas (tehsils) Tehsils had a batch of subordinate officers - Shiqdar , amil , fotdar and qanungo Each tehsil had about 12 villages Villages were the lowest units of administration - Mughals gave legal sanction to the panchayats - Patwari and Chaukidar

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