Authentic Past Paper Standard Evaluation
Why was the mansabdari system introduced?
Solution & Analysis
Answer: B
Concept
The Mughals did not maintain a massive central standing army; instead, they decentralized the responsibility for raising and managing troops to their officers.Explanation
The primary objective of the Mansabdari system was facilitating army recruitment and management. Every officer (Mansabdar) was assigned a rank and required to provide a specific number of cavalrymen (Sawar) for the Emperor’s service. This ensured that the Empire could mobilize a huge army without managing every individual soldier centrally.Logical Breakup
Logic 1: While Mansabdars often collected revenue from their assigned Jagirs, the 'system' itself was first and foremost a military and bureaucratic hierarchy.
Logic 2: It turned the entire nobility into a unified, mobile military corps that could be deployed anywhere across the subcontinent.