The word Manji also means a wooden cot, similarly used to denote a seat of Sikh religious authority for preaching Sikhism to the general public.
Guru Amar Das trained and appointed 52 women alongside 94 men as missionaries for the spread of Sikhism.
[1] According to W. Owen Cole, establishment of the manji and piri systems may have been motivated by the large amounts of new converts coming into the Sikh faith, especially in the Punjab.
[1] However, many of these converts brought in beliefs and practices of their original faith, so the preachers were appointed to instruct them on proper Sikh orthodoxy and orthopraxy, essentially motivating them to choose the Sikh faith and all that comes with it, even if it involves discarding their old ways of spirituality in the process.
The corrupt masand Dhir Mal and heretical Mina sect always tried to preclude the advancement of the Sikh religion.