The terms 'do-aspa' and 'sih-aspa', introduced by Jahangir, were related to the:

The terms "do-aspa" (two horses) and "sih-aspa" (three horses) were related to the mansabdari system, and were introduced by the Mughal emperor Jahangir.

Meaning of the terms:

• "Aspa" comes from "asp", the Persian word for horse.
• "Do-aspa" means "two horses" and "sih-aspa" means "three horses".
• Under this rule, a mansabdar who was given the do-aspa sih-aspa rank had to maintain a larger number of cavalrymen and horses than his normal sawar rank required.
• For example, a mansabdar with a rank of 1,000 sawar do-aspa sih-aspa had to maintain 2,000 horsemen (double his sawar rank).

Purpose:

• Jahangir introduced this rule to allow trusted nobles to maintain a larger cavalry without raising their zat (personal) rank.
• It helped the emperor to increase the size of the army in difficult times, such as during campaigns or rebellions, without upsetting the system of ranks.

The mansabdari system:

• Every Mughal officer held a mansab (rank), expressed in two numbers: zat and sawar.
• "Zat" fixed the personal rank and salary.
• "Sawar" fixed the number of horsemen the officer had to maintain.
• Mansabdars were paid through jagirs (revenue assignments) or in cash.
• The horses were branded (dagh), and a descriptive roll of the soldiers (chehra) was maintained, to prevent fraud.

Later changes:

• Shah Jahan introduced the "month scale" (mashrut), under which mansabdars were required to maintain only a fraction of their sawar rank, depending on the actual revenue of their jagirs.
• Under Aurangzeb, the number of mansabdars rose greatly, and a crisis developed because there were not enough jagirs.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The revenue, judicial and postal systems did not use these terms.