Page 47 - SST Class 07

Info Bits A mansabdar
Info Bits
The term ‘kotwal’ and ‘kotwali’ continue to be used
even today.
Revenue Administration
Revenue is very important for the running of
administration well. Revenue was collected from
trade and land. In addition to this, taxes were
charged from many heads, such as on pilgrimage,
jaziya, construction of houses etc. Land revenue
was the most important type of income, so much
attention was paid to it.
Land revenue ranged from one-third to one-half
during the rule of different rulers. It was one-third
under Akbar which was gradually increased to
one-half during Aurangzeb’s rule. The jagirs were
given to princes and nobles for the purpose of
collection of tax and maintenance of army. The
jagirdars had the responsibility of collecting tax,
deduct their salary from it and deposit the balance
with the central treasury.
Prior to Akbar’s rule, the land was measured using
a rope which was not of definite length in all
cases. So Raja Todar Mal, the incharge of revenue
administration, made a new bamboo device fixed
with iron rings to measure the land. Land revenue
was fixed on a ten-year average. This system of
land revenue is called Todar Mal’s bandobast . luxury etc. The Europeans had set up trade posts
Raja Todar Mal also updated his records from time
to time.
Military Administration
Under military administration, the Mughals
introduced the mansabdari or rank system. Under it,
every noble or officer was given a mansab or rank
and he was called a mansabdar . The mansab of a
person could be high or low depending upon the
number of zat (soldiers) and/or sawars (cavalrymen)
he had to maintain. A mansabdar was given a salary
depending upon the number of soldiers and
cavalrymen he had to maintain. This salary was
determined in cash, but it was paid in the form of
jagir or land grant, from which the mansabdar
realised land revenue. He kept himself his salary
and deposited the balance with the central treasury.
Thus, a mansabdar was a jagirdar as well.
could maintain soldiers and
cavalrymen from 10 to 5,000; only princes were
allowed to maintain a larger number up to
10,000. A person remained a mansabdar only
during his lifetime, and this post was not
hereditary. He could be promoted or demoted.
On his death, the post went back to the emperor
who assigned it to somebody else. It was not
necessary for a mansabdar to reside in his jagir; he
could get the land revenue collected by his
servants, that was often the case.
However, the emperor was not solely dependent
on the mansabdars for the supply of troops. He
himself maintained a large army, so that he could
not be exploited and could act immediately if he
felt its need.
The mir bakshi maintained the records of all
soldiers and branded horses, much like it was
done by Ala-ud-din and Sher Shah Suri in the past.
The Mughals also maintained a navy, but it was
not strong.
Trade
The Mughals encouraged both overland and
overseas trade with other countries and kingdoms.
The chief items for export were textiles, jewellery,
spices, saltpetre, indigo etc. The chief articles for
import were silk, wine, clothes and other items of
in India and made a good profit.
Agriculture
Land revenue was the largest income for the
empire, so the emperors paid attention to this
aspect. It is believed that the produce from land
increased more than five times from the beginning
of the Mughal rule towards its end. However, land
revenue was increased from time to time in order
to meet increasing needs, which put a lot of
burden on the peasants; which compelled the
small peasants to abandon their land and cultivate
the land of jagirdars.
SOCIETY
Broadly the society could be divided into three
components—nobles, town people and villagers.
The nobles comprised of the ruling class and
The Mughal Administration
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