The grading and ranking system of the Mughal nobility introduced by Akbar, under which every officer (mansabdar) held a numerical rank (mansab) that fixed his status, salary, and the number of troops he had to maintain.
- Each mansabdar held a dual rank: the zat (personal rank determining status and pay) and the sawar (the number of cavalrymen he had to maintain).
- Ranks ranged from 10 up to several thousand; mansabs above 5000 were usually reserved for princes and the highest nobles.
- Mansabdars were paid either in cash (naqd) or, more commonly, through the assignment of revenue from a piece of land called a jagir (such holders were jagirdars).
- Mansabs were not hereditary and were granted, raised, or revoked at the emperor's will, which kept the nobility dependent on the crown.
- To prevent fraud, the system used the dagh (branding of horses) and the chehra (descriptive roll of soldiers); the nobility was a service aristocracy, not a landed one.
The zat-versus-sawar distinction, the link between mansab, jagir, and jagirdar, Akbar as the originator, and the dagh and chehra checks are standard Mughal-administration facts.
Zat (status and pay) versus sawar (cavalry obligation); a jagir is the revenue assignment, a mansab is the rank, and the same person could be both a mansabdar and a jagirdar.
Akbar's ranking system for nobles; each mansabdar held a zat and a sawar rank, was paid via cash or a jagir, and held a non-hereditary, revocable rank.