Identify the correct statement with reference to the ‘mansabdari-syst…

The correct answer is Option (3) → Apex military cum-bureaucratic apparatus

Option (1) Responsible for looking after only the civil affairs of the state — Incorrect. The mansabdari was responsible for both the civil and the military affairs of the state, not only the civil ones.

Option (2) They were not transferred periodically — Incorrect. Mansabdars were transferred periodically from one region of the empire to another.

Option (3) Apex military cum-bureaucratic apparatus — Correct. The Mughal administrative system had at its apex a military-cum-bureaucratic apparatus, the mansabdari. The same officials, the mansabdars, led the army and ran the government.

Option (4) ‘Mansabdars’ were paid in cash only (naqdi) — Incorrect. Only some mansabdars were paid in cash (naqdi); the majority were paid through jagirs, assignments of revenue in different regions of the empire.