• What was Mansabdari system? how was it organized?
Answers
The Mansabdari
system was a military unit within the administrative system of the Mughal Empire introduced by Akbar. The word mansab is of Arabic origin meaning rank or position. The system, hence, determined the rank of a government official and also other military generals. Every civil and military officer was given a 'mansab' and different which could be increased by ten were used for ranking officers. It was also meant for fixing the salaries and allowances of officers.The term manasabadar means a person (in old times) who has a positioning or ranking of a government can give power .
It was a system whereby nobles were granted the rights to hold a jagir, which meant revenue assignments (not land itself) for services rendered by them but the authority bestowed upon them was not unbridled but with the direct control of these nobles in the hands of the king. [Abul Fazl] has mentioned 66 grades of mansabdars but in practice there were not more than 33 mansabs. During the early reign of Akbar, the lowest grade was ten and the highest was 12,000. Higher mansabs were given to princes and Rajput rulers who accepted the suzerainty of the emperor.The main feature of this was mansab or office a person held and it was approved by the emperor.
Answer:
The mansabdari system introduced by Akbar was a unique feature of the administrative system of the Mughal Empire. The term mansab (i.e. office, position or rank) in the Mughal administration indicated the rank of its holder (mansabdar) in the official hierarchy. The mansabdari system was of Central Asian origin. According to one view Babur brought it to North India.
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