A History of the Mahrattas v1.c9.65

v1.c9.65

² The munsubs of the Deccan states exactly corresponded with the number of horse, from which they took their rank. In the Moghul service, munsubdars of 10,000 might only hold command of half that number of horse. The munsubs of Mahomedans rarely, if ever, exceeded 10,000, even under the Moghul government, but Mahrattas in the service of the emperor had much higher munsubs; in one instance, a Mahratta chief, as will be hereafter observed, had a munsub of 24,000 conferred on him. [Under the Mughals the mansabdārs (‘office-holders’) were administrative officials, exercising general powers. The greater part of the Mughal imperial army consisted of contingents furnished by the Rājās and mansabdārs, the latter being divided into thirty-three classes, each member of which was expected to furnish a cavalry contingent. (O.H.I., pp. 370-1.) These graded officials were known as ‘commanders of ten thousand,’ ‘commanders of five thousand,’ and so on. Only princes of the blood royal were granted the commands of seven thousand and of ten thousand. The number of troopers actually provided by each officer did not correspond with the number indicated by his title; and no clear distinction was drawn between the civil and military duties required of these officials (mansabdārs). (The Emperor Akbar, by Count von Noer; translated by Annette S. Beveridge, Calcutta, 1890, vol. i, p. 267 See Sleeman’s Rambles, &c., ed. V. A. Smith, 1915, p. 283 n.)]