<P> During the Mughal Empire , zamindars belonged to the nobility and formed the ruling class . Emperor Akbar granted them mansabs and their ancestral domains were treated as jagirs . Under British colonial rule in India , the permanent settlement consolidated what became known as the zamindari system . The British rewarded supportive zamindars by recognizing them as princes . Many of the region 's princely states were pre-colonial zamindar holdings elevated to a greater protocol . However , the British also reduced the land holdings of many pre-colonial aristocrats , demoting their status to a zamindar from previously higher ranks of nobility . </P>
what was the role of the zamindars in mughal administration
belonged to the nobility and formed the ruling class