The Mansabdari System of Akbar

Anirudh Vohra 211121 Mr. Bikramjit De Legal Histor II 1st April, 2013

Introduction

The Mughal Emperor Akbar (ruled from 1556-1605) created the Mansabdari system, which translated means the military grading assigned to the Mughal Empires royal functionaries; in essence, a hierarchy system for the royalty under Akbar, who would rule and control military over realms in the name of the Emperor. The Mansabdari system was a more efficient way of ruling, as Akbar assigned many local aristocrats power over regions: these aristocrats were called Mansabdars. This system is similar to the European feudal systems of those times as well as the British system of nobility; however, it is not the same, and was highly tailored to better cater to the Indian Mughal Empire.

The Mansabdars

The Mansabdars were not feudal aristocrats, they did not inherit their power nor were they supported by offices or the estates that the ruled over; rather, the Mansabdars ruled on behalf/in the name of the Emperor. They played very integral roles, holding offices of wazir, bakshi, faujdar and the subadar, which are some of the important offices they held. They did not however hold any offices in the judiciary. The etymology of the word Mansabdar is such that Mansab transliterates to rank, entailing that the Mansabdars were rank-holders. Akbar went to the extent of enhancing the Mansabdari system so as to make it the basis of the military and civil administrative framework of his empire. It is postulated that Akbars divisions of the hierarchy system was inspired by Chingiz Khan; like Chingiz Khans divisions, Akbar divided the hierarchy on the basis of the number of men each Mansabdar commanded. Akbar officially enstated 33 ranks of Mansabdars, though it is believed that in practice there were 66 ranks. A Mansab was reflective of three things: a) the position the Mansabdar held in the hierarchy, b) the compensation the Mansabdar was paid per year and c) a duty, which entailed that the Mansabdar maintain his contingent of horses and equipment. There were three basic classes of Mansbdars, the Amir-iAzam, Amir and Mansabdar, ranked in descending order respectively, and was designated on the numbers of horses commanded by the Mansabdar.

Mansabdars received compensation in two ways, either directly in the form of money (naqdi), or through the revenue that was generated by the area of land they were designated to. The revenue from this area was not given per se to the Mansabdar, however he could use it for his own expenses as well as compensation; further, his rank was dependent on the wishes of the Emperor, who decided based on performance reports. Mansabdars who commanded troops were called silladars, and their men were bagirs: a silladars men would be paraded and inspected, after which the horses would be branded and an identity roll would be created for the bagirs. Silladars were made to keep beasts of burdens (elephants, camels, mule, etc), and horses for the troops which they did from their own money; in the case where they did not have enough money to maintain their troops and animals, they were given money for horses and the salaries of the bagirs only. No military experience of knowledge was necessary, silladars and other military oriented Mansabdars were elected on the whim of the Emperor.

Successes of the Mansabdari System

The Mansabdari system enabled Akbar to withdraw reliance from feudal lords and mercenaries in order to create and maintain control over his empire; further it ended feudalism to a large extent in India, and replaced it with a system of officers who did not inherit power, rather earned or were instituted to it. Because the promotions, demotions, hiring, suspending, etc. was at the discretion of the Emperor, each Mansabdar was now personally liable for his actions and responsibilities, which created a more tranquil administrative atmosphere and negated emotions of alienation or revolt towards the Emperor. The Mansabdari system was an institutionalization of administrative and military services in India, and created the basis for a military and administrative cadre; this made the Emperors ruling of his region much more efficient.

Failures of the Mansabdari System

With the addition of the administrative services to the Mansabdari system, though initially found to be more efficient, the added intricacies created a system that was sluggish and extremely bureaucratic in nature; this lead to greater procrastination, which further weakened the slowing system. The most crucial aspect of the Mansabdari system was that it be headed by an efficient and mindful Emperor, and after Aurangzeb, a string of incapable Emperors led to the the Mansabdari systems demise. The Mansabdari also ignored the fact that certain men are better equipped administratively than they are in terms of military operations. Due to this being overlooked, more often than not, Mansabdars would lean more towards either vocation, creating an imbalance in the workings of the empire. Moreover, the loyalty of a soldier lay in his Mansabdar (similar to soldiers who were loyal their general in Rome, and not the prevalent Caesar per se), and not the Emperor, making it harder for the Emperor to a) consolidate his forces on the battle field, b) communicate with his soldiers; this further led to insecurities between the Emperor and some Mansabdars, as they knew that the soldiers would follow and protect the Mansabdar and not the Emperor if the Mansabdars were to revolt. Further bureaucracy stemming from differing religions, nationalities, groups, etc. created a divide between the Mansabdars, leading to rivalries and internal struggle. At times, the Emperor would use this struggle to bypass the Mansabdars and establish some form of loyalty in the soldiers that were under his empire, widening further the divide between the Emperor and the Mansabdars.

Conclusion

The Mansabdari served well as a system of efficient machinery which helped the empire run like clockwork. However, the imbalances and struggles that rose due to the increasing complexities and bureaucratic nature of the Mansabdari system, the full potential of its efficiency was never realized. One could argue that the Mansabdari system should have been constricted to one vocation only, either the administrative or the military; however this could have led to the empowerment of

one over the other. Lastly, the biggest advantage as well as downfall of the Mansabdari system was that all of it ran through the Emperor; the system ran well when a ruler like Akbar was at the head, however, it was not hard for incapable rulers to completely ruin the system, and their empires with it.

Bibliography

Mansabdari System and the Mughal Army, Abdul, Aziz Mansabdari System Under the Mughals (1574 1707), Bilal, Fakhir Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part II, Chandra, Satish Medieval Indian History, Chitnis, KN Themes in Indian History, Dr. Rai, Raghunath