An officer holding a numerical rank (mansab) in the Mughal imperial service, which fixed his pay and the cavalry he maintained. Many mansabdars were Hindu, especially Rajputs, and Aurangzeb employed more Hindu mansabdars than any Mughal emperor before him.

Where this term appears

• Hinduism and the Coming of Islam History →

  He granted land to Hindu temples and maths elsewhere, and employed the largest share of Hindu officers, of Rajput mansabdars holding imperial rank, of any Mughal before him.

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