The Mansabdari was a unique system devised by the Mughals in India. Mansabdari, introduced by Akbar was a single service, combining both civil and military responsibilities. Their salary could be paid in cash but generally it was paid by the grant of a jagir, which implied the right to collect all the payments due to the state.

The Mughal Mansabdari system served its purpose in the 17th and early 18th Centuries, but it could not cope with modern technology and crumbled before the onslaught of Nadir Shah. This revealed that it could no longer perform its historical role which lay in its military power. This was more significant as 70% of the entire revenue of the Mughal nobility went towards maintenance of the army contingents. The system failed as it was unable to change itself to meet new challenges. Thus the Mansabdari crisis constituted one of the aspects of the crisis facing the Mughal Empire.

свернуть