How did akbar control the activities of mansabdars​

The Mansabdars were appointed to all civil and military posts except that of judiciary, and the positions like wazir, bakshi, faujdar and Subedar were held by the Mansabdars. The Mansabdar appears to be a central Asian institution. There is a view that this institution came to India with Babur. During Babur’s time, instead of the term of Mansabdar, the term Wajahdar was used. There is a definite difference between these two terms of Mansabdari and Wajahdari system. Under the regime of Akbar, Mansabdari system became the basis of military and civil administration. It is also believed that Akbar followed the principles of Changiz Khan in fixing up the grades of Mansabdars.

Abul Fazl states that Akbar provided 66 grades of Mansabdars ranging from commanders of 10 horsemen to 10,000 horsemen but he gives a list of 33 grades of Mansabdars. Thus, the term ‘Mansab’ decided the status of the holder in the graded official hierarchy, it also fixed the pay of the holder or the Mansabdar and it also made it obligatory to maintain a specified number of contingent with horses and necessary equipment.

In the beginning and up to 1595-96, personal pay and the size of the contingent was represented by single rank of jat but from 1595-96, both the Jat and sawar ranks began to decide the position and status of the Mansabdar. While Jat decided the Mansabdar’s personal pay or Talabkhasa and his rank in the official hierarchy and sawar fixed the horses and horsemen to be maintained by the Mansabdar and the amount he received to maintain his contingent.

the first lok sabha in 1951 had 22 women mps. the current lok sabha has 66. in the span of 54 years and 16 lok sabha elections it amounts to a three- fold increase in the number of women mps that made their way to the lower house of the parliament. from 5% in 1951, women mps constitute 12.2% of the lok sabha today. the rise in numbers has been steady through the years, both in absolute numbers and percentages. the notable exceptions have been the dip in numbers during the 6th lok sabha in 1977, the 9th lok sabha in 1989 and most recently the 14th lok sabha in 2004. the trends show a marked and steady increase from 1991 onwards to the present lok sabha. the 1991 figures show a jump from 5% in the previous lok sabha to 7% and the steady increase from thereon (except for 2004). it would be interesting to understand the factors for this watershed year and continuous rise and also the fall in numbers during 2004.

s no year number of women mps percentage of women mps

1 1951 22 4.50%

2 1957 22 4.45%

3 1962 31 6.28%

4 1967 29 5.58%

5 1971 28 5.41%

6 1977 19 3.51%

7 1980 28 5.29%

8 1984 43 7.95%

9 1989 29 5.48%

10 1991 39 7.30%

11 1996 40 7.37%

12 1998 43 7.92%

13 1999 49 9.02%

14 2004 45 8.29%

15 2009 59 10.87%

16 2014 66 12.15%

the average representation of women mps( 12.15%) is higher than the national average of women mlas in state assemblies, which stands at a dismal 9%. while the numbers have increased over the years, the percentage of women that make up the lok sabha even today is not a figure to be proud of, especially when the ideal number should be at 33% at least. we still have a long way to go.

percentage of women mps in various lok sabhaswomen contestants in elections to the lok sabha

central to the question of women’s representation in lok sabha is the appetite for women to take the political plunge and jump into the fray along with and against male candidates, getting tickets from their respective parties to contest elections and finally winning the seats that they contest. while popular perception might be that few women are willing to or have taken the political plunge, number of women contestants tells an interesting story. between 1957(the earliest data available) and 2015, the total number of women contestants has increased from 45 to 668. that is a whopping 15 fold increase in the number of women contesting. if we looked at the data for male contestants for the same years, the number has increased from 1474 to 7583, a five- fold increase. the 15 fold increase in women contestants indicates towards the growing appetite for women to enter the political fray and willingness to be part of political decision-making.

number of female contenstants in various lok sabha elections

explanation: