During conversions happening in the absence of the Guru, the new convert would touch the feet of the masand or drink the water they had dipped their toe in, in order to become initiated into the Sikh religion.
[7] A masand was appointed for each religious administrative unit called the Sikh Manji, a system that was founded by Guru Amar Das.
[6] The masands were appointed to collect revenue and gifts from the distant dharamsals and congregations for the central Sikh authority, where they were responsible for bringing it to.
[12] The masands from various parishes would congregate with the Sikh guru at his durbar (court) on the occasion of Vaisakhi and present the funds and offerings of the dharamsals under their management to him.
[12] The gumashitas helped manage the group of dharamsals in a province or region, especially ones located in small towns, under the purview of a masand head.
[12] Masands who were unable to attend the meeting with the Sikh Guru at his durbar would present their collections and offerings in the form of a hundi (bill of exchange).
[12] The manji and masand system of revenue collection for gurdwaras and other purposes was a source of major dispute between the Sikh Gurus and the Mughal emperors.
Hence, Guru Gobind Singh ordered Sikhs not to recognize those masands as authority figures and prohibited having any type of relationship with them or their deputies.