Maarg Manthan · Topic 6.17

Mansabdari System and the Dahsala (Land Revenue) System Under Akbar

Medieval History › Mughal Period · Topic 6.17

Under the mansabdari system every officer held a numerical rank from 10 to 5000 (later 7000 for two premier nobles), later split into zat and sawar, with dagh and chehra checks and pay by jagir. The dahsala of 1580 fixed one-third of the average produce as the state share, converted into cash using ten years of average prices and assessed by circles after measurement, building on Sher Shah's zabti.

8 min read · UPSC Prelims · History · Mughal Period

At a Glance

Ranks 10 to 5000; 7000 for two top nobles
Zat and sawar Divided from 1594 to 1595
Pay By jagir or cash
Land revenue Dahsala, 1580
State share One-third of average produce
Exam link UPSC Prelims, Medieval History: Mughal Period

Where Does It Fit?

This is the seventeenth topic of the category on the Mughal period. The previous topic described the offices of government, and this topic covers the rank system that bound the nobility to the army and the revenue system that paid for them. The next topic covers Akbar’s religious policy. Previous topic: Akbar’s Central and Provincial Administration.

What Was the Mansabdari System?

In short: every officer, military or civil, held a numbered rank (mansab) that fixed his status, pay and the number of troopers he had to maintain.

The lowest rank was 10 and the highest 5000 for nobles, with princes of the blood getting higher ranks. Towards the end of Akbar’s reign the top rank was raised to 7000, and two premier nobles, Mirza Aziz Koka and Raja Man Singh, were given it. At first there was one rank; from the fortieth year (1594 to 1595) it was split into zat and sawar. Zat meant personal status and the salary due; sawar was the number of cavalrymen the person had to maintain. If a person maintained as many sawars as his zat, he was in the first category of that rank; half or more, the second; less than half, the third. So every rank had three categories.

Feature	Detail
Dagh and chehra	Every soldier had a descriptive roll and his horse was branded with the imperial mark; contingents were inspected periodically
Horses	Good quality Arabic and Iraqi breeds; ideally twenty horses for every ten cavalrymen; a sawar with one horse counted as half; the cavalry stayed efficient while the 10-20 rule was kept
Mixed contingents	Contingents were drawn from Mughal, Pathan, Hindustani and Rajput groups to weaken tribalism and parochialism; only Mughals and Rajputs could have exclusive contingents, but mixed became the rule
Other troops	Bowmen, musketeers, sappers and miners were also recruited
Pay	A sawar earned about Rs 20 a month, an infantryman about Rs 3; Iranis and Turanis were paid more than Rajputs and Hindustani Muslims; pay was by assigning a jagir or sometimes in cash
Jagir	Gave no hereditary rights; the land revenue was just payable to the jagirdar

How Were Mansabdars Classified and Paid?

Holders of ranks below 500 zat were mansabdars, those from 500 to below 2500 were amirs, and those from 2500 upwards were amir-i-umda or umda-i-azam. An amir or amir-i-umda could have another amir or mansabdar serve under him, but a mansabdar could not. A person of 5000 could have under him a mansabdar up to 500 zat. Entry was usually at a low rank, with promotions or demotions according to merit and the emperor’s favour. There was one service for both army men and civilians, so careers were open to talent.

The mansabdar had to meet his own expenses and also maintain a quota of horses, elephants, camels, mules and carts: a 5000 zat mansabdar had to keep 340 horses, 100 elephants, 400 camels, 100 mules and 160 carts. Later these were maintained centrally, but he paid for them. A 5000 mansabdar could get Rs 30,000 a month, a 3000 mansabdar Rs 17,000 and a 1000 mansabdar Rs 8,200; even a sadi of rank 100 could get Rs 7000 a year. The Mughal mansabdars formed the highest paid service in the world.

The system had no exact parallel outside India. Its origin can perhaps be traced to Changez Khan’s decimal organisation, with ten the lowest unit and the toman of ten thousand the highest. The Sultanat had commanders of hundred (sadis) and thousand (hazaras), and the Surs had nobles of 20,000, 10,000 or 5,000 sawars. How Babur and Humayun organised their nobles is not known.

What Was the Dahsala System?

Stage	Detail
Sher Shah’s base	Measurement of the cultivated area and a crop rate (ray) converted yearly into a central price schedule; Akbar adopted it
Problem	The central schedule caused delays and hardship since prices were those of the court, higher than in the countryside
Annual assessment	Qanungos were told to report actual produce and prices, but many were dishonest
Karoris	After 1573 Akbar appointed karoris responsible for collecting a crore of dams (Rs 2,50,000) and checking the qanungos’ figures
Dahsala (1580)	Average produce of different crops and average prices of the last ten years were calculated; one-third of the average produce was the state share, stated in cash as rupees per bigha
Improvement	Parganas with similar productivity were grouped into assessment circles, so the peasant paid according to local productivity and local prices

The dahsala was not a ten-year or a permanent settlement, since the state could modify it. With changes it stayed the basis of Mughal revenue to the end of the seventeenth century.

Measurement with bamboos linked by iron rings let both peasant and state know the dues, and there was remission when crops failed. This measurement-based assessment is the zabti system, introduced from Lahore to Allahabad, and in Malwa and Gujarat; the dahsala developed from it. Batai or ghalla-bakhshi divided the crop in fixed proportion after threshing, at the stack or in the standing field; it was fair but needed honest officials. Peasants could choose between zabti and batai in some conditions, such as ruined crops, and could pay in cash or kind under batai, though cash was preferred; cash crops like cotton, indigo, oilseeds and sugarcane were always assessed in cash. Nasaq was a rough estimate on what the peasant had paid before, or an appraisal by inspection and past experience, also called kankut.

Land type	Treatment
Polaj	Cultivated almost every year; paid the full rate
Parati	Fallow; paid the polaj rate when cultivated
Chachar	Fallow for two to three years; concessional rate
Banjar	Fallow for longer; concessional rate

For chachar and banjar the demand rose gradually to the full rate in the fifth or eighth year, to bring wasteland under cultivation. The amil was told to act like a father to peasants and give taccavi loans for seed, implements and animals, to be recovered in easy instalments. Peasants had a hereditary right to cultivate and could not be ejected so long as they paid, and zamindars had a hereditary right to a share of the produce.

Who Was Todar Mal and What Is the Verdict?

The zabti system is associated with Raja Todar Mal and is sometimes called Todar Mal’s bandobast. He was a brilliant revenue officer who first served under Sher Shah, but he was one of a team of such officials who came forward under Akbar, and the dahsala was the result of their combined labours. As an analytical point, Akbar took Sher Shah’s measurement system, corrected its price problem with ten-year averages and local circles, and tied the nobility to a single rank ladder. For the earlier base, see Sher Shah’s Administrative Reforms (Currency System, Roads, Sarais, Land Revenue Settlement), and for the crisis of the jagir system see Assessment of Aurangzeb’s Reign and the Jagirdari Crisis.

Why Is This Topic Important?

Core of Mughal polity One of the most-asked Akbar topics
Terms Zat, sawar, dagh and zabti
Link Explains the later jagirdari crisis

What Came Next?

The next topic describes Akbar’s religious policy and the Ibadat Khana debates. Next topic: jizyah Hall Ibadat Khana, Fatehpur Sikri, 1575 Fall of Chief sadr…">Akbar’s Religious Policy – the Ibadat Khana Debates.

Key People and Terms

Zat Personal rank and pay
Sawar Number of troopers maintained
Dagh Branding of horses
Zabti Measurement-based assessment
Karori Revenue collector for a crore of dams
Taccavi Loan to peasants

Exam Corner

Points to Remember

Ranks 10 to 5000; 7000 for Aziz Koka and Man Singh.
Zat and sawar split in 1594 to 1595.
10-20 rule: twenty horses per ten cavalrymen.
Dahsala: 1580; one-third of the produce.
Zabti is linked with Todar Mal.

Do Not Confuse With

Zat and sawar Personal rank versus troopers to be maintained
Zabti and batai Measurement-based assessment versus division of the crop
Dahsala and ten-year settlement Ten-year averages used, but not fixed for ten years

Memory Hook

Rank by zat, troopers by sawar, horses branded, land measured, ten years of prices averaged.

Mains Angle

Questions on these systems ask for features and an assessment. These points add depth.

Mansab One service for army and civil posts
Controls Dagh, chehra, inspection
Revenue Measurement, ten-year prices, circles

A Question You May Face

An original practice question, not a past paper question.

“Explain the mansabdari and dahsala systems of Akbar and assess their working.”

How to Answer

Mansab Ranks, zat and sawar.
Control Dagh and the 10-20 rule.
Revenue Zabti to dahsala.
Verdict Efficient but dependent on honest officials.

GS Relevance

Prelims: zat and sawar, dahsala and zabti. GS Paper 1: Mughal military organisation and revenue administration.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the mansabdari system?

The mansabdari system gave every officer a numerical rank, from 10 up to 5000 and later 7000 for two nobles. It fixed status, pay and the number of troopers to be kept, and covered both army and civilian officials.

What were zat and sawar?

Zat was the personal rank that fixed an officer's status and salary, and sawar was the number of cavalrymen he had to maintain. The two were separated from the fortieth year of Akbar's reign, in 1594 to 1595.

What was the dagh system?

Under the dagh system each soldier had a descriptive roll (chehra) and his horse was branded with the imperial marks so that poor horses could not be substituted, and every noble had to bring his contingent for regular inspection.

What was the dahsala system?

The dahsala of 1580 took the average produce and average prices of the last ten years. One-third of the average produce was the state share, converted into cash rates per bigha for each assessment circle.

What was Todar Mal's role?

Raja Todar Mal was a brilliant revenue officer, formerly in Sher Shah's service, whose name is associated with the zabti system, called Todar Mal's bandobast. The dahsala was the result of the work of a team of officials.

PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis

1 The zat and sawar ranks were separated from 1594 to 1595.

True

That was Akbar's fortieth year.

2 Dahsala fixed the land revenue for ten years only.

False

It used ten years of averages and the state could modify it.

3 Under Akbar a jagir gave hereditary rights to the holder.