The Mansabdar (Persian: منصبدار‎, Hindi: मनसबदार, romanized: mansabdaar, Bengali: মনসবদার, romanized: monsobdaar) was a military unit within the administrative system of the Mughal Empire introduced by Akbar. The word mansab is of Arabic origin meaning rank or position. The system determined the rank and status of a government official and military generals. Every civil and military officer was given a mansab, which determined their salaries & allowances. The term manasabadar means a person having a mansab. (which means a role) In the mansabdari system founded by Akbar, the mansabdars were military commanders, high civil and military officers, and provincial governors. Those mansabdars whose rank was one thousand or below were called Amir, while those above 1,000 were called Amir-al Kabir (Great Amir). Some great Amirs whose ranks were above 5,000 were also given the title of Amir-al Umara (Amir of Amirs).

It was a system whereby nobles were granted the rights to hold a jagir, or revenue assignment (not land itself), for services rendered by them, with the direct control of these nobles in the hands of the king. Asad Yar Jung mentioned 66 grades of mansabdars, but in practice there were around 33 mansabs. During the early reign of Akbar, the lowest grade was ten and the highest was 5,000(later raised to 7,000). Higher mansabs were given to princes and Rajput rulers who accepted the suzerainty of the emperor.

The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, were in the cavalry-based armies of central Asia, its essential form and structure was established by the empire's third emperor, Akbar.

The army had no regimental structure and the soldiers were not directly recruited by the emperor. Instead, individuals, such as nobles or local leaders, would recruit their own troops, referred to as a mansab, and contribute them to the army.