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UPPCS Medieval History Gap Sheet: Mughal Administration, Mansab and Revenue.
UPPCS has asked 27 of these. 3 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
A mansab fixed an officer’s rank and service obligations; a jagir provided assigned revenue to meet pay. Rank, revenue assignment and ownership were separate, and ordinary service mansabs were not hereditary.
Zabt converted measured cultivation and crop rates into an assessment. Dahsala used averages from ten years; other collection methods existed where detailed measurement was difficult.
✅ Already asked (27)
Mansab and revenue assignments
- Akbar's mansabdari · Akbar organised civil and military officers within a ranked service system.
- Zat personal rank · Zat determined personal status and the corresponding personal pay.
- Sawar cavalry rank · Sawar indicated the cavalry obligation assigned to a mansabdar.
- Non-hereditary service · The emperor appointed, promoted, reduced or dismissed mansabdars.
- Jagir salary assignment · A mansabdar could receive assigned territorial revenue in lieu of salary.
- Khalisa crown revenue · Revenue from khalisa land went directly to the imperial treasury.
- Ahadi royal cavalry · Ahadis were directly recruited cavalrymen under the emperor rather than a mansabdar's retainers.
- Du-aspa sih-aspa · Jahangir's refinement allowed additional cavalry obligations without the same rise in zat rank.
Land measurement and assessment
- Zabt assessment · Measured cultivation and crop-specific rates supported cash assessment in suitable regions.
- Dahsala, 1580 · The system used ten-year averages of produce and prices to set assessment rates.
- Todar Mal's revenue reforms · Todar Mal is associated with standardising Mughal land assessment.
- Chachar and banjar fallow · Chachar lay fallow for three or four years; banjar for five years or more.
- Jarib measuring device · Jarib was used to measure land; it was not a tax.
- Batai produce sharing · Batai divided actual produce between cultivator and state.
- Kankut estimation · Kankut assessed produce through estimation linked to cultivation area.
- Jama and hasil · Jama was assessed revenue; hasil was the revenue actually collected.
- Mal land revenue · Mal denoted land revenue, the main source of imperial income.
Offices and territorial units
- Diwan finance office · The diwan supervised revenue and finance; provincial diwans checked provincial accounts.
- Mir Bakhshi military office · Mir Bakhshi handled military appointments, ranks and inspection; revenue assessment belonged to the diwan.
- Mustaufi audit office · The mustaufi examined state income and expenditure accounts.
- Suba–sarkar–pargana–village · The normal territorial sequence ran from province to district, pargana and village.
- Deh or mauja · These terms denoted a village in Mughal records.
- Karori revenue officer · Karoris were officials concerned with revenue collection.
- Zawabit state regulations · Zawabit were state regulations, distinct from religious law.
- Mughal currency metals · Mohur was gold, rupiya silver and dam copper.
- Muhtasib supervision · Muhtasibs supervised public conduct and observance of prescribed religious norms.
- Qanungo and patwari records · Qanungos preserved pargana revenue information; patwaris maintained village records.
❌ Not asked yet (3)
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🔒 3 items not asked yet
Mansab and revenue assignments: 1 · Land measurement and assessment: 2
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⚠️ Zat is personal rank; sawar is the cavalry obligation. A jagir transfers revenue rights, not unrestricted ownership of the soil.
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