The mansabdari system, which fixed the rank and military obligation of nobles, was organised under the Mughal emperor

Akbar introduced the mansabdari system around 1570-71, assigning every officer a numerical rank (zat) and a cavalry obligation (sawar), and paying them by jagir or cash. Babur and Humayun were too occupied with conquest and survival to build such an administration, and Aurangzeb only inherited and enlarged the system, leading to a jagir crisis.