Mughal Administration - Mansabdari and Land Revenue
~12 min read
- Dynasty: Babur 1526 → Aurangzeb 1707; nominal rule till 1857. Capital Agra, Delhi (Shahjahanabad).
- Mansabdari: Dual rank — zat (personal) and sawar (cavalry). Salaried through jagir assignment. ~33 grades.
- Land revenue: Todar Mal's Zabt-Dahsala (Ain-i-Dahsala) under Akbar — measured land, ten-year average yields, cash assessment.
The Mughal Empire fused Timurid, Persian, Central Asian and Indian institutional traditions into a centralised state run by the mansabdari nobility and the zabt land-revenue system. CDS-OTA examiners often quote European travellers (Bernier, Pelsaert, Tavernier, Manucci) and test Irfan Habib's interpretation of the Mughal state.
Mughal Emperors
| Emperor | Reign | Key facts |
|---|---|---|
| Babur | 1526-1530 | Founder. Won Panipat I (1526), Khanwa (1527 vs Rana Sanga), Chanderi (1528), Ghaghra (1529). Wrote Tuzuk-i-Baburi (Baburnama) in Turki. Buried first at Agra then Kabul |
| Humayun | 1530-1540, 1555-1556 | Defeated by Sher Shah at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540). Exile in Persia. Returned with Persian help; died at Sher Mandal (Purana Qila) |
| Sher Shah Suri (interregnum) | 1540-1545 | Built Grand Trunk Road, sarais, dak-chowki postal system, rupiya silver coin, cadastral survey forerunner |
| Akbar | 1556-1605 | Coronation at Kalanaur. Won Panipat II (1556 vs Hemu). Conquered Malwa, Gondwana (Rani Durgavati), Gujarat (1572), Bengal (1576), Kashmir (1586), Sindh, Kandahar. Din-i-Ilahi (1582), Ibadat Khana, Mahzar (1579). Capital Fatehpur Sikri (1571-85) |
| Jahangir | 1605-1627 | Wrote Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri. Captain Hawkins and Sir Thomas Roe came. Married Nur Jahan (1611). Lost Kandahar to Persia |
| Shah Jahan | 1628-1658 | Architectural peak — Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid Delhi, Shahjahanabad. Lost Kandahar (1649). Deposed by Aurangzeb. Died imprisoned at Agra Fort |
| Aurangzeb (Alamgir) | 1658-1707 | Largest territorial extent. Re-imposed jizya (1679), banned music at court (mostly), executed Guru Tegh Bahadur (1675), executed Sambhaji (1689). Continuous Deccan wars exhausted treasury |
| Bahadur Shah I to Bahadur Shah II | 1707-1857 | Rapid decline. Nadir Shah's invasion (1739 - took Peacock throne, Kohinoor). Ahmad Shah Abdali (Panipat III 1761 - defeated Marathas). Empire reduced to Red Fort by 1803 |
Mansabdari System
- Origin: Introduced by Akbar (~1577); based on Central Asian Timurid decimal command system.
- Dual rank:
- Zat — personal rank, determining salary and status.
- Sawar — cavalry obligation; the number of horsemen the mansabdar had to maintain.
- Grades: 33 in Akbar's time, from 10 to 5,000 (some royal sons higher). Above 5,000 = princes.
- Three classes within each rank: (1) sawar = zat (highest pay); (2) sawar = half of zat; (3) sawar less than half.
- Salary: Initially cash (naqdi), more commonly through jagir (revenue assignment).
- Jagirdar: The mansabdar who held a jagir was a jagirdar. He did not own the land — only the right to collect kharaj. Transferable, non-hereditary.
- Watan jagir: Ancestral homeland of Rajput and other zamindar chiefs, allowed to remain as hereditary domain.
- Composition (ethnic): Akbar deliberately diversified — Turanis (Central Asian Turks), Iranis (Persians), Indian Muslims (Shaikhzadas), Hindus (Rajputs and later Marathas).
- Branding (dagh) and descriptive rolls (chehra) introduced to prevent musters with hired horses.
Land Revenue - Zabt and Dahsala
- Akbar's revenue minister Raja Todar Mal standardised what became the Zabt-i-Dahsala or Ain-i-Dahsala system (codified 1580).
- Steps:
- Survey and measure cultivated land (zabt) using a standard bigha (Akbari bigha).
- Classify soil — Polaj (annually cultivated), Parauti (resting), Chachar (3-4 years fallow), Banjar (5+ years uncultivated).
- Take yields of major crops over ten years (dahsala) → average yield per bigha.
- Convert produce to cash at moving average prices.
- State demand fixed at one-third of average produce, payable in cash.
- Other land categories: Khalisa (crown land — revenue went directly to imperial treasury), Jagir (assigned to mansabdars), Inam / Madad-i-Maash (charitable grants to scholars and religious figures), Watan (Rajput hereditary).
- Other systems: Nasaq (rough estimate from past records), Kankut (eye-estimate), Ghalla-bakshi / Batai (crop sharing).
- Zamindars: Hereditary right-holders who collected revenue from peasants and paid a fixed share to the state. Irfan Habib's classic view (echoed in 2017 CDS-II PYQ) is that Zamindars were exploitative but often led peasant uprisings against the state because their own dues were squeezed.
- Bernier's quote: "So much is wrung from the peasants, that even dry bread is scarcely left to fill their stomachs." (2018 CDS-I PYQ — answer is Francois Bernier).
Central Administration
- Emperor (Padshah) at apex — Akbar's Mahzar (1579) gave him supreme religious authority.
- Four ministerial heads:
- Diwan / Wazir — finance and revenue.
- Mir Bakshi — military pay, intelligence, mansab maintenance.
- Mir Saman / Khan-i-Saman — imperial household, karkhanas.
- Sadr-us-Sudur — religious endowments and madad-i-maash grants.
- Qazi-ul-Quzat: Chief Justice; applied Hanafi fiqh on Muslims; customary law on Hindus.
- Subas (provinces): 15 under Akbar, 22 under Aurangzeb. Each subah headed by Subadar (governor), with Diwan (revenue), Bakhshi (military) and Sadr (religion).
- Sarkars and Parganas: Sarkar under Faujdar; pargana under Amil, Qanungo, Patwari.
- Iqtidars vs Jagirdars: Sultanate iqtadars were primarily territorial officers; Mughal jagirdars were salaried mansabdars whose income happened to come from a jagir. Mughal jagir was personal not territorial — could be reassigned annually.
Scholarly Debate on the Mughal State
- Irfan Habib (Marxist): The Mughal state was "the principal instrument of exploitation" — extracted up to 50% of produce, contributing to Bernier-described peasant immiseration. (Answers 2017 CDS-II PYQ on this exact phrase.)
- Athar Ali: Centralised, patrimonial-bureaucratic state with a multi-ethnic nobility.
- J.F. Richards: Mughal patrimonial-bureaucratic state; emphasised ritual sovereignty.
- Satish Chandra: Crisis of the jagirdari system led to 18th-century decline — shortage of paibaqi (assignable) jagirs against rising mansabs.
- Muzaffar Alam: 18th century not collapse but regional refashioning — Awadh, Hyderabad, Bengal.
- Sanjay Subrahmanyam: Mughal state in connected-histories perspective.
European Travellers in Mughal India
| Traveller | Period | Court | Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Father Monserrate (Jesuit) | 1580-82 | Akbar | Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius |
| Ralph Fitch | 1583-91 | Akbar | First English traveller in Mughal India |
| William Hawkins | 1608-11 | Jahangir | Got farman for English trade |
| Sir Thomas Roe | 1615-19 | Jahangir | James I's ambassador; Embassy |
| Francisco Pelsaert | 1620s | Jahangir / Shah Jahan | Dutch — Remonstrantie |
| Peter Mundy | 1631-33 | Shah Jahan | Witnessed Taj construction |
| Francois Bernier | 1656-68 | Shah Jahan / Aurangzeb | French physician — Travels in the Mogul Empire; theorised "Asiatic Despotism" |
| Jean-Baptiste Tavernier | 1640s-1660s (six trips) | Shah Jahan / Aurangzeb | Gem trader — Les Six Voyages |
| Niccolao Manucci | 1656-1717 | Shah Jahan to Aurangzeb | Italian — Storia do Mogor |
| John Fryer / Thomas Bowrey | Late 17th c | Aurangzeb | English East India Company |
CDS/OTA PYQ Examples
Q: Iqta in medieval India meant: (CDS-I 2016)
(a) Land assigned to religious personnel (b) Land revenue from territorial units assigned to army officers (c) Charity for cultural activities (d) Rights of the zamindar
Answer: (b) Land revenue assigned to army officers.
Q: The agrahara in early India was: (CDS-I 2016)
(a) A village or land granted to Brahmins (b) A garland of flowers (c) Grant of land to officers and soldiers (d) Land settled by Vaishya farmers
Answer: (a) Tax-free land/village granted to Brahmins.
Q: Statement I: The Zamindars were an exploitative class in Mughal India. Statement II: The Zamindars often received the support of the peasantry in agrarian uprisings of the seventeenth century. (CDS-II 2016)
(a) Both true and II explains I (b) Both true but II does not explain I (c) I true, II false (d) I false, II true
Answer: (b) Both true but II does not explain I — peasants supported their zamindars against the imperial revenue squeeze.
Q: Who argued that 'the peculiar feature of the State in Mughal India was that it served not merely as the protective arm of the exploiting classes, but was itself the principal instrument of exploitation'? (CDS-II 2017)
(a) Irfan Habib (b) Satish Chandra (c) Athar Ali (d) J.F. Richards
Answer: (a) Irfan Habib.
Q: 'So much is wrung from the peasants, that even dry bread is scarcely left to fill their stomachs.' Whose statement is this? (CDS-I 2018)
(a) Francisco Pelsaert (b) Francois Bernier (c) Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (d) Niccolao Manucci
Answer: (b) Francois Bernier.
Q: Match List-I (Type of Land in Sanskrit literature) with List-II (Meaning): A. Urvara B. Maru C. Nadimatrika D. Devamatrika ; 1. Land watered by a river 2. Fertile land 3. Land watered by rain 4. Desert land (CDS-II 2017)
(a) A-2 B-4 C-1 D-3 (b) A-3 B-4 C-1 D-2 (c) A-3 B-1 C-4 D-2 (d) A-2 B-1 C-4 D-3
Answer: (a) Urvara-fertile, Maru-desert, Nadimatrika-river-watered, Devamatrika-rain-watered.
Drill Mughal Administration - Mansabdari and Land Revenue for CDS/OTA
CDS/OTA-pattern items on Mughal Administration - Mansabdari and Land Revenue with answer keys and explanations.
Start Free Mock TestFrequently Asked Questions
What was the difference between zat and sawar in mansabdari?
Zat fixed personal salary and rank; sawar fixed the cavalry obligation. A 5000/4000 mansabdar earned a 5000-rank pay but had to maintain 4000 horsemen. The two were calibrated to prevent inflated commands.
Why did Akbar create the mansabdari system?
To centralise the nobility - all officers, civil or military, sat in one numerical hierarchy. To diversify ethnically and prevent any one group dominating. To replace heritable iqta with non-heritable jagir, keeping the emperor in full control.
What was Todar Mal's Dahsala?
A land-revenue system codified in 1580. State demand was fixed at one-third of average produce, calculated from a ten-year (dahsala) average of yields and prices. Cash payment, on measured land — a sophistication of Sher Shah's earlier system.
Why is Aurangzeb's reign considered the turning point?
Despite territorial peak, Aurangzeb's twenty-five-year Deccan war drained the treasury, reimposed jizya alienated Hindus, conflict with Marathas, Sikhs and Rajputs eroded the imperial coalition, and the jagirdari system collapsed because there were more mansabdars than jagirs (Satish Chandra's crisis thesis).
Why did the Mughal Empire decline?
Aurangzeb's wars and reimposition of jizya, Deccan ulcer, weak successors, Nadir Shah (1739), Ahmad Shah Abdali (1761), rise of Marathas and Sikhs, jagirdari crisis, English East India Company victories at Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764).