CHAPTER 13

Consolidation of the Mughal Empire

(Age of Akbar

WHEN HUMAYUN Was retreating from side of Hemu was considered th

Bikaner, he was gallantly offered serious. The area tron Chunar toiiost
the
shelter and help by the Rana of border of Bengal was under the
lto
Amarkot. It was at Amarkot, in l542, domination of Adil Shah, a nephew
that Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal Sher Shah. Hemu, who had started Hfe
rulers, was born. When Humayun tled as a superintndent of the marketa
to Iran, young Akbar was captured by under Islam Shah, had rapidly rlsen tu
hisuncle, Kamran. He treated the child under Adil Shah. He had not lost a gnth
well, Akbar was re-united with his single one of the twenty-twe battles tn M
parents after thè capture of Qandhar. which he had fought. Adil Shah had
When Humayun died, Akbar was at appointed him the wazir with the title d o
Kalanaur in the Punjab, commanding of Vikramajit, and entrusted him with hle
operations against the Afghan rebels the task of expelling the Mughals. mp
there. He was crowned at Kalanaur in Hemu captured Agra, and with an ha,
1556at the young age of thirteen years army. of 50,000 cavalry, 500 elephants
and four months.
Akbar succeeded to a difficult and a strong park of artilery marched
upon Delhi.
position. The Aghans were still strong In a well-contested battle, Hemu
beyond Agra, and-were regrouping defeated the Mudhals near Delhi ana
their forces under the leadership of
Hemu for a flnal showdown. Kabul had OCcupled the city, However, Balram.
been attacked and besieged. Sikandar Khan took energetic steps to meet the
Sur, the defeated Arghan ruler, was situation. His bold stand put new heart
loitering in the Siwalik HIlls. However. into his army. and it marched on Delht
Bairam Khan, the tutor of the
prince before Hemu could have time to
and a loyal and favourite offcer of consolidate his position. The battle
Humayun, rose to the occasion. He between the
became the wakil of the kingdom. with forces led by Mughals placeAfghan
and the
Hemu, took once
the title of. Khan4-Khanan, and rallied again at
Panipat (5 November 1556)
the Mughal forces. The threat from the Althoagh Hemu's artillery had been
captured earlier by a Mughal
 ronsolidationofthe Mughal Empire
291

detachiment,the tide of battle was in

his office,and callingupon all the
favour fHemu when an arrow hit him
of to come and submit to him nobles
Once Bairam Khan reallsed personaly.
and h¹ fainted. The
the eye that Akbar
leaderless Afghan army was defeated, wanted to take power in his own hands,
Hemuwas captured and executed. he was prepared to submit, but his
Thus, Akbar had vírtually to reconquer opponents were keen to ruin him. They
hlsempire. heaped húmliation upon him till he was
Early.Phase Contest with the goaded to rebel. The rebellion distracted
Nobility(1556-67) the empire for almost six months.
Finally, Bairam Khan was forced to
BairamKhan remained at the helm of submit. Akbar received him cordially,
offatrs of the empire for almost four and gave him the option of serving at
years. During the period, he kept the the court or anywhere outside 1t, or
nobility fully under control. The danger retiring to Mecca. Bairam Khan chose
to Kabul was averted, and the tó goto Mecca. However, on his way, he
teritories of the empire were extended was assassinated at Patan near
froEn Kabul up to Jaunpur in the east Ahmedabad by an Afghan who bore
and Ajmer in the west, Gwalior was him a personal grudge. Bairam's wife
nCaptured, and forces sernt to conquer and a young child were brought to
Ranthambhor and Malwa. Akbar at Agra. Akbar married Bairam
Meanwhile, Akbar was approaching Khan's widow who was his cousin, and
d the age of maturity. Bairam Khan brought up the child as his owm son.
had offended many powerful persons This child later became famnous as
while he held supreme power. They Abdur Rahim Khan-1-Khanan and held
complained that Bairam Khan was a some of the most important offices and
Shia, and that he was appointing his commands in the empire.
OWIN Supporters and Shias to high Akbar's confrontation with Bairam
otices while neglecttng the old nobles. Khan and the treatment accorded to his
Inese charges were not very serious in family subsequently show some typical
themselves. But Bairam Khan had traits of Akbar's character. He was
Decome arrogant, and fatled to realise unrelenting once he had made up his
that Akbar was growing up. There was mind about a course of action, but was
rdctlon on small points which m¡de prepared to go out of his way in belng
Akbar realise that he could not leave the generous to an opponent who had
affalrs of the state n somneone else's submitted to him.
hands for any length of time. During Bairam Khan's rebelllon,
ARbar played his cards deftly. He left groups and individuals in the
Agra on the pretext of hunting, and
Teached Delhi. From Delhi he ssued a
had become
politically
incuded Akbar's
nobility
active. They
Jarmart dismissing Bairamn Khan from nd her
Anaga, and foster-mother, Maham
relations. Though
192

Maham Anaga sOon Medieval lndia

politics, her Son, Adhamwithdrew from capture of Delhi. However,
luckAkbarenabl
's grted
Khan
impetuous young man who assumedwas an and a certain amount of
him to triumph. From
independent airs when sent tc
command expedition against Malwa. marched to Lahore,
Jaunpur he
an
Removed from the command, he laid
Hakin to retire. forcing Mirza
Meanwhile, thhe
rebellion of the Mirzas was
claim to the post of the wazir and when Mirzas fleeing to Malwa andcrushed the
this was not conceded, he stabbed the
acting wazir in his offlce. Akbar was
Gujarat. Akbar thencefromto
marhed back
Lahore toJaunpur. Crossing the rlver
enraged and had him thrown down Yamuna near Allahabad at
from the parapet of the fort so that he the the
of the rainy season. he surprised height
died (1561). However, it was many years rebels led by the Uzbek nobles and
before Akbar was to establish his completely routed them (1567). The
authority fully. The Uzbeks formed a Uzbek leaders were killed in the battle.
powerful group in the nobility. They thus bringing their protracted rebellon
held important positions in eastern to an.end. All the rebellious nobles,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Malwa. including those among them who had
Although they had served the empire been dreaming of independence, were
well by subduing the powerful Afghan cowed down. Akbar was now free o
groups in those areas, they had becomne concentrate on the expansion of the
arrogant and were defying the young empire.
ruler. Between l561 and 1567 they
broke out in rebellion several times, Early. Expansion of the Empire
forcing Akbar to take the field against (1560-76)
them. Each time Akbar was induced to During Bairam Khan's regency, the
pardon them. When they again rebelled territories. of the Mughal empire had
In 1565, Akbar was so exasperated that been expanded rapidly. Apart from
he vowed to make Jaunpur his capital Ajmer, an important conquest durn
till he hadrooted them out. Meanwhile, this period was that of Malwa, which
a rebellion by the Mirzas, who were. was being ruled, atthat time, by a young
Timurids and were related to Akbar by prince, Baz Bahadur. His accomplisi
marriage, threw the areas west of ments included a mastery of music and
modern Uttar Pradesh into çonfusion. poetry. Storles about the romancewas
Encouraged by these rebelllons, Baz Bahadur and Rupmati. who for
Akbar's half-brother, Mirza Hakin, who famous for her as well as
had selzed control of Kabul, advanced known.
mmusic and poetry, are wellbecome
into the Punjab, and besiegecd Lahore. During his tlme, Mandu had armya
The Uzbek rebels formaly proclaimed celebrated centre for musíc. Theby Baz
him their ruler. however, had been neglected Malwa
This was the most serious crisis
Akbar had to face since Hemu's
Bahadur. The expedition again_t
was led by Adham ofAkbar's
Khan, son 2
 consolidation ofthe Mughai Empire
193

-mother,
foster- Mahamn Anaga. Baz
Bahadur was badly cavalry, a large infantry and i D90
efeated (1561) elephants.We do not know, however, tO
andthe Mughals took valuable spoils, what extent these figures are
jncluding Rupra.ti. However, she
preferred to comnit suicide te dependable. Sangram Shea had
dragged to Adham Khan's being further strengthened his position by
harem. Due imarrylng off his son to a princess ol
to-the senseless cruelties of Adham the famous Chandella rulers of
Khan and his successor, there Was a
Mahoba. This princess, who is famous
reactlon against the mughals which
as Durgavati, becarne a widow soon
enabled Baz Bahadur to recover Malwa. afterwards. But she installed her minor
After dealing with Bairan Khan's Son on the throne and ruled ti:
rebellion, Akbar se1t ancther Country with great vigour and courage.
exped!tion to MaBwa. Baz Batadur had She.wasS a good marksman, botii with
to flee, ar:d for some time he took guns and bow and arrow. She was fond
shelter with the Rana of Mewar. After of hunting and according to a
wandering about from one area to contemporary, "it was her custom that
another, he finally repaired to Akbar's whenever she heard that atiger had
court and was enrolled as a Mughal appeared she did not drink water ll
mansabdcr.' The extens!ve country of she had shot it". She fought many
Malwa thus came under Mughal rule. succeSsful battles against her
At about the same time, Mughal neighbours, including Baz Bahadur of
arms overran the kingdom of Garh Malwa, These border. conflicts
Katanga. The kingdom gf Garh apparently çontirised even after Malwa
Katanga included the Narmada valley had been conquered by the Mughals.
and the northern portiens nf present Meanwhile, the cupidity of Asat Khàn,
Madhya Pradesh. -It b:d been velCed the Mughal governor of Allahabad, was
Logether by one Aman Da3. who roused by the storis of the fabulous
lourished in the.serd.half ot the wealth and the Deauty of theRani. Asaf
1
tteenth century. Amar Das had Khan .advanced with 10,000 cavalry
helped Bahadur Shak of Gujarat in the from the side of Bundelkhand. Some
tOnquest of Raisen and had recetved of the semi-independent rulers of
from him the tile of Sangram Shah. Garha found it a convenient mnoment
io throw off the Gond yoke. The Rani
The rintdom of Garh-Katanga Was thus left withasmall orce. Though
Inciudeda Amber of Gond and Rajput
powerfl!
{t was the most wounded, she fought on gallantly.
prlncipal:kes.
kingdom set
is said
up hy the Gonds. it 20,000
inding that the battle was
that she was in danger .of lost and
that the ruler cOmmanded
captured, she stabbed herslf to being
rose to the rank of 2000. Accordng
to
Asaf Khan then death
tank at Uialn stormed the
talsoWhere
raditburted.
icn.his favourite
ne was burled near a
consort, Rupnati,
was Chauragarn, near
uso inuch plunder inmodern capital,
Jahalpur.
jewels, gold silver
 194

and other things were taken that

it is these peasants and Me di
many of the
eval nda
impossible to compute even a fraction warriors
of it," says Abul Fazl. "Out of all
the massacredamounting to
-the first and 30, O00Raljput
ne

plunder Asaf Khan sent only two Akbar indulged in such the last were
hundred elephants to the court, and
a
Rajput warriors died aftercarnage. tme
retained all the rest for himself," as much
as extractng
The cst

vengeance
Kamaladevi, the younger sister of the
Rant, was sent to the court.
honour of the galant
Akbar ordered that two
possible.
and Pata,
In the

When Akbar had dealt with the of these warriors, seated stone statues
on
chief elgate
ephantof thes, bes
rebellionof the Uzbek nobles, he forced be erected outside the
Asaf Khan to disgorge his illegal gains. fort at Agra.
He restored the kingdom of Garh The fall of Chtttor was
Katanga to Chandra Shah, the younger the conquest of Ranthambhorfollowed by
son of Sangram Shah, after taking ten to be the most powerful reputedin
fortress
forts to round off the kingdom of Rajasthan. Jodhpur had beeh hs
Malwa. conquered earlier. As a result of these Gu
Duing the next ten years, Akbar victories, most of the Rajput rajas, Ho
brought the major part of Rajasthan including those of Bikaner and his
under his control and also conquered Jaisalmer, submitted to Akbar. Only Gu
Gujarat and Bengal. A major stp in Mewar continued to resist.
his campaign against the Rajput states Gujarat h¡d been in a sorry state
was .the siege of Chittor. This of affars since the death of Bahadur
redoubtable fortress, which had faced Shah. The fertility of its soil, its highiy
anumber of sieges in its history,was developedcrafts and its importance as Ah
considered'a key to central Rajasthan. the centre of the import-export trade
It commnanded the shortest route from
with the outside world had made it a
Agra to Gujarat. But above all, it was a prlze worth fighting for. Akbar also lald
symbl of the Rajput spirit of claim to it because Humnayun had ruled
resistance. Akbar realised that without over it for some time. An additlonal
conquering Chittor, he could not reason.was that the Mirzas, who had
induce the other Rajput rulers to failed in their rebellion near Delhi, had
accept his suzerainty. Chittor fell taken shelter in Gujarat. Akbar was no
(1568) after a gallant siege of six prepared. for such a rich provinçe to
months. At the advice of his nobles, become a rival certtre of power. In 1572,
Rana Udai Singh had retired to the Akbar advanced on Ahmedabad vMa
hills, leaving the famous warriors, Ajmer. Ahmedabad surrendered
Jaimal and Patta, in charge of the fort. without a fight. Akbar thenturnedheld his
Many peasants from the surrounding attention to the Mirzas who
area had also taken shelter within the At Cambay,
fort, and actively aided the defenders.
Broach, Baroda and Surat.
Akbar saw the sea for the first timne,
of
When the Mughals stormed the fort, and rode on it tn aboat. Agroup
 consolldationofthe Mughal Empire
J95

Portuguese merchants alsO came and

for the first time. The strong flotilla of boats
accompanying
met him him. The Afghan king was believed to
Portuguese dominated the Indian seas
hythis time, and had ambition of possess a large army consisting o!
establishing an empire in India.
40,000 well-mounted cavalry, an
infantry of about 1,50,000, several
Akbar's conquest oft Gujarat frustrated thousand guns and elephants, and a
these designs. Strong îlotilla of war boats. If Akbar had
While Akbar's armies Were not been as careful and the Afghans had
besieging Surat, Akbar crossed the a better leader, the contest between
river Mahi and assaulted the Mirzas
Humayun and Sher Shah might well
dth a small body of 200 mern which have been repeated. Akbar first
ncluded Man Singh and Bhagwan Das captured Patna, thus securing Mughal
of Amber. For some time, Akbar's life communications in Bihar, He then
Was tn danger. But the impetuosity of returned to Agra, leaving Khan-i
hls charge routed the Mirzas. Thus, Khanan Munaim Khan, an experienced.
Gujarat came under Mughal control. officer, in charge of the campaign. The
However, as soon as Akbar had turned Mughal armies invaded Bengal and after
his back, rebellions broke out all over hard campaigning, Daud was forced to
Gujarat. Hearing the news, Akbar Sue for peace. He rose in rebellion soon
marched out of Agra and traversed afterwards. Though the Mughal
across Rajasthan in nine days by position in Bengal.and Bihar was still
Means of camels, horses and carts. On weak, the Mughal armies
the eleventh day, he reached were better organised and led. In a
Ahmedabad. In this journey, which stiff battle in Bihar in 1576, Daud Khan
normally took slx weeks, only 3000 was defeated andexecuted on the spot.
Boldiers were able to keep up with Thus ended the last Afghan
Akbar. With these he defeated an kingdom in northern India. It also
enemy force of 20,000 (1573). brought to an end the frst phase of
After this, Akbar turned his .Akbar's expansion of the empire.
attentlon to Bengal. The Afghans had
Continued to dominate Bengal and Administration
Blhar. They had also overrun Orissa
ad klled tts ruler. However, in order During the decade following the
Dot to glve offence.to the Mughals, the conquest of
tolook at Gujarat, Akbar found time
the
Aighan ruler hadad not formally declared of the administrative
empire. The systemproblems
biAkbar'
mselsf king, but read the khuba in
administration
name. Internal fights among had elaborated by Sher Shah of
the Aghans, fallen
and the declaration of of Islam into confusion after the death
Shah. Akbar, therefore, had to
IShan,ndependence
gave
by the new ruler, Daud start afresh.
the opportunity he One of
Seelking. Akbar advanced with a the most
facing Akbar important problems
was the
system of land
196

revenue administration. Sher Shah had

instituted area
a system by
which
prices. productivity, ctc. , inMedievalindia
was measured andthea system 1580,
cultivated Akbar instituted a new
crop rate (ray) was drawn up,
fixing the
the dahsala. Under this system,called
dues of the peaseant
crop-wise on the
average produce of
well as the average
different the
errops as
bas s of the productivity of prices prevating
s.rdule was converted everyland. This
year. into
over the last ten
calculated. One-third of
(dah) years
were
. central schedule of
prices. Akbar the
produce was the state share. The average
adopted Sher Shah'ssystem. But it was demand was, however, stated in cesh state
soon found that- the fixing of central This was done by converting the stat
schedule of prices often led to share into money on the basis of a
considerable delays, and resulted in schedule of average prices over the past
great hardships to the peasantry. Since ten years. Thus, the produce of a biaho
the prices flxed were generally those of land under share was given in
prevailing at the Imperial Court, and maunds. But on the basis of
thus were higher than in the averag
prices, the state demand was fixedin
countryside, the peasants had to part rupees per blgha.
with a larger share of their produce. Later, a further improvernent was
Akbar, therefore, reverted to a made. Not only were local prices taken
system of annual assessmnt. The into account. parganas having the
qanungos. who were hereditary holders same typeof productivity were grouped
of land as well as local officials intoseparate assessment circles. Thus,
conversant with local conditions, were the peasant was required to pay on the
ordered to report on the actual basis of local productivity as well as
produce, state of cultivation, local local prices.
prices, etc. But in many areas the There were a number of adyantages
qanungos were dishonest and of this system. As soon as the area
concealed the real produce. Annual SOWn by, the. peasant .had been
assessments also resulted in great measured by means of the bamhoos
diffiçulty for the peasants and for the linked with iron rings, the peasants 25
state. After returning from Gujarat well as the state knew what the dues
(1573). Akbar paid person¡l attention were, The peasent was given remission
to the land revenue system. Officials in the land evenue if crnps failed on
called karoris were appointed all over accouant of dronght, floods, etc. The
north India. They were responsible for sVstem of measurement and the
the collection of a crore of dams assessment based upon it is called the
(Rs 2,50.000), and also checked the zabt! system. Akbar introduc¢d this
façts and figures suppljed by the svstemn in the area from Lahore to
qanungos. On the basis of the
information provided by th¹m Allahabad, and in Malwa and Gujarat.
The dahsala system was a further
regarding the actuai -produce, looet
development of the zabtt system.
Consolldation of the Mughal Empire 197

A number oi other
assessment were also
systems of Other local methods of assessment
followed under also continued in some areas.
Akbar. The most Common and,
perhaps, the oldest was,called batai or In fixing the land revenue.
ghalla-bakhsht. In this System, the Continuityof cultivation was taken into
account. Land which remained under
produce was divided between the Cultivation almost every year was called
peasants and the state in fixed polaj. When it remained uncultivated
proportlon. The crop was divided after, 1t was called paratt (fallow). Parati land
it had been thrashed, or when it had paid at the full (pola) rate when it was
been cut andtied in stacks, or while it cultivated. Land which had been fallow
was standing in the field. This- system for two to three years was called
was considered a very fair one,but it chachar, and if longer than that.
needed an army of honest oficials to be banjar. These were assessed at
present at the time of the ripening or the concessional rates, the revenue
reaping, of the crops. demand gradually rising till the full
The peasants were allowed to choose or polaj rate was paid in the fifth or
between zabti and baai under certain the eighth year. In this way, the state
conditions. Thus, such a choice was helped in bringing virgin and
gtven when the crops had been ruined. uncultivated wasteland under
Under batat. the peasants were given cultivation. Land was classified further
the choice of paying in cash or in kind, intogood, middling and bad. One-third
though the state preferred cash. In case of the average produce was the state
of crops such as cotton, indigo, oil seeds, demand, but it varied according to the
Sugarcane, etc., the state demand was productivity of the land, thc method of
invariably in cash. Hence, these were assesSment, etc.
called cash crops. Akbar was deeply interested in the
A third system which was widely improvement and extension of
u_ed in Akbar's time was naSaq. lt cultivation. He asked the amil to act
Seems that it meant a rough calculation 1ike a father to the peasants. He was
of the amount payable by the peasant to advance money by way of loans
on the basis of what he had been paying (taccavt) to the peasants for seeds,
the past. Hence. some modern implements, animals, etc., in times of
historlans think that it was merely a need, and to recover them in easy
yStem of computing the peasant's dues, instalments. He was to try and
iOt a different system of assessment. the peasants to plough as induce
think that it meant rough as possibleand tosow
much land
Others crops. The zamindars superior
PPraisement both on the basis of the of the quality
and past also enjoined area were
Inspection
expérience,
of the crops
and thereby fixing the amount The zamindar
to
cooperate
had a
in the task.
tobe paid by the village as a whol. It is
called lkankuttor estimation.
also to take a share of
peasants, too,
had a
hereditäry
the
produce. right
The
hereditary right to
198

cultivate their land and could

not be personal. It fixed the
Medieval lhndla
ejected as long as they paid
the land a persOn, and also the personal
salary st
duetatus o
The sawar rank
indicated to him,
revenue.
of cavalrymen (sawars) athe
The dahsala was not a ten-year
settlement. Nor was it a permanent one, requíred to maintain. A
person
iumber
person
who WasWas
modify required to maintain many
the state retaining the right toAkbar's as
it. However, with some changes, of the
settlement remained the basis
as his zat rank was placed
in
category of that rank; if he the flrst
Sawars
land revenue system of the
empire till the end of the
Mughal
seventeenth
half or more, then in the second
and if he maintained less,
maicatntineagorinedy
century. The zabti system is associated third category. Thus, therethen
were
the
with Raja Todar Mal, and is
sometimes categories in every rank (mansab).three
called Todar Mal's bandobast. Todar Great care was taken to ensure that
the sawars recruíted by the nobles were
Mal was a brilliant reyenue officer who
had first served under Sher Shah. But experienced andd well-mounted. For thie
he was only one of a team of brilliant purpose, a descriptive roll (chehral of
revenue officials who came to the the soldier was maintained, and his
forefront under Akbar. horse wàs branded with the imperial
marks. This was called the dagh.
Mansabdari System and the Army system. Every noble had to bring hls
Akbar would not have been able to contingernt for periodic inspectdon before
expand his empire and maintain his persons appointed by the emperor for
hold over it without a strong army. For the purpose. The horses were carefully
this purpose, it was necessary for him inspected and only good quality horses
to organise the nobility as well as his of Arabic and Irag breed were employed.
army. Akbar realised both these Ideally, for every ten cavalrymen, the
objectives by means of the mansabdari mansabdar had to maintain twenty
system. Under this system, every officer horses. This was so. because horses had
was assigned a rank (mansab). The to be rested while on march, and
lowest rank was 10, and the highest was replacements were necessary in time o
5000 for the nobles.Princes of the blood war. A sawar with only one horse WaS
received higher mansabs. Towards the considered to be only half a sawa: lne
end of Akbar's reign, the highest rank a Mughal cavalry force remajned a
nöble could attain was raised from 5000 rule
efficient one as long as the 10-20
to 7000, and two premier nobles of the. was adhered to.
the
empire, Mirza Aziz Koka and Raja Man Provision was made. that
Singh, were honoured with the rank of contingents of the nobles should theDe
7000 each. This limit was retained mixed ones, that is drawn from all
basically til< the end of Aurangzeb's Hindustanl
reign. The ranks were divided into two
groups - Mughal, Pathan, tried to
-2atand sauVar. The.word zat means
and Rajput. Thus, Akbar and
weaken the forces of tribalism
Consolidationofthe Mughal Empire 199

parochialism, The Mughal and

were allowed to have
Rajput There is a good deal of controversy
nobles contingents
exclusivelyof Mughals or Rajputs, but
as to when the mansabdarisystem was
started. While the Sawar rank had
incourse of tim, mixed contingents
CXisted even earlier. recent researeh
becamethe generalrule.
shows that the dual rank of Zat and
Apart from cavalrymen, bowmen, Sawar were introduced in the 40th
musketeers (bandukchi). sappers and
miners were also recruited in the regnalye¡r (1595-96). Persons holding
ranks below 500 zat were called
contingents. The salaries varied, the mansabdars, those from 500 to below
average salary ofaa sawar was Rs 20 per
2500 were called amirs, and those
month. Iranis and Turanis received more.
Aninfantry man received about Rs 3 per holding ranks of 2500 and above were
called amir-i-umda or umda-i-azam.
month. Thesalary due to the soldiers was However, the word mansabdar is
added to the personal salary of the Sometimes used, for all the three
mansabdar, who was paid by assigning
categories. Apart from status, this
to him a jagir. Sometimes, the classification hada significance: an amir
mansabdars were paid in cash. Akbar
or an amir-i-unda could have another
did not like the jagir system but could amir or mansabdar serve under
him,
not do away with it, as it was too deeply
entrenched. Ajagir did not confer any but not so a mansabdar. Thus, a
hereditary rights on the holder, or disturb person with arank (zat) of 5000could
have under him a mansabdar up to a
any of the existing rights in the area, it
only meant that the land revenue due to rank of 500zat, and one witha rank of
the state was to be paid to the jagirdar. 4000could have,a mansabdar up to a
The mansabdari system, as 1t rank of 400 z¡t, and so on. The
developed under the Mughals, was a categories were not rigid. Persons were
distinctive and unique, system which generally appointed at a low mansab
ald not have any exact parallel outside and gradually promoted, depending
Indla. The orlglns of the mansabdari upon their merits and the favour of the
System can, perhaps, be traced back to emperor. A person could also be
Changez Khan who organised his army demoted as a mark of punishment.
On a decimal basis, the lowest unit of Thus, there was only one service
COmmand being ten, and the highest ten including both armymen andcivilians.
thousand (toman) whose commander People generally entered service at the
Was called khan, The Mongol system lowest rung of the ladder, and could
military
influenced, to some extent, the hope to rise to the position of an amir
yStem of the Delhi Sultaat, for we hear
COmmanders of hundred and one iThe terms sadt, hazara and toman quickly began
Sawars, i.e.
sadis and to be used for persons who either controlled
thousand
But we do not quite
hazaras. knowthe that
number of vlllages or collected revenue of that
prevalent under mount. The Mughal term, Karor,. 1.e. a
System which was
Babur and Humayu.
oc0llected a kror of
dams, was one suchperSon
term.
 200

or even
amir-i-umda. To that extent.
careers were thrown open to talent. Akbar
kept a large.
Medleval lndka
cavalrymen as his
In addition of
expenses, the
meeting his personal
mansabdar had to
abig stable of horses.bodyguards.
a body of He: body
.
also kepH e ot
maintain out of his salary a
quota of horses, elephants, stipulated
beasts of
gentleman
were persons of troopers.maintalned
not have the noble lincage These
burdern (camels and mules) and means of who did
Thus a mansabdar holding å zat carts.
of rank
5000 had to majntain 340 horses,
contingent or
impressed the
were personsS wh¡ a
emperor.
raising
had
allowed to keep eight to ten They
were
100 elephants, 400 camels, 100 mules
and l60 carts. Later, these were hoorses,
received a high salary of about Rs 800and
maintained month. They were answerable only to the
centrally, but the emperor, and nad separate muster.
mansabdar had to pav for them.out of master. These people cold be compared
ns _alary. The horses were classifjed to the knights of medieval
into six categories, and the elephants Europe.
Akbar was very fond of horses and
into five according to quality, the
number and qu¡lity of horses and elephants. He also maintalned a strong
park of. artillery. Akbar was specially
elephants þeing carefully prescribed. interested in guns. He devised deta
ThËs was so because hÍrses and chable guns which could be carrled on
eiephants of high breed were greatly an elephant or acamel. There were also
prized and Were considered heavy siege guns for
some of these were Sobreaching
indispen_able
for an efficjent mltary forts;
machine. Cavalry and eleph¡nts, in heavy that 100
or 200 Oxen and several elephants were
fact, formed the majn ba_js of the amy needed to pull them. A park of light
in those days, though the artillery was
rapidly becoming more important. The artillery accompanied the emperor
transport corps was vitl tor making whenever he moved out of the capital.
the army mÍre moblle. We do nÍt know whether Akbar ever
For meefing these expenses, the had any plans of þuilding a navy. The
Mueha! mansabdars were paid lack of a strong uavy remaned a key
weakness of the
handsnmely. Amansabdar with a rank
of 5000 could get a salary of Rs 30,000 Akbar had the time,Mugh¡l empire. l
he mtght have paid
per month, a mnansbdar pf 3000, attention toit. He did builld an efficient
Rs 17.000 and of flotill of war boats which he used /n
1000, Rs
month. Even a humble sadt 8,200 per
holdjng a
his eastern campaigns. Some of the
boats were over 30 metres long alt
rank of 100, could get Rs 7000 per
year. Roughly. a quarter of these di_placed over 350 tons.
salaries were sRepton ineeting the çost
.!

of the tr¡nsport corp_. Even Organisation of the Government

Mughal mansabdars formed then, the Hardly any changes were made by Akbar
highest paid _ervice in tiie world. the in the
organisation of local government.
ahe pargana and the sarkar continued