The base of Mughal administration was a strong military system. Instead of the military strength, the emperors needed the support of the nobles and officials for the maintenance and expansion of the empire. For this, Akbar adopted the Manasbdari system. The term ‘Mansab’ denotes the rank or position of Mughal military officer. Those who held this position wre called Mansabdars.
The position of the officers, their salary and military responsibilities were categorically determined through the Mansabdari system. The rank of a Mansabdar was determined by the number of horses and cavalrymen he maintained. There were more than 30 ranks in the army of Akbar, ranging from mansabdars of 10 horses to 10,000 horses. Each Mansab had 2 subdivisions called the ‘Zat’ and the ‘Sawar’ ‘Zat’ fixes the rank and salary of a person in the army while ‘Sawar’ refers to the number of horses a Mansabdar had to maintain.
