Akbar’s accession inaugurated a long reign in which the imperial service was reorganized into ranked offices (mansabs) tying civil authority and military obligation to the emperor rather than to hereditary or tribal claims.
Akbar devised a graded system of mansabs (ranks) for imperial servants, numerically scaling commanders from small to large contingents; the system became the administrative framework linking bureaucratic status to military command.
Mansabdars fell under the jurisdiction of the mīr bakhshī (chief military/paymaster office), while remaining directly subordinate to the emperor—an institutional design meant to tighten central oversight over appointments, pay, and military obligations.
Akbar insisted on systematic checking of mansabdars’ soldiers and horses to keep obligations proportional to revenue and pay, strengthening accountability and reducing private military autonomy within the imperial service.
The mansabdari hierarchy crystallized into a set of graded numerical ranks (commonly described as 33 grades), with upper ceilings differentiating the highest non-royal commands from those reserved for the dynasty and favored grandees.
Todar Mal’s dahsala/zabt revenue settlement strengthened the fiscal machinery that underwrote imperial salaries and revenue assignments, helping the state calibrate obligations and resources tied to service elites.
Akbar’s system distinguished a mansabdar’s zāt (personal rank/status and base pay) from sawār (cavalry contingent obligation), enabling more granular control over rank, remuneration, and troop-maintenance requirements.
Abu’l Fazl composed the Ain-i-Akbari as a detailed administrative description of Akbar’s empire (part of the Akbarnama), preserving institutional information central to understanding mansabdari organization and state practices.
Although Akbar paid mansabdars in cash, imperial practice developed toward meeting remuneration through transferable, nonhereditary revenue assignments (jāgīrs), limiting local power accumulation through frequent transfer and reversion to the crown.
Jahangir’s succession preserved the mansabdari framework as the backbone of imperial staffing and military command, while creating new pressures as service numbers and rewards expanded under later Mughal governance.
Under Jahangir, the du-aspa sih-aspa distinction (“two-horse/three-horse”) allowed portions of a mansabdar’s sawār obligation to be treated as requiring double or triple horse maintenance (with corresponding pay), refining incentives within the cavalry-based service hierarchy.
Jahangir’s death ended the 1556–1627 phase of mansabdari evolution highlighted by Akbar’s foundational ranking architecture and Jahangir’s incentive refinements, which continued to shape Mughal administration under subsequent emperors.
Mansabdari system under Akbar and Jahangir (1556–1627)
