mansabdari

Mansabdari was a bureaucratic-military ranking system of the Mughal Empire that linked officer status, military obligations, and revenue arrangements. Introduced as part of Akbar’s administrative reforms in the late 16th century, it created a centralized hierarchy in which loyalty and service were rewarded with formal ranks rather than hereditary office alone.

Each mansabdar held two numbers: zat and sawar. The zat indicated personal rank or status, while the sawar denoted the number of cavalrymen the official was obliged to command or maintain. These ranks determined pay, rank at court, and eligibility for further offices. In practice, the system also tied compensations to jagirs, land grants whose revenue supported the officer’s salary and troops.

Mansabdars staffed and administered provinces, supervised revenue collection, and supplied troops for imperial campaigns. They could be appointed to provincial governorships or other high offices, and the emperor could promote, transfer, or dismiss them as needed. Although formally non-hereditary, noble families often sustained influence through successive appointments and holdings.

The system produced a large, professionalized military-administrative class and enabled the central authority to mobilize resources across vast territories. However, it also fostered a powerful landed nobility and a complex bureaucracy that could resist central control. Over time, fiscal strain, corruption, and fragmentation of authority weakened the system. By the 18th century and under subsequent regimes, the traditional mansabdari framework declined as new administrative arrangements emerged and the Mughal state weakened.