With reference to Mansabdari system, which of the statements is/are correct ? 1. Mansabdari system was the official nobility of the state, started by Akbar. 2. A Mansabdari was hereditary. Select the correct answer using the codes given below : Codes :
- (a)1 only
- (b)Both 1 and 2
- (c)2 only
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — A, 1 only. Statement 1 is true: the mansabdari system was Akbar's device for organising the imperial service, and every officer of the Mughal state — civil or military — held a mansab, so the body of mansabdars was in effect the official nobility of the empire. Akbar introduced it in the 1570s and gave it its mature dual-rank form (zat and sawar) in the 1590s. Statement 2 is false: a mansab was not hereditary. It was a personal grant held entirely at the emperor's pleasure — he could raise it, reduce it or cancel it — and on a mansabdar's death the rank lapsed and the state took charge of his estate to settle the accounts of his contingent. Sons of nobles were preferred candidates for service, but each of them had to be granted a fresh mansab, normally at a much lower rank than his father's. The jagir assigned in lieu of salary was likewise transferable, not a family estate.
- (b)Both 1 and 2 — Statement 1 is correct, but statement 2 is not. Heredity is precisely what the Mughals avoided: unlike the European feudal nobility, a mansabdar could not pass his rank or his jagir to his son. This is the single most tested feature of the system.
- (c)2 only — This gets both statements the wrong way round — it rejects the true statement about Akbar founding the system and accepts the false claim of heredity.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Statement 1 is squarely correct: the mansabdari system was begun by Akbar and formed the framework of the Mughal official nobility. Only statement 2 fails.
Mansab means rank or position. Under Akbar every imperial servant was assigned a numerical mansab that fixed his status in the hierarchy, his pay, and the military contingent he had to bring to service. From the mid-1590s the mansab was expressed in two numbers: the zat, which set personal rank and salary, and the sawar, which set the number of cavalrymen the holder had to maintain. Ranks ran from very small mansabs up to 5,000 for ordinary nobles, with higher ranks reserved for princes of the blood and the greatest amirs. Payment was either in cash from the treasury or, more usually, by the assignment of a jagir — a tract whose land revenue the mansabdar collected in lieu of salary.
The question is really asking whether you know that the Mughal nobility was a service nobility, not a landed hereditary aristocracy. Statement 2 is tempting because mansabdars were powerful men with jagirs, and because noble families did stay prominent across generations. But continuity of a family is not the same thing as heredity of an office: the mansab and the jagir both reverted to the emperor, and a son received whatever fresh rank the emperor chose to give him. Akbar also built in anti-fraud checks — dagh, the branding of horses with the state mark, and chehra, a descriptive roll of each soldier — precisely because the contingent belonged to the state's service obligation and not to the mansabdar's family property.
- Mansab = rank; the mansabdars collectively formed the official nobility and the officer corps of the Mughal empire.
- Introduced by Akbar in the 1570s; the twin zat (personal rank and pay) and sawar (cavalry to be maintained) grading was settled in the mid-1590s.
- A mansab was neither hereditary nor permanent — the emperor could raise, lower or revoke it, and it lapsed on the holder's death.
- Mansabdars were paid in cash (naqd) or by the assignment of a jagir, which was transferable and frequently reassigned.
- Dagh (branding of horses) and chehra (descriptive roll of troopers) were introduced to stop mansabdars from mustering borrowed or fictitious contingents.
- Believing that mansabs or jagirs passed from father to son — they did not; each grant was fresh and personal.
- Treating the mansabdari system as purely military; it graded civil officers as well, which is why it is described as the official nobility.
- Crediting the dual zat-sawar grading to the very start of Akbar's reign — the system was introduced in the 1570s and only later refined into two ranks.
UPPSC asks two-statement true/false items on who started the system and whether it was hereditary; UPSC has asked what the system was mainly meant for and assertion-reason items on details such as the number of horses a mansabdar had to keep.
In medieval India, Mansabdari system was introduced mainly for
- (a) making recruitment to the army
- (b) facilitating revenue collection
- (c) ensuring religious harmony
- (d) effecting clean administration
Answer(a) making recruitment to the army
The same institution from the purpose angle — UPSC asks what the mansabdari system was created to do, UPPSC asks who created it and whether it was hereditary.
Assertion (A): During the time of Akbar, for every ten cavalrymen, the mansabdars had to maintain twenty horses. Reason (R): Horses had to be rested while on march and replacements were necessary in times of war.
- (a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
- (b) Both A and R are true, but R is not a correct explanation of A
- (c) A is true, but R is false
- (d) A is false, but R is true
Answer(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
Tests the working detail of the same sawar obligation under Akbar — the contingent a mansabdar owed the state, which is what made the mansab a service duty rather than family property.
Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and other as Reason (R) : Assertion (A) : The Mughal Empire was originally a Military State. Reason (R) : The vitality of the development of the Central Government System depended on its military power. Select the correct answer using the codes given below. Codes :
- (a) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is correct explanation of (A)
- (b) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
- (c) (A) is true, but (R) is false
- (d) (A) is false, but (R) is true
Answer(a) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is correct explanation of (A)
The wider claim that this question rests on: the Mughal state was built on military service, and the mansabdari system was the exact machinery through which that service was graded, paid and controlled.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the Mughal mansabdari system, the 'sawar' rank of a mansabdar indicated
- (a)his personal status and salary
- (b)the number of cavalrymen he was required to maintain
- (c)the area of the jagir assigned to him
- (d)the number of years he had served the emperor
Answer(b) the number of cavalrymen he was required to maintain — the companion rank, zat, fixed personal status and pay, while sawar fixed the size of the cavalry contingent.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The practices of 'dagh' and 'chehra' in Mughal administration were introduced mainly to
- (a)record land revenue assessments
- (b)prevent mansabdars from mustering false or borrowed contingents
- (c)register foreign merchants at the ports
- (d)certify the purity of coins issued by the mints
Answer(b) prevent mansabdars from mustering false or borrowed contingents — dagh branded state horses with an official mark and chehra kept a descriptive roll of each trooper, so a contingent could be verified at muster.