Army of Indian Mughals

THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN M0GHUL8:
ITS
ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.
BY
WILLIAM IRVINE,
LATE BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE.
LONDON
LUZAC
Sc
CO., 46,
GREAT RUSSELL STREET,

1903.
yg^y MORSE
STEPHE.I*
PRINTED BY
E.
J.
BRILL
LEYDEN (HOLLAND).
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
Preface
Chaptei'
I.
12
Commissioned Rank and mode of recruiting.
3.
5. G.
9.
Grades of promotion, Zat and sKwar, Siavar rank, Tahinan, Table of Mansahs and pay, Pay of same, 11. Chelas 11.
Mansab,
8.
9.
II.
311
Chapter
Eules connected with Pay and Allowances
Rates of Pay, 12.

13.
in
Pay always arrears, Pay naqd and Jagir, 14. Hacfiqat, Daul, Yad-dasht, 18. Loans, advances and 18. Deductions, 19. Fines, 22. Sakatl and Bartarafi, Desertion, Absence, 25. 25. Leave, Pension, Death, 25. Discharge,
Conditional and unconditional pay, 13.
in
Date from which pay drawn, 12.

16.
12
27
18.
gifts,
24.
Illness,
25.
25.
25.
25.
Chapter
III.
Robes of Honour, 29. 29. Kettledrums, 30. Flags and Ensigns, 31. Panjah, 31 Âlam, 32. Mizan, 32. Afiah, 32. Azhdaha-paikar, 32. Mahi, 32. Qiimqumah, 32. Mdhl-o-maratib, 33. Sher-maratib, 34. Aftabgirl, 34. Tmnan-togh, 34. Summary, 35. Chapter IV. Procedure on Entering the Service .... Bakhshls, 37. Duties of Bakhshl-id-mayncdik, 38. The other great Bakhshls, 39. Provincial and other Bakhshls, 40. First appointment of an 40. Haqlqat, 40. Tasdlq 41. Yad-dasht, 42. TaHlqah, 43. Ahadls, 43. Chapter V. Branding and Verification Chihrah-i-mansabdar, 48. ChiJirah-i-tablnmi, 48. Chihrah-i-aspan, 49. Form of Imperial brands, 49. Noble's brands, 50. of horses, 51. Subordinate establishment, 52. Tashlhah, 53. and their 55. Chapter VI. Different Branches of the Service .... Mansabdur, Tdblnan, Ahadls, Ahsham, 57. No regimental system, 57. Total strength of army, 59. Strength brought
Titles, 28.
Gifts,
.
Rewards and Distinctions
2835
36
44
officer,
45
56
Classification
Officials
duties,
5761
into the
field,
60.
Chapter
VII.
Equipment.
A. Defensive
Armour
generally (silah, aslah) 62.
Fines
Armour
62
72
for non-production
rY
i"-
IV
of,
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
63.
Khud, Dnhalgliah, Top,
64.
Khoght, 65.
Page
Baktar, Bagtar, 66. Chahar-a/inah, 66. Jaibah, 67. Joshan, 68. Jihlam, 68. Daglilah, Dagla,QS. JamahAîgarkhah, 69. Kothi, 69. Bhanju, G8. Chihilgad, 69. Kanthd-sohha, 70. 69. Q9. Ghighwah, Bastwanah, 70. Bdnak, 71. Mozah-i-ahani, Horse armour, Kajim, 71. Artak-iPatkah, 71. kojimji. Qashqahji. Gardani,li. - Horse trappings,72. Chapter VHI. Equipment. B. Ofifensive Arms: Weapons for close quarters .... Mode of carrying, 74. Names 75. Swords, Shamsher, 75. Names of parts of and Khandu, 76. Sirohl, 76. Bhup^ Âsa Shamsher, Shields, 77. C/iirioa/iand Patta, li. Gupti, Fencing shields 78. Tilwah Maces, Gurz, 79. Shashbur, 79. Piydzl, 79. Bhara, 79. Garguz, 79. Khandli-Phansl, 79. 80. Pusht-khar, 80. Khar-i-mahi, 80.
Mighfar, 65.
Zirih, 67.
68.
i-fatahi,
Sacîgl,
TiTarMaZ,
lO.
71.
71.
T,
7389
1.
74.
for,
belts, 75.
76.
11.
shields, 78.
{-phari),
2.
Satit
(flail),
3.
4.
5.
Zcighnol, 80. Tabar-zaghnol, Parusa, 81. Fenmifroo, 81. Basolah, 81. Chamchdq, 81. Spears, Sman, 81 Nezah, 82. Bhalcl, 82. Barchhah, San^f, Sangl, 83. Sainthl, 84. Sclarah, 83. 84. Ballam, 84. Pandl-Ballam, 84. Panjmukh, 84. Lange, 85. Garhiya, 85. Âlam, 85. Gaiidusa, 85. Daggers, Katar, Katarah, Katdrl, 85. Jamdhar, 86. Khanjar, 86. Jamkhak, 87. Jhambwah, 87. ânA;, 87. Narsmgh moth, 87. Bichhwa, 87. Khapwah, 88. Chaqchaql, 89. 88. Peshqabz, 88.
Battle Axes, Tabar, 10,
80.
Gajbdg, 80.
Taratigalah, 80.
Sa;Â;,
/iro??i,
iiTarc?,
Sailabah-i-qalmaqi, 89.
Chapter IX.
2.
92. Notch, 93. String, 93. Thumb92. 93. Takhsh Kaman, 95. Kaman-i-gurohah, 95. Gobhan, Falakhan, 95. Kamthah, 95. Nawak, 96. Tufak-i-dahan^91. Arrows, 97. Tukkah, 97. Names of arrows, 97. Symbolical use of arrows, 98. Quiver, 99. Leather guard, 100. Paikan-kash (arrow drawer), 101. Target, 101. Modes of Shooting, 101. Matchlock, Tufang, Banduq, 103. General, 103. Tripod, 103. - Par ah, 106. Match, 107. Powder horn cetera, 107. Blank cartridge, 07.
General, 90.
Equipment.
C. Offensive Arms, 11. Missiles Charkh, Bows, 91 Ogc/i7, OpcAi, 91

.
90112
/{"amaî,
stall,
et
Caillctoqiie,
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
107.
Jazail, jazair, 109.
Gingall, janjal, 109.
Page
Qidr, 111.
3.
Pistols,
TamancJia/i, 111.
Sherhachah, 112.
Chapter X. Artillery. Heavy guns Top-khdnah and its meanings, 113.

khurd, 114.
113132
Top-i- kalan, Top-i-
Top-i-zm^hzan^ 115. European opinions, 116. Heavy guns, 118. Had names, 118. Inscriptions on, 119. Number with ^\lamgir, 119. Examples of 119. By A'^zam Shah, 119. At Labor, 1125 119. At Thun, 1128 119. At Wer, 1767, 120. Jats use of at Agrah, 1767, 120. How mounted, 121. Descriptions of individual guns, 123. Wooden guns of Sikhs, 128. Ghaharah,\1^. Beg, 129. Tlr (bore of a gun), 129. Miscellaneous, 129. Badalijah, 129. Manjanlq, 130. Sangra% 130. Sarkob, Muqabil-kob, 130. Top-i-haivde, 130. Chadar, 131. Huqqah-i-atashy 131.
Under Babar, 114.
Under Akbar, 115.
use,
ii.,
ii.,
Chapter
133.
XL Light
Artillery
TopkhduaJi-i-rezah, 133.
133151
Topkhunah-i-jinsi (jambishl),
Topkhanah-i-jilau, 133. Artillery of the Stirrup, Names guns, 134. Rahrau, 135. Swivelguns or wallpieces, 135. Gajnal, Hathmil, Narnal, 135. Shutarncd^ Zamburak, Shcihin, 135. of Shutarnal, 136. Use 136. Dhamclkah, 137. Ramjanaki, 137. Arghmi, 138. Chalani, 138. 138. Rahkalah, 139. Origin of name, 139. Âradah-top, 140. Qasarah, 140. Ârabah, 141. Turah, Tobrah, 142. Muhrah-i-mhkalah, 146. Rockets, 147. Mahtdb,ib\. Powder Magazines, 151. Pal-i-siydh, 151. Badar, 151.
134.
for light
Size
of,
Fieldpieces,
Chapter XII. Personnel of the Artillery Turks and Europeans, 152. Mir Atash, 154. Hazdrl, 157. Mink-bdshi 157. Sadvwcd^ Mirdahah^ <SaiV, 158,
Golanddz,\hS.
Deg-andaz^\h^. Bdn-anddz,Bcm-ddr,ib9.
160174
in
152159
Chapter XIH.
Infantry general, 161. Ndgas, 163. 'Alighol, 164. Silah-posh, 164. 164. Pathahbaz, 165. Bhalait, 165. Amazons, 165. Sihbandl, 166. Barqanddz, 166. Pay of Matchlockmen, 167. Baksariya/i,iQS. Bundelahs,i69. Arabs, iQ9. Bhllah, 170. Mewd^ti, 170. Karndtakl, 170. Kdld Piyddah, 171. Rdwat, 171, Bargi, 171. Mughal, 172. Farangi, 172. Pay of four 172. ~
General remarks, 160.
iVajf 6,
last
classes,
Ahsham
Artificers
and their pay, 173.
VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
Chapter XIV. Elephants Chapter XV. Discipline, Drill,

Discipline, 182.
175181
Parades, 182. Organization, 183. Uniform, 183. Punishments, 184. KasarcU, 185. Swordplay, 186. Horsemanship, 187. Mounting guard, 188. Hunting, 189.
Drill,
and Exercises
182189
Chapter XVI.
Mir Manzil, 190. Transport, Baggage {Bahlr Bangah, Partal), 191. Commissariat, 191. Banjaras, 192. Fodder, 192. Foraging, 192. Scarcity and 193. Flight of inhabitants, 194.
o
Army
in the Field
190194
sufferings,
Chapter XVII.
195.
Camps and Camp Equipage
Tents, 195.
Peshkhclnah, 195.
Camp,
195
description
of,
201
Emperor's tents, 196.

199.
Gulcllbar,
Jail, 199.
Rahkalah-bar, 200.
Chapter XVIII.
Colour of tents, 198.
Tanab-i-quruq, 200.

202214
Harems, 200.
Lucky moment, 202.
Emperor takingfield person, 202. Order of march, 203. Standards, 205. Military music, Nauhat, 207. Patrolling and watching, 209. Escort duty, 210. Conveyances of Emperor, 210. Salutation on Emperor's passing, 210. Crossing 211.
in
Army
on the March
rivers,
Marching through
Negociations, 214.
passes, 212.
Scouts and spies, 213.
Chapter XIX.
Length of Marches
march, 216.
Official day's
Forced marches, 21 8.
Army marching, 21 Instances, 220.

9.
Length of
/:os,
instances, 217.
215-222
Chapter XX. Order of Battle Qarawal, 224. Qalawuri, 224. Iftcdl, 225. (Harawal), 225. Muqaddamah-ul-jais, 225.
Vanguard Manqala, 225. Juzah-i-harawal, 226. Right wing, 226. Left wing, 226. Advanced guard Centre 226. The centre, 226. Wings {Tarah) of the centre, 227. Rear guard, 227. Saqah'^ 227. Nasaqchl, 227.
of
(jiltmish),
223228
Taulqamah, 227.
Chapter XXI.
Artillery
Zanjlrah band, 230. Battle 232. Charges, 232. Chevaux de 233. or Loss of leader 235. Untimely plundering, 236. Single combat, 236. The Utara, 237. Other technical terms, 239. Harakat-i-mazbuh'i, 239. Qaragl, 240. Dar goshah-i-kaman zadan, 240. Talaql-i-farlqain, 241 . Siyah namudan, 241. Hallah, 241. Yurish, 241. Haiât-i-majmuH, 241. ChapkuncJd, Chapqalash, 241.
fire,
Conduct of a Battle
229.
229243
cries,
frise
caltrops,
decisive,
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Sipahl-i-fTUez,
VII
241.
Defeat,
Proclamation of victory, 242.
241.
Juhar, 242.
Page
Pillars of heads, 242.
Chapter XXII. Particular Battles, Stratagems, Losses 244 Battle of Hasanpur, 1719, Telescopes, 245. Reports of Battles, 254. Stratagems of war, 255. Fictitious
desertion, 255.
257.
Night surprizes, 257,

slain
Ambush,
259
255.
Personation of leader,
Statistics of losses, 258.
Treatment of
and wounded, 259.
Chapter XXIII. Forts

262.
and Strongholds
Bound hedges, 261.
Places of refuge, 263.
260269
Hill forts,
Walled towns, 263.
Various parts of a fortification, Technical words, hisar, qWâh,
qalâhchah, garhl, mahsilr shudan^

rauni, sang-andaz, damaghah, 263.
small fort, 266.
mahasarah kardan,
burj-o-harah, kungur, fasil,safil,chatah,goonga, kamrgah,
Description of a
References
for other descriptions, 268.
270295
Imperial fortresses, 268.
Chapter XXIV. Sieges
Approach by sap and mine, 273. Sdbat, 274. Sandbags, 278. Movable 278. ShatUr, 278. Malchar, 278. Temporary wall, 279. storming, Siha or Towers, 279. Indian defence of 281. Scaling ladders, 281. Modes of repelling assaults, 282. Stones, 283. Evacuation after assault, 284. Reduction by starvation, 284. Gurdaspur, 285. Thun, 285. Second siege of Thun, 287. Communications between besiegers and besieged, 287. Keys of 288. Jaitpur, 289. Allahabad, 287. Particular
shields,
forts,
fortresses,
sieges,
Agrah, 294. Bangarh, 291. 290. Chapter XXV. General Observations
296300
PREFACE.
In 1894
of
1
the
later
began the preparatory studies for an account Indian Moghul system of government and
in
all
its
administration
belief
branches, being impelled by the

of the kind
was a necessary introduction to a History of that period, which 1 had previously planned and commenced. Before I had done
that
some information
more than sketch out
my
first
part,
which deals with the
Sovereign, the Court Ceremonial, and the elaborate system

of Entitlature, I noticed the issue of a
book on a part of by Dr. Paul Horn \ The perusal of this excellent work diverted my attention to a later section of my proposed Introduction, the subject of the Army and Army Organization; and in this way I have been led to write this portion before any of the others. Except incident-
my
subject
ally,
my
paper
is
;
neither
translation
to
nor a review of
Dr. Horn's essay
and though indebted
him, as acknowto
ledged from time to time,

has
done,
my
study covers, in the main,
quite different ground, forming a
complement
what he
to have
and,
as
think,
carrying
the subject a good
deal farther in several directions. Dr.
Horn seems
read chiefly the authorities for the period before
Aurangzeb
Alamgir; while my reading has been confined in great measure to the reigns of Aurangzeb's successors in the
1
"Das Heer- und Kriegswesen der Gross-Moghuls", by Dr. Paul Horn,

der Universitat Strassburg, 8vo, pp. 160.
(E.
J.
Privat-Dozent an
Leiden, 4894.)
Brill:
2
period 1707
PREFACE.
1803.
The
thus almost entirely

that
upon which we draw are independent of each other; and 1 hope
The
sources
my
contribution to this rather obscure corner of Indian
history
may
not be thought inferior in interest to that of

first
my
in
predecessor.
seven chapters have already appeared
the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for July 1896.
CHAPTER
1.
COMMISSIONED RANK AND MODE OF RECRUITING.
Few
himself;
service
soldiers
were entertained directly by the emperor
and for the most part the men entered first the some chief or leader. These chiefs were ranked according to the number of men that they had raised or were expected to raise. In this way originated the system of mansab, first introduced by Akbar {Ajn, \, 237). This
of
mode
of recruiting the
army through the
officers,
renders
it
necessary to begin by a statement of the
the officers
manner in which themselves were appointed and graded.

a term confined solely to the military
in State
Mansab was not

service;
every
man
employ above the position of

whatever the nature of his
common
soldier or messenger,
duties, civil or military, obtained a mansab. In fact, there
were for
enter
all
grades, except the very lowest, only
of obtaining support
its
two modes from State funds: a man must either

(literally, ''help to live"),
/^
active service, as the holder of a mansab, or he
must
petition for a
madad-i-muash
on the ground of being a student of the holy books, an attendant on a mosque {inutawalll or khadim), a man of
learning and religious
life {darvesh), a local judge {qafi), or an expounder of the Mahomedan law {mufti). The word mansab is literally {Dastur-ul-Insha, p. 233)
''the place
to place, fix, appoint)
where anything is put or erected" {nasb kardan, and then, as a secondary meaning,
;
the state or condition of holding a place, dignity, or

It
office.
seems to have been in use in Central Asia before the Moghuls descended into Hindustan; and Ross translates
4
it
THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS.

by the vaguer term "privileges".
I
Tankh-i-Ras/ndi, 108.
word rank,
as its object
;
This word mansah
represent by the
was
to settle precedence
and
fix
gradation of pay
it
did not
necessarily imply the exercise of any particular office, and meant nothing beyond the fact that the holder was in the employment of the State, and bound in return to yield
certain services
when called upon. The highest mansah that could be held by a subject, not of the royal house, was that of commander of 7000 men, thoudi in the later and more deorenerate times we find a few instances of promotion to 8000 or even 9000. The mansah of a prince ranged from 7000 up to 50,000, and
fol.
even higher {Mirat-ul-Istilah,
35). In the Ajn-i-Akbarl
(Blochmann, 248, 249)

at
sixty-six grades are stated,
beginning
have been
commanders
of 10,000,
and ending
at those set over ten
men. Even
at that earlier period there
seem
to
only thirty-three of these grades in actual existence (Bloch-
mann, 238). All the
later authorities agree in
holding that
the lowest officer's mansah was that of twenty men; and these writers record, T find, no more than twenty-seven
grades, beginning with that of
of
7000 and ending with that

In
twenty.
Tn
the
a
earlier
days of the dynasty, rank was

hand.
granted
highest
with
niggard
for long
Akbar's
time
the
rank was
that of 5000,
towards the end of his reign that a

to 7000, while
and it was only few men were promoted
many
officers exercised
although
holding a comparatively
commands low mansah. The great

important
in
accession of territory in the
Dakhin and the incessant wars
connected with these acquisitions

the increase in the
may account
part for
number and amount of mansahs granted by Shahjahan and ''Alamgir. But the relative value of rank was thereby much depreciated; and the author of the Maasir-uI-Umara (i, 8), while considering Akbar's officers of 500 rank of sufficient importance to deserve separate
biographies, contents himself in the later reigns with going
no lower than those of 7000 or 5000, men below those ranks

being too numerous and too insignificant to
call for detailed
mention.
The
grade.
steps
of promotion
altered
as
the
officer rose in
The usual gradation was as follows {Mir at, B.M. fol. 35; Bastur-ul-^'Aml, B.M. 1G41, fol. 44^): 1813,
From
20 to 100 to
100 each
rise
was by

,,
400 1000 4000
to
to
to
400 1000 4000 7000
20 50
100
500 1000
and the
There
thus:
is
slight discrepancy
between
this table
facts as
,,
we
find
them
in practice. It
ought to be amended
From 20
60
to to
60 a
man
rose by 10 each time
100
20
we should exclude the rank of common enough. Again, we find in many

Otherwise
of
which was tables no ranks

50,
250 or 350, although both
of
these are required to
accord with the above scheme of promotion.
We also find mention in the historians of ranks which do not appear in the above scheme of grades. For instance, in Danishmand Khan's Bahadur Shali7iamah (fol. 41 1^, 56a)
we
find
men
fit
appointed to 1200 and 2900, grades which

the
pay-table,
little
do not
grades
in with the
appear in
scheme given above, nor do these copied from the official

further on.
it
manuals, which we give a
As an
on
additional distinction,
was the custom
to tack
To distinguish between the two kinds of rank, the original manmh, which governed the personal allowances, was known as the zed rank [zed body, person, self), and the additional men were designated by the word suwar (= horseman). Thus
to a 7nansah a
number
of extra horsemen.
man would
be styled
35) that
"2500
zdf,
1000
suwar.''
It is
said {Mired,
fol.
men below 500
never had suimr

to
their
added
rank; but this
is
not borne out by what
we
find in actual practice. For instance, Mirza

fol.
Muhammad
II,
{Tazkirah, I.O.L. N^. 50,
9G)
wasinRabf
1119
h.,
made 400, 50
There are also
horse,
younger brother 300, 30 horse. instances in Danishmand Khan of 150, 50
and
his
horse; 300, 10 horse; 300, 20 horse; 300, 80 horse; 400, 40 horse; and so on. In fact, unless this had been the case, it would be impossible to divide the ranks below 500 into first, second, and third grade, as was actually done. This
division into grades
we now proceed
to describe.
suivctr
On the
a
distribution of rank into zat
and
was founded
classification into first, second,
and third
class fuansabs,
by which the
scale of zat
pay was reduced proportionately.

officers
From
zat;
this classification
were exempted
above 5000
these
were
all
of one class.
if
From 5000 downwards,

his zat rank;
an
officer
was
First Class,
Class,
his
rank in zat and smvar were
equal;
Second
if
if his
smear was half
Third Class,
that here
the suwar were less than half the zat, or

all
there were no suwar at
{Dastur-ul-Insha, 222). I think

i,
Blochmann {Ajn,
of
238, lines 5 and

as
foil.)
obscures
the
subject
by using "contingent"
leaving
the equivalent of
suwar,
instead
the untranslated original
word
to express a technical
meaning.
Pay was reckoned in a money of account called a dmn, which forty went to the rupee. There were also coins but the dams of account, bearing a fixed ratio called dam to the rupee, must be distinguished as a different thing from the coin, though called by the same name. Here Dr. Horn, 16, is of opinion that the reckoning was made in such a small unit as the to of a rupee, less to make a grand show with big figures than because the value of the rupee
of
;
varied.
for I
On
this
head
am
of exactly the opposite opinion,

if
think that the principal,

the totals and
not the only object, was
to
it
swell
really was.
the East, at
make the pay sound bigger than That spirit runs through everything done in any rate in the Indian portion of it, as could

easily
be shown were
it
further.
As
as
to
for
I
the
second
worth while to labour the point reason, I have considered it
as
it
well
seems
am able, not being a currency expert; and me that with a fixed ratio between the two
coins, it was a matter of indifference to the receiver of pay whether the amount was stated in the one or in the other
unit
of
value.
fixed ratio,
The two units being tied together by the and the disbursements being in fact made (as
we know)
in rupees, the payee suffered, or did not suffer,
equally by either
mode
to
of calculation.
all
In the following table, which shows

their
the inansahs with
pay according
present
day,
class,
have reduced the dam to

intelligible.
rupees,
as being simpler
this
and more readily

this
In
dis-
the
reckoning by dams has quite

table of pay,
appeared.
the
When
reading
sanctioned allowances for
which shows a year of twelve months, it

officers received
must be remembered that few of the

whole
twelve-months'
pay,
the
the
number
of
month's pay
sanctioned per
annum
te
ranging from four to twelve. Officers
were also supposed
and draught
of the
cattle.
keep up an establishment of elephants Apparently they were also liable to pay
a fixed quota of their
own
allowances towards the expenses

cattle,
Emperor's elephants and

,
an item known as
khuraJc-i-dawabb
feed
of four-footed
animals. There were
other petty deductions.
TABLE OF MANSAB-I-ZAT WITH YEARLY PAY IN RUPEES.
In addition to the simple division by mansah alone, there
was
they
also a
were merely
grouping of officers into three classes. From 20 ''officers with rank" {inansahdar)
to
;
400
from
500 to 2500 they were Nobles Blochmann, i, 535 {Amir, pi. Umara, origin of our form "Omrah"); from 3000 to 7000 they were Great Nobles {Jnnr-i-A'zam, pi. '^JJzzam, TJmarai-kibar (Blochmann, i, 529, note), or Pillars iÛmdah). All mansabdars were kept on one or other of two lists: (1) Eazir-i-rikab, present at Court; (2) 2^<5f''2w^7/, on duty elsewhere. The grant of suwar in addition to zat rank Suivar Rank.
was an honour.
In
that
case
Dr.
Paul Horn, 15, supposes, however,

be better
that these horsemen were paid out of the zed allowances.
man who had no suwar would

who was honoured with
recht
paid than another
the addition of
suioar to his zat rank. Naturally Dr.

this
Horn, 16, holds that

ist."
is,
"eigentlich
nicht
glaublich
He
is
quite
right in his conjecture.

of
The explanation
i,
that the table
pay in Blochmann,
to
248, and that given above, are
exclusively for the zat rank, from
which money the

his household,
officer
had
maintain his transport,
and some
horsemen. For the suwar rank there was a separate table, pay for these horsemen being disbursed under the name of
says ("Hist. Frag.," 41 8 j, the officer raising the troops was responsible for the behaviour of his
the Tabinan.
As Orme
men
as
he therefore brought men of his own family or such he could depend on. Another rule was, according to
;
the Mirat'i-Akmadl,
ii,
118, that the Tabinan,
if
horsemen,
must be one
third
third Mughals, one third Afghans,

if
and one
and one-
Rajputs;
infantry,
two
thirds
archers,
third matchlockmen.
Tabinan.
translates
this
derives
*
it
1, who, apparently, suwar by "contingent," from the Arabic iabin, one who follows. ^ The
i,
Blochmann,
word
as
,
232, note
as
well
Steingass, 272, (J^J-Ij
A, following in the steps of another

it
but Pavet
de Courteille, Diet. Turc. Oriental, 194, claims
as a
Chaghatae word,
with the meanings of "a troop of 50 men, the body-guard, the pages."
10

fol.
books (B.M. 1641,
46b, B.M. 6599, 1445 and
U8b)
give
a long table setting forth their pay in dams, beginning with

that for five horsemen and ending with that for 40,000, but
as the basis for calculation remains the
is
same throughout,
it
sufficient
here to work out the pay for one horseman.
For five horsemen, then 40,000 dams a year were allowed. That would be 8000 dams for one man; and this sum in
dams
to
yields Rs.
200 a year
(at the fixed
rate of
40 dams
the
rupee), or Rs. 16
10a. 8p. per
man
per mensem.
Bernier,
217,
states
the rate as
somewhat higher
"he
that keeps one horse shall not receive less than 25 rupees
a month." For this sum, of course, the
own
keep.
that
horse and armour, and paid for his
man provided his own and his horse's

tells
the
One Bastur-ul-Aml, B.M. 6599, fol. 1445, number of horses to men among the
was according
to
us
troopers
{tablnan-i-baradarl)
(lit.
the rule of dah-bist

that
"ten-twenty"),
meaning
apparently
that of the
the
of
total
number of horses was double The scale was as follows:
number
men.
3 three-horsed
4 two-horsed
3 one-horsed
men = 9 men = 8 men = 3
horses horses
horses
10 men
20 horses
That is, with 1000 men there would be 2000 horses. The pay of the men with the extra horses was higher, but not in proportion. Thus, a one-horsed man received 8000 D. or Rs. 200 a year (Rs. 16 10a. 8p. per mensem), while the two- or three-horsed man got 11,000 D. or Rs. 275 a year
(Rs.
rates of
AJiadls,
22 14a. 8p. per mensem). In some places we find other pay recorded. For instance, Bahadur Shah enlisted
men
a little superior to
common
1708).
soldiers, at Rs.
40
month (Danishmand Khan, second

i. e,
Safar of the second
year,
1120
h.
= 22nci April
century
later, as
Fitzclarence tells us, "Journal," 73, 142, the rate was Rs. 40 a month in the Dakhin, and R. 22 in Hindustan. Service
COMMISSIOTÊD RANK AND MODE OF RECRUITING.

in the cavalry
11
was socially an honourable profession; thus couHuon trooper was looked on as being, to some extent, a gentleman, and such men, even when illiterate, often rose
a
to the highest positions.
The pay of the Tahinan was drawn by the mansabdar, who was entitled to retain 5 per cent, of their pay for himself {Aj7i, i, 265). Pay was not always allowed for a
whole year; often only
for,
for six, five, or four
months. This
fact renders it impossible to calculate the actual expenditure,
although we generally can find out whether a

first,
was
second, or third class,
we
rarely
manmhdar know for what
number
months in the year his pay was sanctioned. As a counterpoise to the mercenaries in their employ, over whom they had a very loose hold, commanders
of
C/ielas.
were
force,
in the habit of getting together, as the kernel of their
no one
body of personal dependents or slaves, who had Such troops were known by the Hindi name of chela (a slave). They were fed, clothed, and lodged by their employer, had mostly been brought up and trained by him, and had no other home than his camp. They were recruited chiefly from
a
to look to except their master.
children taken in war or bought from their parents during
times of famine.
but
all
The great majority were of Hindu origin, were made Mahomedans when received into the
chelas.
body of
which a
to
These
chelas
were the only troops on

foul
man
his
could
place entire reliance as being ready

in
follow
fortunes
both
and
fair
is
weather.
Muhammad Khan
by me
in J.A.S.
Bangash's system of chelas

Bengal, part
i,
described
1878,
p. 340.
CHAPTER
II.
RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES.

In the preceding paragraphs have been shown in general
terms
rules
the
rates of pay for the cavalry, and some of the which pay was governed. When we come to actual working out in detail of this part of the
the
by
army
administration,
are
our
difficulties increase.
The
official
manuals, which
briefest
our only guide, are couched in the
of
and naturally presume a knowledge many things of which we are ignorant. Nor can we be
of language,
certain whether the rules that they lay
down were
for
of general
application
only.
or
were applicable to certain

data
are
insufficient
classes of troops
Thus
the
any complete
exposition of this part of the general subject.
The matters
treated of in the next following paragraphs are, moreover,
somewhat miscellaneous description, and many of them might be better classed under other heads, such as Discipline, Recruiting, and so forth but as there is not enough material
of a
;
complete information, I have thought it better to deal with the greater part of them, as the native authors
to yield
do, in their relation to the calculation of pay.
Rates of Fay.
The
rates of
pay
for officers
and men of
the
the cavalry, forming numerically far the most important part

of the army, have been already stated
when dealing with

and
mansab system. The

as recorded, will
rates for Infantry
Artillery, so far
be stated when we come to those branches
of the service.
Date from
appointed,
if
to hick
Vay
Draion.
On
an
officer
being
first
by
his
rank he was exempt from having his

horses
13
branded
{dagli),
his
pay began from the date of

If
confirmation
necessary,
itself
were pay began from the date of branding (the day being excluded), and as soon as this condition had
{^nrz-i-miiknrrnf).
such
branding
been complied with, a disbursement was made of one month's pay on account. Tn the case of promotion, if it were unconditional, the rules were the same as above; if conditional,
the pay began from the date of entering on office {Dastur-
uU'Aml, B.M. 1641,

ul'inslia,
fol.
37, 58^^;
id.
6599,
fol.
1466, Dastur^
233).
might be given absolutely, or they might be conditional on the holding of some particular office. The temporary or mashrut ba khidmat rank was given as
an addition
already
to the
Rank and pay
Conditional {Mashrut) and Unconditional {Bila-sliart) Tay,
permanent, bila-shart rank which a
man
occupied.
On
ceasing
to
hold the
office,
such as
that of governor {sUbahddr) or military magistrate {faujdar),
the mashrut rank and pay were taken away.
pay due from the due from the 7nansabdars to the private soldiers, was always in arrears. In fact, we should not go far wrong, I think, if we asserted that this was the case in the very best times.
in Arrears,
later times
Pay always
In
imperial
treasury
to the mansabdars, as well as that
More men were entertained than could be easily paid; Indian Mahomedans are very bad financiers; the habit of the East is to stave off payment by any expedient. To owe money to somebody seems in
The
reasons are obvious.
that
country
the
normal
condition
of
mankind.
II,
For
example,
(31st
even such a careful manager as Nizam-ul-Mulk,
in his alleged testament, dated the 4th
Jamadi
months''
1161 h.
May, 1748),
pay
is
credited with the boast that he "never
withheld
for
for
more
than
three
iii,
("Asiatick
Miscellany," Calcutta, 1788, vol.
160).
Another reason
the feeling
keeping the
they
men
in arrears
may have been
that
were thereby prevented from transferring their
services to
some other
chief quite as readily as they
might
14
have

done
if
there
were
the
nothing
or
owing.
Disturbances
raised by troops clamouring for their pay were
among
the
sudden death of a commander. The instances are too numerous to specify. On this head Haji Mustapha, Seir, iii, 35, note 29, says truly enough: "The troops are wretchedly paid, twenty
unfailing
sequels
to
disgrace
or thirty
princes,
men
as
months of arrears being no rarity. The ministers, and grandees always keep twice or thrice as many they have occasion for, and fancy that by with-
holding the pay they concern the

of their lord's life."
men
in the preservation
We
can also quote Lord Clive as to
the state of things in the Bengal subah in 1757 ("Minutes
Committee of 1772," reprint, 52) "There were army by Siraj-ud-Daulah as well as by Mir Ja^far, and the sums amounted to three or four millions sterling. It is the custom of the country never to pay the army a fourth part of what they promise them and it is only in times of distress that the army can get paid at all, and that is the reason why their troops always
of Select
great arrears due to the
behave so" (badly?).

PciT/
in
Naqd and
cash
in Jagir,
Pay {tnnkhoah
(literally,
literally,
is,
tan
'body,'
in
kjnoah 'need') might be either Naqd, that

{naqd)-,
given
or
Jagir
is
taking, from giriftan), that
ja 'place,' glr, an assignment {jaglf) of the

of villages {maiiza^) or
certain
land
revenue
of a certain
number
of a subdivision {parganah).
A
of
number
of officers
and
soldiers,
chiefly
who
all
were, as a rule, on the pay
were paid in cash.

reigns
and artillery, emperor himself, This seems to have been the case in
those
the
infantry
list
of the
up to quite the end. But the favourite mode of payment was by an assignment of the government revenue from land. Such an arrangement seems to have suited both parties. The State was a very centralized organization, fairly strong at the centre, but weak at the
extremities.
collecting
It was glad to be relieved of the duty of and bringing in the revenue from distant places.
15
This task was left to the jar/lrddr^ or holder of the jagir, and unless such a manmbdar were a great noble or high in imperial favour, the assignment was made on the most distant and most imperfectly subdued provinces. ^ On the other hand, a chance of dealing with land and handling the income from it, has had enormous attractions in all parts of the world, and in none more than in India. Nobles and officers by obtaining an assignment of revenue hoped to make certain of some income, instead of depending helplessly for payment on the good pleasure of the Court. Then in negotiating for a jagir there were all sorts of possibilities, A judicious bribe might secure to a man a larger jagtr than was his due; and if he were lucky, he might make it yield more than its nominal return. Many such considerations must have been present to their minds. Whatever be the true reasons, of this there can be no doubt, that the system was highly popular, and that the struggle for jagtr s was intensely keen. As 'Abd-ul-Jalil of Bilgram writes to his son: "Service has its foundation on 2i jagir; an employe without Tijaglr, might just as well be out of employ." ("Oriental Miscellany", Calcutta, 1798). A recent French writer, M. Emile Barbe, "Le Nabab Rene Madec," 117, speaking of a jaglr given in 1775, says:
"Cette apparition
declin est
des jaguirs dans I'Empire

sociologique
un
fait
du plus haut
interet."
Mogol a son The
system of jaglr grants

fact
it
may
be an interesting sociological
as to that I have nothing to say for or against; but
was not introduced into the Mogol Empire during its decline. Jaglrs existed in that empire's most flourishing days, having been granted as early as Akbar (Blochmann, Ajn, i, 261), while under Shahjahan they existed on a
most extensive
If
scale.
the jaglr
were a large one, the
officer
managed
it
'
This
may have
the pay of his amirs from his frontier provinces.

"Institutes." 237.
been a development of Taimur's practice of granting Davy and White,
16
THE AKMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS.
through his own agents, who exercised on his behalf most of the functions of government. Such jaglrs were practically
outside
the
control of the local governor or faujdar,
and
formed a
here.
left
sort of
imperium
in imperio.
The
disastrous effects
of the system, in this aspect, need not be further dwelt on
On the other hand, a small jaglr was more frequently by the assignee in the hands of the faujdar, through whom the revenue demand was realized. Gradually, as the bonds of authority were relaxed from the centre, the faujdars
and sUbahdars ignored more and more the claims of these assignees, and finally ceased to remit or make over to them
any of the
I
collections.
first
append here the

the
steps of ofiicial procedure followed
in
grant
of
a ja(/tr.
We
are
to
suppose that one
Khwajah Rahmatullah has been

province,
a
recalled
from duty in some
and that on appearing at court he has applied for Through the Diwan-i-tan, a great officer at the head of one of the two revenue departments, a haqlqat, or Statement of Facts, was drawn up, in the following form (B.M. N^ 6599, foil. 156 to 157/^):
new
jaglr.
Statement {Haqiqat).
Khwajah Rahmatullah, son of of Balkh, who wâs attached to So-and-so, having come to the the exalted orders, and the jagu a harvest, was held by him in
Khwajah Ahmad,
a native
the standards in Province
Presence in pursuance of which, up to such-and-such

the said Province, having
is
been granted to So-and-so, in this matter what as to the tankhwah jagir of the above-named.
[on the margin]
î'^sentation
\
\
the order
{mulazamat)
Day
9
so-and-so,
month
so-and-so
Offering [nazar)
Muhrs
(gold coins)
and
18 Rupees.
This haqiqat was passed on by the Diwan-i-tan to the

Diican-i'âla
(or
17
the
wazTr).
The
latter
placed
it
before
Emperor.
the
If
an order were given
for a jaglr to be granted,
wazTr
endorsed
order
issued to
on the paper, "The pure and noble grant a jafir in tanlvhwaJi from the com-
mencement of such-and-such a harvest." This paper then became the voucher for the chief clerk to the Diivan-i-tan,
who wrote
out a siyaha daal^ or
Rough
Estimate, as follows
Rough
Estimate.
Balkh.
Khwajah Ralimatullah, son of Khwajah Ahmad, of Whereas he was on duty in Province So-and-so,
to
and according
{i. e,
the Court)
order
has reached
the Blessed Stirrup
One thousand. Personal

200 men. Horse {suivar) Pay in dams 34 lakhs
Personal
{zat)
Troopers
{tabinan)
18 lakhs
16 lakhs
=
Feed
of Four-footed
Total,
34
lakhs.
animals {Khurdk-i'dawabb) remitted.
Parganah So-and-so,
situated in Province
Parganah So-and-so,
situated in Province
So-and-so,
So-and-so,
20 lakhs of Dams.
It will
14 lakhs of Dams.
be seen, on referring to a previous page, that as

zdl,
the
man was 1000
but had only 200 suwar rank, he
was a third class Hazarl. By the table this gives him 18 lakhs, and then 200 horsemen at 8000 dams each comes to 10 lakhs, making the 34 lakhs which are sanctioned in
the above.
18
was made over to the diary-writer [waqi^'ah navis), who, after he had entered it in the loaqi'ah (diary), prepared an extract called a memorandum {y ad-das ht)
daul, or estimate,
for
The
submission
to the office of the confirmation of orders

lit.
iârs'i-mukarrar,
second petition).
'Y.\\q
yad-dasht repeated
the facts
much
in the
same form
as the haqlqat
and the
daul.
On
it
the
wazir wrote: "Let this be compared with the
diary {icaqiah) and then sent on to the confirmation office

iârz-i'mukarrar)!'
navis)
On
the margin the diary-writer {icaqiâh
then
reported:
"This yad-dasfd accords

(darogliali)
with the
loaqiah!'
Next the superintendent

:
of the con-
firmation office wrote
"On
such-and-such a date of sucha
and-such a
month
of such-and-such
year this reached
the confirmation
office.
The order given was

here
the further
'Approved.'
''
We
after
need not follow

it
fate
of the order
left
the
Court and reached the governor of the

to.
province referred
Loans, Advances, and Gifts.
The technical name

ii,
for a
loan or advance of pay was vuisaadat (Steingass, 12:25, A, helping, favour, assistance, aid), and the conditions as to
interest
of
and repayment are given in Book

Ajn-i'Akbarl
Ajn
15,
the
(Blochmann,
the
i,
265).
Historians
this
frequently
mention
later
advance
of
money under
name.
the
In
times,
especially
from the reign of Muadvances to meet his
hammad
expenses.
Shah, no
of the
commander
most
ever took the field without
grant
liberal cash
Possibly
these were never repaid, or were from

gifts.
the
first
intended as free
I
phrase tankkwali-i-inam,
When we meet with the presume that there can be no
doubt of the payment being a gift. Here the word tankhwah seems to denote the order or cheque on the
it
and the word ina'^m (gift, present), differentiates from other tankhwah, which were in the nature of payments to be repeated periodically. The recovery of loans and advances came under a head in the accounts called
treasury,
mutalibah
(Steingass,
1259,
asking,
claim, due). Another

terra of
19
somewhat
similar import, haz-yaft (Steingass, 146,
the resumption of anything, a deduction, stoppage), seems

to have been confined to the recovery of items put under
objection
auditors.
in
the
revenue accounts
the
At one time
recovery
by the mustaufls, or of an advance was
a man's pay in four instalments; but towards end of Âlamgir's reign, it was taken in eight instalments (B.M. NO. 1G4], fol. 58^).
made from
the
'Deductions.
Of
these
have found
the
following:
hasUr-i'do-datnl
(fraction
of the
two dams),
k/tarch-i-sikkah
(expenses
rise),
of
minting),
ayyam-i-Mlall (days of the moon's

in kind),
Inssah'i-ijnas
(share
khurak-i-dawabb (feed
of four-footed animals).
KasUr-i-do-daml.
faults.
KasUr
is,
literally, fractions, deficiencies,
This item was a discount of

in every forty,
five
per cent., that
is,
and therefore styled ''do-dami" fol. 37). The origin of this is to be found possibly in Akbar's five per cent, deductions from the AhadI troopers on account of horses and other expenses {Ajn, i,
of
two dams (B.M. 1641,
The rate of deduction is diff'erently stated B.M. 1641, as four dams in the 100, if the officer drew seven or eight months' pay, and two dams in the 100, if he drew less than that number of months.
250,
line
14).
in
fol.
583,
Kharch'i'Sikkah was also deducted

rates
in Âlamgir's reign the
were Rs.
1
12a. Op. per cent, on Shahjahan's coinage,
and Rs.
emperor.
coins,
8a.
Op. per cent, on the coin of the reigning
Under
being
the
rules
then
the
in
force,
the Shahjahani
not
those
of
reigning
emperor,
were
uncurrent,
deduction was
is
and therefore subject to a discount. Why a made on the coins of the reigning emperor, harder to explain. It was not till Farrukhsiyar's reign, believe, that the coinage was called in annually, from
which time only coins of the current year were accepted, even by the government itself, at full face-value. Ayyain-i-I/ilaU. This was a deduction of one day's pay in every month except Ramazan. Mansabdars, Ahadis, and
20
harqandaz
the a

(matchlock men)
crossed,
were
that
all
subject
it
to
it.
But,
until
towards the end of 'Alamgir's reign,
was remitted
fol.
55/5,
Narbada was
is,
presume, so long as
62^).
man
served in the
Dakhin (B.M. 1641,
The reason
for making this deduction is difficult to fathom; and about the name itself there is some doubt. In the first of the two entries just quoted, I read the word as talafl (Steingass, 321, obtaining, making amends, compensation, reparation); but this variant, instead of throwing light on
the subject, leaves

Bissah't-ipias,
(cash),
Jins (goods)
it
as obscure as before.
is
used in opposition to naqd
and
this
item {hissah
= share, ijnas = goods)

him
and
seems
to
mean
the part of a man's pay delivered to

this
in kind.
Apparently
item did not apply to the cavalry. Tn the

artificers,
case of the matchlockmen, artillerymen,
the
deduction was
A
is
if
the
man were mounted, and
if
he
were not. This represented the value of the rations supplied

to
him. There
62^).
another entry of rasad4-jins (supplies of
food?), the exact nature of which I cannot determine (B.M.
1641,
fol.
KhUrak-i-daioabb
This
is,
literally, khurdJc,
feed,dawabbj
four-footed animals. It
was a deduction from a mansahdars pay on account of a certain number of horses and elephants belonging to the emperor, with whose maintenance such
officer
was saddled. The germ of
this exaction can, I think,
be found in Akbar's system of making over elephants to the charge of grandees {Ajn, i, 126). "He (Akbar) therefore
put several halkahs (groups of baggage elephants) in charge

of every grandee,
and required them to look after them." Akbar would seem to have paid the expenses but in process
;
of time,
officer's
we can
suppose, the charge was transferred to the
shoulders entirely, and in the end he had to submit
to the deduction without even the use of the animals being
given to him.
At any
rate,
is
of great complaint.
This
the burden became a subject shown by a passage in Khafi
Khan,
ii,
602.

"In the reign of 'Alamgir
the
21
mansahdars
for a long
period were reduced to wanting their evening meal, owing
by the His stinginess reminds one of the proverb 'one pomegranate for a hundred sick men/ T/ak anar, sau hlmar.
emperor.
After
{jac/rr)
to the lowness of the assignments {paebaql) granted
many
efforts and exertions, some small assignment on the land revenue would be obtained. The lands
were probably uncultivated, and the total income of the jaglr might not amount to a half or even a third of the
money required
were
realized
for the expenses of the animals.

officer,
If these
from the
spite
money
of the
to preserve his
starvation?
In
whence could come the children and family from death by of this, the Akhtah Begi (Master
clerks caused the cost
Horse)
the
and other accursed
of feeding
emperor's animals to
be imposed on the
mansahdars, and, imprisoning their agents at court, used

force
and oppression of
all
kinds to obtain the money.
"When
to
the agents (toaklls) complained, of this oppression
the emperor, the head of the elephant stables

so
and the
Akhtah Begi
impressed matters on the emperor's mind,
that the complaints were not listened to, and all the
men
were reduced to such

reign, the
an extremity by
this
oppression,
that the agents resigned their agency.
In Bahadur Shah's Khan-i-Khanan decided that when the mansahdars

for
received
a jagir
their
support,
the
number
of
dams
required for the cost of feeding cattle should be deducted

first
from the
total estimated
income, and the balance should

this
be assigned as the income. In meeting the cost of feeding
way, the obligation for
the animals was entirely removed from the heads of the mansahdars and their agents. Indeed, to speak the truth, it was an order to absolve them from the cost of the cattle provender." Dowson (Elliot,
vii,
403) could make nothing of this passage.

officers
In the case of
of
kfmrak-i'daivahb
was
below a certain rank, the deduction not made. The rule says that
to 15 lakhs
where the pay {tankfiwah) did not come up
22

was not made; but apparently no 400 zat, 200 smear, was liable.
of
of dams, the deduction
lower rank
This
of
than
that of
rank would
by the tables draw a pay
20 lakhs
dams.
As
to the rate of deduction, the records are so
that I am unable to come to any conclusions. Sometimes we are told that the calculation was made at so many dams on each 100,000 dams of pay; at others, that for each 100,000 dams one riding and five baggage elephants were charged for. A distinction in rates was made between Mahomedans and Hindus, the former paying more; also between officers holding jac/irs in Hindustan and those holding them in the Dakhin and Ahmadabad,
obscure
the former paying slightly less than the latter.

Fines.
We
come now
sorts,
to the subject of fines,
which
were of various
such as tafawat-i-asp (deficiency in
horses), tafawat-i-silali (deficiency in equipment), tafawat-i'
tabinan (deficiency in troopers), also called,

Jcami'i-barddariy
tion),
it
would seem,
tawaqquf
o âdam-i'tashlhah (non-verifica-
saqatl (casualties), hartarafi (rejections).
Tafaioat'i-asp.
This
is literally
"diff'erence of horses,"
by their breed and which will be referred to more fully under the head of Branding and Verification. In each rank or mansab a certain number of each class of horse had to be maintained, and if at Verification it was found that this regulation had not been complied with, the result was a fine. In the section on Branding I give the rates so far as recorded. Tafawat-i'silah. This ''diff'erence in armour" was a fine for not producing at inspection arms and armour according to the required scale. The amount of fine and so forth I have stated further on under the head of Equipment.
and
refers to a classification of horses
size,
Tafawat-i-tablnan
(diff'erence
of
followers)
or
kaml-i-
baradarl (deficiency in relations) was a fine imposed on an

officer for
non-production of the number of
men
stipulated
for
by the suwar rank. The following rates are stated in BM. 1641, fol. 37, and I presume that the deductions

apply
to marisahdars as well as to Ahadis,
23
and that they
were made from the monthly pay for each man deficient, although the entry is so brief as to remain very obscure
:
NuNBER
Four
Months.
OP
Months for which Pay was Drawn.

Six
PiVE Months.
Months.
Seven Months.
Eight Months,
Amount
of fine in
R.
A.
P.
R. A.
P.
R. A. P.
R. A. P.
7
R.
A.
P.
Rupees.
2 8
In
the
a
another passage,
fol.
41,
the
same authority explains

year
of
matter
thus.
In
the
twenty-first
Âlamgir,
report
on
a
to
this subject
having been made, the emperor

turns
of
of
his
allowed
term
of
four
guard
{chaukl)
class
for
mansabdar
{haradari),
as if they
produce
men
own
or
family
and for this period pay for the men was passed had been present. But subsequently, on the first Rabf of the twenty-third year, the delay was extended to two months, and for the time during which such men were not actually present, pay at half-rates was sanctioned. In the case of the Ahsham^ or troops belonging All sham, to the infantry and artillery, we have a little more definite information under this head (B.M. 1641, fol. 64r/). Officers
of
this
class
fell
into
three
subdivisions,
hazarl
(of
thousand),
ten).
sadiwal (hundred-man), and mirdahah (lord of

first
The
class
was
or
always
the
second sometimes;
{dUaspah)
these
mounted {suwar) and mounted officers might be

one-horse
two-horse
only
yakaspah)
men.
Working on
of
these distinctions,
:
we
get the following scheme
Where, inclusive of the officer's own retainers {k/idsah), there were one hundred men present per 100 of rank, pay was drawn at duaspah rates. But if the number were under fifty per 100 of rank, pay was passed to the hazarl as if he were a mounted sadiwal;
pay.
Duaspah Suwar
subject
to
restoration
to
duaspah pay when
his
muster
24

Yakaspah-.
If,
again conformed to the standard.
including
khasah men,
full
tliere
were
;
fifty
men
present per 100 of rank,
pay was given
if
only thirty-one or under, then the
and made. Fiyadah (unmounted If a sadiical produced under thirty-one men out officer). of his hundred, he received nothing but his rations. When
Iiazari
was paid
as
a sadiwdl piyadah (unmounted),
certain other deductions were
the
till
numbers
his full
rose above thirty, he
was paid
as a
mirdahah
one
quota was mustered. In the case of a mirdahah^
the production of two
men
entitled
him
to his pay. If
man
only was paraded for inspection, a deduction from the

I
pay was made, varying, on conditions which mastered, from one to three annas per man.
Tawaqquf-i'tasJnhah (Delay in Verification).
for
have not
The rules
Branding and Verification will be found further on. If the periods fixed were allov/ed to elapse without the verification having been made, a man was reported for delay; and then a mansahdar was cut the whole, and an ahadl the half, of his pay (B.M. 1641, fol. 58^). Saqatl and Bartarafi. The first word is from saqat shudan 'to die' (applied to animals, Steingass, 687), and
may
as
be
translated
or
casualties.
The
other
word
means
setting
aside
rejecting, in other
words
to cast a horse
unfit.
We
find
the
in
the
Ajn-i-Akban.
First
groundwork of the saqatl system Blochmann, i, 250. In later times
there
cases.
for regulating pay in such was seen whether the man was dUaspah (paid for two horses) or yahaspali (paid for one horse). In the first case, (1) if one horse died {saqat s/iavvad) or was cast {bar taraf shud), the man was paid at the yakaspah
it
;
were the following rules
rate
(2) if
both horses died or were turned out, the

if after
man
obtained his personal pay for one month, and
one pay was also stopped. In the second case, that of a yakaspah, if there were no horse, personal pay was disbursed for one month but after one month nothing was given (B.M. 1641), fol. 41).
month he had
still
no horse,
his personal

If
25
the
hide,
an ahndis horse died while he was at headquarters, clerk of the casualties, after having inspected the
wrote out his
certificate
it.
{saqat-namaJi),
and pay was

detached
tail
disbursed
according to
If
the
man were on
{dacjji),
fol.
duty when
his horse died, the brand
and the
29/^).
were sent in to headquarters (B.M. 1641,
Other incidents of military service considered as affecting Among these may be mentioned: (1) Gliair-hazirl fay.
(absence
(leave
without leave);
;
(2)
Bimarl
(illness);
;
(3)
RuMsat
and furlough)
Ghair-hazirl.
(4)
Fararl (desertion)
a
(5)
Bartarafl
(discharge or resignation); (6) Pension; (7) Fautl (death).

(1)
If
man were
absent from three
consecutive turns of guard {chauhi), his pay was cut; but

if
he did not attend the fourth time, the penalty was dismissal, and all pay due was confiscated. Absence from night
at
roll-call {jaizah)
guard or
pay.
If
absent at
the
involved the loss of a day's time of the emperor's public or

i^ld)^
private audience, or on a day of festival
half a day's
pay was taken (B.M. 1641, fol. 39, 62/5). Absence on the ground of illness was over(2) Bimarl. looked for three turns of guard {chaukl), but after that
period
all pay was stopped, and a medical certificate (blmarlnamah) from a physician was demanded (B.M. 1641, fol. 39, 58y The rule is somewhat differently stated in
B.M. 6599,
(3)
fol.
Buk/isat.
Men
1636.
who went on
leave for their
own
business received no pay while doing no duty (B.M. 1641, fol. 416). In another place in the same work, fol. 646, we find
a different statement.
We
are there told that for one

if
man
received half-pay;
he overstayed
;
his leave it
month was
reduced to one-fifth or one-tenth and after three month's absence he was classed as an absconder. Leave on account of family rejoicings or mournings was allowed for one turn of duty; if the man were absent longer his pay was cut
(B.M. 1641,
of
fol.
39). Again, on
fol.
576, a rule
is
stated,
which
am
not able
to
understand the bearing. It
26
seems

to be that
not more than two months of arrears were

took leave; but whether that means
left,
to be paid to a
man who
I
the arrears due to
him when he
cannot say.
or the pay accruing
during his absence,

(4)
Farcin.
If,
among
the Ahslidm, an absconder
who
drawing his pay in full, the amount was shown on the margin (/â^/zo) of the pay-bill {qahz) as recoverable, and one month's pay was realized from the man's surety. If a recruit absconded after drawing money on account, the whole advance was recovered, but a present of one month's pay was allowed. If a matchlockman deserted the service of one leader to enter that of another, he was cut half a month's pay {nim-mahah). But, if it wêre found that the mirdahah or sadlwal, to whom he had gone, had induced him to desert, such officer had to pay the fine himself (B.M. 1641, fol. 64/^). Pay of absconders was reckoned up to the date of the last verification, and three month's time was allowed {idem, fol. 575). By the last phrase I understand that they were allowed that time to reappear, if they chose. If they were again entertained, their rations only were passed, that is, I presume, for the
in the service, left after
had been some time
interval of absence {idem,

(5)
Bartarafi.
fol.
645).
If the
roll,
discharged mansabdar produced
a
his
clear
verification
zat rank,
he received half of the pay of and the full pay of his horsemen {lablnan).
their
fols.
Matchlockmen received
of discharge (B.M.
(6)
pay in
full
up
to the date
Tension.
1641,
575, 62).
no
pension
list,
So far as I have ascertained, there was under that express name. No retiring
be claimed
service,
allowances could
retired
as
of right.
When
a
of
man
his
from
granted
active
we hear sometimes
yearly
Such was the case, for instance, when Nizam-ul-Mulk in Bahadur Shah's reign threw up the whole of his offices and titles, and retired into private life. But the ordinary method of providing for an old servant was to leave him till
daily
being
or
allowance.

his death in undisturbed possession of his
(7) Pautl.
27
jagir.
rank and
It
seems that
lost
in the case of deaths a different
rule prevailed, according to whether the death
was
a natural
one or the
man
his
life
on
active
service.
In
the
one case half-pay and in the other full-pay was disbursed to the heirs on the production of a certificate of heirship
{waris-namah) attested by the qasl.
CHAPTER
III.
REWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS.

The promise
ages and in
all
of
honorary distinctions has been in
all
countries one of the most potent agencies
employed
to incite
men
to exertion.
We
have our medals,
crosses, orders,
and peerages. The Moghul sovereigns were

into
even more ingenious in converting things mostly worthless

in
themselves
objects to be ardently striven for
dearly prized.
Among
Gifts of
these were: (1) Titles; (2)
and Robes of
Honour
drums;
i.
(3)
Money and
other articles
(4) Kettle-
(5)
Standards and Ensigns.

strict
Titles.
The system of entitlature was most elaborate

rule.
and based on
to the general
This subject belongs, however,
scheme of government, and need not be set forth at length here. Suffice it to say, that a man would begin by becoming a Khan or Lord (added to his own
name).
to
After that, he might receive some
name supposed
with
the
be
appropriate
to as
his
qualities,
coupled
word
Khan,
such
Ikhlas
Khan, Lord Sincerity; an
artillery
officer
might be dubbed Ra'd-andaz Khan, Lord

so
Thunder-thrower, or a skilful horseman, Yakah-Taz Khan,
Lord Single Combat, and

a
nucleus,
on.
Round
such a
title
as
accreted all the remaining
man might
titles with which a from time to time be invested. As the empire
declined in strength, so did the
titles
increase in pomposity,
and long before the end of the dynasty the discrepancy between a man's real qualities and his titles was so great
as often to be ridiculous. Still, these titles
were never given
REWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS.

quite
at
29
[
random, nor were they self-adopted. Yet

author,
that
read
quite recently in a history of India, by a well-known and
esteemed
one
governor
of Bengal
was "a
by that
Brahman
convert
calling
himself Murshid
Kuli Khan."
Now
Murshid Quli Khan no more

has
called himself
name than
by the
accepted
title
Earl
Roberts of Candahar called himself

titles
he bears. Both
of
were derived from the
fountain
honour, the sovereigns of the states
which those bearing them respectively served. The khild't was not peculiar (2) Robes of Honour.
to the
military
to
department.
to
These robes of honour were given

the
position
everyone presented at court. Distinction was, however,

of
the
receiver.
five,
made according
were
seven
consist
five
There
six,
degrees
or
of
hhilat,
those of three,
or
pieces;
they might as a special

that
mark
given
of favour
of
clothes
the
emperor
had
actually
worn
the
{nialbUs-i'khas).
three-piece
khilat^
from
general
{(lasidr),
wardrobe [khilat-khanah),
a
consisted
full skirts
of a
turban
long
coat
with very
{jamah), and
a scarf for the waist (kamrband).
five-piece robe
came
band
from the toshah-khanah (storehouse

pieces being a turban
for tying across the
for presents), the extra
ornament
called a sarpech
and
turban {balaband). For the next grade
a tight-fitting jacket with short sleeves, called a Half-sleeve

{nlmah-aslln),
(Ball,
(2) a
i,
J
was added.
European
writer,
Tavernier
63), thus details the seven-piece khila^t;
(l)acap,
long
1
gown
two
(ka^bah), (3) a close-fitting coat [arkaloii),
which
take to be alkhaliq, a tight coat, (4) two pairs of

(5)
shirts,
trousers,
(6)
two
girdles,
(7)
a scarf for
the head or neck.

(3)
Gifts, other than money.

variety.
I
These
were naturally of
drawn up the following list history of the first two years from Danishmand Khan's
considerable
have
of
Bahadur Shah's reign (1708

principally
1710): Jewelled ornaments,

and
daggers
weapons,
hilts,
swords
with jewelled
pearls, horses
palkis
with fringes
of gold lace
and
30
THE ARMY OP THE INDIAN MOGHULS.
with gold-mounted and jewelled trappings, and elephants.
The order
in
which the above are given indicates roughly
both the frequency with which these presents were granted
and the relative value set upon them, beginning with those most frequently given and the least esteemed.
(4)
Kettledrums.
As one of the attributes of sovereignty,

march;
at
kettledrums were beaten at the head of the army when the
emperor was on
beaten
the
the
and
in
quarters they were
every
three
hours
the gate of his camp.
The
instruments in use, in addition to the drums, will be found

in
Ajn-i-Jkbarl (Blochmann,
^
i,
51).
favour, kettledrums {nagqarah)
and the right
might be granted to a subject. a man of the rank of 2000 smoar or invariable condition, moreover, it was stipulated that they should never be used where the emperor was present, nor within a certain distance from his residence. Marching through the middle of Dihli with drums beating was one of the signs by which Sayyad Husain ''Ali Khan, Amir-ul{naubat)
mark of them But he must be upwards. As an

As
a
to play
Umara,
he
notified
defiance
of constituted
in
authority,
when
returned
from
dethroning the
granted
1719, preparatory to Emperor Farrukhsiyar. The drums when

the recipient's
for
the
Dakhin
were
placed on
back,
and, thus
accoutred, he did
hall.
homage
them
silver,
in the public audience
In Lord Lake's case the investment was thus carried

.
out
"Two
are
small drums of
each about the
size of
a thirty-two
ments,
the
pound shot, the apertures covered with parchhung round the neck of the person on whom
honour is conferred, then struck a few times, after which drums of the proper size are made." Thorn, ''War," 356. There is on record another instance of miniature
drums being used in this way, as a symbol. When conferring on him the right to the naubat, Ahmad Shah (1748 1754) gave such drums to Daim Khan, a favorite
Khushhal Chand, Berlin ms. 495,
fol.
41266 uses the word kurkah,
(Steingass, 1060, T, "a big drum").
REWARDS AND
chela of
DISTINCTIONS.
31
Ahmad Khan,
Bangasli, of Farrukhabad. ("Bangash

B.,
Nawabs," Journal A. S. (5) lUacis and Ensigns.

along
the
1879,
p.
161.)
The flags and ensigns displayed,

spare
with
supply
hall
of
weapons,
at
the
door
of
audience
and
carried
at
the entrance to
the emperor's
encampment,
ceinture,
or
before
him on
elephants,
were
called collectively the
Qur (Pavet de Courteille, ''Diet.," 425, arme, garde), and their charge was committed to
officer
responsible
called
the
QUr-begl.
An
alternative
general
name sometimes employed was mdhl'O-maratib (Fish and Dignities), or more rarely, the panjah (literally. Open Hand). It is, no doubt, the Qur which Gemelli Careri
describes thus (French ed.
iii,
182): "Outside the audience
tent I saw nine

gold,
men
in red velvet coats
embroidered with
collars
with
wide
sleeves
and
pointed
hanging
down
at
behind,
who
carried the imperial ensigns displayed
end of pikes. The man in the middle carried a two on each side of him had each a gilt hand, the next two carried horse-tails dyed red. The remaining four, having covers on their pikes, it could not be seen what it was they held." In the Ain, i, 50, we are told of eight ensigns of
the
sun,
the
royalty, of
which the
first
four were reserved exclusively for
the sovereign.
The use
of the others might,
we must assume,
be granted to subjects. The eight ensigns are

Aftabgir,
(5)
(1)
Aarang,
the throne; (2) G/iatr, the State umbrella; (3) Saiban or a sunshade; (4) Kaiikaba/i (plate ix, N". 2);
\4lam,
or
flag;
(6)
Chatr~tok,
of
yak-tails
or
;
yak-tails
(8)
(7)
Tuman-toh,
another
shape
Jltanda,
or
Indian
flag.
To
and
these
we must add
(9)
Mdhi-0'7nardHb,
or the fish
dignities.
The
origin
displayed
and meaning of the diff'erent ensigns by the Moghul Emperors in India have been
fol.
is
thus described, Mirdt-ul-Isiildh,

(1)
Panjah,
an open
hand,
it
said to
mean
the
of
""All.
Taimur ordered
to be carried
before
hand him for
32
a
charm
and
it
as
sacred
relic.
It
was
said
that
tribe.
he
In
captured
when he overcame
different
the
Siyahposh
{ie,
;
17o3 Gentil saw four
''pondjehs"
pnnjahs)
they were
carried on horseback in Salabat Jang's cavalcade
copper hands fixed on the end of a

(2)
Âlam, a flag or standard.

flag
This
stafi"
("Memoires," 61). was supposed to
be
the
of
it
Husain,
and
obtained
his
by
Taimur
at
Karbalah.
To
he
attributed
victory
over Bayazid,
the Kaisar of
(3)
Rum.
a
balance,
was a reference to the equal scales of Justice, and was adopted as having been the emblem of Nushirwan the Just. There is a figure on a plate in Gen til's "Memoires," which is probably the M'lzan. (4) Jftab, or Sun, was obtained from the fire-worshippers Mizdn,
when they were conquered;

worship.
(5, 6)
it
was an
article
used in their
the time of
Azhdaha-paikar, Dragon-face.
From
Sikandar of the
shipped this
Two
Horns, the rajahs of Hind had worin their temples,

it
emblem
and when Taimur

to
made
an
his irruption into India

It consisted of
was presented
him
as
oflPering.
two
pieces,
one carried in front
and the other behind the emperor. (7) Mahl, or Fish, was said to have been an ofiering from the islands of the ocean, where it was worshipped. (8) Qumqumah (Steingass, 989, a bowl, a jug, a round This also was obtained from the Indian shade, a lantern). rajahs. The Ajn-i-Akbarl, i, 50, has kaukahah for apparently
the same thing (see figure N^. 2 on plate
ix).
There
is
also
w^hat looks like the kaukahah in a plate in Gentil's ^^Memoires."
The
with
definition of
the
figure
in
kaukahah in Steingass, 1063, corresponds the Ajn, viz. 'â polished steel ball
suspended from a long pole and carried as an ensign before the king." Careri, iii, 182, tells us that he saw a golden ball hanging by a chain between two gilt hands, and adds
that
was a royal ensign carried on an elephant when the army was on the march."
"it
RFAVARDS AND DISTINCTIONS.
33
All these emblems, we are told, were carried before the emperor as a sign of conquest over the Seven Climes, or, in other words, over the whole world.
Mahl-o-maralih.
Some words must be added with special
reference to this dignity, which was borne on elephants or
camels in a man's retinue.

honours,
of
as
it
6000
zat,
It was one of the very highest was not granted to nobles below the rank 6000 suwar {Miral-ul-Istilah, fol. 3). Main
(literally,
fish),
was made
copper
gilt,
in the figure of a fish, four
feet in length, of
and
i,
it
was placed horizontally

as
''certain
on the point of a spear

51).
{Seir,
218, note 150, and 743, note
Steingass,
1,147,
defines
mahl-mardtib
fish
honours denoted by the figure of a

(two
it
it,
with other insignia
balls)."
But
in careful writers T have always
found
as
ma/n-o-niaratib, "fish
first
and
dignities," and,
as I take
the the
word
or
refers to the fish
emblem and
the second
it.
to
balls
other
adjuncts which went with
The
gilt
maratib Thorn, "War," 356, describes as a ball of copper

encircled
by a jhalar or fringe about two
feet in length,
placed
on a long
pole, and, like the main, carried
on an
ball"?
elephant.
Can
it
this
be
Gemelli
Careri's
"golden
Perhaps
was identical with the qumqumah or kaukabah
already described above.
The
translator of the Seir-Mutaq-
herin^ i, 218, note 150, tells us that the fish was always accompanied by the figure of a man's head in copper gilt. This must have been in addition to the gilt balls. The mahl, as conferred on Lord Lake on the 14th August, 1804
(Thorn, "War," 356),

fixed
to
is
described as "representing a fish with
a head of gilt copper and the body and

a long
staff"
tail formed of silk, and carried on an elephant." James
Skinner,
who
recovered MahadajT-Sendhia's mahi-o-maraiib

it
in a fight with the Rajputs, speaks of
as "a brass fish
hanging to it like (Fraser, -'Memoir," i, 152). Gentil, "Memoires," moustachios" 62, calls the main simply "the head of a fish on the end
with
chourees
(horse-hair
tails)
two
of a
pole."
As
sign
of
the
rarity
of this dignity, he
34
adds that while in the Dakhin (1752 four of them.

8her-maralih^ or lion dignity.
so far as
I
1761) he only saw

is
This
name
only found,
and he only saw it displayed by Salabat Jang, nazim of the Dakhin. At the head of the dedication of the above work to the memory of Shuja'-ud-Daulah, are the figures of two elephants; one of which bears a standard that is most likely identical with this Sher-maratib. The flag bears a lion embroidered on it,
know,
in Gentil, ''iMemoires," 62;
and the head of the

a
lion.
staff is
adorned with the figure of
seem to have been triangular in shape, either scarlet or green in colour, having a figure embroidered in gold and a gold fringe. The staff* was surmounted by a figure corresponding to the one embroidered on the flag. A plate in Gen til's "Memoires"showsfour of these embroidered l^t, a panjah, or open hand; 2"^^, a man's face emblems with rays; Si'd, a lion {sher); and 4tti, a fish. A flag, or âlam^ could be granted to no man under the rank of 1000
Âlam.
flags
The
smear.
Aftahgirl,
c/irifian,
This sun screen {aftab, sun;
gir,
root of
to take),
also
called
shaped like an open palm-leaf fan, was Suraj-mukhl (Hindi, literally, sun-face). By
it
the
Moghul
rules
could only be granted to royal princes

3).
{Mirat'ul'Istilah,
ever, the
fol.
In the eighteenth century, howit
Mahrattas adopted
as one of their
ensigns,
and even the smallest group
of their
commonest cavalry was

in
in the habit of carrying one.
Tuman-togh.
This
i,
is
one of the two togh mentioned
Akbar's
volume.
list,
Ajn
50,
and figured on
plate ix of that
^y>'
Pavet de Courteille, "Diet.," 236, has

se
{togh)^
composant d'une queue de (j/.LLjj {qatds) ou {i. e. yak) fixee a une hampe, au dessus d'un pavilion triangulaire." This yak's-tail standard was not unfrequently granted to officers of rank, by whom it was esteemed a high honour. The togh consisted generally
"etendard
boeuf de montagne
REWARDS AND
DISTINCTIONS.
35
of three tails attached to a cross-bar, which
was
fixed at the
end of a long pole or staff. Summary. Thus, apart from
titles or
money rewards,
or
ordinary
gifts,
man might
be awarded any of the following
honorary distinctions, of a more permanent character
(1)
the right to carry a flag or simple standard, (2) the right to display a yak-tail standard, (3) the right to use kettle-
drums and beat the naubat,

fish
(4) the right to display
the
and its accompanying emblems, (5) the right to use a litter adorned with gold fringes and strings of pearls. Of course, all these things were dependent on the caprice of the monarch for in the Moghul, like in all Oriental states Ba yak nuldah 7nahram {^j^^^) mujrwi (c^^) shavvad-. By
;
one spot "confidant" becomes "criminal."
CHAPTER
IV.
PROCEDURE ON ENTERING THE SERVICE.

Single
men who
resorted to the Court in the hope of

first to
obtaining employment in the army, were obliged

a patron.
his
seek
A man
of
generally attached himself to a chief from

or of his
own country
and
so
own
race:
of
Mughals became the

Persians,
follfcrwers
Mughals,
forth.
Persians
Afghans of
were certain
Afghans,
On
this point there
customary
rules,
which are thus stated by Khushhal Chand,

fol.
Berlin Ms. 495,
10723.
;
A
if
noble from Mawar-un-nahr
recruited none but
Mughals
from Iran, he might have
one third Mughals and the remainder Sayyads and Shekhs,

or
if
he took
Afâns and
Rajputs, of the former he might
entertain
total
latter, one seventh of his number. Nobles who were Sayyads or Shekhs might
one sixth and of the
enlist their
own
tribe,
or
up
to
one sixth they might take
Afghans. Afghans themselves might have one half Afghans
and the other
half
Mughals and Shekhzadahs. Rajputs made
up
whole force of Rajputs. At times men of high desired to increase their forces would remit large sums of money to the country with which they were specially connected, and thereby induce recruits of a particular class to flock to their standard. For instance, in
their
rank
who
the reign of
Muhammad Shah (17191748), Muhammad

filled
Khan, Bangash,
from the According
to a
his
ranks
in
this
way with men
number
assigned
Bangash country and with Afridi Pathans. man's reputation or connections, or the of his followers, would be the rank {mansab)
to
him.
As
rule,
his followers
brought their
37
and other equipment; but sometimes a man money would buy extra horses and mount relations or dependents upon them. When this was the case, the man riding his own horse was called, in later parlance, a si/aJ/dar (literally, equipment-holder), and one riding somebody else's horse was a Ijarf/ir (burdentaker). The horses and equipment were as often as not procured by borrowed money and not unfrequently the chief himhorses
a
own
with
little
self
made
the advances, which were afterwards recovered

for
employment, having found a patron, next obtained through this man's influence an introduction to the BakJisln-ul-mamalik or Mir Bakhshl,
whose hands lay the presentation of new men to the and on his verdict a great deal depended as to the rank {mansab) which might be accorded. The Bakhshl. This officer's title is translated into
in
from the man's pay. The candidate
emperor,
English
sometimes
by
Paymaster-General,
^
at
others
by
Adjutant-General or Commander-in-Chief.
titles
None
of these
gives
an exact idea of his functions.
He was
not a
Paymaster,
the
except in the sense that he usually suggested

to
rank
which a man should be appointed or propay-bills.
moted,
and perhaps countersigned the

is
But the
actual disbursement of pay belonged to other departments.
somewhat nearer to correctness. Commander-in-Chief he was not. He might be sent on a campaign in supreme command and if neither emperor, vicegerent {wakil-i-mutlaq), nor chief minister {ivazlr) was present, the command fell to him. But the only true Commander-in-Chief was the emperor himself, replaced in his absence by the wahl or the wazir. The word Bakhshl means 'the giver,' from bakhshidan, P. 'to bestow,'
Adjutant-General
;
is, he was the giver of the gift of employment in camps and armies {Dastur-ui-lnsha, 232); or might it not
that
better be connected wdth another meaning,

shares,
1
''to
divide into
to
distribute,"
A'lyi^
i,
making Bakhshl
to
equal
"the
Blochmann,
161, has Paymaster and Adjutant-General.
38
distributor,
official

the
divider into shares?"
In Persia the same

iâriz).
was
styled
it
'The
Petitioner'
This
name
indicates that
was emperor anyone seeking for employment or promotion, and there to state the facts connected with that man's case. Probably the use of the words Mir Ârz in two places in the Ajn-i-Akbarl (Blochmann, i, 257, 259)
presence
of the
his special business to bring into the
are
instances
of
the
Persian
a
name being
The
applied to the
first
officer
afterwards
called
Bakhhl.
BaHshl
(for there
were four) seems to have received, almost as of right, the title of Amlr-ul-umara (Noble of Nobles); and from the reign of ""AlamgTr onwards, I find no instance of this title being granted to more than one man at a time,
though in Akbar's reign such appears

case {Ain,
i,
to
have been the

duties coma
list
240, Blochraann's note).
Duties of the Bahhshl-ul-mamalik.

prised
of
at
These
the
recruiting
of
their
in
the
army;
maintaining
mmisnhdars
Court,
(2)
with
officers
showing (1) officers the provinces; keeping a roster

postings,
of
as
the guard-mounting at the palace; preparing the rules

to
grants
of
pay {tankhwali)\
cash,
keeping
up a
list
of
officers
bills;
paid in
the
and an abstract of the
total pay-
superintendence of the mustering for branding

troopers' horses
and verifying the

thereto;
and the orders subsidiary
the preparation of the register of absentees, with
or without leave, of deaths, and dismissals, of cash advances, of
duced by
to
demands due from officers {mutalibah), of sureties proofficers, and the issue of written orders {dastak)
officers
sent on duty into the provinces.
One
special
duty
great
belonging to the Bakhshl was, in preparation for a

battle,
to
assign
posts
to
the
several
in the van, centre, wings, or rearguard.

also
commanders The Bakhshi was
the
1
expected on the morning of a battle to lay before emperor a present state or muster roll, giving the
fol.
Dastur-ul-Insha, 232, Dastur-ul-Âml, B.M. 6599,

fols.
159a, and B.M.
1641,
28,
and 176
to 22a.
PROCEDURE ON P^NTERTNG THE SERVICE.

exact
39
in
number
of
men under
each
commander
/?/7^//6'//e,
each
division of the fighting line.

TJk; ol/icr
Hakh/m.
title
l^csides the First

Amir'iil'Uinnra^
of
ordinarily
either
holding
the
of
(B.
Bdklifsln-ul'maiiialik
the
and Realms) or
styled
Mir Bnkh/n
at
(Lord
B.),
It
there
is
were
little
three
other
to
Bak/m/iu
fix
head-
quarters.
difficult
upon the points
Bakhshl.
which distinguished their duties from those of the First The Second Bakhsid, usually styled Bakl/s/n-
ul-mulk (B. of the Kingdom), was also called the Bakhshli-tan.

^
As
tan
(literally,
body)
tan^
was
contraction
for
tankhicah^
it
pay
be
(literally
body, khioah, desire, need),

his
might
lieu
supposed
just
as
that
duties
were
connected
with the records of jaglrs, or revenue assignments granted

in
of
pay,
in
the
revenue
department the
special
details
officer,
accounts
the
of
these
grants
were
as
under
Diivan-i'tan.
But on examining such

does
of the
Second Bakhshis duties

this
are forthcoming, 1 find that
supposition
not hold good.
On
the whole, the
duties
of the First, Second, and Third Bakhshis
seem to
have covered
perhaps,
the
much the same ground. The main distinction, was that the Second Bakhshl dealt more with
and promotion
of
recruiting
the smaller men, while
only
those
above a certain
rank
were
brought
forward
it
by the Mir Bakhshl. The Second Bakhshl was,

a
practice
wôuld
appear, solely responsible for the bonds taken from officers,
common
His
to
all
branches
and ranks
office
of
the
imperial service.
office
would seem
also to have
been
in
used to some extent as a checking

First
on that of the
his
seal
Bakhshl,
many
documents
requiring
addition to that of the

others
being
to
filed
with
Mir Bakhshl, and him. The same remarks apply

copies of
diff'erence
601,
many
generally
1
the
Third Bakhshl, the greatest

ii,
Danishmand Khan, 18ih Shawwal 1119, Khafi Khan,

fol.
Yahya
Khan,
114a.
40
being perhaps that he took up only such recruiting work as was specially entrusted to him, and that whatever he
did required to be counter-sealed by the First and Second
Bakhs/ds.
His duties were

the
details
on altogether a smaller
scale
than those of the other two.
From
1641,
Bakhsh'is
in
it
fols.
28/5,
29,
one work, DasfUr-ul-Âml, B.M. might be inferred that the Second

connected
singly
duties
were
with
in
the
Jhnais,
or
gentlemen
service.
troopers
serving
the
emperor's
arises
own
The
difficulty,
however,
at
once
that the
Fourth Bakhshl had

of the Ahadis.
as his alternative title that of
Bakhshi
The
third
Bakhsh was
is
also called occasionally
Bakhshl of the IV Wa Shahls, that
of the household troops,

^
men
and paid by the emperor out of his privy purse. Provincial and other Bakhsh'is. In addition to the
raised
Bakhshis at headquarters there were

functions
officers
with similar
province.
attached
to
the
governor
of
every
With
that
the office of provincial Bakhshl was usually combined

of
Waqi ah-nigar
his
or
Writer of the
Official
Diary.
And
in imitation of the imperial establishments, each great
noble had
own
Bakhslii,
who performed
for
him the
same functions
as those executed for the
emperor by the
imperial Bakhshis.
First Appointment of an Officer.
days,
On one of the appointed

His Majesty
narration,
a
written
called
the
Bakhshi
prepared
laid
before
office
statement,
a
in
the
beforehand and
Eaqiqat
(statement,
services
account,
explanation).
The man's
order
to
having
across
been accepted, the emperor's

this
was
written
paper directing the

afterwards
the
man
appear,
and
himself
few
in
days
candidate
audience-hall and made his came the candidate was brought forward, and the final order was passed. The following is a specimen of a Haqlqat, with the orders upon it:
presented
the
obeisance.
When
his turn
Kamwar Khan^
entry of
l^t
Jamadi
I,
1119.
PROCEDDRE ON ENTERING THE SERVICE.
41
Report
is
made
that So-and-So, son of So-and-so, in hope of serving
in the Imperial Court, has arrived at the place of prostration
attached to the Blessed Stirrup

of
{i. e.
the Court). In respect
him what
[First
are the orders?
Order.]
The
noble, pure,
and exalted order issued

and he
will be exalted
that the above-named be brought before the luminous
eye
{i. e.
of His Majesty),
according to his circumstances.
[Second Order in two or three days' time.] To day the

aforesaid
passed
before
the
noble
sight;
he
was
selected for the rank {mansab) of
One Thousand, Two
Hundred Horse
(suwar).
The next step was the issue of a Tasdiq, or Certificate, from the Bakhslns office, on which the Bakhshi wrote his
order. It
was
in the following
form
Certifies
as follows, that So-and-So, son of So-and-so, on such-and-such
a date, of such-and-such a year, in the hope of serving in

this
homage-receiving Court, arrived at the Blessed Stirrup
and passed before the luminous sight. The order, to which the world is obsequious and the universe submissive, was issued that he be raised to the rank (jnansnb) of one Thousand, Two Hundred Horse {suwar). One Thousand, zat.
[Order thereon of the
in the
Two Hundred, siiwdr. BcMsJn^ Let it be incorporated
Record of Events {Waqiâh).

of the Certificate {Tasdlq) in the office
On
of the
the
arrival
JFaqiahnigar, or Diary Writer, he
made an
appro-
priate entry in his record
and furnished an extract therefrom,
42
THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS
which bore the name of a Yal-daÎ/t, or MemoraniUim. In form it was as follows:
Memorandum
{Yad-daslii).
On
such-and-such
date,
such-and-such a day of the

Valour, a Shelter
week, such-and-such a month, such-and-such a year, in the
department
{risalah) of
One endowed with
of the Courageous, the Object of various Imperial Condescensions, Submissive to the Equity of the world-governing
favours, the
Bakhshi of the Realms So-and-so, and during

this lowliest of the
the
term of duty as Event Writer of
slaves So-and-so, it
was reduced
to writing that So-and-so,
son
in
of So-and-so, having
come
at
to the place of prostration
the
hope of
service
the
Imperial Court, on such-
and-such a date passed
before the pure and noble sight.
The world-compelling, universe-constraining order obtained

the honour of issue, that he be raised to and selected for
the rank {ma7isab) of
One Thousand Personal

{suioar)
{zat)
{silk)
and Two
of rankdate, in
Hundred Horsemen
holders
{mansabddran),
in
the
chain
On
such-and-such
accordance with the Certificate Tasdlq), this

{Yad-ddsht) was penned.
Memorandum
zdt.
One Thousand,
Two Hundred,
I.
suwdr.
[Order of the WazTr.]

After comparing
it
with the Diary
Waqtali), let
it
be sent to the Office of Revision CArz4-7nukarrar).

II.
[Report of the Event Writer.]
Agrees with the diary {Waqt'ah).
IH.
[Order of the Superintendent of Revision,

Petition
{^
literally
Renewed
Arz-i-mukarrar)^
a year,
On
such-and-such a date, of such-and-such a month,

it
of such-and-such
was brought up
for
the second time.
43
In the later notices of the system we find few mentions

of
the
paper
called
it
in the
Jin (Blochmrmn,
i,
25^) the
ta^liqa//,
which was,
seems, an abridgment of the Yad-dasht,
This paper the tdliqah^ formed at that time the executive

order issued to the officer concerned {Ajn^
i,
255).
have
h.
found tdhqnh used once

(1716),
in
this sense as late as
1127
by Sayyad
247).
Âbd-ul-Jalil,
BilgramT, in his letters
sent from Dihli to his son, ''Oriental Miscellany," Calcutta,
1798,
p.
The Jhadls.
{mansahdars)
Midway between
the nobles or leaders
with the horsemen under them {(abwdn) on

the
the one hand, and the Ahshani^ or infantry, artillery, and

artificers
on
is
other,
is
stood
the
Ahadl,
or
gentleman
applied to
trooper.
one).
It
The word
easy
literally 'single'
or 'alone' (A. aliad,
to
see
why
this
name was
singly,
them;
they
off'ered
their
services
they
did
not
attach themselves to any chief, thus forming a class apart
from the iablndn; but as they were horsemen, they stood

equally apart from the specialized services included under
the
remaining head
of
Ahsham.
i,
The
title
of Ahadi
was
given,
we
are
told
{Seir,
262, note 201), to the
men
serving
have the emperor for their immediate colonel." We sometimes come across the name Yakkah-taz (riding alone), which seems, when employed as the name of a class of troops, to mean the same body of men as the Ahadis. Horn, 20, 56, looks on the Ahadis as a sort of body-guard or corps d' elite-, and in some ways that view may be taken as true, though there was not, as I think, any formal recognition of them as such. The basis of their organization under Akbar is set out in Jjn 4
singly
"because they
of
Book
ii
(Blochmann,
(i,
i,
249), and they are referred to

20, 161, 231, 246, 536). In the
in several other places

strictest sense, the
body-guard, or defenders of the imperial
person,
seem
to
have been the
men known
as the
Wdld
to
Shdhl
(literally,
of or belonging to the Exalted King), and,
no doubt, these are the four thousand men referred
by
44
Manucci
emperor's

('^Catrou,"
slaves.'
^
English ed. of 1826,
p.
297) as 'the
fVala S/ia/il
Whether
I
slaves or not, the
were the
most trusted troops of the reigning sovereign.

passages
find
From
not
various
that
they were chiefly,
if
entirely,
his
men who had been
attached to his person
from
still
youth and had served under him while he was
only a royal prince, and were thus marked out in a
special
troops.
manner as his personal adherents and household The Yasaivnls or armed palace guards were somelike
thing
the
safety
Wala
S/ialil
so ;far as they
were charged
with
the
of the sovereign; but they difl'ered from
the latter in not having the same personal connection with
him. The Ahadis received somewhat higher pay than common troopers. In one instance we are told expressly what those
rates
were in
(1120
later times.
On
us,
the
2^^^
SRfar of his second
year
h.
22nd April,
tells
1708),
Bahadur Shah,
the
as
Danishmand
Khan
ordered
enlistment
to
of
4,700 extra Aliadu at Rs. 40 a month, the money paid from the Exchequer.
be
Towards the end

troops,
of the eighteenth century the household
we
are told, 8eir,
men,
the
all cavalry,
i, 94, note 90, amounted to 40,000 but usually serving on foot in the citadel and
in the palace.
They
the
consisted then of several corps besides
Ahadis,
such as the Surk/i-posh (wearers of red), the
SuUanl
(Royal),
Wala
Sha/il
(High
Imperial),
is
the
not,
Kamal-pos/i
(Blanket
Wearers).
Haji
Mustapha
however, quite consistent with himself, for elsewhere {Seir, i, 262, note 201), when naming still another corps, the
A^la
Sha/n (Exalted Imperial), he asserts that the Surkh-
posh
curious
thousand in number. The used above, Kamal-posh, comes from the Hindi word himmal, a coarse blanket, having also the secondary
all
were
infantry,
eight
title
meaning
latter is
^
of a kind of cuirass {Seir,
i,
143, note 105).
The
no doubt the
signification here.
or,
The word meant may be Bandahhae,

'slave.'
the Chaghatae for
perhaps preferably, the Qui,
P. de Courteille, 433.
CHAPTER
V.
BRANDING AND VERIFICATION,

False musters were an evil from which the
suffered
Moghul
army-
most palmy days. Nobles would lend make up their quota, or needy idlers from the bazaars would be mounted on the first baggage pony that came to hand and counted in with the others as efficient soldiers. Great efforts were made to cope with this evil, and in the earlier times with some success. In the later reigns, notably from the middle of Muhammad Shah's reign (1719 1748), all such precautions fell into abeyance, amid the general confusion and ever-deepening corruption. By 1174 H. (1761) the system had so entirely disappeared from the suhah of Ahmadabad, that clerks acquainted with the rules could not be found there {Mir ateven in
its
each other the
men
to
i'Ahmadl,
ii,
118).
Mustapha, the translator of the Blyar-ul-ynuiakhann, gives

us
an instance of the length to which

i,
carried {Seir;
609, note). In Bengal, in the year
(1750),
when
'All
was 1163 h. Wirdi Khan, Mahabat Jang, was nazim,

this cheating
an officer receiving pay for 1700 men could not muster more than seventy or eighty. Mustapha, who wrote in 1787 8, "Such are, without exception, adds from his own experience all the armies and all the troops of India; and were we to rate by this rule those armies of 50,000 and 100,000 that fought or were slaughtered at the decisive battles of Palasi rPlassy] and Baksar [Buxar] (and by some such rule they must be rated), we would have incredible deductions to make. Such a rule, however, would not answer for Mir Qasim's
troops (1760
1764),
where there was not one single
false
46
muster,

nor
would
it
answer
for
Haidar
""All's
armies."
The admitted
is
difference between recorded and actual numbers emphazised by Khushhal Chand's expression, Berlin Ms.
fol.
495,
]09la, MaujUdl, nak kaghazi, "actually present,
not merely on paper", used in reference to the force brought to

Dihli by Burhan-ul-mulk at the time of Nadir Shah's invasion.
It
was
to
put down these

descriptive
rolls
evil practices that the
emperor
Akbar revived and enforced more

system
service.
strictly
than before a
of
of
men and
the
horses, the latter
being branded with a hot iron before they were passed for
This
for
branding,
the
with
of
consequent
periodical
musters
purpose
comparison and
verification,
its
formed a separate department under the Bakhshi with
own
the
superintendent
dagh'O-tasUhah,
verification.
[daroghali),
and
a
this
was known
a
as
from
dagJi,
brand,
mark,
and
was
tashihah,
The usual phrase

introduced
for enlisting
asp ba dag/i rasanidan, "bringing a horse to be branded."
Branding
was
first
by ""Ala-ud-din Khilji in
712 H. May, 1312 April, 1313, but on his dea'tii it was dropped {DastUr-ul-Insha, 233). The emperor Sher Shah, Afghan, started it again in 948 h. April, 1541 April, 1542.
Akbar
it
{Aj7i,
i,
233)
re-established
the
h.,
practice
in
4),
the
eighteenth year of his reign (about 981
1573
and
was continued until the time when the whole system of government finally broke down in the middle of the eighteenth century. At first many difficulties were made {Dastur-ul-Insha, 234), and evasions were attempted, but at length the system was made effective. The great nobles,
holding the rank of 5000 and upwards, were exempt from
the operation of these rules; but
when
The
ordered, they were

(Z>AV^7r-2^/-
expected to parade their horsemen for inspection

'Aml, B.M., NO. 6599,
evidently
fol.
144^).
technical
1 1
name
for
these parades was X:â maliallah (Steingass,
90), a
word
ii,
connected
viz.
with
that
used in Akbar's time for

{Ajn,
i,
branding,
190).
dagh-o-mahaUl
of the
242
Budaonl,
The germ
dagh system may perhaps be found
BRANDING AND VERIFICATION.

in
47
the
practice
colts.
This
G.
Transoxiana of annually branding the was done so far back as the twelfth century;
in
see
E.
Browne on the Cliahar Maqalah

about
of Ârudl
Soc.
(composed
(189^>),
1161
A.D.),
Journal
R.
Asiatic
pp. 771
and 776.
As
said before, the recruit
far as the State
Orrae states
fully
was supposed, at any rate so was concerned, to furnish his own horse. the case thus: "Every man brings his own
horse and offers himself to be enlisted.
The
hor.ê is care-
examined
and according
to the size
and value of the
beast, the master receives his pay. thirty

tracts
good horse will bring or forty rupees a month. Sometimes an officer confor a whole troop. A horse in Indostan is of four
is
times greater value than in Europe. If the horse

the
killed
man
is
ruined, a regulation that

little
makes
the soldier to fight as
as possible."
"Historical Fragman
it
the interest of
ments,"
4^0 edition,
418. Along with his horse the
brought
his
own arms and armour,
the production of certain
items of which was obligatory. In actual practice, however,

the leaders often provided the recruits with their horses and
equipment.
When
pay and paid
man, who rode

taker); while a
times
is
called
was the case the leader drew the the man whatever he thought fit. Such a another's horse, was called a bargir (loadman riding his own horse was in modern silahdar (weapon-holder). The latter word
this
the
origin
of
the
Anglo-Indian
phrase
of
"Sillidar
cavalry," applied to
for themselves,
men who
are paid a
lump sum monthly

entered the service
Descriptive
Rolls. When
fol.
horse, uniform,
and equipment.
officer
an
(B.M.
^
N^
6599,
160) a Chihrah or descriptive rolP

must not be confounded with chlrah, on which the recipients
Literally 'face,' 'countenance.' It
which means
(1) a kind of turban, (2) a pay-roll,
signed, (3) the
pay
khawaqin,
fol,
itself. Chlrah is used in the second sense in A hwal-ul2306; and also by Ghulam Hasan, Samin, when telling us
of the taunt addressed in
1170
h. (1757)
by Ahmad Khan, Bangash, to

were
in existence.
Najib Khan, Najib-ud-daulah, of having been once a private trooper in
Farrukhabad, where
his pay-rolls (chirah-hae)
still
48
of the
his
new mamahdar was

his
father's
first
of all
drawn up, showing
name,
name,
his tribe or caste, his place
of origin,
followed by details of his personal appearance. His complexion might be "wheat-colour" {^gandum-rang)^
i, e,
"milky,"
white
(slilr-fam),
"red"
{surkh-post),
or
"auburn" {maigun-rang). His forehead was always "open" (faraqli)\ his eyebrows either full (Jcushadah) or in whole
or in part inoshahQ)^ his eyes were sheep-like {irmh), deerlike
{ahu), ginger-coloured {adrak), or cat's eyes {gurbah).
His nose might be "prominent" {huland) or "flat" {past). He might be "beardless" iamrad) or "slightly bearded"
{I'lsh
barwat clghaz)
sigcth),
his
beard might be "black"

red"
{siyah
i
[risk o
barwat
"thin"
or
"slightly
maigun-numa),
{k/iall?),
"shaven" {mutarash)^ "goat-shaped" (kosah-i-
kJiurd), or "twisted
up"
{shaqlqah).
his ears,
So with any moles he

whether projecting or
might have; the shape of

not,
whether the lobes were pierced or not, and whether he was pock-marked or not all these things were noted. Ashob, Shahadat, fol. 84, tells us that in the imperial service the chihrahs were written on red paper sprinkled
with gold
Roll for
described,
leaf.
Troopers.
The
troopers (Jablnan) were also
but not quite so elaborately. follows (B.M. No. 6599, fol. 163):
specimen
is
as
Troopers' Roll (ChihrahA-Tdbinan).
Qamr
eyes,
Âli,
son
of
Mir
"All,
son of Kabir 'All, wheat
complexion,
broad
forehead,
separated
eyebrows,
sheep's
ear lost from a sword-cut. Total height, about
prominent nose, beard and moustache black, right 40 shanah. Horse. Colour kabud (iron-grey?). Mark on left of breast. Mark on thigh on mounting side. LaskarQ) on
thigh on whip side. Brand of four-pointed stamp

Descriptive Roll of Plorses {fihihrah-i-aspan).
49
The next thing done was

description
106/5).
to
make out an
(B.M.
elaborate
fol.
of the
horse
or
horses
N^. 6599,
There
to
colour,
were twenty principal divisions according and eight of these were again subdivided, so
that there were altogether fifty-eight divisions.
Then
there
were fifty-two headings
for the
marks {khal-o-khat) which
might occur on the
horse's body.
The Imperial Brand.

The hot
i,
iron
was applied on the
horse's thigh {Seir,
481,
in
note
the a
that
27),
The
i,
signs
used in
A.kbar's
reign are
given
Ain,
139, 255, 256; but in the end he
adopted
about
system of numerals.
time
of
In
Âlamglrs reign and

different
fifteen
there
were
twenty
of
brands
{tamghah),
which
are
the
shapes
have
been
6599,
preserved
fol.
and
I
reproduced
below
the
to
(B.M.
N^
161<2).
most instances
for the
am not certain of I am utterly unable
and in meaning suggest a

spelling,
names.
Name.
Form
op Brand.
1.
Chaliar i)arlia (four feather?)
2.
Chakar jiarha jomar-khaj

Chaliar par ha dur khaj
"^
J"
3.
4.
5.
Chahar parha sihsar khaj

Chakush
1st ad (upright)
"
^
V
6.
7.
Uftadah (recumbent)
Istadah o uftadah
8.
50

]SIame.
Form
i
of
Brand.
9.
Yah
ha do (one with two)
10. 11.
Asaran
Togli (horse-tail standard)
12.
Fanjah4'7nurgh (hen's
foot)
,
r\f\
1
,
13.
14.
Mizan (balance)
Bo ddrah taur
Chahar bar ah makar khaj
15.
11
The Noble's Brand.

It is
obvious that in addition to the imperial brand, a

ridden
second mark was required by each noble for the recognition

of the
horses
by
his
own men. Accordingly we

second
find
direct
evidence
of this
marking in Bernier,
216, and again 243,

bear the
of
when he speaks of the horses "which omrah's mark on the thigh." Towards the end
first
the period the great nobles often had the

of their
as,
or last
i,
letter
name
of
as their special
brand
of
to
{Seir,
481,
note 27),
for instance,
the sin-dagh {^) of Sa^dat ÂlT
Khan, nazim
Khan,
Berlin
Audh. The brand

iâbd),
fol.
Sayyad Âbdullah
was
Ms.
A^c
495,
according
Khushhal Chand,
(B.M.,
h.
1020.
635)
tells
Ghulam 'AH Khan

us
that
Add.
(1740
his
24,028,
fol.
about
1153
41)
is
Muhammad
further
Ishaq
Khan used
the last letter of

of selecting the
name, a qaf (^),
as his brand.
The way
by a passage in Kam Raj's Shah in 1119 h. (1707) was A^zam-ul-harh. When A'zam on his march from the Dakhin, some new brands were chosen. "As the brand of the Wcila Shdhl (personal troops) was Âzma, that of Bedar Bakht, the eldest son, was mankab,
brands
illustrated
and of Wala Jah, the second
son,
was
khail, it
was thought
BRANDING AND VERIFICATION

fit
51
to
fix
on the word hashn

It
is
(-)
as that of ""Ala Tabar,

this passage
the youngest son."
to
be niferred from
of the
that in each instance the
first letter
word was used.
Classification of Horses.
According to the Ajn,
i,
233, there were seven classes
of horses founded on their breed

(3)
(1) Ârabi, (2) Persian,
Mujannas, resembling Persian, and
mostly Turk! or
Persian geldings, (4) Turhi, (5) Yabu, (6) Tazl, (7) Ja7iglah.
In Mlamgir's reign
the
we
find (B.M. N. 6599,

:
fol.
i63r/)
(3)
following
(4)
classification
(1)
Iraqi, (2)
Mujannas,
is
Turkl,
Ycibu,
as
(5) Tazl,
(6)
Jangll. This
practically
the
same
Akbar's,
except
that
Arab
horses
are
not
mentioned. This must be an oversight, since
we
learn from
many
horses,
passages
still
in
the contemporary historians that
horses were
in use.
Arab The Tdzl and Jangll were Indian

country breds, the former being
what we now
superior
call
quality to the latter. The Yabu was, I what we call now the Kabuli, stout-built, slow, and of somewhat sluggish temperament. The Turkl was an animal from Bukhara or the Oxus country; the Îraql
held
of
suppose,
came from Mesopotamia.

In
'Alamgir's reign the proportion in which officers of
the different ranks were called on to present horses of these
different breeds at the
time of branding was as follows
52

differ
These figures
the
from those in the A}n,

is
i,
248
9,
where
number
of horses
given for
all
mansahs, up to the
very highest.
ii,
Some
figures are also given in Mirat-i-Ahmadi,
118, which agree on the whole with those in the above
table.
According as the standard was exceeded or not come up to, the branding officer made an allowance or deduction
by a fixed
table.
This
calculation
aspan (discrepancy of horses)
B.M.
was styled tafawat-iN^. 6599,
The
extra allowances were
as follows:
fol.
163a.
Horse Required
BY Regulation,
BRANDING AND AÊRIFICATION.
53
54

da(/h-o-tas/nIiaI/.
produced vouchers of
He
sends the papers
by
a special messenger,
and prays
his correspondent,
some
influential
man
at Court, to obtain the restoration of the
jafir in question.
The
varied
intervals
after
which
verification
was imperative
If
according
to
the
nature
of the man's pay.
he
were paid in
jfifir,
he had to muster his
men
for verification
once a year, and, in addition, a period of six months' grace
was allowed.
at
If the officer
were paid in naqd
time allowed depended upon whether he was
(cash), the
(1)
present
Court
the
{hagir-i-riqab), or (2)
first
on duty elsewhere {tainat).
In
In
case he or
had
to procure his certificate at six-
month
intervals,
within
eight
months
at the outside.
the second case he was allowed fifteen days after he had reported himself at Court. An aJ/adl seems to have been allowed, in a similar case, no more than seven days.
Where an
and
officer
partly in
half the total
drew his pay partly in jagw (assignment) naqd (cash), if the former made more than pay, the rule for jaglrdars was followed; if
31a, 395).
the jaglr were less than half, the naqdl rule was followed.
(B.M. 1641,
fols.
When
the
the interval and the period of grace had elapsed,
man was
reported
for
taioaqquf-i4asInhah (delay in
lost
verification).
A
since
mansabdar
the
to
the whole of his pay for

;
the
period
last verification
or,
if
he were imthe emperor
portant enough
{ru-sliinas,
have
been presented
to
known by
sight),
he might succeed in obtaining
his
personal pay.
An
aJiadl lost half his pay,
and
it
was
only
by an order on a
special
report that he could be
excused the penalty. The proportion of horsemen {tahinan)

that
a mansabdar must produce difi'ered when he was at Court and when he was on duty in the provinces. In the first case he was bound to muster one-fourth, and in the
one-third,
in
second
stated
of
his
total
number
ii,
or
as the case
is
the
it
Ma,asir-ul-umara,
444, "In the reign of
Shahjahan
was decided that
if
an
officer
held a jaglr

within
the
55
Huhnh
to
which he was attached, he should

his
produce one third

he
of
tahinan for Branding.

suicar,
Thus
if
were 3000
zed,
3000
he would produce 1000
horsemen. If sent to another sUbah of Hindustan, then one

fourth had to appear. During the campaign in Balkh and
Badakhshan, owing
for
verification,
to
the
great
distance,
one
fifth
was
held to be sufficient." There were three seasons appointed
from the
days), the
26^1^
19tî
Shawwal
to the 15^^^
I5tli
Qa'dah
(twenty
Safar to the
Zul Rabf I
and the 16^^'^ Jamadi II to the 15*^ Rajab (twenty-nine days). (B.M. 1641, fols. 31, 395, 58/^; B.M. 6599, fol. 148). At head quarters officers Officials and their duties. entitled A mm, daroghah, and mushrif were appointed by the
(twenty-five
days),
emperor
to the Verification
department, which was under the
supervision of the chief bakhshis.
The Bakhshis made the
appointments
rank
thus
for the provinces. In addition to his personal
{mansab),
office
the
Amin
received a mansab of 10 horse

ii,
while in
{Mirat-i-JJimadl,
118).
The
duties are
described by Hidayatullah, Baharl, in his Ridayatfol.
ul-quwaid,
\Za.
The daroghah should compare

to see
the marks
and points (Jchat-o-Mal) of the horses with the descriptive

roll
{chihrah),
fit
and inspect the horses

fit
whether they
roll,
were
for the service or not. If
for
branding, he should
cause the brand to be imposed, signing the descriptive
adding the day, month and year, with the words

horses such-and-such branded." If
it
"Two
were a two-horse man,
he
should
certify
roll
for
two horses and send the original

office
descriptive
to
the
of the Bakhshi, retaining a
copy sealed by the Bakhshi among his own records.
Two
months having passed, he should in the third month inspect and verify according to the copy of the roll, looking to see if the marks correspond. His inspection report was entered on the back of the roll, giving day, month, and "So-and-so with his horses and arms was inyear, thus If it was a one-horse man, the daroghah wrote: spected."
:
56
one horse inspected." If it were a foot matchlock-man or an archer, he wrote on the back of the roll: "Man and arms inspected." For carpet-layers and servants
belonging to the court establishment he wrote on the back
of
"Man and
the
roll.
When
the paper was
full,
another sheet was
attached.
The peshkar (head
clerk) of the
daroghah drew
up according to rule a present state, giving details of those present and absent and the receipts. He then brought it up for orders. The daroghah attached his seal to the report
and sent
with
it
on
to the
Bakhshi's
office.
In accordance there-
an order {barat) on the Treasury was prepared for each man. The daroghah ought to see that the horsemen
and infantry
at
are present
on the march and on guard.
He
should enjoin on the guard-clerk to
make an
inspection
midnight of the
men
posted on guard, and write
down
the
names
ii,
of
those
present.
According to the
Mirat-i-
Ainnadt,
fication
118, the officials after the mustering and vericertificates {dastak)
made out
bearing the seals of
the
daroghah,
amin,
and mushrif, which were delivered
to the
mansabdar concerned.
CHAPTER
VI.
THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE.

Although
in writing this essay I think
it
better to retain
distribute the
the divisions of the original authorities,
who
army
it
into mansahdars (with their tahinan), ahadls,
and aJtsham,
is
quite true that, as Dr.
Horn
says, p.
11, the
Moghul
But the
army
consisted of cavalry, infantry,
and
artillery.
second and third branches held a very subordinate position
towards
the
first.
The army was
essentially
an army of
horsemen.
The
Moo;huls from beyond the Oxus were ac-
customed
despised
;
to fight
on horseback only; the foot-soldier they
and in artillery they never became very proficient. Until the middle of the eighteenth century, when the French and English had demonstrated the vast superiority of disciplined infantry, the Indian foot-soldier was little more
than a night-watchman, and guardian over baggage, either
in
camp
or on the line of march.

says "Hist. Frag.,"
Under the Moghuls,

p.
as
Orme
all
justly
4<ô,
418, the strain of
war rested upon the numbers and goodness of the horse which were found in an army. Their preference for hand to hand fighting and cavalry charges is well illustrated by the remarks attributed to Prince A'zam Shah in 1707 by
Bhim
Sen, Nuskhah-i-dilkusha,
fol.
162, that "to fight with

the only true
artillery
was a
stripling's
pastime,
weapon
was the sword." There was no division into regiments. Single troopers, as we have already said, enlisted under the banner of some man a little richer or better known than themselves. These
inferior leaders again joined greater
commanders, and thus,
58
by successive aggregations of groups, a great noble's division was gathered together. But from the highest to the lowest
rank,
leader
the
officer
or soldier looked
his
first
to his
immediate
interests
till
and
the
followed
fortunes,
studying
^
his
rather than those of the
army
as a whole.
It
was not
end of the period that, under the influence of European example, and also partly in imitation of the Persian invaders, it became usual for the great nobles to raise and
quite
equip
at
their
own expense whole regiments without

chiefs.
the
intervention
of petty
In
Audh, Safdar Jang and

as, for
Shuja'-ud-Daulah had such regiments,

Q.izzilbash,
instance, the
clad alike,
the Sher-bachak, and others, which were all and apparently were mounted and equipped by
himself.
first
the
Nawab
When Akbar
ranked his
to be
introduced the mansab system, which
number of men supposed under the command of each, these figures had possibly some connection with the number of men present under those
officers
according to the
officers' orders,
and actually serving in the army (Horn, 39). But it is tolerably certain that this connection between the two things did not endure very long: it was, 1 should say,
quite
at
an
if
end
by the reign of Shahjahan (1627

all
58).
Indeed,
the totals of
the personal {zat) mansabs in
existence at one time were

at so
added together, we should arrive huge an army that it would have been impossible for the country, however heavily taxed, to meet such an expense. If paid in cash, the army would have absorbed all the revenue; if paid by assignments, all the land revenue would have gone direct into the hands of the soldiery, leaving next to nothing to maintain the Court or meet the
expenses
inference
of the
I
other
branches of the government.

is,
The
wish to draw
that from the grant of rank
it
does not follow that the soldiers implied by such rank
were really added to the army. The system required that

a man's rank should be stated in terms of so
*
many
soldiers;
ii,
For remarks to the same general
effect, see
W. Erskine,
"History,"
540.

but there
59
is abundant testimony in the later historians that mansab and the number of men in the ranks of the army had ceased to have any close correspondence.
Dr.
Thus it seems Horn does, p. up the
to
me
hopeless
task
to attempt, as
i,
39, following
Blochmann {Ajn,
244
7),
to build
total strength of the
army from the
figures
giving the personal {zat) rank of the officers {mansabdars).
The
reliable
exist, even if we had sufficiently number of such officers on the list at any one time. For we must remember that the number of men kept up by any officer was incessantly varying. On a campaign, or on active employment in one
difficulty
would
of
still
accounts
the
of the provinces, either as

position, an officer kept
as,
if
its
governor or in a subordinate
up
a large force, generally as

for.
many
not more than, he could find pay

while
attached
to the
On
the other
Court at Dihli, his chief or only duty might be to attend the emperor's public audience twice a day (a duty which was very sharply enforced), and
hand,
take his turn in mounting guard at the palace. For duties
If
much smaller number of men would suffice. we reckoned the number of men in the suwar rank, for whom allowances at so much per man were given by the State to the mansabdar, we might obtain a safer estimate
of this sort a
of
the
probable
fail,
strength
of
materials
we may
at
full
safely
and in spite assume that
But for this also of musterings and brandings, very few mansabdars kept up
the army.
strength even the quota of horsemen {tabinmi) for
which they received separate pay. In these matters the difference between one noble and another was very great. While one man maintained his troops at their full number, all efficiently mounted and equipped, another would evade the duty altogether. As, for instance, one writer, Khushhal
Chand,
says
:
in
his Nadir-uz-zaynam
(B.M. Or. 1844,
fol.
]40)
Lutfullah
Khan
Sadiq, although he held the rank of
7,000, "never entertained even seven asses,

or riders
much
less horses
on horses." In
Muhammad
Shah's reign he lived
60
quietly
his
at
home
at
PanTpat, 30 or 40 miles from
Dilili,
all
attention
engrossed
by
his
efforts
to get
hold of
the land for
many
miles round that town, and passing his
days, in spite of his great nominal rank, like a

It
mere
villager.
seems to
me
equally hopeless to attempt a reconstruc-
tion
of the force actually present at any particular battle
by adding together the numerical rank held by the commanders who were at that battle. This Dr. Horn has tried to do on p. 67, without feeling satisfied with the results.
But, as far as
in
I can see, there was little, if any, connection between the two matters. The truth is that, like all things
Oriental
countries,
in
there existed no rules which were
not broken
practice.
doubt, be selected for the
man of command
high rank would, no

of a division.
division
was quite an accident whether that

fewer
men
in
it
than the number in his
But it had more or nominal rank.
The strength
of
of a division
men
available,
depended upon the total number and the extent of the contingents brought
into the field
by such subordinate leaders as might be put under the orders of its commander. It was altogether a
whether the number of men present
matter of accident
corresponded or not to the rank of the commanders.

Bernier, 43, has an excellent remark on the vague
that
numbers followers and

he seems
fair
were
dealt
with
by
I
historians:
way "Campoften
bazar-dealers
....
suspect,
are
included in the
to
number of combatants." Again, on p. 380, come to the conclusion that it would be a
estimate to take the fighting
men
at
about one-third
numbers in a Moghul camp. I have seen somewhere (I have lost the reference, but J think it was in Khafi Khan) an admission that the gross number of a
of the total
so-called
"fauj" (army) was always reckoned as including
no
more
than
one-third
I
or
one-fourth
for
that
it
number
is
of
fighting
men.
give
of Dr.
below,
what
worth,
tabular
summary
Horn's figures (pp.
3945)
61
ESTIMATED NUMBERS OF MOGHUL ARMY.
Pkriod.
CHAPTER
EaUIPMENT.
(a)
VII.
defensive ARMOUR.
The generic name for arms and armour was silali, plural adah (Steingass, 693). Weapons and armour of all kinds were much prized in India, much taste and ingenuity being expended on their adornment. Every great man possessed a choice collection. The following extract describes that of "But beyond the Nawab Wazir at Lakhnau, in 1785: everything curious and excellent in the Nawab's possession are his arms and armour. The former consist of matchlocks,
fuzees, rifles, fowling-pieces, sabres, pistols, scymitars, spears,
syefs (long straight swords), daggers, poniards, battle-axes,
and clubs, most of them fabricated

steel,
in Indostan, of the purest
damasked
or highly polished,
and ornamented
in relief
or intaglio with a variety of figures or foliage of the most

delicate pattern.
Many
are
of the figures are
wrought
in
gold
and
the
silver, or in
marquetry, with small gems. The

agate,
chrysolite,
hilts of
swords,
etc.,
lapus-lazuli, chal-
cedony, blood-stone, and enamel, or steel inlaid with gold,

called tynashee
'
or koft work.
The armour
steel to
is
of
two kinds,
either
of
helmets and plates of
secure the head,
back, breast, and arms, or of steel network, put on like a

shirt, to
which
the
is
attached a netted hood of the same metal

neck, and face.
to
protect
head,
Under the network
are
worn linen garments quilted thick enough to resist On the crown of the helmet are stars or other small device, with a sheath to receive a plume of feathers. The steel plates are handsomely decorated with gold wreaths and borders, and the network fancifully braided." ("Asiatic
sword.
Miscellany,"
'
i,
393. Calcutta, 1795.

tah-nishani,
inlaid
4to.)
Probably
for
is
with gold or studded with jems.
Koft (beating)
gold or silver wire beaten into iron or steel.
EQUIPMENT.
(a)
DEFENSIVE ARMOUR.
63
The fines armour and

(B.M. 6,599,
producing at inspection a man's own that of his elephant {jpahhaf) were as follows
for not
fol.
162):
64
and a pair of kashmlr shawls round the waist completed the costume of a nobleman of high rank. As to these
quilted
that
coats,
we
with
are
told
elsewhere {Seir,
i,
624, note)
the
"common
thick
soldiers
wore an ample upper garment,
quilted
knee.
cotton,
coming down
as
far
as
deaden the stroke of a sabre, stop the point of an arrow, and above all kept the body cool by intercepting the rays of the sun." Or as a still
later writer tells us (Fitzclarence, "Journal,"
These coats would
143)
"The
number
irregular
cavalry
throughout
;
India are mostly dressed in
quilted cotton jackets

are not, as
1
though the best of these habiliments
supposed, stuffed with cotton, but are a
of cotton cloths quilted together. This serves as a defensive
armour, and when their heads are swathed round, and under
the
is
chin,
with
linen
to the thickness of several folds,
it
almost hopeless with the sword to

of the cocoons,
make an impression
will even turn
upon them. They

refuse
silk
also at times stuff their jackets with the
which they say

the
ball."
This
till
habit
of swathing
body
in protective
armour
the
little
the point to
battle
beyond a man's eyes could be seen, gives the scoffing remark of Daud Khan, PannI, at
Husain "All Khan, fought on the
(6th Sept.,
Sîi
against
Sha'ban, 1127 n.
1715), that his assailant, one
Mir Mushrif, "came out to meet him like a bride or a woman, with his face hidden" (Ghulam 'All Khan,
Muqaddamah-i-Shah "Alam-namah,
I
fol.
22/^).
now proceed
to
describe
each
part of the armour,
seriatim^ beginning with the helmet.
Khud, Dabalghah,
with
a
vizor
or Top.
This
W.
was a
steel
headpiece
or
nose-guard. There are several specimens

in
in the Indian
'
Museum; and
Egerton, "Handbook,"
was created Earl of Munster in 4831, and he Munster referred to by Dr. Horn on p, 8 as the author of a series of questions on Mahomedan military usages. His "Journal," the work of a close observer and graphic writer, proves that he was quite competent to write for himself, and not merely "schreiben zu lassen," the history that he had planned.
Lieut. -Col. Fitzclarence
is
the Lord
EQUIPMENT.
several
xiii,
(a)
DEFENSIVE ARMOUR.
65
of
N^
is
Khud
used in
N^. 43).
these are figured, Nos 703 and 704 on plate 703 on p. 134, and another, N^ 591, on p. 125. the more usual name, but dabnlghah is the word the Jjn (Blochmann, 1, iii, N^ 52, and plate xiii,
The
latter is
Chaghatae
for a
helmet; and Pa vet

,k\y^c>
de Courteille gives four forms, ^LiJ^jb, Ui^jb,
(p.
317),
and
iîî.o
(p.
322). I have only
met with
it
once in an
c.
eighteenth-century writer {Ahwcll-id-Kkawaqin,

fol.
1147
h.,
161^),
for
and then under the form of

119 and
top,
^îL^^^,
dobalghah.
;
Top,
a helmet, appears several times in Egerton
for
instance,
on
p.
p.
sr'y,
125.
This
is
apparently an
Indian word (Shakes., 73),
which must be distinguished
from the word

origin
is
a cannon, to which a Turkish helmet seems to have been called a top by the Mahrattas and in Maisur; but the word is not
y^j,
assigned.
used by
difference
writers
in
Northern India.
If
we
disregard the
/o/j,
between
o
'a
and o, then we can derive

hat,'
'a
helmet,'
and
tojn,
as
does
the compiler of the

iii,
"Madras Manual of Administration," ordinary Hindi word topna, 'to cover

think this
Khoglil.
list,
915, from the
up.'
But
hardly
is
The
legitimate.
next
name
to the dahalghah
on the Ajn
the kliogln, N. 53,
head;
the
of
as
but there
origin;
is
must be something worn on the no figure of it, and I fail to identify
word Hindi
in that form.
From
the spelling
it
is
evidently
\\dL^
and a note
reading.
in the Persian text
ghokhl
an alternative
cloths
Has
it
anything
to
do with
ghoghl, a pocket, a pouch, a wallet (Shakespear, 1756), or

ghunglil,
folded
against the rain
and put on the head as a defence (Shakes., 1758)? The latter may point to
khoghi,
or,
solution:
the
better, the ghUghl,
may have
it
been folds of cloth adjusted on the head to protect a sword blow.

Migjifar
is
from
defined (Steingass, 1281) as mail, or a net-
work
of steel
worn under the cap or
hat, or
worn
It is
in battle
as a protection for the face, also a helmet.
evidently
66
the long piece of mail hanging
down from
in N'^.
p.
the helmet over

xii,
the neck and back, as

Aj7i,
vol.
i,
shown
It
45, plate
of the
and
called there
and on
Ill, N". 54, the

that,
zHihkuldh (cap of mail).

according to
was through the mighfar
Ghulam ^\lT Khan's history, the arrow passed which wounded 'Abdullah Khan, Qutb-ul-Mulk, just before
he was
Nov.,
taken
a prisoner at the battle of
Hasanpur
(IS^-h
1720), and the following verse brings in the word,

:
as also the josha7i
Ghcih yare
Imnnd mighfar
o josJian-am,
Chun
Ban
na hard akhtar roshaii-am.

coat of mail,
star to shine."
^
"What aid to me is vizor and "When God has not made my

Baktar or Bagtar.
in
This
it
is
the
name
for
body armour
general,
whether
were of the cuirass {chahar-ajnah)

195, defines
it
or chain-mail {zirih) description. Steingass,

as a cuirass, a coat of mail.
See also the Dastur-id-Insha,

list
(i,
228.
is
The bagtar
as N^.
is
W.
58 in the Ajn
xii.
112),
it
and
shown
47 on plate
From
the figure
may
be inferred that, in a more specific sense, baktar was the
name
for fish-scale
armour. Bargustuioan, as Mr. H. Beveridge

is
has pointed out to me,
a general
name
for
in the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, text 119 (Raverty,
armour used 466 and note);

bargustuwan to
fol.
but that work belongs

of the
to a period long before the accession
Moghuls.
applies
Steingass,
in battle:
178,
restricts
horse
armour worn
it
it
the Ahwal-ul-Khaicagm,
elephants,
2183,
I
to
the
armour worn by
late Avriter.
literally
is
and
it
have found
in
Chahar-ajnah.
'
no other
This
'four
mirrors':
24,028,
Muqaddamah-i-Shdh 'Âlam-namah by Ghulam "Âli Khan, B.M. Add. fol. 40a. The last line probably contains an allusion to Roshan Akhtar, the original name of Muhammad Shah, to whom ""Abdullah Khan
succumbed.
EQUIPMENT.
consisted
(a)
DEFENSIVE ARMOUR.
67
plate,
of four pieces, a breast plate
and a back
sides. All four were connected together with leather straps. Steingass, 403, has 'a kind of armour.' It is N^ 50 in the Ajn, i, 112, and
with
two
smaller
pieces
for
the
49 on plate xiii. It is also shown in Egerton, and again on p. 144. The specimens in the Indian Museum are N^ 364 (p. 103), 450, 452 (p. 112), 569, 570 (p. 119), 587 (p. 124), 707 (p. 135), 764 (p. 144)! Zirih. This was a coat of mail with mail sleeves, composed of steel links {Dastur-ul-Inshci, 228). The coat
figure
N'\
plate
ix,
reached to the knees (W. Egerton, 125, note to

It is No.
N^
591).
xiii
57 in the Ajn,
volume.
i,
112, and N^. 46 on plate

six
(p.
of
that
There are
361,
examples in the Indian

103),
Museum W.E.
591
362
(p.
453
(p.
112),
591,
(p.
125),
706
135). Apparently, judging
from
Tone,
the plate in the Ajn, the bahtar (fish scales) or the chahar
ajnah
(cuirass)
was worn over the
zirili.
W. H.
"Maratta People," 61, note, gives a word beiUa as the Mahratta name for the chain-mail shirt that they wore.
I
cannot identify or trace this word.

Jaibah.
Blochmann,
it
Aj?i,
i.
111,
for
N^
56,
and
his
note 4, says
was a general name

it.
armour.
187,
He
gives
no
figure
of
Erskine,
says
it is
''History,"
ii,
has jaba.
Steingass,
356,
from
the
Arabic jubbat, and
spells it juba/i, a coat of mail, a cuirass,
any kind of iron
armour. The word
used in the Âlamgirnamah, 245, I. 7 ''Tan ba zeb-i-jabah ojoshan \mirasta1i' "body adorned
is
with the decoration of jabali and joshan!' It

in
is
also
used
Ahwal-ul-Khcmaqm
{c.
1147
h.),
fol.
is
164^^, in the
form
jaibah.
Some
variety
of the jaibah
spoken of in the
Akbarnamah, Daftar II, p. 249, line 4 (Lucknow edition), where we are told that a Rajput of distinction in the garrison of Chitor wore a j aibah-i-hazar-mlkhl. Apparently
it
was covered with small studs or knobs {mihh).
Other items of body armour {Dastur-ul-lnsha, 228) were the joshan^ the jihlam, the angarkhah^ the daghlah. In
68
other authorities
chihilqadj
we
also
meet with the jamah-i-fataJn, the
sadiql, the Jcothl^ the hlianjU,
and the salhqaha.
Of
the
last,
the salhqaha, Aj7i, N^. 66,
we have no
figure,
and I am unable to identify it, as I have never seen the word elsewhere. Other words which have defied identification are
harhai,
fol.
as
read
it
(B.M. 6599, foL 162;

articles in
B.M. 1641,
also
37),
I
and three
the Dastur-ul-
Insha, p. 228, which
read suhl, malk, and masari. \Ve have
the
kamal,
the ghughwah, the kantha-sohka. Finally,

or
there
were the dast-wanah or arm-pieces, the ranah
greaves,
and the mozah-i-alianl, a smaller pattern of leg-piece. This is N^. 59 of the Iin, list, p. 112, Joshan.
and
steel
is
figured as
N^
48 on plate
p.
xi,
xiii.
It
appears to be b
breastplate extending to the region of the stomach
and
chest
bowels.
Blochmann, and body; Steingass
calls
translates
armour for it an more vaguely 'a coat
of mail.'
Jililam.
is
According to the dictionary (Shakes., 825), this Hindi for armour, coat of mail, vizor of helmet; but I do not know what was its special nature or form. Steingass, 405, has chahlam, a sort of armour; also chihalthe
tah,
coat
of mail.
Kam
Raj,
585,
has
a passage
"Mir Mushrif came quickly and

face." This
lifted his
jihlam from his

It is
makes the word equivalent
to vizor.
not
in the Ajn.
Angarkhah.
that
Hindi
for a coat, possibly identical

(a
with
coat).
sometimes called an alkhaliq

this coat
tight-fitting
Probably
It is N".
xiv,
was wadded so
i,
as to turn a sword-cut.
63 of the Ajn,
it
112, and figure N". 52 of plate
where we see
a long, loose, wide coat worn over
the armour.
DagJdah or Dagla,
The
ii,
second of these
is
the Hindi
form of the word.

Jdmah-i'fataM.
It
This word
was a coat of quilted cloth. is employed in the Akbar89, line 3. According to the
is
namah (Lucknow
editor's
edition),
note
it
is
"a robe which on the day of battle
EQUIPMJ^NT.
(a)
defensive ARMOUR,
it
69
put on beneath the coat of mail, and on

the Qurjin, such as
extracts from
Jnna fotahna,
in
are inscribed." Steingass,
351,
defines
it
as
"a fine silken robe." The coats worn

the
by the Khallfah's men

United
Service
Sudan,
and now
at
the
Institution,
must be specimens,
as
they
have words embroidered or sewn on to them.

Chihilqad.
as figure
This
is
N". 67 of the Ajn, 112, and

xiv.
is
shown
Alrwcd-
N^
54 on plate
Muliammed Qasim,
c/^/^/. It
td-Khaioagm,
161/5, spells it
Jîiii:^^,
was a doublet
worn over the armour, and possibly

Sadiql. Ajn,
identical with the chilta or
c^2^(7/-/a^-,literally forty-folds(Shakespear,
884; Steingass,398).
112, N". 62, and
N^
51 on plate
xiv,
coat of mail something like the joshan in shape, but with

epaulettes.
Kotk.
We
it
have this in the Ajn, 112, No. 61, and
it
appears on plate xiv,
N^
50, as a long coat of mail

front.
i,
worn
under the breastplate and opening down the BhanjU. This is W. 64 of the Ajn list,
have never seen the word anywhere
word, but
figure
is
112, but I
else
it
is
not in Shakespear's Dictionary.
must be a Hindi The only
the one reproduced from Langles by Egerton, N". 9

i,
on plate
jacket.
opposite p. 23. This might be almost anything;

is
the nearest resemblance I can suggest
that of a sleeveless
Kamal.
it
of
a
This word
is
literally
'a
blanket,'
and from
the
corps
its
known
cuirass
as
the
kamal-posh (blanket-wearers)
to
derived
name. The word seems

or
have had the secondary

possibly
meaning
wadded
coat,
made
of
blanketing on
the
outside.
There were wadded coats of
quilted cotton, as well as of wool, which

stroke of a sabre.
would stand the

were coni,
Some
of
sort
stuffed with silk refuse bullet
sidered
capable
withstanding a
of
{Seir,
143,
note
105).
This
protection
was
very
common.
power has
"Almost every
his
soldier in the service of a native
head secured by many folds of cotton cloth, which not only pass round but likewise over it and under the chin;
70

for the
and a protection
similar materials.
back of the neck

is
is
provided of
The
jacket
composed
of cotton thickly
and so substantial as almost to body like stiff armour. To penetrate this covering with the edge of the sword was to be done only by the practice of cutting." (Valentine Blacker,
quilted
cloths,
between
retain the shape of the
"War,"
302).
Ghugfiwah,
This
must, from
its
position in the A'Jn
list,
N^
word,
some kind of armour, but I cannot identify the which is of Hindi form. In plate xiii, N^ 44, the thing is shown as a long coat and cowl of mail, all in
55, be
one piece. In Egerton's plate (N^.

thing
quite
different,
i,
figure 4)
it is
it
is
some-
of a
it
shape which
difficult to
describe,
a use.
and for which The loord seems

a7ite).
is still
more
difficult to
suggest
to
have some
rule
affinity to khoglii or
g hug In (see
It represents the
Eastern Hindi form of

of
ghogha,
following
the
usual
vowel modification,
thus: H. H., ghora-^ E. H., ghurwa^

also
'a horse.'
There being
slight
indication
of the
diminutive in this form,
ghugliwa
would be a small ghogha. There is a chain epaulette shown in one of the plates in Rockstuhl and Gille, which suggests the shape of the ghughwa figured by Egerton, and possibly that was its purpose.
Kantha-sobha.
and, as
This
is
No. 70 in the
list
i
in the
Ajn, 112,
Egerton's
we can
it
see
from figure 7 on plate
of
W.
catalogue,
was a neck-piece or gorget. N^. 69 {rmiak)

then
and
not
man and Blochmann, in his note, suggest that N^ 70 {kantha-sobha) was attached to the horses neck? The derivation is from kant/td (Shakes., 1616) a necklace, and sobhd, id. 1338, ornament, dress,
71 {mozah-i-ahanl) are both worn by the
horse;
N^
the
why
does
decoration.
Dastivdnah.
steel
This
It
is
arm-piece.
as
N*^.
was a gauntlet, or mailed glove, with N^ 68 of the Ajn, 112, and is

xiv.
shown
Indian
55
on plate
Nos.
The specimens
in
the
Museum
are
452,
453, 454, 455 (Egerton,
EQUIPMENT.
p.
(a)
DEFENSIVE ARMOUR.
71
112), 568,
570
[id,
119), 587,
139). Three of these are shown,

p.
590 {id. 124), 745 {id. two on plate xii, opposite
122, and one on plate xiv, opposite p. 136.
Banah.
to
In
the
Ajn
is
list,
12,
N^
69, appears the
word
turn
rak or rag,
which
quite
unmeaning.
xiv,
When we
W.
is
56 on Blochmann's plate
of
we
see that the thing
itself
an iron leg-piece or greave. Now, wherever there
armour in the MS. Dastur-ul-Aml, I find a word which is invariably shown with a fourth letter of some sort; it might be read ratak, mlak, ranak, but never rak. As ran means in Persian the 'thigh,' I propose to substitute for Blochmann's rak the reading ranak, the
are
lists
iJî'^,
diminutive
ending being used

be
(as it
to
denote relation or conhand), a short written
nection, a formation like dastak

order,
fit
(little
to
were) carried in the hand.
The word
ranak
is
not in Steingass.
Moznh-i-ahanl.
This
and
"iron-stocking"
is
N^
71 on page
a smaller
112 of the
Patkah.
fol.
Aj7i,
N^
56 on plate
xiv.
It is
form of the ranak.
I find in
Ghulam
ÂlT
Khan, Muqaddamah,
an epithet q'^%j ^^Hy pcdkak-poshan, applied to both Sayyads and horse-breakers {chabuk-smoaran). It appears
38/^,
to
is
refer to
I
some part
of military equipment, but
what
it
do not know.
It is evidently
used in a depreciatory
sense.
Having enumerated the man's defensive armour, we go on to that of the horse. The elephant armour 1 will leave
till
we come
Kajvm.
This
to the special
is
heading devoted to those animals.

112, N". 72 {kajem), and
xiv.
is
in Ajn,
shown
ii,
as figure N^.
57 on plate
Erskine. "History,"
187, has the form kiclmn. It was a piece of armour for
the hind-quarters of a horse, and was put on over a quilted

cloth called artak-i-kajwi {Ajn, 112,
N*^.
73).
The other
{qashqah:
the
pieces of
armour
for the horse
were the
frontlet
Jjn,
112,
N^
74,
and
plate xiv,
N. 60) and
neck-piece {gardani: Jjn, 112,
N^
75).
Blochmann's
72
description

of
the
latter
(p.
112, note 3) does not seem

it
very appropriate, as he makes
a thing which hangs
in front of the horse's chest. Gardani, however, is the

still
down name
figure
applied to the head and neck-piece, the hood, of a set

horse-clothing.
It
is
of
N*^.
the
neck-shaped
xiv,
piece
in
58 of Blochmann's plate
Eger ton's plate
i,
in
figure
N^
8.
and is separately shown Qashqah is the word

or tilak, applied
J.
used in Persian for the
Hindu sect-mark
on the centre of the forehead. R. B. Shaw,

for
A.
S.
Bengal
1S78,
p.
144, gives qashqah as the Eastern Turk! for an
animal's forehead.
silver
Horse trappings were often most richly adorned with or gold, embroidery or jewels. When so enriched
were styled
saz-i-tilae,
they
or saz-i-marasm
The names
of the
various articles are as follows

(headstall)
(W. Egerton, 155):
paltah
and
rikab
Hna7i (reins), zerhaîd (martingale),
dumchl (crupper), hhogir (saddle), ustak (shabracque), halata72g
(surcingle),
(stirrups),
shikarband (ornamental
or
tassels at corners of saddle).
The bow
pommel
of a saddle
was
either qarhv.s (Steingass, 963) or qash (id. 947).

is
The
former word
used
by Shekh Ghulam Hasan, (Samln)
BilgramT, in his Tazkirah written in 1198 h. (1783); the

second, by
the
Rustam
^k\\,
Bijnori, in his
Urdu
28.
fol.
''History of
Rohelas,"
written
about
1803,
fol.
Nizam-ud50a, speaks
I
din ("Ishrat, Siyalkuti) in his JSadir-namah,

of yaltang-posh
as
some
sort of horse
equipment.
have
not been able to find out what this was.

requisites can be seen in Jjn,
i,
The
list
of stable
136.
CHAPTER
EQUIPMENT.
VIII.
I,
(b)
OFFENSIVE ARMS;
"SHORT" ARMS.
The cavalry seem to have carried a great variety of arms. The most relied on were those they styled the kotah-yaraq
or short arms, that
is,
those used at close quarters, corres-
ponding to the European "arme blanche." Probably the

kotah
silah
of
Budaoni,
as
i,
460,
(Ranking, 593) has the

that of a defi-
same meaning, and not

ranged into
(III) Battle
five
Ranking suggests
Swords and
ciency or shortness of weapons. These short arms

classes ([)
shields, (TI)
may be
Maces,
for
Axes, (IV) Spears, (V) Daggers.
Weapons
more
{Tlr)
Pistol.
distant attack were (A) the
bow {Kaman) and arrow
(B)
the
Rockets
Matchlock {handuq or tufang) and (C) the were also used, but they were in charge
of the artillery {topkhanah)
and
will
come under that head.
Out
follows,
of
it
the
is
wealth of weapons, a description of which

not
to
be
supposed that the whole were
carried
by any man at one time; but a great number were so carried, and, in a large army, all of them were to
be found in use by some one or other. The great number
of
weapons that a man carried
is
graphically depicted by
Fitzclarence, in the case of a petty officer of the Nizam's

service,
who commanded
his escort {Journal,
34).
"Two
to
very
this
handsome horses with superb caparisons belong

jamadar,
who
is
^
himself dressed in a vest of green

laced with gold, and very rich em-
English broad cloth

broidered
^
belts.
A
i.
shield of buffalo hide with gilt bosses

of the
e.
By Indian
writers
IS^-^
century broad cloth of
all
colours
is
called sqarlat,
Jd^^^,
scarlet.
74
is
hung over
carried
his
back.
His arms are two swords and a
dagger, a brace of English pistols, and he has his match-
by a servant." The following from Moor's Narrative, 98, also shows what a number of different weapons would sometimes be carried. ''Many of the sardars" (i. e. of the Nizam's army
lock
before
him
satirical description
in
1791) "were in armour, and none of them deficient in weapons of war, both offensive and defensive. Two swords,
constituted
a brace to half a dozen pistols, a spear, a crees, and matchlock-
carbine
the
moving
arsenal of most of them. a

tall,
One man was mounted upon

horse,
thin, skeleton of a
whose shoulders and flanks depended, as a barricading, twenty or thirty weather-beaten cows' tails: two huge pistols appeared in his capacious holsters, while one of still larger dimensions, placed horizontally upon the horse's neck and pointed towards his ears, which were
from
uncommonly
front.
long,
dreadfully
menaced the
assailants
in
His flanks and rear were provided with a similar establishment of artillery of diflPerent sizes and calibres; one piece was suspended on each side of the crupper of the
saddle,
and a third
the
centrically situated
and
levelled point
rest of his
blank at
poor
animal's
tail
The
armament lock and

mail from
jacket
consisted of a couple of sabres, a spear, a matchshield
He wore
lower part
of
besides a rusty coat of
the
its
made
dwelt
appearance."
The
which a large red quilted variety of weapons is

Wilks,
iii,
again
on
with great
effect in
135, "no
national or private collection of ancient
weapon
in this
armour contains a equipment which might not be traced motley crowd" i.e. Nizam Âli Khan's cavalry in 1791.
or article of
1.
Swords.
As
69,
to the
mode
of carrying the sword, Mtzclarence,e7o?/r;2<3'/,

irregular
describing
(1817),
some
says
horse
in
the
Company's
service
"they
have a sort of foppery with
EQUIPMENT.
respect
to
(b)
OFFENSIVE ARMS;
I,
"SHORT" ARMS. 75
in
their
sword-belts,
which are
general
very
broad and handsomely embroidered; and, though

back, they wear
on horse-
them over the shoulder." But the sword
was not always carried in a belt hung from the shoulder. On plate 8 in B.M. Or. 375 (Rieu, 785), A'zam Shah carries
his
generic
sword by three straps hanging from a waist-belt. The name of a sword was tegh (Arabic), shamsher
(Persian) or tahcar (Hindi).
The Arabic word

of shortsword
saif was also
used occasionally.
One kind
(Steingass
mmchah'Shamsher
carried
1445),
It
was called the was the weapon

h.
by
Ibrahim Quli Khan in 1187
(1725),
when
llâ.
he made his attack on

palace in
Hamid Khan
at
the governor's
fol.
Ahmadabad
line.
(Gujarat), Mirat-i-JI/madl,
It is also to
ii,
be found in the Akharnamah, Lucknow edition,

I
225, second
palaraJc
p.
have not seen in Indian works the
word
used for a sword in Mujiail-ut-tanhh

110, line
3.
had
84a),
Nadinyah,
Names
teghah,
narelai^),
of the various parts are (B.M.

nabali, furrows
N^ 6599
fol.
blade,
on blade, qahzah,
tahndl, metal
hilt, âe-
sarnal or
muhml and
mountings
of scabbard, kamrsal (the belt?) ^ or
handtari^).
The
quality
(lustre).
temper of a blade was its of the belt was hamajil (Steingass, 430, plural oi himalat); and Khair-ud-din, Îhratnamah, i, 91, uses
ah (water) or jauhar
One name
the word thus, in repeating the speech of one Daler
Khan
az
and
another
man
to
Shah 'Alam (1173

"Since
h.),
''fidwl
loaqte kih sipar o shamsher ra hamajil kardah-em, gahe ha
dushman-i-khud pusht na namudaE'

our shoulders sword and shield
a
we hung from never have we shown an

-.
enemy our back." Another word

for
that I have seen used

see
sword-belt
is
kamr-i-khanjar,
Steingass
1049;
specific
also
Budaoni,
text,
Shamsher.
1
This
441, Ranking 566. word when used with

Qanoonc Islam, app. XXYIII,
men's equipment.
more
This
is
described in
as a belt
I
worn by
women, consisting
of square metal tablets hinged together.
find it
named
in native authors as part of
76

to us
meaning, was applied to the curved weapon familiar

as
the
oriental
sword,
or
as
it
is
frequently called, the

its
scimitar.
It is purely a cutting
weapon, as
shape and
the small size of the grip sufficiently demonstrate.

Bhitp, There was a straight sword, adopted from the Dakhin, of which the name was dhUp', it had a broad
blade,
four feet long,
an
emblem
of sovreignty
and a cross hilt. It was considered and high dignity, and was therefore
held
it
displayed on state occasions, being carried in a gorgeous velvet
covering by a
It also lay
man who
upright before his master.
on the great man's pillow when he was seated in darbar, engaged in the transaction of public business. This kind of sword was conferred as a distinction upon
successful soldiers, great nobles, or court favourites, {^Seir,
i,
549, note 54;

39).
i,
551, note 55;
ii,
95, note 80;
iii,
172,
note
i.e.
The dhup was also spoken of as âsa-shams/ier, stafF-sword {Danislmand Khan, 22^^ Rajab, 1120 h.).
of
its
Instances
being conferred
are
found in the same

22^1^
historian (221^^
1120
h., once).
Ramazan, 1119 h., twice, and Mr. Egerton, p. 117, N". 527,
I
Rajab
note, quotes
from the Ajn-i-Akhan,
^'Dhoup, straight blade, used by
most of the Deccanees."

I
am unable to verify the reference; cannot find the passage in Vol. I, (translation), and the
word is not in Mr. Blochmann's index. _Khanda. This weapon is N^ 2 of the list on p. 112, AJn, Vol. I; and from figure 2 on plate xii it would seem to be idential with the dhilp. Siro/n, The Majasir-ul-Umara, iii, 152, tells us that these blades obtained their good repute from the work done with them in 1024 h. (1615), during a fight at Ajmer between Rajah Suraj Singh, Rathor, and his brother, Kishn Singh. '' Whoever was struck on the head by these Indian blades was cleft to the waist, or if the cut were on the body, he was divided into two parts." Egerton, 105, says this sword had "a slightly curved blade, shaped like that of Damascus."
There
is
no specimen in the India Museum.
Hendley,
EQUIPMENT.
(b)
OFFENSIVE ARMS;
I,
"SHORT" ARMS. 77
xxix,
"Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition," 1883, Vol. TI, plate N^ 4, has a sword from the Alwar armoury, which
he calls a Shikargah or Sirohl gnj bail{?). The blade appears slightly lighter and narrower than that of the ordinary talwar. Evidently the name is obtained from the place of
manufacture, Sirohl in Rajputanah, of which "the sword
blades are celebrated for their excellence
now
as formerly,"
59',
Thornton, 874. The town is situated in Lat. 24 72 56', 360 miles S. W. of Agrah.
Patta.
to
Long.
This
is
a narrow-bladed, straight rapier, and
is
be seen
now
chiefly
when
twirled about vigorously by

It
the performers in a Muharrara procession.

hilt.
has a gauntlet
The specimens
403 and 404 on
In
the
in
(p.
110), 515 (p. 117) 643 (p.

p.
Egerton are N*\ 402, 403, 404 131). There are figures of
his catalogue.
N^
104 of
i,
Guîl.
straight
Ajn,
110,
this is
N". 3, and was a
sword having a walking
stick as its sheath, the
name being from H.

plate xii of the
gupt, concealed. See also figure 3 on
same volume. Egerton's entries are N^. 516, 519 (p. 117), 641, 642 (p. 131). The head or 517, 518, handle in Blochmann's figure shows that the sword-stick and the fakir's crutch were closely allied in appearance, and might at times be united. The crutch is depicted in Egerton, p. 47, and again on plate xiii (opposite p. 126) N". 639 (p. 131), which is however only of dagger length.
One
battle
of these
crutches
in
played
conspicuous part in the
of Jajau
for
June 1707, A'zam Shah, one of the

his
contenders
as
the throne, whirling his crutch frantically,
he stood up on
11,
elephant
to
urge on his troops.

it
Jonathan Scott,
crooked
crozier,
staff",
part IV, 34, note 4, calls

feet
"a short
unlike a
about three
in
length,
not
when they sit, and by persons of rank as an emblem of humility." Shields. Along with the sword naturally comes the shield, the two being almost as closely connected as the arrow
used
by fakeers to lean on
often
and the bow.
shield (A. sipar,
H. dhal) was inseparable
78
from the sword as part of the swordsman's equipment. Tt was carried on the left arm, or when out of use, slung over the shoulder. The shield appears at Nos 47 and
48 in the Ajn,
17
to
i,
HI, and
is
shown on
plate xiii as
Nos 40 and 41. They were of
steel or hide, generally
from
24 inches in diameter. If of steel, they were often highly ornamented with patterns in gold damascening; if of hide, they had on them silver or gold bosses, crescents, or stars. Egerton in a note to N^. 695 (p. 133) gives a description of two magnificent steel shields which once belonged to the emperor Bahadur Shah (1707 1712). The kinds of hide used were those of the Sambhar deer, the buffalo, the nilgau, the elephant, and the rhinoceros,
the
last
being
painted
the
most highly
prized.
Brahmans who
objected to leather had shields

of
to
silk
made
of forty or fifty folds
red and ornamented (Egerton, 111, note More about shields can be seen in the samework, pp. 47, 48, 49. The specimens in the Indian Museum are numerous, see Egerton pp. Ill, 118, 134, 139. The curious snake-skin {nagphanl) shield, N. 365 (p. 103), is not a Moghul weapon. Chirwah and TilwaJi. According to the Ajii, Bloch-
N^
484).
mann,
baz,
i,
252, these were the shields carried by the Shamshergladiators,
or
groups
of
whom
,
always surrounded
edition),
ii,
Akbar on the march, Akharnamah

225, second
line.
(Lucknow
Fe7icing Shields.
i.
Following the dhal or shield the Ajn^

^^^^^
,
Ill, has N". 49, the kherah,
but there
is
no figure of it.
presume that
^^^^
this
is
the same word as ^*)î\girwah (Shaks.,
1695) or
I can find
ganoah no word
(Steingass, 1081), both
meaning a
it
shield.
khera/i in the dictionaries, but
might
be ghera, q^, a round, a circle (Shakes. 1759), with allusion to the form of a shield. Again W. 50 Pahrl, (Jjn, i. 111)
is
It
described by Blochmann, p. xi, as a plain cane shield. is shown as N^. 42 on plate xiii. This must evidently
grff,
be Pharly
Hindi
for a small shield of
cane or
bambu
EQUIPMENT.
(Shakes. 580).
of at a
tlie
(b)
OFFENSIVE ARMS;
I,
"SHORT" ARMS. 79
or sinrjauta,
The quaint implement, maru

and
made
pair
of antelope horns tipped with steel

p. \^'6 ,
butt-ends, Egerton, p. Ill

x),
and united ^ho i\\Q sainti
(id.
118 and plate
may
II.
be classed as parrying shields.
The Mace.
This formidable-looking weapon, the mace {gurz), usually

rate
formed part of the panoply of a Moghul warrior, at any if he were of any considerable rank. It appears as
25 in
the
A}7i
list,
i,
N".
111,
and
varieties of it are
entered
Blochmann
his
it
26 {sJiashhur) and N^. 29 {piyazi). no figure of the latter, N. 29, and from remarks on p. x he seems a little doubtful as to what
gives
under
N^
was.
The
end.
giirz is
shown
in figure 23,
plate
xii,
of the
balls
A}n
at
as a short-handled club with three large
round
the
figure 21, has a single head, of a
Another kind, the shashbur, or lung-tearer \ round shape; and from

i,
Egerton, 23, plate
N^
35, I should suppose that
it
was
made up
a
centre.
of semi-circular,
cutting blades arranged round
Of the
is
examples in
plate
x)
mace proper, there are three the Indian Museum. N". 466 (p. 115 and
gurz,
or
feet
7
is
double-head,
(p.
that
inches long, with a many bladed one head above the other; N^. 574
123 and plate
x) has a globular
steel gilt,
head
of 3 inches in
diameter and a shaft of
length 2 feet 2 inches;
and has a steel shaft with a six-bladed head. Other weapons of a similar kind named by Egerton are the Dhara, the Garguz and the Khmidh-F/iansl. The Dhara, W. 468 (p. 115), has a six bladed head and octagonal steel shaft; it is 2 feet long, and came from Kolhaptir. Of the garguz there are four specimens. Nos 373 and 374 (p. 108 and plate x) have eight-bladed heads and basket hilts, one is 2 feet 7 inches
616
(p.
N^
130)
is
2 feet 2 inches long
Egerton, 21, says this weapon
is
mentioned by Babar, but
have
been unable to find the passage in P. de Courteille's translation of the
"Memoirs."
80

feet
and the other 2

(p.
8 inches long;
hilt,
N''.
467
(p.
115)
is
7-bladed with basket

115)
is
length 2 feet 4 inches;

hilt,
N^
469
eight-bladed with a similar
length 2 feet
10 inches. The Khundll Phansl,

x),
is is
19 inches long,
470 (p. 115 and plate has a head of open scroll work, and
to.
N^
probably one of the BairagT crutches already referred
Pliansi
means
a
of
noose
the
in
Hindi,
here,
but
appropriateness
name
is
do not see the nor do 1 know what

1
Khundll can mean.
The
classed
Flail
(H.
the
smit)
another weapon that

62, 63 (p. 78),
may be
in the
is
with
as N^.
Mace.
These are two specimens
Indian
Museum, Egerton N^s
and one
shown
class
i.
24 on plate i opposite p. 23. 1 should also among maces the Pusht-khar or back-scratcher, Ajn,
111,
W.
41,
made
of steel in the shape of a hand. It

xiii of
shown The same

is
as
is
N*^.
35 on plate
Blochmann's volume.
the case with the Khar-i-main, or fishback-
bone, of steel spikes projecting from each side of a straight

handle, Ajn,
i,
111,
W.
is
41, and
N^
37, plate
i,
xiii.
The
Gujbag put among weapons in the Jjn,
111, N^. 46,
and N^. 39,

or ankus,
plate
xiii,
only the
common
elephant goad
111.
The
Battle Axe.
The
Ajn,
i.
battle-axe
{tahar)
will
xii,
be found at
N^
28 of the
111 and on plate
figure N. 22.
This figure
shows a triangular blade with one broad cutting edge. When the head was pointed and provided with two cutting
edges,
the
axe
was called a Zaghnol, or crow's beak

xii,
(id.
N^.
30,
and
plate
^g.
24).
double headed
axe,
with a broad blade on one side and a pointed one on the

other side of the handle, was styled a Tahar zaghnol
(id.
N^
and
32, and
called
xii,
plate
xii,
fig.
26).
An
also
axe with
in
a longer N^. 33
N^. 22).
handle,
Tarangalah,
fig.
was
use
(id.
i,
plate
27,
see also
Egerton plate
EQUIPMENT.
(p.
(b)
OFFENSIVE ARMS;
I,
''SHORT" ARMS. 81
(p.
Of
the Tabar there are seven entries 375, 876, 377
]08),
7]], 712, 713

of N".
137) and 746
(p.
144). There
is
a figure
376 on
plate x opposite p. 114.
The
shafts of these
range
from 17 inches to 23 inches in length; the heads measuring from 5 to 6 inches one way and 3 to 5 inches
the other way.
Some
is
of the heads are crescent shaped,
one of the shafts

Egerton's
hollowed and contains daggers. I

7)
and omit
Parma
(p.
and
Venmuroo
(N^.
89, 90) as
not being
Moghul weapons. There is also a weapon styled Basolah, N^. 31 of the Ajn list, i. 111. The name sounds
it
as if
were derived from the Hindi basula, a carpenter's

N^. 25,
tool.
adze,
but the figure,

axes
plate
xii,
looks
more
like
a chisel than any other

Silver
highly ornamented were carried for display

in the hall of audience (Egerton, note
by the attendants
to
W.
375,
p.
108). These attendants were the

calls
fol,
Yasawal,
and Anand
Ram
the
axes
they carried
Chamchaq
{Mirat-ul-lstilah,
193^). Besides this form of the word,
we
find also
Chamkhaq, Ghakhmaq, Chak//magh, Steingass,
388, 399, "a battle~axe fastened to the^saddle."
IV. Spears.
The usual generic name used for spears of all kinds was the Arabic word sinan, pi. asnan, Steingass, 60, 698. The head or point was called sunain^ Mirat-i-AI/madi \lâ,
Steingass, 704;
and the butt was the hunain, Steingass,
id.
There were several varieties of this class of weapon. The cavalry, however, seem to have confined themselves to the
use
of the
lance
{nezaJt),
and the other kinds were used
by foot
audience
soldiers
hall.
There
and the guards surrounding the emperor's is also some evidence for the use, at
any rate among the Mahrattas, of a javelin or short spear, which was thrown (Journal As. Soc. Bengal, XLVlll, 1879,
p. 101).
i,
The kinds
are
five
of spear
mentioned in the Ajn-i-Akbari,
112,
the
Nezah,
N^
20,
Barch/iah,
W.
24.
2J,
Sank,
N^
22, Sainthl, N^. 23,
and Selarah,
N^
82

Nezah. This
is
the cavalry lance, a small steel head with
a long bainbu shaft. Steingass, 1442, has

spear, demi-lance, javelin, dart, pike."
Nezah
this is
''a
short
But
not borne
this
i.
out
by the usage of Indian

It
writers,
who by
word
111,
intend a long-shafted spear.

as
appears in the Ajn,
shown at N^ 16 of plate xii. Bhala I take to be only the Hindi equivalent for Nezah. Shakespear, 386, says Bhcda is from Sanskrit ;t^^, a spear about 7
20,
N^
and
is
cubits
or
IOV2
feet
long,
lance
with a narrow head.

I find
Including Nezah, Bhala and spears (unclassed),

entries in
nine
W.
Egerton,
vizt.
463
(p.
115) 606, 607, 608,
609,
small
shaft
610,
611,
612 two
(p.
130).
Of
these
one has a
head and long

15
feet
bambu
shaft; another a
palmwood
shafts
and small triangular head; four have bambu

in
12
to
length,
with
heavy bossed butts and
small heads;
N^
or
611, length 8
feet,
head 16 inches;
N^
612
(two), length 9 feet
and 9
feet
3 inches, head 21 inches.
The nezah
lance
was
so
prominent a part of the
Mahratta equipment that one writer

gabadi, {Ahwal-ul-Khawaqln,
of the usual ''accursed
fol.
Mhd Qasim, Auran20 Iff and elsewhere) instead

{ghanm-i-la''im) calls
enemy"
them
2056,
nezah-bazan, *'lance-wielders."
their
He
thus describes,
fol.
mode
up
a
of
using the lance: ''They so use
it
that
no
cavalry can cope with them.

are held
to
Some 20,000
to
30,000 lances
against their enemy, so close together as not
leave
span between their heads. If horsemen try to

levelled at
ride
them down, the points of the spears are the assailants and they are unhorsed. While
are
the cavalry
charging them,
they
strike
their lances against each
and the noise so frightens the horses, that they turn round and bolt." As to the usual mode of wielding the spear, we see in a picture of a battle, inserted between fol. 14/; and fol. 15 of B.M., Or: 3610 (Rieu, Supp. p. 54, W, 79) showing an attack on the elephant of Raff-ush-shan, that the man on horseback ("Abd-us-saraad Khan) who is attacking the prince,
other,
EQUIPMENT.
held
his spear
(b)
OFFENSIVE ARMS;
1,
''SHORT" ARMS. S3
uplifted above his head at the full length
of his arm. In other pictures the
same attitude
is
seen in
the case of horsemen attacking horsemen.
Barchhah. This
Barchhl.
is
Hindi word,
''the
also spelt Barchlia

p.
and
W.
Egerton,
note to N". 401,
115, quoting
is
Tod's
"Rajasthan,"
taken
says
Mahratta
literally
lance
called
it
"Birchha." This statement taken

is
may
be true;
is
false,
if
as
suggesting that the Barchhah
an
exclusively
Mahratta arm.
We
find the
Barchhah
before the
is
in the
Jjn
list
of
Moghul arms, drawn up long

all
Maha well
rattas
had been heard of
as a military power. It
known word and weapon

as
N*^.
over Northern India, hundreds
of miles from the Mahratta country.
We
have
it
figured
17
is
of
its
plate
xii of
the Aj?i (vol.
I). Its
distinctive
feature
being
made wholly
of
of iron or steel, shaft as
well as head. See also Egerton's description, p. 123, note
preceding
collection.
N^.
574,
two specimens
in the
Codrington
to
This heavy spear could hardly have been wielded
by a man on horse-back, and was no doubt confined

the infantry.
Sank.
ration,
This form of the word
is
Blochmann's
to
translite-
Ajn,
i,
110,
N*^.
22.
According
present
day
pronunciation
the
t^
it
would be
Sang. The second mark over
letter
kaf
is
very often omitted by scribes, and thus
might
easily stand for
the Sanskrit
iron,
fig.
or ^rm,
^. Sang, (Shakes. 1239) is from shanku, shakli. It was entirely of

i,
but according to the figure in the Ajn,

18,
it
plate
xii,
was much shorter than the Barchhah.
On
the
other hand, those in the Indian

in total length, of
Museum
are 7 feet 11 inches

feet 6 inches.
which the head occupies 2

slender,
They have
steel
long,
four-sided or three-sided heads,
and the grip covered with velvet, (Egerton, N^. 72, p. 81, and figure on p. 79), N^. 461, two, (p. 115). The Indian name for the modern bayonet is sangln. This may probably mean a little sang; and is possibly formed from sang by a shortening of the vowel and the
shafts,
84
addition
long,
THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS,

of
the
diminutive termination ^5 nasalized. The
slender,
three sided or four sided head of the sang
presents a resemblance to the shape of a bayonet;
and
in
.Hindi
to
it is
not
uncommon,
in the case of
''?"
inanimate objects,
as a diminutive,
employ the feminine termination

ball, goli,
thus gold, a
a bullet,
ha7ida a cauldron, hdndl,
a small pot, cJiakkd a wheel, chakkl, a hand-mill.

Saintlil.
This
is
Hindi word,
it
also spelt saintl. Shakes-
pear,
It
is
1370, defines
N.
as a dart, javelin, short spear, bolt.

i,
23 in the Ajn,
xii.
111, and appears as N^. 19

still
on
plate
The
shaft
is
shorter than that of the
sang. It
is
not given in Egerton.
Has
the
name any
i,
con-
nection with sentM, Hindi for a kind of reed?
&elarah This
is
is
W,
xii
24 of the Ayn
list,
111, and
it
figured on
plate
(N^ 20)
is
as a spear with a
head
and
shaft longer than those of the sarnthl but not so long
as those of the sang.
There
I
no mention of
the
it
in Egerton,
and
or
outside the
Ajn
the
have never either seen the weapon

Possibly
sel,
come
across
word.
word has some
connection
(Shakes.
with
the
Hindi
^t:^, a spear, said to be
1368) from Sanskrit
^s^^.
Other kinds of spears. Four names, Ballam, Pandl-ballam, Panjmukh, and Lange occur in Egerton as kinds of spears,
though omitted from the Ajn.
The Ballam
is
well-known
in
moderm
Hindi, and
is
defined. Shakes. 354,
as a spear, pike, lance. Egerton has
two specimens, N^s 27 and 28 (p. 78), which are described as having barbed heads and wooden shafts, total length 5 feet 11 inches, of which the blade takes up 18 inches. On p. 123, quoting from the Codrington catalogue, Mr. Egerton says the Ballam is a short spear with broad head,
used by infantry.
Payidi-hallam
(Egerton
N*^.
29,
p.
78)
is
hog-spear
with leafshaped blade, and
bambu
shaft, total length 8 feet
3 inches (blade 2 feet 3 inches).
Panjmukh
is
described on p. 137 in a note to N". 710,
EQUIPMENT.
(b)
OFFENSIVE ARMS;
T,
"SHORT" ARMS. 85
on
the
authority of the Codrington catalogue, as a "five-
is,
headed spear used by the people of Guzerat." The derivation of course, panj, five, mukh, head.
Lange
is
is
mentioned on
p.
it
1:28
is
in
a quotation
from the
Codrington catalogue, and

with a hollow shaft.
suggested that the word
a corruption of "lance." It has a four-cornered iron head
Other designations
Shakespear,
vizt.
for a spear are also to
be found in
Garhiya,
^Jlam,
Ko7it,
(col.
1705), Pike, javelin, spear;
(1458),
Spear (properly a standard or banner);

^;^7\.
(1637) spear from Sans.
"Âlam I have heard used, but I never
met with
I
the
other words.
To complete
the long
list
may
as well
two add
the sort of bill-hook or pole-axe, ganclasa, a steel chopper
attached to a long pole, which

cliaukidar or village
is
the
weapon
of the
modern
watchman.
V. Daggers and Knives.
These were of various shapes and kinds, which there was a separate name.
Kafar,
(Shak.,
Jcatna,
for
each ot
hatarah,
Jcatcm,
1556),
to cut.
probably
This is a Hindi word, kattar from the same root as the verb
thus describes
a
hilt,
(i, 549, note 53) poignard peculiar to India made with whose two branches extend along the arm, so as
The
translator of the Seir
it,
"A
to shelter the
thick
with
inches at
hand and part of the arm. The blade is very two cutting edges, having a breadth of three the hilt and a solid point of about one inch in
breadth.
nothing
to
at
22-
The blade cannot be bent and is so stiff that stop it but a cuirass. The total length is 2 feet, one half of this being the blade." The hilt has
will
right
angles
is
to
the
blade
it is
cross-bar
by which the
available for a
weapon
and
grasped,
It is
and
thus
only
i,
forward thrust.
it
named
in the Aj7i,
xii.
112, being N". 10,

is
is
fig.
9 on plate
There the blade
slightly
86
curved;

Mustapha's
five
description corresponds perhaps
more
nearly to Hg. 4 of the
same
plate,
the jamdhar. There are
about twenty
109, 116,
specimens entered in Egerton (pp. 102,

ix,
131) and five of these are shown on plates

xiii (two).
(two)
and
or
The blades
are of various patterns,
and the length

is
varies
from 9 to 175 inches. One
W.
340
forked
two-bladed.
Yule, "Glossary" 815, refers to
two from Travancore which had blades of 20 and 26 inches. Others of great length are described by Mr. Walhouse in
the
"Indian Antiquary,"
vii,
193.
The Bank
is
called in
Egerton,
W.
ix
335,
p.
it
102,
as
the B. katari, but the figure
on
the
plate
shows
being like a knife and without
handle characteristic of the katar. Stavorinus, quoted
by Yule, "Glossary," 816, speaks of a dagger, the name of which he translates as hellt/ piercer. No one seems to know^ what Indian word was intended unless it were the kaffar, which may be translated the "cutter" {quasi, "piercer").
Jamdhar. This
N*^.
is
W.
in the
Ajn,
i,
112, and figure
4 in
plate
xii.
This
is
figure
has the same handle as
a kattar\ but the blade

the katfar
is
very broad and straight, while
given a curved blade.

102,
Egerton,
the
p.
and
plate ix,
On the contrary Mr. Nos 344 and 345, shows

and a handle
a
to
jamdhar katarl with a

held
like
straight blade or
be
one holds a table-knife

the
sword.
The
1790,
^jv{,
etymology
is
of
word
see
as given
?ft,
by
J.
Shakespear,
jam, from the Sanskrit

edge.
death, and dhar, from
sharp
But
also
Yule,
"Glossary",
358,
under
A.,
"Jumdud"
Khanjar.
for
{jamdad).
We
are told by Steingass, 476, that this
is
dagger,
poinard.
There
are
eight
(p.
specimens in
the
Indian Museum, Egerton, 502 to 506
116), 626, 627, 114).
627
(p.
131):
these
two are shown on

is
plate x (opp. p.
Most
of
have doubly-curved blades, and are about
12 inches long. The Khanjar
N^
5 in the Ajn,
as
i,
110;
and on plate
xii,
N'-.
5,
it
is
shown
a bent dagger
with a double curve in the blade and a
hilt like a
sword.
EQUIPMENT.
Figures
53)
(b)
OFFENSIVE ARMS;
7
I,
"SHORT" ARMS. 87
N^s
and
"the
on
W.
P]gerton's plate vi (opp. p.

i,
appear to
says that
be Khanjar. Mustapha, Seir,
152, note
114,
Khanjar
is
a poinard, with a bent

carry
it
blade, peculiar to the Turks,
who
upright and on
it is occasionally worn by both Persians and Indians, the latter wearing it on the left side and inclined." Our word "hanger" is derived from Khanjar
the right side; but
(Yule and Burnell, 312). Then

Jamkhrd-,
we have
7,
the
xii,
Ajn,
i,
110,
N^
plate
N".
7.
If it
were
gested
not for the middle letter

that
this
Mf ^, 1 would have sugword was a misreading for chamkhakh

iii.
^Lj5:w5^,
a battle axe (Steingass, 389), see ante, under
Battle
Axes.
The
figure in the
it
Ajn shows a dagger and
not an axe.
of knife?
Could
i,
be intended for Chaqchaq, a kind
Jhambwah, Ajn,
Egerton
106
79.
in
(p.
82),
110, W. 9, plate xii N'*. 9 and 4869 (p. 116), 7989 (p. 145).
i,
He
p.
also
p.
gives figures on plate
N^. 29
(p,
23) and
fig.
17 on
The Jamhwah
is
also
mentioned by him on
124
a note to
W.
581. Steingass, 373, only gives
jamhiyah,
has
"a kind of arms or armour." Shakespear, 789,
"a dagger." There are also some interesting remarks
by Yule, ^'Glossary", 357, under ^'Jumbeea."

to a derivation
He
inclines
from janh. A., the side. Bank, Ajn, i, 110, N^ 8, and figure N^ 7, plate xii; Egerton, Nos 4801 (p. 115), and note to N^ 581 (p. 124),
on his plate
its
i,
figure 31
(opp. p. 23).
The name
evidently
comes from
curved
shape
(^tcft,
a curvature, a bend,
Shakes. 275^).
NarSingh
xii;
moth,
fig.
Ajn
i,
110,
W.
11 and figure 11, plate

i
Egerton,
W\
30 on plate
(opp.
p.
23).
All four of these weapons seem of the same class as the
Khanjar, though varying slightly in form. The same
may
be said of the Bichhiva and the Khapwah. Bichhica, literally "scorpion", had a wavy blade. It is mentioned by Egerton,
27,
and there are specimens in the India Museum, No490
88
(p.

116),
628
(p.
131),
and
plate
i,
x (opp.
p.
114).
The
but
Khapiva/i, N". 6 in the Ajn,

sort
110,
must have been some

it
of
dagger;
i,
there
is
no figure of
it
on plate
xii,
Egerton's plate
the jambwah. the
N". 28, shows

it
as almost identical with
May
not
mean
''the finisher, the giver of

fill
coup
de graced' from the h. verb khapna, to
up,
to complete, as in the phrase, den khap-gya ''the debt has
been liquidated?" The Persian word

527).
is
dashnah (Steingass,
In
some manuscripts
1
of the
said, as
end of the
7^^ year),
it
is
Akbarnamah (near the Mr. H. Beveridge has
pointed out to me, that Akbar
Khan
called in
Malwah, and tried Hindi a khapwaK\ because he refused to sing. Peshqabz. The word is from P. pesh, front, qabz, grip.
of
when drunk ran after Shahbaz to strike him "^\i\iQ. dashnah,
It
was a pointed one-edged dagger, having generally a thick back to the blade, and a straight handle without a guard; though at times the blade was curved, or even double-curved. The Peshkabz is not in the Ajni, 110 112,
straight
so I
presume that
28, Plate
(p.
xii.
it
was included under one of the other
kinds of dagger, perhaps under kard, a knife, N. 34 and

fig.
In Egerton I find twenty three examples
346
102), 381 (p. 108),

(p.
382
(p.
109), 138),
4845
(p. 116),
617625
blades;
(opp.
p.
130),
717724
these there are 7 straight,
760 (p. 144). Of 4 curved, and 2 double-curved

(p.
is
the
shape of the rest
not stated.
plate
On
plate xiv
p.
136)
he shows four,
and on
is
xv (opp.
140) one of these specimens.

to them, others
Some
of the hilts have guards

like the Ixhanjar in
have none. N. 624

plate
xii;
the Ayn,
fig.
fig.
6, 8,
W,
721
something
like the
jambhivah,
same plate, and the others, N^s 712, 720,
fig. 28, same plate. Kard. This was like a butcher's knife and kept in a sheath. It was more especially the weapon of the Afghan.
760, more like the kard, or knife,
For an example,
figure
see
on plate xv, and that of the blade alone 2
Egerton N^ 750 where the total length

feet.
(p.
is
144) and the

2 feet 6 inches,
This was the sort of
EQUIPMENT.
(b)
OFFENSIVE ARMS;
I,
''SHORT" ARMS. 89
weapon with which, on the 8^^ October 1720, Mir Haidar Beg, Diighlat, assassinated Sayyad Husain 'All Khan, Mir
BakhshT, in the emperor's
camp between Fathpur
Sikri
and
Amber
(Jaipur),
fol.
Mhd
Qasim, LahorT, Îbratnamah, 1.0. L.
N'\ 252,
138/^, calls
The author of the Jou/iar-i'Sammtn, fol. the weapon then used a chaqchaql'i-ioilayatt. This
348.
i,
word
is
related to yL:=-, a knife, (Steingass, 386, from Turkish).
We
have also in the Ajn,

in
111,
i\\Q
giipti-kard, or knife
concealed
stick
(N. 35,
and
plate
xiii,
W.
29),
the whip-shaped knife, qamchl-kard (N*^. 36 and plate xiii, N*^. 30), and the clasp-knife or chaqu (N^. 37 and plate
xiii,
W\
31).
Sailclbah-i'Qalmaqt was the
name
for the
knife used
by
the
men from Kashghar; it was as long as a sword, had handle made of a fish-bone called sher-maM (lion-fish),
a
and was worn slung from

172^, 1785.
shoulder
belt,
Ashob,
fol.
CHAPTER
EQUIPMENT.
I
IX.
II,
(C)
OFEENSIVE WEAPONS;
MISSILES.
tins heading what is generally classed weapons of attack which were not carried by the individual soldier nor discharged by him without assistance. The three kinds of weapon included are I, Bows and arrows; II, Matchlocks; III, Pistols. Of these the first was without comparison the favourite weapon, the cavalry nearly all carried it, and the Moghul horsemen were famed for their archery. It was feigned that the Bow and arrow were brought down straight from Heaven, and
exclude from
as artillery,
given to
Adam
in
by the archangel Gabriel.

following
order.
estimated
the
Weapons were The sword was better
than the dagger, the spear better than the sword, the
bow
and arrow better than the
spear, {Risalah-i-i'ir o hayitan).
The use
in
of the
bow
persisted throughout the 18**1 century,
spite of fire-arms
having become more common, better

in
made, and their handling better understood. Nay, somewhat to

our astonishment,
we read
W.
Forbes Mitchell's ''Reminis-
cences of the Great Mutiny," p. 76, that he saw the
bow
Nov.
used by the rebels at the second

1857.
to
''In the force
relief of
Lakhnau
in
defending the Shah Najaf, in addition

there
was a large body of archers on the walls, armed with bows and arrows, which they discharged with great force and precision, and on a serjeant of the 93>^d raising his head above a wall, an arrow was shot right through his feather bonnet. One man raising
the
regular
army,
his
head
for
an instant above the wall got an arrow right

brain, the shaft projecting
through
his
more than a
foot
EQUIPMENT.
(c)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;
II,
MISSILES. 91
In revenge the men gave a One unfortunate man exposed himself a little too long and before he could get down into shelter again, an
out at the back of his head.
volley.
arrow
behind
fell
was
his
sent
right
through
falling
his
heart,
passing
fe^v
clean
through
body and
on the ground a
six
yards
him.
He
leaped
about
feet into the air,
and
stone-dead."
One would have thought this to be the last occasion on which the bow was used in serious fighting by any but
the merest savages. But Mrs. Bishop, writing from Chefoo on the 18th Oct. 1894 (St. James' Gazette, Dec. l^t 1894),
speaks of meeting large numbers of carts ''loaded with
new
bows and arrows,

of
Avith
which
to equip the
this in the
Banner men
the
capital
(Pekin)."
And
days of
Krupp
and Maxim guns!
The Matchlock,
weapon,
cumbrous and probably

for the infantry.
ineffective
was
left
mainly
Pistols
sesm
to
have been
rareties.
I.
Bows.
to
expert with their
The Moghul bowmen were considered weapon as Bernier says,

;
be especially
twice."
48, "a horseman

fire
shooting six times before a musketeer can
The
word
is
ogc/il quoted by Horn, 108, from the Akharnamah, hardly to be found in the later writers, those of the 18^^
century; an archer
arrow-thrower),
by them a Tlr-andaz (literally, not oqchi ^ But that word is used by

is
styled
Anand Ram
invasion
in
once in
reference
to
Ahmad
fol.
Abdali's
first
1161
h.
(I.O.L.
it
W\
1612,
705), though
there the scribe has spelt
auncld.
Shakespear, 219, has
what he classes as a Hind! word, opcin, defined as ''A man armed with weapons or clothed in mail." May this not be
a corruption of oqchi^ an archer? This word, opchi,
is
used
line
by Shridhar Murlidhar
in
his
poem on FarrukhsTyar,
594, (Journal A.S.B. (1900) Vol.

*
LXIX,
i,
14,
39):
Pavet de Courteille,
Diet., 68,
v_i'i'
an arrow.
92
Pile opc/d topchl topo ghanere.
"Gathered archers, gunners, guns, without end." Of course, this may be simply the reduplication, so common in Indian vernaculars, such as k liana- wdna^ food, panl'ioanl^ water. Mild Qasim, Aurangabadi, Ahwal-uUkhaioaqln, 28 8^^, and
a rather later writer, Khair-ud-din
(c.
1208
h.),
Îhratnamah,
105,
p.
have kamandar (bow-holder) for archer. CharkL In the Ja/ian kusliae Nadirl of Mirza Mahdi, 233, (year 1151 h.) we have a reference to the C//r^7/cî-
bas/n, or
ii,
head of the charkh men. W". Jones, "Nader Chah",

is
^^, renders this by "maitre de I'artillerie", and
followed
neither
by
the
German
translator,
293.
Steingass
has
many meanings: among them being "a wheel," "a cart," "a crossbow." Here I suppose we ought to render charkh by "cross-bow",
charkhchi nor charkhchi-bashl. Charkh has
and not by
"artillery."
Charkhchi
is
to
be found in the
Muj?nil-ut-tariM ba^d Nadiriyah, p. 95, line 13.
Kaman. The Moghul bow {kaman) was about 4 feet long, and generally shaped in a double curve. The bow was of horn, wood, bambu, ivory, and sometimes of steel (Egerton,
81,
note
to
N^
80).
Two
of
these
steel
bows,
in the
Emperor
in his
of Russia's collection at Zarkoe Selo, belonged to
the emperor, Bahadur Shah (1708
1712); they bear

457).
verses
honour and are covered with rich gold damascened

(Egerton,
114,
work
note
to
W.
The grip was
generally covered with velvet. Mr. Egerton, 144, describes
and the same description applies, little doubt, to the bows used in India, for there they copied everything Persian, and in fact many of the principal officers were themselves Persians. Mr. Egerton says "the concave side of the bow (the
in detail,
the Persian
bow
there
can be
convex
thick
when
catgut
of
strung)
to
give
or
it
was lined with several strings of elasticity and force. The belly is
made
buffalo
wild goats' horn, jet black and of a
EaUIPMENT.
fine
(C)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;
this
is
II,
MISSILES. 93
polish
glued
to
a thin slip of hard, tough
wood. The ends are fashioned to represent snakes' heads. The horn is left plain, while the wooden back is decorated
with rich arabesques of birds, flowers or fruit intermingled with gilding." Captain Thomas Williamson, ''Oriental Field
Sports", 87, describes thus the construction of the Indian
amusement, and also carried by travellers. They were of buffalo horn in two pieces curved exactly alike, each having a wooden tip for the receipt of the string; their other ends were brought together and
bows kept
for
show
or
fastened to a strong piece of
wood
that served as a centre
and was gripped by the

fitted,
left
hand.
After
being neatly
they were covered with a size made of animal fibres, which very fine tow was wrapped round, laid on thin and smooth. They were then painted and varnished. The notch. The notches at the ends into which the string
after
was
fixed
were called goshah (Steingass,
1104), literally
"corner," also sufar {Dastur ul Insha, 228, Steingass 709).
The
foL
latter
word
is
used in Ahioal-ul-hhawaqln ~"
(c.
1147
h.),
12.
string.
The names
strings
This was called either zih or chillah, Hindi
are roda^, Shak.,
1195, catgut, a sinew used as a

(id.
bow-string,
and panach or panchak
552, 553).
Bow
were
made
of
strong
threads
of
white
silk laid
together until of the thickness of a goose quill.

of the
Whipping
same material was then bound firmly round for a length of three or four inches at the centre, and to this
middle
attached
piece
large
loops
of
scarlet or other colour
were
by a curious knot. These gaudy loops formed a

Captain
together
striking contrast to the white silk (Egerton, 144).
Williamson,
on the contrary, says,

of
p.
87, that the string

laid
was
composed
numerous
thin
catguts
without twirling, then lapped with

at the ends.
silk in the
middle and
The finger
1
stall.
string,
This was called zihgir (Steingass 631),

is in
Roda.^ a
bow
Steingass, 592. Is
it
Persian or Hindi or both
94
bow-string

holder,
or
shast
(id.
743).
It
was
fol,
also styled
Shast-awez (Anand
Ram,
Mirat-ul-Isiilah,
155/^, 182a).
Of
this
last
the
etymology would
to,
be shast, the thumb, a thumb-stall. Bloch3,
awez, attached or fastened
that
is,
mann,
dioez
Aj7i,
i.
111,
N^
42,
and note
says the shast-
was a weapon resembling the girih-kusha, N^. 43, a kind of spear. He has no figure of it. May he not have been mistaken, and is not Anand Ram's direct
that
is,
assertion to be preferred?
The bowman drew with

to
V.
his
thumb
only, the bent fore-
finger being merely pressed on one side of the arrow
nock
secure
it
from
says,
falling,
p.
or as Dr.
Weissenberg (quoting
Luschau)
52, the forefinger
was pressed on the
nail of the
the
thumb to strengthen the pull without increasing exertion. To prevent the flesh being torn by the bow
string the zihgir
had been invented (Egerton, 114). It was broad ring, and according to a man's rank and means
stone, crystal, jade, ivory, horn, fishbone,
was of precious
gold or iron.
in
It
very
valuable zihgir^ part of the Labor
booty, one that had belonged to
Lord Dalhousie,
is
described
"Daily Telegraph" of the November 1898. was formed of a single emerald and was 21 inches
the
W^
:
across at the widest part
and
inches in depth. It bore
is thus translated "For a bow ring for King of Kings, Nadir, Lord of the Conjunction, from the Jewel House it was selected, 1152" (=A.D. 1739). From
an inscription which
the
the
date
and
it
the
wording of
this inscription it is to
be
inferred that
was part of the
spoil carried
ofi"
from Dihli.
How it found its way back to Labor we do not know. Sometimes two thimbles were worn instead of a zihgir, on the first and second fingers of the right hand. Upon the
inch, the string rested
which projected half an the wâs drawn; on the outside the ring was only half the breadth, and in loosing the arrow the archer straightened his thumb, which set the arrow free. (Egerton, 114, Q^wQ\Jmg\k\.Q Booh of Archery
inside
of
this
ring
(the
zihgir),
when
bow
EQUIPMENT.
136).
use
(C)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;
the
II,
MISSILES. 95
By
the
of
ring the distance to which an

its
arrow
skill
could
be
shot was increased. But
use required
and practice; the Hindus used instead a thumbstall of leather {Mirrd-ul-Istilal/^ fol. 155^). These rings with a spare string were usually carried in a small box suspended at the man's side (Egerton, 114). Dr. S. Weissenberg, of Elisabethgrad, Russia, has devoted an article to these rings
in the
Miltheilmigen der anihrojjologischen Gesellschaft in
Wien,
Band
XXV
2)
(1895)
pp.
50
56,
them
and
figures of eight of them.

1)
He
divides
where he gives into two classes

out of thirteen
cylindrical,
with tongue-like projection. Those dessix
cribed by
him
are of bone or stone,
were found in the ruins of Sarae, a former capital of the Qipchaq. See also a thumb ring of ivory (now in the
Nuremberg museum)
A.
figured
on the plate at
13 of the AJn
v,
p.
887 of
Demmin,
is
'-'Die
KriegswafFen", 4th ed., 1893.

is
Takhsh kaman. This

it
N*^.
i,
110, and
described by Blochmann, p.
in figure
as a small
bow.
It is
shown takhh
N^
12 of plate
This
xii.
Steingass, 288, defines
as a cross-bow,
an arrow, a rocket.
Kaman-i-gurohah.
presume, with
the
was
pellet-bow,
identical,
modern
gulel,
with which boys scare

is
birds from the ripening crops. It
N. 38 in the
xiii.
Ajn
i,
111 and appears as

Gob/tan.
N^
32 of plate
111,
Steingass, 1085,
has for guroha, a ball or spherical figure.
The
sling,
Ajn
be
i.
N*^.
45 and plate
xiii,
N.
38,
may
as
well
is
included
here.
ii,
The form
in
Shakespear 1727,
gophan. Khafi Khan,

for the slings
656, uses the

villagers
word sang-i-falakhnn
brought by the
who assembled
î>bl5
,
in
1710
to aid in the defence of Jalalabad
town against the Sikhs

^Li>^5
,
(iC;.^bi5,
led by Bandah. Steingass, 936, has falakhan^falakhan, falasang, a sling.

is
Kamthah, kamanth. This
the long
list, i.
bow
of the Bhlls.
We
the
find
first
it
named
in the
Ajn
is
fol.
111, as
W.
39 under
form;
the
second
that used by
Anand Ram,
p. x, in
Mukhlis, Mirat'ul'IstilaU,
184^.
Blochmann,
96
describing

fig.
33
of
his
plate xiii confounds the
kamfha
with the Kaman-i-guroha or pellet bow. I think this must be wrong. Steingass, 1051, has a word kamnait, an archer,
which he thinks might be from P. kaman, ho^, plus Sanskrit,

netd,
owner. The word might, with more probability, be
connected
with the above words kamfha or kamant//, just
as dhalait, a
man with a shield, comes from dhal, a shield; watchman, from agorna, to watch. According to Shakespear, 2258, kamtha is Hindi for abowofbambu. The Bhils held the bow by the foot, drawing the string {chillah) with the hand, and shooting so strongly that their
or gorait, a
arrows could penetrate an elephants' hide.
W.
Egerton, 75,
quoting Tod's ''Rajpoot Tribes"

failed
(a reference
in verifying) says the principal
which I have weapon of the Bhils
was the kamptl or bambu bow, with a string made of a thin strip of the elastic bark of the bambu. In their quiver
were
for
sixty
barbed arrows each a yard long, those intended

fish
striking
having heads Avhich came
off the shaft
on striking the
of a
float.
fish.
long line connected this head and
the shaft, so that the shaft remained on the water by
way
Nawak. This was a pipe through which an arrow was As I understand it, this was either a cross-bow, or formed in some way a part of the ordinary bow. It was not, I think, a mere blow-pipe, like those used by the
shot.
Malays
97,
for their
poisoned arrows, as mentioned by Egerton,

of the pipe are
98,
feet
Nos
6
263268. Those specimens
inches to 7 feet 6 inches long, and the arrows

is
used with them 12 inches long. The nawak

the
A}7i
list,
i,
N^. 14 of
it.
110,
but there
is
no figure of
The
weapon was known at Farrukhabad in the IS^li century (Journal A. S. B., XLVII, 33lT Steingass 1382, has 7ido, a trough, a pipe, and ndwak^ dim. of nao, a small arrow,
an
arrow
for
shooting birds, with notch on side; a tube

is
through which an arrow

or anything hollow.
projected
a cross-bow
a reed
EQUIPMENT.
xiii.
(C)
OPEENSIVE WEAPONS;
II,
MISSILES. 97
it
Tufak-i-dahan. The Ajn has also a blow-pipe, which

calls
tufak-i-dahan
34,
plate
(lit.
mouth- tube), N". 40,
i,
iii
and
N^.
Steingass,
314, defines this as a tube

given at N". 15 of the
for shooting clay balls
through by force of the breath.

is
is
Arrows.
in
xii. fol,
the
The arrow {tir) Ajn i, 110, and it

is
list
shown
as fig.
14 on plate
iVnother name, siharn
found in the Mirat-i-A/madl,
178;
it
is
the plural of sahm, an arrow, Steingass,
710; see also Lane, ''Lexicon," 1454, sa/iamahu, iii. Captain Williamson, ''Oriental Field Sports," 87, says that in Bengal
there
were two kinds of arrow
shafts, the
common kind
made of reeds, and those used against tigers, made of wood. To the first kind the heads were attached by resin; in the
second kind, a hole was bored and the head while red-hot was forced into it. Some arrows in the India Museum are 2 feet 4 inches long (Egerton 130, N*'. 604). One as long as 6 feet, obtained at Lakhnau in 1857, must have been used with a large bow. The names of the parts of an arrow were for the shaft ^ P. kilk, lit. reed, Hindi, sari
(Shakes.
1285, also the

paikan,
name
black
of a kind of reed); for the
head,
P.
H.
bhal;
for the feathers, P. par.
The
feathers
were frequently
and white mixed
{ablaq).
Ordinarily the head was of
steel,
but the Bhils used arrow-
heads of bone.
Takah,
Tukkah.
This
was the name of an arrow
without a head.
One was
June
said to have been fired in anger
by A'zam Shah at
Jajau "on
the
18^^
his principal general, Zu'lfiqar
Khan,
at
1707,
Yaliya~Khan, fol 113^.

as
Steingass, 819, explains the

1 8^b
word
"an arrow without a
point, but with a knot at the end."
In the
1
century the kinds of arrows in use

i,
among
the
i-bash,
418, is an expression, katlhahwhich Blochmann marlied as doubtful in his copy (now in my possession), without suggesting any alternative; Ranking, 537, substitutes katah-i-bas, and translates "bamboo shaft." I cannot find katah in the
1.
In Budaoni (Printed Text,
3) there
dictionaries, Persian or Urdu, unless

If so,
it
be a form of
cjTS"
kath^ "wooden."
"wooden-bambu" seems an odd combination.

7
98
THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGflULS.

S. B.,
Pathans of Farrukhabad (Journal A.
XLVIl, 832) were
1) Lais, Shakes., 1809, twig, practising arrow, 2j qalandara,
3) kohar-tarash, ^) ghera, broad-headed, 5) nahtali, or perhaps
na-katta, headless arrow,
lit.
non-cutting; compare Egerton,
710, as to the blunt, heavy arrow used in Sind, 6) thuth, or perhaps better, thonth. Shakes. 743, H. for beak, bill, 7) ankrl-ddr, with a bent head, shaped like a saddle-maker's needle {ankrl, a hook), i. e.
137, note preceding
W.
barbed. In his time
(17801807) Captain Williamson,
87,
found some very broad arrow heads in use in the west of Bengal, towards Bahar. There was one of crescent shape
Though they when they happened to graze a limb, they cut desperately. When discharged among bodies of troops they were found to do amazing mischief. The following names of arrows are found in DastUr-ul-Insha,
more than four inches
across at the barbs.
did not penetrate easily, yet
228,
or
4)
1)
g her ah, broad-headed,

3)
2) do muhclnah,
two pointed
head,
barbed,
tarah-i-mah,
crescent
6)
fullmoon
or
5)
circular
tarahri-halal,
shaped head,
tarali-i-badam
almond-shaped head,
spear
tarah-i-toko? , 7) sih-bhalah, three8)
headed,
i.
e.
trident-shaped,
tarah-i-khornl,
9)
tarah-i-khar, thorn-shaped, 10) tarah-i- khaki, Shakes. 974,
epithet
of
kind of arrow, what kind he does not say.
James
arrow
a
little
Fraser,
Nadir Shah, 143,
note, thus describes the
used for practising at the earthen target described

further on.
"The arrows
for this exercise
have the
iron part quite round, about four fingers long, of the size
of the reed until near the point,
thicker,
point.
where they are somewhat

to a sharp
is
from which part they taper gradually
The length from

to
the thickest part to the point
from a quarter
Symbolical
one inch."
arrows in a
p.
309,
The pagan Arabs used Hughes, "Diet, of Islam," under Al maisir, >îX^. Divining by arrows was
use
of arrows.
game
of chance,
forbidden by
section
v,
Muhammad,
see Sale's "Preliminary Discourse",

v,
and the Quran,
where the wcrd used
is
EQUIPMENT.
(c)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;
(plural),
is
II,
MISSILES.
99
zalmun (singular) azlama

arrow.
an unfeathered, unpointed
set out in E. W. Lane's Lexicon, p. 1247, under zalamun, "he cut off", section viii.
The mode
of procedure
The
practice, however, survived in spite of the prohibition
and in 1544 we find Humayun getting into trouble with Shah Tahmasp on this account. He marked twelve of his best arrows with his own, and eleven inferior ones with Tahmasp's name-Erskine, "Baber and Humayun," ii, 289.
Shooting an
writers
in
to
arrow into the
air is said
by Portuguese
have been a recognized
mode
of declaring war
the
stance
Vijyanagar state and Malabar. The particular inis of 1537 at Diu, where Bahadur of Gujarat ordered
air as a declaration of
an arrow to be shot into the
war
White way, "Portuguese

authority of Castanheda,
in
ii,
India",
249,
note
1,
on the
16 (reprint of 1833) and Correa, iv, 708, "Lendas da India", 4 vols., 185861. I have not met with mention of this practice in any native author,
S. King informs me that he knows of none. was of Hindu origin. At the same place Mr. Whiteway mentions the gift of an arrow from the King's quiver as a security for peace.
and Major
Perhaps
it
J.
The King's quiver was also used as a symbol of authority (Whiteway, he. cit.). The instance given is from the Mirati'8ika7idan, where Humayun in 1537 released Bahadur Shah's minstrel, and bound his own quiver round the man's
loins.
Clothed with this authority, every prisoner that the minstrel claimed as his relation was released (Bayley,
"Gujarat", 389). Another instance of this practice
is
to be
found in the TanJch-us-Sind of

the
year
924
h.
Ma'sum, under (1518), where Shah Beg, Arghun, gave

p.
Muhammad
an arrow to the qafi of Tattah (Malet,

Quiver.
80).
The Persian name is tarkash-. but I have found the Arabic word jabah used once on fol. 59/5 of the Farrukjmamah of Shekh Muhammad Mun'im, Ja'farabadi (4tii
year of Farrukhsiyar). It was generally a
flat case,
broad at
to a
the
mouth, one
side
straight
and the other sloping
100
point, provided with a strap for carrying over the shoulder.
This
broad
plate
shape
is
due apparently
the
to the fact that the
quiver
see
was used
xvii
to hold
bow
as well as the arrows,
plate in
M. Addl. 5254 (Rieu, 780), and the Valentyn, opposite iv, S04. There must have been,
in B.
however,
separate
bow-cases,
qirhan,
for
they are
named
as well as the tarkash, or quiver, in
Qa'dah 1134 h. Egerton, Nos 367, 369 (p. 108), 460 Of these one is of an un(p. 115), 601, 602 (p. 130). usual shape, namely, cylindrical. Common quivers were
of the
are
five
21st Zu,l
Kamwar Khan's entry In the India Museum
specimens,
with leather, more costly ones with blue or red and these were often embroidered on one side in gold or silver. These covers sometimes were applied to strange uses. During Humayun's exile in Persia (1544), Shah Tahmasp folded up his carpet, so that no one could share any portion. Humayun would thus have been forced to
covered
velvet,
sit
on the bare ground, when one of

as a seat for his master, Erskine,
his followers took off

it
the ornamented cover of

it
ii,
his quiver, tore
open and spread
294.
The quiver
as
appears
diff'erent
figure
N^ 16 of the Ajn list, N^ 15 on plate xii. One

is is
"Baber and Humayun", i, 110, and it

of a slightly
shape from the usual pattern

24), copied
given in Egerton's
from that in Langles' ''Monuments." Here the quiver is the same width all the way down, having one side straight and the other shaped in two
plate
i
(p.
crescent-like curves.
The Leather Guard {Godhu). This is mentioned in Egerton, it was worn on the left arm. That is, I suppose, if the shooter were not in armour, and thus already provided with a mailed glove and steel arm-piece. Hansard, "Book of xA.rchery", 137, speaks of one as ''a quilted half sleeve of common velvet or fine cloth, which protects the arm from being bruised by the chord in its return". The word godhu I have not been able to trace. Two Central Asian arm-guards, one of bone and one of iron, are figured
114, and
EQUIPMENT.
(C)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;
p.
II,
MISSILES.
in
101
by Weissenberg,
graphical
1.
c.
54.
They
are
now
the Ethno-
Museum
at St. Petersburg.
word is from paikan, arrowhead, kasJi, draw out. The implement was shaped like a pair of pliers, and as its name implies, was used to extract arrow heads from the body. It is N". 19 of the Ajn list, i, 110, and figure N^. 146 on plate xii. The
Paikan-Jcash. This
root of kaslildan, to
tirhardar,
W.
18,
(if
the reading be correct) was another
instrument
for the
same purpose.
sJy", literally,
Target. This was the
heap, Steingass, 334,
todah. Shakes., 700, iudah.
pronunciation
of the
of
the word.
The To
latter is the present
Indian
secure a
more
perfect use
bow and arrow it was usual to erect near an officer's tents a mound of earth, into which he or his men shot a certain number of arrows every day. It is referred to en passant by W. Egerton, 106, as a practice of the Rajputs,
but
its
use was general and not by any means confined to
them.
Shah,
thus
143,
sifted
For instance, we find
this target in use
by Nadir
is
who
note,
shot five arrows into one every afternoon. It
described by James Eraser, History of Nadir Shah,

''
Khak Towda
in
is
heap of
fine
mould
well
and beat strongly
between two stone
walls. 'Tis
five foot high,
three feet thick,

it
and from three

is
to four feet
broad.
The
a
front of
is
very smooth and even, beat hard

well skilled can shoot
with
his
heavy
(be
trowel.
it
One who
arrow into to
ill
quite to the head; whereas one that
shoots
he never so strong) can't put a third part
in". In a general sense the
word
for a butt or target, or
at, was Jiadaf (Steingass, 1492). Modes of Shooting. We are told in the Bisalah-i-tlr o kaman that in archery there were twelve maxims to be obeyed. Of these three required firmness, (1) Hold the grip of the bow tight, (2) Keep the forefinger firm, (3)
the object aimed
When
the
arrow
is
let fly,
keep the advanced foot firm.
Three things required easiness (1) the left side should be kept easy (2) the left foot the same, and (3) the other
102
fingers.

Three things required straightness
be erect one
eye,
(2)
(1)
the body
should
straight.
(2)
the forehead held
up
(1)
(3) the elbow-
Other three things were single:

(3) (I)
use one side,
use
keep both hands in one direction.

too wide a notch,
(4) the
An
(2)
arrow could have seven faults:

the shaft to be Jcarm'^
(5)
,
(3) the
head imperfect,
head too heavy,

hollow,
(6)
the
top
end and butt of the
shaft
the
shaft
In shooting at a horseman 200 yards

at his cap,
his
not straight, (7) the bow^ too stiff. off, you should aim
his
will
100 paces off, at saddle. By so doing you

if
mouth,
hit
if
50 paces, at
him
in the chest.
A
a
good archer needs
to practise constantly with the
Lezam,
bow with an
claw"),
iron chain instead of a string. There are

(literally,
three
ways of gripping the bow, Chanc/al-i-baz
"Hawk's
rabba"
fingers.
muharraf
according
(diagonally, on the slant), tnato
(square),
the length of the shooter's
the advanced foot kept
The arrow should be held without moving, and flat on the ground. As you let fly at the mark, you ejaculate, "In the name of God". Shekh AUahyar Sani, Eadlqat-ul-aqalim (ms. additions in my copy),
under Bijgram,
1) in
speaks
of one
Âbd-us-Samad,
a perfect
bowman, who taught

Until
that
the author to shoot in three ways,
the style of the master Tahiri, 2) qabzahgar^ 3) musht.
time Allahyar
had shot only
in the
mode
of
Bahram.
Captain
the
Williamson,
"Oriental
Field Sports", 87, says
bow was strung by
placing one end under the thigh,
and with both hands bringing the other end into due position, when the string was easily slipped into the groove made for it. Thirty inches of string was a common length, though some were longer. With a new bow it required a strong hand to bring the arrow up to its head. The left hand was placed opposite the right breast, just far enough from the body to allow clear action the butt of the arrow was pressed to the string, the fore and middle fingers of the right hand were then drawn steadily, until the head was
:
EaUlPMENT.
(c)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;
left
II,
MISSILES.
103
held
near the forefinger of the
hand. The
bow was always
perpendicularly. Native archers rarely missed an object the size

of a tea
at
cup
at sixty or seventy yards,
and Captain Williamson

in a
hill
Lucknow
repeatedly
saw a man lodge an arrow
common
lie
walking stick at that distance. The

also very expert
people of
Bengal were
zontally,
with the bow. They would

feet hori-
on their back, steadying the bow with their
and at a distance of two or three hundred yards send the arrow through a common water pot, not more
a
foot
in
than
diameter.
They could shoot
kites flying,
and indeed
rarely missed their object.
11.
Matchlock.
(id.
i,
This was the tufang (Steingass, 314) or handuq
202) ^
13, for
Great credit
the
of
is
claimed
for
Akbar
in the Ain,
in the
improvements introduced by him

the
manufacture
to
matchlock.
In
spite
of these, that
weapon up
middle of the 18^^ century was looked on with less favour than the bow and arrow, which still held their
the
ground.
The matchlock was

a
left
chiefly
to the infantry, to
who occupied
until
much
inferior
position
that
of the
cavalry in the opinion of
the middle of the
18^^ century,
Moghul commanders. It was not when the way had
by the French and the English, that efibrts were made to improve the arms and discipline of the foot
soldier.
been shewn
The
barrels of Akbar's matchlocks wêre of
two lengths,
of steel
barrels,
1
66 inches and 41 inches. They were made of rolled strips with the two edges welded together. Both the
[nal,
literally, pipe,
Ad.,
tube, Steingass, 1378)

iii,
and the
The Madras Manual of

which
I
915,
has a
word tupak^ a small
cannon, a musket,
As. S.B.
have seen only once elsewhere, namely, in
verse 60, line 2, of a Hindi
(4897) Vol. LXVI, Part
poem on Nadir Shah by one Tilok Das (Journal i, p. 10). Of course, in the above form
the word would
represent the diminutive of top^ a cannon. But

(St.
may
it
not
be the Indian pronunciation of tufak of tufang^ a matchlock)?

rather
314, another form
104
THE ARMY Of THE INDIAN MOGHULS.
stocks {qu7iflaq, T. id. 970) were profusely decorated with
the surface
East,
is
ornament
have
for
which India,
like the rest of the
so justly celebrated.
The
I
longer of the two weapons
could only
foot.
been
used,
should say, by a
man on
Part of the matchlockman's equipment was a prong

called
or
tripod,
shakh-i'tufang,
to
on which the gun was

fol. 178^;).
placed
when about
fol.
be fired {Mirat-ul-Istilah,
Ashob,
1825,
calls
them
i,
sih-pajjah,
i.
e.
three footed
or tripods.
Seaton says,
207, that the prong was some-
times attached to the weapon. According to Bernier, 217,

the prongs were of wood.
I find in
W.
Egerton, pp. 83, 110, 111, 118, 124, 132,
133,
139,
145, about sixty specimens of the musket and
the matchlock.
a
The
from
latter
tora,
he
a
calls
toredar (Shakes., 702, h.

of rope, a gun-match).
iv
(p.
matchlock,
of
piece
Thirteen
these
guns are figured on plates
51)
and X
114), and among the figures on p. 79. One (p. matchlock is a miniature weapon, one a revolver with four
chambers, one has a
rifled barrel, five
percussion locks, these latter obvious
have flint, and four modern imitations of
European models. The other forty-eight are types of the Of these the shortest is 4 feet 7 inches and the longest 7 feet in length. One, N^ 671, length 6
ordinary matchlocks.
feet
inches
is
called a wall-piece; if so,
N^s 551, 584,

has
a
barrel
585, which
are
longer,
must be the same. Two of the

barrels,
specimens
have
octagonal
third
not only square outside but having also a square bore.
European make [tiifang-i-farang) were much were only found in the possession of the greatest nobles. It was with one of these, as Mhd Qasim,
Guns
of
prized,
but
Lahori,
tells
us,
Îhratnamah,
352,
that
a slave seated
behind
his
master,
Haidar Quli Khan, Mir Atash, shot

8^^ Oct.
Sayyad Ghairat Khan on the

assassination
1720, in the onset
made upon Muhammad Shah's

of
tents immediately after the
the
Sayyad's
uncle,
Husain
Âli
Khan,
Barhah.
EQUIPMENT.
of
(C)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS
II,
MISSILES.
fire
105
in
To
the
end
the
Moghul
of course,
period
the
arm
ordinary use was the matchlock.
The
flint
lock was
little
weapon was never seen, not having been introduced even into European armies until the W^ century (H. Wilkinson, JEngines of War, 67). The flint lock itself does not seem to have been generally adopted in Europe until the end of the 17^'i century (id. 67 ^), and it could hardly have become generally known in the East until a hundred years later. It was not until regular battalions armed and drilled in the European manner, were entertained by the Mahrattas and the Nawab Wazir, that the flint lock could have got into the hands of Indian troops to any appreciable extent. This seems borne out by the fact that of some
to
known
them, and,
the percussion
sixty fire-arms catalogued

locks,
in
in
by W. Egerton, fifty are matchand only five fitted with the flint lock. A passage M. Wilks, "Soutb India", i, 278, note, also shows that 1751 the flint lock was an absolute novelty to the
native armies of Southern India. Eitzclarence, 256, writing

so late as
lock,
1818 confirms
this opinion.
He
is
says
far
"The
flint-
an introduction of the Europeans,
from being
and I may even say is never employed by the natives: though the Telingas, armed and discipled after our manner, in the service of Scindiah and Holkar, make use of it. Some good flint locks, are, however, made at
general,
Lahor". It
is
true that Khair-ud-din, Îbratnamah,
i,
105,
writing of 1173 h. (1759), declares that
when Ram Narayan,
deputy governor of Patnah, was defeated by Shah 'Alam,

he
left on the field among other things six thousand flint muskets {bandUq-i-chaqmaqi). This can be only partially
must be remembered that, by that time, the importation of arms through the ports on the Hugli must have become active; and what might be true of Bengal and Bahar in the above year, did not represent
true,
and even then
it
Voyle and Stevenson,
Mil. Diet. (1876), 142, say

till
it
was invented about
1635, but not employed in England
1677.
106
the condition of things in places farther from the seaboard.
In
the
Dakhin the introduction

to
of the flint-lock weapon,
owing
have
intercourse
with the French and English,

earlier.
may
that
been
somewhat
At any
rate, it is said
the 12 battalions of Gardl^ or infantry drilled and

in
armed
imitation of the French sepoys, and commanded by Ibrahim Khan, Gardi, at the battle of Panipat in Jannary
1761,
carried
if
flint-lock
And,
after
we may
event,
H.
muskets {Eusain S/id/d, fol. 345). trust Ashob's memory, writing 58 years
artillery
the
the
soldiers
taking part in the
riot of
1141
(1729) at the Jami' Masjid in Dihli, were
armed with flint-lock (chaqmaqi) muskets. The matchlock barrels were covered with elaborate damascened ijcoft-gari) work, and the stocks adorned with embossed metal work or with various designs either in lacquer, or painting, or inlaying of different materials. The stocks were at times adorned with embossed and engraved mounts in gold, or the butt had an ivory or ebony cap. The barrel was generally attached to the stock by broad bands of metal or by wire of steel, brass, silver or gold. The broad bands were sometimes of perforated design and chased. The stocks were of one or other of two designs, 1) narrow, slightly sloped, of the same width throughout, or 2) strongly curved and very narrow at the grip, expanding to some breadth at the butt. When not in use, matchlocks were kept and carried about in covers made
of scarlet or green broad-cloth.
Parah.
Rustam
(in
""All,
BijnorT,
in
his
"History
of the
Rohelas"
Urdu),
fol.
22^,
in
speaking of the fight
between Donde Khan and Qutb-ud-din Khan, grandson of

Âzmatullah
Klian,
near
charte
Kiratpur
the.
in
Rohilkhand, says;
Although this take parah to the hammer of the matchlock. Platts 258, and 230, 246, among other meanings give those of a lock or door" and "iron mace", either
is
handuq
he
parah
meaning
be
of of
not
in
the
dictionaries,
here
Steingass
''bolt
which
EQUIPMENT.
(c)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;
11,
MISSILES.
107
could be easily enough extended into
"hammer
in
of a gun". either
/o/y7
The
match.
The name
of
this
was
(id.
fol.
Persian
jamagi (Stcingass, 351), ox fcdUah (Shak. 702). According to Ashob,
938), in Hindi
2616, to have the
match ready and lighted was falltah shahsuwctr namudan. Powder horn et cetera. These accoutrements were called collectively kamr (Egerton 83, N. 143, 133, N^ 683). The set consisted of a powder flask, bullet pouches, priming horn {singra), match-cord, flint and steel, the whole attached to a belt. This belt was often of velvet embroidered in gold. Ashob, fol. 226/5, gives shakh as the word for powder horn.
Steingass,
in
720, does not include this specific signification

gives; but Platts,
"Hindustani Dictionary", 716, has shakh-dahana, a small powder flask for priming. Fitzclarence, 69, speaking in 1817 of some irregular horse in the Company's service, half of whom were armed with matchlocks, says "the receptacles which contained their powder and ball are unwieldy, and
the
numerous meanings he
as they never
make
use of cartridges for their pieces, they
are
long
time in loading.
a
Some
of
them have
at least
twenty yards of match

pearance
to
about their person, similar in ap-
large ball of pack-thread".
Modern words,
adopted from Europeans, were tozdan (pouch) and kartus (cartridge). They are used by Khair-ud-din, Îbratnamah,
i,
when recounting Rene Madec's defeat in 1191 h. (1777) by Mulla Ralim Dad Khan. The book itself was
422,
written after 1203 h. (1788).
Blank
for
Cartridge.
cartridge
find
the expression khah-goli used

ÂlT,
blank
by
Rustam
fol.
Bijnori,
"History
of the Rohelas" (in Urdu),
lla-.
Bataur jang-i-zargari
khah
(a
goll se apus
men chalen; "As

they
fired
in a goldsmith's quarrel
collusive
dispute),
blank cartridge at each
other".
Cailletoque.
This
strange
I,
Duperron, Zend-Avesta,
ud-Daulah's escort at
word is used by Anquetil when speaking of SirajMurshidabad (1757), and this word
xliv,
108
he
defines
tire

in
his
index
"fusil
le
meche,
sur
of the
tres
long,
que
Ton
ordinairement en
posant
espece de fourche".
for a long time, it
The etymology
form.
It
un word
pie fait en
baffled
me
the
being impossible, from his spelling, to

is
reconstitute
variations
la Flotte,
its
original
not
French,
as
in
i,
spelling
sufficiently
show. For instance,
De
258, referring to the Coromandel coast, (where
Anquetil also
very
(evidently
may have
picked up the word), speaks of a

rendering
of
long and heavy matchlock, which he calls a kaitoke
another
phonetic
"cailletoque").
Gentil
also,
59, in describing the entry of Salabat Jang's
troops into
''fusils
Aurangabad on the
qu'on appelle
liîi
meche,
kaitoJc,
June 1753, mentions cou verts de drap
rouge".
Rene Madec (c. 1774) spells it kayetoc (E. Barbe, "Le Nabab Rene Madec", 54). For a time I thought it might be due to the use of qanduq, gun-stock, as a name for the
whole weapon, though
I
have never found in native writers

it
any such use of that word. Or

for banduq, the ordinary
word
for a gun.
might be a vulgar error Mr. H. Beveridge
suggested to
of the
J.
me
milteq,
a gun, as a probable derivation

of the Turki
Courteille,
word
(R. B.
Shaw "Sketch
p.
Language"
Diet.
A. S.B.,
1878,
184).
P.
de
506,
fancies that this
word mllteq
is itself
a corruption of bandUq.
In the absence of anything more satisfactory, an explanation

of caiUetoque might he found in qidtUq, the armpit, (Shaw,
157, P. de Courteille 435), on the ground that a musket

is
often carried under the arm! But long after I had given up the search, I came across a word for a gun or matchlock, which I am convinced must be the original of that used by the European writers quoted above. 1 found this word qaidUq in my copy of the AJ/mnd-namah of 'Abd-ul-latif, a rhyming chronicle of Ahmad Shah's reign written at Lakhnauin ] 184 h. (1770). The two passages are on ff. ]5a and \bb, the first in the rubric and the second in the text; and they read as
follows
EaUIPMENT.
(c)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;
II,
MISSILES.
109
Rubric.
Dastan
OJAxij,
ml-raft, o
roze siiwdrl-i- Wazlr dar rah yake az ma and dar kamlngdh nishistah, qaiduq, bar u rdndah, az In ma^nl Wazlr khiyrd-i-fdsid badil
dar
hay an
Jcih
az
Slidh
rasdndah, o derah-i-khud az Dihll herun burdah,
binydn-i'fasdd rd td'mir ddd.
Text.
Miydn-i-rdh kase qdbu giriftah,
Zadah qaiduq [Âxi] barue U
nihuftali,
Ba
qasd-as/i garchali U
daiah zad^
Wa-le
Ezad
khiydl-ash sdkhtah radd,
Giriftand-ash kasd7i az zormandl,
Kashdn burdand urd ham chu

I
bandi.
cannot find the

I
word
in
any of the
dictionaries, of
which
have consulted a good many.
Jazdil or Jazdir. This was the wall-piece or swivel gun,
and
fire
In
it is doubtful whether it should come here, under arms carried by the combatant, or under artillery. some respects it partook of the character of both.
Steingass, 362, defines jazdil as a large musket, wall-piece,

swivel,
rifle
used with a prong or

refers
rest.
Egerton, 124,
col-
note
to
N.
585
are
to jazdils in the
Codrington
this
lection
which
feet
and 8
feet
long;
would
Karnal
appear to be the usual length. Ashob,

the
fol.
1825, describing
outside
entrenchments
H.,
of
Muhammad Shah
(1151
Feb.
1739), twice speaks of something he calls
a pushtafi,
which was put up {anddkhtali) by the jazdilis
men. This
probably
it
not the tripod, which
is
separately mentioned;
was a
field shelter or slight
entrenchment.
to giny all, a
it
In connection with this weapon
we come
word
is
used by European writers.
Shakespear, 796, says
h.
a swivel &ca, either a corruption oi jazd;il, or ivom janjdl,

trouble, difficulty;
and
Steingass, 373, has a
word
janjdl,
110
crowd, multitude. Yule and Burnell, 285, say that janjal

is
''of
uncertain
origin".
Their examples are Elphinstone
(1818) and Shipp (180315). Fitzclarence (1818) also uses

the
word.
Janjal
is
used in a Hindi poem composed in

369). I think that jazrdi
Bundelkhand
A.
S. B.,
vol.
in the first half of the 18^^ century (Journal
XLVII, 1878,
origin
p.
must be the
of jinjal (gingall). Substitute, as an

for the "z",
uneducated Indian would do, a "j"

occurrence,
and you
have "jajaîl"; then insert a nasal, far from an infrequent
and
at
once you have
"janjaîl",
or quickly
is
pronounced,
"janjal".
Q. E. D.
But
whether gingall
little
derived from jazcdl or not, these can be
both words are used in

Chinese gingall
of
doubt that respect of one and the same kind
of weapon, as witness Sir

(Life,
ii,
Hope
Grant's description of the

is
92). "This weapon
a species
long
heavy duck-gun carrying a ball weighing about

its
range is at least 1000 yards. It is placed from which tolerable aim can be taken". Lake's remarks. Sieges, 70, note, show that a ginjal (as he spells it) was in his opinion the same thing as the jazair
two pounds;
a
upon
tripod,
or jazdil.
"Long matchlocks,
swivels,
of various calibres,
used as
wall-pieces
fixed
like
pound
in
by the natives of India, which are commonly and carry iron balls not exceeding a weight. In the field, they are sometimes carried
on the backs of camels". Fitzclarence, 245, says the ball of the Indian jazdil weighed two or more ounces. Jinjalls, or heavy matchlocks were, as writes captain Thomas Williamson,
commonly appropriated to the They carried a ball from one to three ounces in weight; and having very substantial barrels, were too heavy to use without a rest. Many had an iron
"Oriental Field Sports", 45,
defence
of forts.
prong of about a foot in length, fixed on a pivot not
far
from the nozzle: and

the
this
placed on a wall, a bush, or
ground,
served
in
as a support. In the defence of
mud
forts,
especially
Bundelkhand, the besieged exhibited
extraordinary dexterity, rarely failing to hit their object either
EQUIPMENT.
in
(c)
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;
II,
MISSILES.
Ill
the
fire
head or near the heart, even at great distances.
All
arms used by Indians having small cylindrical
chambers, and being mostly of a small bore, a wonderful
impetus was imparted to

the
the ball. The juzzail used by 1842 is described by Colonel Thomas Seaton, "From Cadet to Colonel"; i, 207. Ghor-dcthan was a kind oi jazaîl, of which one thousand
xVfghans
in
were made at Lahor
for
Mu'in-ul-mulk between 1161 and
1167 H. (17481754), see the Tahmas namah of Miskin, composed in 1196 h., fol. 36^:. The allusion in the name seems to be to the everted or widened mouth of the barrel.
Qidr.
battle
The
Mircit-i-Ahmadl,
fol.
199, in describing the
Alimadabad in 1143 h. (1730), between Abhai Singh, Rahtor, and Sarbuland Khan, speaks of the horsemen with qidr, yXi, and matchlocks advancing to give battle. I cannot find what weapon this was. The nearest word I have found is jXi, qidr, a cauldron, pot, kettle,
outside
Steingass,
957; but
to
this does
not suggest an explanation.

ii,
According
troops
lay
the field as
294 (note), Osmanli great store by a kettle, which they carry into other troops do their colours. But at Alimadabad
Erskine "History",
neither side were Osmanlis.
III. Pistols.
This weapon was the tamanchah or tamanchah (Steingass,

819,
list
sharp
blow,
pistol).
It does not
appear in the
in the
Ajn, an omission not to be wondered at when

that
we remember
in
the
Ajn was composed
in
1596
7,
while the pistol does not seem to have been
known even
Europe much before 1544 (H. Wilkinson, Engines of 58). The pistol was in use in India, to some extent at any rate, early in the 18*^ century. For instance, it was with a shot from a pistol that in October 1720 a young Sayyad, related to Husain 'All Khan, killed that
War,
nobleman's
assassin
(Mlid
Qasim, Lahori, Îhratnamah).
112

(Ell,
vii,
Dowson
that
I
573) must here have read nlmchah and

all
translates
a "short sword", but
the copies of the text

i.
have seen read tamanchah,
e.
a pistol. Probably
the pistol was confined to the higher ranks of the nobles. Its rarety is shown by these being so few examples in the
Indian
entries,
Museum. Egerton's "Handbook"

of these refers to a pair of
has
only
three
and one which must be quite modern. But Ashob, fol. 61, writing in 1196 H. about the shoe-sellers' riot at the great mosque in Dihli in the year 1141 h. (1 1^1^ March 1729), speaks of the soldiers taking part in it as having European pistol
English pattern,
and tahanchah.
Sherbachah.
This
musketoon
or
blunderbuss
still later
(literally
"tiger-cub") seems to have been of a
introduction
than the
pistol.
(p.
N^
410
Egerton catalogues three examples only 110), Nos 7612 (p. 144). One is twenty
inches
Probably the weapon came into India with Nadir Shah's army (1738) or that of iVhmad Shah, Abdali,
long.
(1748
1761).
this
In the
last
quarter of the
in the
18tli
century there
service
was a regiment of Persian horse
Lakhnau
known
from
as the Sher-bachah. Possibly they took their
name
weapon, with which they
may
have been armed.
Or
and
the
name may have been due

2,
to their
supposed ferocity
in Elliot,
viii,
thirst for their enemies' blood.
Dowson
398, note
quoting from the Akhbar-ul-Muhabbat, speaks
of ten thousand dismounted
men
in
Ahmad
Shah, Abdali's
army
in
1760 "having sher-bachas
(pistols) of
Kabul".
CHAPTER
ARTILLERY.
X.
HEAVY GUNS.
branch was Top-k/iannh
{top,
The general name for cannon, Hanah, house,

nected
this
division).
Every departn:ient con-
with
it
the
artillery
1)
was
included
under the one
name;
comprized,
a manufacturing department; 2) a
in both of
magazine or ordnance department,

imperial Khansaman,
control
artillery
which the
the field
or
Lord Steward, had the superior

or
over
in
the
actual
Daroghah
use;
last
Mir Atash;
3)
fortresses.
and 4) the guns in use in the two subdivisions the Mir Atash seems to have been entirely independent of the Khansaman. The word top, the usual name for a cannon, is stated
In
these
dictionaries to be of Turkish origin, but apBabar used the word zarb-zan (literally, blowstriker). For this see Horn, 27, and his references, Pavet de Courteille, "Memoires", ii, 168, ârabah ustidaki zcirhzanin
Persian
parently
Icir,
"les
couleuvres
qui
etaient
sur des chariots", id.
ii,
336, zarbzan-lih ârabah-ldr, "des couleuvres toutes montees

sur leurs affuts", and BudaunT,
ii,
194, line
6, ta-
zarbzan-
zambUrakha kih bcilae ârabahhae bud, "to the cannon and swivel-pieces which were upon carts" ^. 1 have not traced when the word top first appears in Indian writings, but probably it came into use first in the Dakhin and was introduced there by the officers from Rum, that is, Turkey, who were employed in the artillery. The word top
ha
'
see
I have found zarbzan used by so late a writer as Kam Raj (c. 1119 h.), A^zam-ul-harb, fol. 1206, but then he has top and rahkalah in the
same sentence.
114
is

restricted
to
it
often
the
large
all
sometimes we find
k/mrd.
used for
cannon or siege guns; classes of cannon, with
the distinction into large and small, top-i-kalan and top4-
Babar seems
size
to
have had in use pieces of considerable

his
(Horn,
26).
In
memoirs
(P.
de C,
ii,
253) he
describes
direction
the
founding of a cannon at Agrah under the
of his
head of the
artillery,
Ustad Qull Khan.
"Around
the
mould they had
erected eight furnaces for
melting the metal.
From
the foot of each started a channel

I
which ended
metal
in the
mould. As soon as
the
had arrived, the

After a
holes to allow the flow of metal
were opened. The fused

the fused metal from the
rushed into
mould
like boiling water.
time, before the
mould was
of
full,
furnaces began to flow very slowly, either because their size

or
the
amount
material had been wrongly calculated,

in
Ustad Qull Khan,

wished
copper.
I
state
that cannot be described;
to fling himself into the very
midst of the melted
made much
of hira, ordered
him
a robe of honour,
and thus succeeded in calming him. A day or two afterwards, when the mould had cooled down, it was opened. Ustad Qull Khan, overwhelmed with joy, sent me word
that the bore {dme) of the piece had no fault and chamber could easily be made in it. The body cannon was then uncovered and a certain number
ficers
that a
of the
of arti-
were set
this
to finish
it,
while he busied himself with
the
that
preparation
of the chamber".
From
ii,
269,
it
seems
chamber was cast separately, and the gun was and fired a ball for a distance of sixteen hundred paces. On another occasion, ii, 324, a large cannon was fired, the ball went far, but the piece burst and eight men were killed'. At a much later period the art of founding
then
tried,
could
^
not have greatly advanced, for

in
ii,
find that
De
la
The passage
the
336, does not necessarily refer to large guns, and

officer,
is
Mustafa,
other artillery
spoken of as using small
field
pieces (culverines).
ARTILLERY.
Flotte,
i,
HEAVY
18^1'
GUINS.
115
258, speaking of the
century and the Dakhin,
asserts that
Indian cannon were not founded, but built up
and hekl in pkce from distance to distance by thick rings of the same metal. Again Anquetil Duperron, "Zend Avesta", I, xlvi, speaking of the force commanded in 1757 by Rajah Dulab Ram, one of Nawab
of iron bars
bound
together,
Siraj-ud-daulah's
officers,
says "I'artillerie consista en gros
''canons faits de bandes de fer battu". Writing

in 1818, Fitzclarence, 255, says
"The
artillery in use
much later, among
the natives
cast
first
is
generally an iron cylinder with molten brass
round
it".
Elsewhere, 251, he remarks that in their
attempts to
make cannon
the Indians employed bars
hooped together. In one instance he saw an imthis. It was at DihlT that he found a piece iron wedges placed as radii, and then hooped made of together so as to form the gun. Horn, 28, quoting from Mirza Haidar (Elliot v, 131, 132) says that at the battle of Kanauj in 1540 Humaytin had 700 pieces (zarhzan) drawn each by four pairs of bullocks (these guns fired balls of 41b., 304 gr. each), [n addition to these were twenty-one heavy guns requiring each eight pairs of oxen, and
of iron
provement on
firing leaden balls ten times as
heavy as the others. Erskine,
"History",
reads
186, using the same passage from Mirza Haidar, "sixty-one (ti^-n^ o^^^^) heavy guns, each drawn by
ii,
sixty (o>^^^) pairs of bullocks". Ross, "Tarikh-i-Rashidi", 474,
has "twenty one (d^^

(.^xi.^)
>^'^:^j)
carriages each
drawn by eight
is
pairs
of bullocks".
I
Looking
to the state of things
then
existing,
think
the
number
of twenty one
;
pre-
ferable to
Erskine's sixty-one heavy guns

larger
but on the other
and not eight thrown being ten times as heavy as that of the smaller pieces, the gun itself must have weighed more, in something like the same proportion, and would have required more than twice as
hand the
number
of bullocks {sixty
pairs) is the
more probably
correct; the ball
many
Dr.
bullocks to drag
it.
Horn, 29, holds that under Akbar the
artillery
116
reached
tained
THE AMRY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS.

the
highest
point
of efficiency
which
it
ever at-
during the existence of the Moghul empire. But judging from the brief account of cannon in the Aln-iJkbari, one would surmise that this
all,
arm was
little,
if
at
developed.
great deal
is
said about matchlocks, but

It
would be, I think, a safer opinion to hold that the artillery was much more perfect and numerous in 'Alamglr's reign, than it was under his great-grandfather, Akbar. The long campaign in the Dakhin and the innumerable sieges, some of considerable importance, such as those of Bijapur and Jinji,
comparatively
little
about other bouches a feu.
must have brought the

prominence.
uses of artillery into
much
greater
if
And
during
the 18^^ century something,
not
much, was learned from the example of the French and English armies, and from the European adventurers, who found their way in considerable numbers into the armies of the native powers. As an instance of the hazardous conclusions
that are occasionally arrived at, 1
of Mr.
may quote
the suggestion
the gipsies
use
of
Mac Ritchie, "Gypsies of India", p. 207, that (whom he identifies with the Jats) brought the artillery into Europe. The history of the arm in
D.
it
India
seems to prove on the contrary, that duced there from Europe. European observers in the IS^h century do
speak
favourably
reference
to
was
intro-
not, as a rule,
of
the
Moghul
i,
artillery.
For instance,
army in "Having never experienced the effect of field pieces, they had no conception that it was possible to fire with execution the same piece of cannon five or six times in a minute; for in the awkward management of their own clumsy artillery, they
with
the
of the Karnatak's
Nawab
1746, Orme, "Mil. Trans."
74, says
think
hour".
they
do well if they Even seventy years

were
fire
once in a quarter of an
in
later,
1815,
the
Nizam's
minutes
artillery
still content to fire once every fifteen
and on one occasion they were indebted for final success to the freak of some European soldiers, who came at night
ARTILLERY.
HEAVY GUNS.
fired
117
from
their
own camp, and

15,
note).
the guns so fast as to
frighten the besieged into evacuating the place before the
morning (Lake,
Cambridge, who wrote about

ix, is
1760, "War", Introduction,
more general
in his con-
demnation. "Nothing
as the false notion
is
so ruinous to their military affairs
which is generally entertained by them, and chiefly by their commanders, in relation to artillery. They are terrified with that of the enemy, and foolishly put a confidence in their own and what is the most fatal mistake, they place their chief dependence on the largest pieces, which they know neither how to manage or to more. They give them pompous and sounding names, as the Italians do their guns, and have some pieces which carry a ball of seventy pounds. When we march round them
;
with our light
field pieces,
and make
it
necessary to
move
those enormous weights, their bullocks, which are at best
very untractable, are quite ungovernable, and at the same
time are so ill-harnessed, that

free the rest
it
causes no small delay to

shall
to
or
slain".
happen Again, take what Mustapha says,

from any one that
about
a
well-served
it
be unruly
i,
Seir,
443,
are
note
19,
"Expressions
is
artillery
misleading, for
certain that all their artillery

ill-served
was as
artillery
cumbrous,
of
ill-mounted and
as
was the
Europe three hundred years ago.

of having an artillery
It is
only since the
year 1760 that some Indians have put themselves upon the
mounted and served nearly in the European manner". And writing at Agrah in 1768 or 1769, an anonymous observer (Orme Mss. p. 4341) remarks on the Jats taking two 24-pounders a mile or two in ten days, and scornfully adds "Telle est I'adresse de la
footing
plupart des Indiens dans
le
metier de
la
guerre apres qu'ils

ils
ont
regu
tant
de legons des Europeens, dont
auraient
du profiter. Mais on a beau leur apprendre!" The following account of Mahratta ways in 1791 may be taken as applicable to the Moghul artillery of the same period. "A gun is loaded, and the whole people in the
118
battery
it
is sit

down, and if
it is
talk
it
and smoke
for
half
an hour,
it is
when
fired,
knocks up a great dust,
thought
and the parties resume their smoking and conversation. During two hours in the middle of the day, generally from one to three, a gun is seldom fired on either side, that time being, as it would appear, by mutual consent set apart for meals. In the night the fire from guns is slackened but musquetry is increased on both
sufficient:
re-loaded
sides" (E.
Moor, ^'Narrative",
30). Colonel
Hector Munro,
the victor of Baksar, speaking of the period 1763
1772,
held that the Indian princes got their artillery from England,
Holland and France.

the most of the
cast shot in
"There
is
hardly a ship that
comes
arms;
to India that does not sell
them cannon and small gunpowder they make themselves.

is
They
abundance, but there

military
stores
no black prince
that casts cannon but the king of Travelcore (Travancore).
The cannon and

of Select
are
country" (Carraccioli, "Life of Clive"
iii,
smuggled into the 276, and "Minutes
Committee, H. C",
sitting of 14th
May
1772.
Heavy Guns.
The Moghuls were

such
pieces
very
fond
for
of
large
ordnance, but
as
to
were
truly
really
says,
more
243,
show than use; and

oriental
Fitzclarence
the
idea
seems
have been "to render this destructive engine from
its size
Western world". In this direction they proceeded even to extravagant lengths. These huge guns made more noise than they did harm; they could not be fired many times in a day, and were very liable to burst and destroy the men in charge. Names. The large guns were all dignified with pompons names, just as elephants were, such names as Ghazl Khan
of the
more powerful than those
"Lord Champion", Sher Dahan "Tiger-mouth", Bhumdham "The Noisy", (Shiu Das, 29) Kishwar kusha "Worldopener", Garh'bhanjan "Fort Demolisher", Fath-i- Laslikar
"Army Conqueror",
(Elliot, vii,
100) Aarangbar "Strength
ARTILLERY.
of the Throne",
HEAVY GUNS.
119
Burj Sliikan "Bastion Breaker", (Catrou, 256) Jahan kusha "World Conqueror" (Horn, 37) and so forth. At the battle of Husainpur in 1133 h. (Nov. 1720) there were present Sher dahan (Tiger mouth), Ghazi Khan
(Lord
Champion), "Alam-sitan (World-seizer), Atash-dahan

fol.
(Fire mouth), KhushlialChand, Berlin Ms. N". 495,
10 15^.
In
addition
to
name
they
were also usually provided
with an inscription, sometimes in verse, stating the

of the founder, the place
name
and the year of manufacture.

352,
From
Bernier,
217,
218,
we
learn that early in
Âlamgir's reign there were in the field with the emperor
seventy pieces of heavy artillery, mostly of brass. These and the camel guns did not always follow the emperor, when he diverged from the high road to hunt, or to keep near a river or other water. Heavy guns could not move along difficult passes or cross the bridges of boats thrown over rivers. Many of these seventy pieces were so ponderous that twenty yoke of oxen were necessary to draw them along and when the road was steep or rugged, they
:
required the aid of elephants, in addition to the oxen, to
push the carriage wheels with their heads aud trunks. These heavy pieces had frequently to be left behind, from the impossibility of their keeping up with the army.
Thus A'zam Shah, when he marched

nagar to Dholpur,
stages
left all his
in
1707 from Ahmad-
heavy guns behind at various

left
of
his
march, and had none

at Jajau
when he reached
fol.
the
battle
field
(Kamraj, A^zam-ul-harh,
19).
Then
1125 h. (March 1712), during the contest for the throne between the sons of Bahadur Shah, three of the very largest guns were removed from the fort of Lahor, each being dragged by 250 oxen, aided by five or six elephants, and it was ten days before the camp was reached, although it was not more than three or four miles distant (B.M. N". 1690, fol. \hlb). In 1128 H. (1715-6) when Rajah Jai Singh was besieging Churaman Jat in his fort of Thun, one of these
in Safar
120
It was escorted with ceremony Hodal and there made over to the deputygovernor of Agrah for conveyance to its destination. The shot is threw was, we are told, one maiind (Shahjahani) in weight (Shiu Das, fol. I3a). Again, at the siege of Agrah in 1131 H. (July, August 1719), several of these large cannon were employed. They had there Ghazi Khan, Sher
cannon was sent from DihlT.
from Palwal
to
Dahan, Dhiimdham, and

from 60
to
to
others.
These guns took shot of
100
lbs,
(30 sers to 15
man
Shahjahani). Attached
and from 600 to 1700 draught oxen (Shiu Das, fol. 29). Muhammad Muhsin also speaks of Muhammad Shah having at Karnal in 1151 H. (Feb. 1739), guns which required five hundred to one thousand bullocks, aided by five to ten elephants
each
to four elephants
gun were from one
(Horn, 34, quoting
Elliot, viii,
74).
When
in
the
Jat
rajah
of Bhartpur besieged his relation
Wer, about 30 to 40 miles south of Bhartpur, his biggest cannon, a 48 pounder, was sent from his capital. It was a piece that Stiraj Mall had taken from the Mahrattas, and they had carried away from DihlT. Although dragged by 500 pair of oxen, with four elephants to push behind, it occupied them a month to convey the gun about half way, some eighteen or nineteen miles altogether, and there it stuck. It should be noted, however, that this was in the rainy season, which added immensely to the difficulty. The writer from whom I obtain these facts adds "This may look strange, but you do not know the weight of these guns or the kind of gun-carriage used. At the
very time I write this
(c.
1767),
it
is
ten days since they

fortress of
brought out two 24-pounders from the

each
Agrah,
drawn by
fifty
pair
of
bullocks and helped by an
moment they are not outside the town though they are moving each day from dawn to night-fall (Orme Mss. p. 4341). In 1826 there were still large guns at Wer. Colonel Seaton in his "From Cadet to Colonel", i, 177, says "we found some enormous iron
elephant. Yet at this
of
Agrah,
ARTILLKIIY.
IIP:AVY GUNS.
121
guns
built
up something
this
in the style of our present xVrm-
strongs,
with
difference
that
over the inner core of

iron
longitudinal
coils,
bars
forming the bore,

;
hoops and not

layer of longilayer of hoops
were shrunk on
bars,
over which
these
came a
another
tudinal
and
outside
shrunk on. The diameter of these guns

enormous, something
I
at the
muzzle was
don't
like three feet,
but the bore was small.

I
should suppose they
were
about 4()-pounders.
powder would have burst them". A /ode of Mounting Recwy Guns. From the slow progress that was made in the transporting of these heavy guns, it may be inferred that the carriages on which they wêre mounted, were of a very clumsy and primitive construction. One is almost inclined to believe that they must have been dragged unmounted along the ground, by mere brute force.
think any
of
amount
Otherwise
the
length
of
time occupied
in
going a mile
seems hardly credible.
Most probably throughout the IS^î century these guns were mounted on low platforms, and were made to turn on a pivot, such carriages as in 1803 Thorn, "War", 190,
called "country block carriages, turning on a large pivot".
Fitzclarence,
forts
21G, says the generality of the artillery in the
was
so badly
mounted
that they
would be dismounted
at the first discharge.
The
"Mil.
clearest
account of the way in which they mounted

is
their heavy artillery in the field
to
be found in Orme,
Trans.",
ii,
173,
w^hen describing Siraj-ud-daulah's
1757: "The cannon 24 and 32 pounders; and these were mounted on the middle of a large stage, raised six feet from the ground, carrying besides the cannon, all the ammunition belonging to it, and the gunners themselves who managed the cannon, on the stage itself. These machines were drawn by 40 or 50 yoke of white oxen,
guns
at the battle of Palasi (Plassey) in

calibres,
were mostly of the largest
of
the
largest
size,
bred
in
the country of Purnea;
and
behind each cannon walked an elephant, trained
to assist
122

by shoving with
Sir
his forehead against the
at difficult tugs,
hinder part of the carriage".

Select
Eyre Coote, "Minutes of
Committee H. C", SO^li April 1772, says that the Nawab's cannon were "mounted on bundles of bamboos tied together and each piece drawn by 20 or 30 pairs of oxen". On the other hand, Major Munro, "Minutes", 14th May
1772, deposed that the 133 pieces of different
sizes
taken
from Shuja'-ud-daulah
all
at
Baksar (23^^ Oct.
1764) were
on carriages and most of them on English carriages.

the Dakhin, so late as 1791,
old plan, copied from that of
The Mahratta artillery in was still mounted on the

the Moghuls. "His (Paras
brass
Ram
Bhao's) largest guns were

at
32
and 42 pounders
cast
Poona, in length
far
exceeding ours:
the wheels of the carriage as well as the
carriages themselves, were exceedingly clumsy, particularly
the limber wheels, which are generally of one piece, very low,
and
in
a
of
heavy
a
road do not perhaps turn once in

is
the
distance
hundred yards. The gun

it
so
heaped
with could
baggage of every description that

ready
to
fire
could not be
cleared
under at
least
half an
its
hour; nor
any one from

it
its
appearance iu
travelling state,
it,
were
ceive
not for the

to
number
:
of bullocks dragging
sixty
con-
and sometimes one hundred couple of bullocks drag one of these guns; and in very heavy roads, where the cattle have been hard worked and ill-fed, an elephant is posted to the rear who pushes with his head over difficult passages. Although the improvement of having four bullocks abreast was lately adopted by the Mahrattas, there surely can be no utility in having such a string of cattle as they sometimes tack to one of these strange pieces of ordnance" (E. Moor, "Narrative, 78)". In the Dakhin we found it necessary to employ sixty Carnatic bullocks in yoke to an iron 24 pounder, fifty to an iron 18 pounder, and forty to an iron 12 pounder
it
be a gun
fifty,
(Blacker,
"War",
283).
One
observer,
De
la
Flotte,
who was
in the south of
ARTILLERY.
India from April 1758 to
HEAVY GUNS.
123
May
17G0, declares that Indian
cannon,
carriages:
when used
"they are
of stone,
in
fortresses,
were not mounted on
put on the very embrasure, or they

they
are supported by two great

balls
roll
are
great
distance".
fortress
movable timbers {poutres). The make many ricochets and then M. de la Elotte saw at Jinji, the
82 miles s.w. of Madras, one of these which was twenty feet in length. At Arkat (Arcot) in 1746 Clive seems to have fired a big native gun from a mound of earth, without having any carriage (Orme, i, 191, referred to by Horn, 34). Colonel M. Wilks also speaks of an occasion in 1768 when the guns of the Indians were numerous "but unmounted". In Northern India, however, some sort of carriage seems to have been used even for heavy guns, when they were employed in the
pieces,
well-known
defence of a fortress.
Descriptions of individual guns.
Dr. Horn, 36, quoting
Captain Showers (J.A.S.B., XVI, 589) gives as the exact dimensions of one of Shahjahan's cannon, then (1847) to be found at Murshidabad,
Extreme Length
17
15
1
feet.
Deph
of Bore
at
....
. .
Muzzle Diameter of Bore

This cannon,
the facts that
Diameter
...
Dhakah
6 inches.
Jahan
it
Kusha, the world conqueror, bore a
poetical inscription of eight distiches, to
which were added

in
was made
sirs
at
Jamadi
ii
of the
it
eleventh year of Shahjahan (Oct. Nov. 1637), and that
took a charge of 28
the
of powder. It
had been made by
method of welding. When Dara Shukoh was

reign,
sent against
Qandahar
in
jahan's
threw a ball of
two great guns 90 lbs. English). Their names were Fath Mubarik (Blessed Victory) and Kishwar Kushae (World Overcomer). He had with him two other
he
I
cast
at Lahor,
Shahwhich
man
5 sirs (about
124
heavy guns, the Qildh-kushae (Fort Overcomer) from Dihli
and Maryam (Mary?) from Shal (Raverty, "Notes on Afghanistan", 22, relying on the Lataif-ul-Aklihar of Rashid
"
Khan).
One
in the
of these large
guns was
to be
found at Alimadnagar
Dakhin. Fitzclarence, 243, says it was about 25 feet and it was said to have carried shot into Sir Arthur Wellesley's camp in 1803 "though it was pitched out of range of all reasonable weapons". It was, perhaps, the same as the malik-i-maidan, (King of the Battle-field), described by Horn, 132, quoting Meadows Taylor and J. Fergusson's
long,
"Architecture
writers
to
of
Beejeepore",
which
is
declared by those
be the largest piece of ordnance in the world.

is
The metal
an alloy of 80.427 parts of copper to 19.573
parts of tin.
The dimensions
are
. .
Diameter at the Breech Diameter at the Muzzle Diameter of Bore Length
4
5
feet,
,,
10 inches.
5
....
is
41
3
14
In the "Life and Correspondence of the Right Honble Sir

Bartle
large
Frere",
i,
56,
these
a drawing by
him
of
two
guns that he saw
at Bijapur in
1848.
the Upari-burj (upper bastion?); the other he calls

Juft. Neither of
One was on Muluh
them was mounted on a carriage. The gun Malik-i-maidan was cast at Alimadnagar in 1548, during the reign of Burhan Nizam Shah i, by a Turk named Muhammad, son of Hasan. It was first described
by
been
E.
have
cast
Moor, "Narrative", 322, who believed it to by 'Alamgir in 1097 h. (1685), but the
it
copy of the inscription as given by him, does not bear

this
out,
for
that year,
commemorates the capture of Bijapur in and not the casting of the gun. Moor was told
that there were twelve large guns; of these he saw three, two being not cast, like the Malik-i-maidan, but made of welded bars hooped round. One of them was called Lam-
ARTILLRRY.
chharri,
HEAVY GUNS.
fiir-liyer"
125
(perhaps from
which Moor translates "the
lamchhar (Shak. 1795), a long musket, lamchhara, adj. tall). There were also two guns twenty five feet long at Nagpur
(Fitzclarence,
108,
244),
called
Magog, which were

a heavy brass
"finer pieces
by the English Gog and and better proportioned
than the one at Aliraadnagar". Fitzclarence also saw, 216,
gun mounted on
a sort of tower at Daulatit,
abad, and though he did not measure

a 24-pounder
he supposed
it
equal to throwing a ball of sixty pounds. There was also

(id.
218) on a peak
at the top, said to
have
in
been raised to that position by a European in Âlamgir's

reign.
At DihlT, opposite the Lahor 1817 a gun of a very large bore.
gate, he also
saw
Fitzclarence also describes the "great gun of Agra" as Major Thorn calls it, "War", 188. "At Agra I have seen a gun more like an immense howitzer, above 14 feet long, 221 inches in the bore, into which persons can get: the
following
is
a table of
its
dimensions".
TABLE OF DIMENSIONS.
126

it is
even as old brass

it
valued at
7000
but
if
serviceable,
may be estimated
at about
18,000. It at present (1818)
lies
near the bank of the Jumnah, outside the wall of the
attempt was made to transport it down to CalBoth Fitzclarence and Thorn give drawings of the gun. Thorn, 189, says "General Lake had a great desire to remove this trophy from Agra to Calcutta, with a view to transporting it ultimately to England; but though a raft was prepared for its conveyance upon the Jamnah, the stupendous body of metal proved too heavy for the framework, and the whole sank in the bed of the river, where the gun lay buried in the sand when 1 (Major Thorn)
fort.
An
cutta'*.
last
saw
it".
At Agrah in 1803 Lord Lake also obtained a fine 72pouuder of the same composition as the ''great gun", together with 76 brass guns and 86 iron ones of different kinds, such as mortars, howitzers, carronades, and gallopers, with thirty-three tumbrils. The brass gnns were in general of the same manufacture and construction as those taken at Dihli; and in the camp and town (Agrah) several of the iron ones were of that description called bar guns, and the whole were mounted either on travelling carriages with elevating screws, or on country block carriages turning on a large pivot (Thorn, 190). There are some large guns of the Moghul period at Labor. There is the Zamzamah (The Thunderer), one of two cast by a man named Shah NazTr, by order of Shah Wall Khan, prime minister of Alimad Shah, Abdali,
(1747
1773).
It
is
of brass
and was used,

it
so
Muhammad
Latif says, at the battle of Panipat in 1761, though this

is
inconsistent with the

fellow
tariM
bears (1179 h. or 1765/6).

;
The
gun was lost in the Chinab river and this one was removed by the Sikh leader, Har Singh, BhangT, from the village of Khwajah Saîd, two miles from Labor, where
the
Abdali
had
lines,
his
arsenal.
It
bears
an inscription of
twenty-two
of which the last
two are
ARTILLERY.
HEAVY
(lUMS.
127
Ba^d
taslwi ha gufta: ''Top

z.
Paikar-i-azhdahae, citash'haz\ (1179

''After
^.
1765/6).
fire-
obeisance
he
exclaimed
Its
'The dragon shaped,

is
vomiting,
the
cannon'."
length
is
14
feet 45
inches and
is
diameter of the bore

large
91
in
inches.
These
h.
also at
Shuja'at
Lahor another Khan,
gun made
Jang,
a
1182
(1768
9)
by
it
Safdar
governor of Multan;
bears the name of Kohshikan (The Mountain Destroyer) and weighs 110 maunds (Syad Muhammad Latif, "Lahor",
p.
386).
refers to descriptions of large guns by Dow, "History of Hindostan", ii, 278 (a reference which I cannot trace in my edition) and by Rennell, "Memoir", 61. The two referred to by Dow were at Arcot and Dacca. Rennell measured the second of these, but before the end
Moor, "Narrative", 420,
and the bank on which it rested had fallen into the river. The weight of an iron shot for it was 465 pounds, and Moor calculates the weight of one
of
the
18<^li
century,
it
for Malik'i'inaidan to
be 2646to pounds.
Lord Lake outside Dihli 1803 (Thorn, 117). They were of different sorts, the whole mounted on field carriages with limbers and traces complete. The iron guns were of European manufacture: but the brass guns, mortars, and
Sixty eight guns were taken by the
16th
on
Sept.
howitzers
had been
cast
in
India,
with the exception of
one Portuguese three-pounder. Some were made at Mathura and others at Ujjain, but evidently from the design and execution of a European artist. The dimensions in
were those of the French, and the workmanship The guns had belonged to the disciplined troops of Sendhiah, and the above description abundantly shows that they were not strictly Moghul weapons at all, but an equipment prepared under the supervision of Eurogeneral
highly finished.
peans in the native service.
A
is
somewhat later account (1809) of Sendhiah's artillery found in Broughton, 109. Sendhiah then had 66 guns.
128
THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHUJ.S.
twenty-seven in his
of various
sizes
own
park, ten of large calibre, the rest
and
descriptions.
;
Thirty
one guns were
attached to his regular brigade

sizes,
these were all of different
but few
these
were so large as an English six-pounder.

he had eight curricle guns, each drawn by
Besides
a pair of bullocks: they were very small and were called

the ''orderly" guns from their following in the Maharajah's
retinue.
Wooden Guns. Under the stress of necessity these strange substitutes for ordinary cannon were used by the Sikhs on two occasions. For instance, we learn that when the Sikhs in Dec. 1710 evacuated their fort of Lohgarh in the outer hills, they blew up a cannon ''which they had made out of the trunk of a tamarind tree" (Kamwar Khan,
entry of 19^^
Shawwal 1122
fol.
h.).
Another
us that
writer,
Ghulam
Muhi-ud-din Khan,
besieged
in
37/^), tells
when they were
Gurdaspur
artillery
in
1715,
the Sikhs, though they
had the
light
that
they had taken from Wazir
Khan, faujdar
of Sihrind, Bayazid
Khan, and Shams Khan,
were unprovided with heavier pieces. These they replaced by hollowed-out trunks of trees, strengthened by heavy
iron
bands placed
close together.
iron.
From
these they threw these
balls of stone
and make-shift cannon

usual kind. A.
The Mahomedans estimated

he
to
about half as
effective
as
the
Demmin "Die
in
Kriegswaffen", 108, speaks of
wooden mortars used
in the Middle Ages; they were formed of hollowed tree trunks bound with iron straps and furnished with a metal touchhole. And so late as
Europe
1525 the rebellions peasants who besieged

in
also
their Arclibishop
Strasburg
were in possession of wooden cannon. They
had leather cannon, such as at a later time were used by the Swedes! Demmin, p. 929, N'l 24^2^, has a figure of a wooden cannon froai Cochin China, said to be manufactured there up to the present time. It appears to be a tree trunk strengthened by thirteen strong bands in its whole length.
ARTILLERY.
HEAVY GUNS.
this is a
129
Ghaharah. According to Steingass, 880,

Rustaui
uses
bomb,
across
a mortar for throwing shells. I have only once

it;
come
'All, Bijnorl,
it
on
fol.
30^/ of his
"History
of the Rohelas" (written about 1780): Toj), rahkalah, ghabare,

chi
dhamakah,
ke,
(jnj?icd,
shutarnal, jazalr, sherbache, qain-
banon
lekar.
find in the official manuals a class Ahsham, styled Deg-andaz, literally "potof men among the throwers". In present usage deg denotes a mortar, and it may have meant the same at the end of the 17^^ and
Beg {Mortars).
We
beginning of the
to
18^^^
century,
it
when
sort
the manuals referred

to
were drawn up. But

these
seems
me more
probable
or
that
men
carried
some
of fire-pot
hand-
grenade, which they threw

to close quarters. Ttr.
when two armies were coming

"arrow",
after
This
word,
literally
acquiring the
extended meaning of bullet, musket, or cannon ball (Steingass

340),
was then converted into a word denoting the
calibre of a gun.
For instance, in the

fol.
letters of
Chhabilah
Ram, Nagar,
are three
Âjdib-ul-afaq,
sih
345,
we
have,
Hamrah-
i-jidwiyat'irtisam
top-i-kamtir,
;
"with
this loyal servant
guns of small calibre" and again a little farther, upon the same folio, Wa yak zarb-i-top-i-kalan-tlr "and one cannon of large calibre". With its meaning of "cannon ball"
,
we
used
find
t'lr
in
the
expression
BijnorT,
ilrah-hand for
in
his
"loaded",
by
Rustam
fol.
"All,
"History of the
instruments,
Rohelahs",
435.
Miscellaneous.
We
come now
to
various
mostly of obscure application and use, which are mentioned

here
and there by the

Sang-ra'd,
historians.
,
These are Badal'ijah,

Muqabil-kob,
Manjaniq,
28, 29, 35.
Sarkob
Top-i-hawae,
of these are
Chcidar, Ruqqah-i-atash.
Most
named by Horn,
Badakjah. Steingass, 140, defines it as a sort of cannon. Mhd Kazim uses the form Badalij iÂlamgir namah 98,
line 3, ba zarb-i-badalij az
pae dar amad). Once Ghulam
130
Âli
this
Khan, Muqaddamah-i-Shah Âlam-namah^ fol. 795) uses word hadaUj when speaking of the war materiel to be found in Lahor fort in 1165 h. (1752). I have not seen the word elsewhere, nor can I tell what kind of thing
it
was.
Manjamq. This seems

pulta,
balista,
to
have been in the nature of a

it,
catapult. vSteingass 1324, defines

sling
a warlike engine, catafor
machine quotes from weights, a crane. Horn, 35, reference to the use of a manânlq at the
a
pulley,
It is also
raising great
vi,
Elliot,
139, a
siege of Asirgarh.
Elliot, v, 170).
used in the Tankh-i-Alfi (Horn 29,

to
This
word was applied

explorers
the
scaffold
raised
by some
French
when examining
the upper part of the
Naqsh-i-Rustam tombs in Persia,

in Persia", 250).
(E. G.
Browne,
"A
year
Sangrdd. Steingass,
cross-bow, a
702,
calls
this
a stone ball for a

flat roofs. Is it
stone roller for
smoothing
not
more probably another name

stones ?
for a catapult
throwing large
Sarkob. Horn, 132, referring ioilie Akbarnctm ah /m,^)^^^

line
11,
speaks of
it
as a wall breaker or battering
ram.
Steingass,
676, has, "a machine erected to overtop a wall,
a battery, a battering machine, vany eminence which com-
manded
fortress
or
houses, a citadel". Several of these

it
definitions
seem
to
make
little
we
shall speak of a
same thing as siba, which further on. The word sarkob for
the
fol.
a battering
ram
is
used by Jauhar, Aftabchi,
165,
when
describing
the siege of
Chunar
in
fol.
942
h.
(1535). Nizam-
ud-din, Tabaqat-i'Akbar 8hahl,

the
1515, in his account of
same events
ii,
calls
the
28,
ram
a muqdbil-kob.
to a passage in
is
Top-i-haivde.
Horn,
calls attention
Khafi Khan,
writing
of
226, where this expression
used.
He
is
Sldl
Ya^qut in the Dakhin during Âlamgir's
reign (year 1079 h.
1668-9),
and he says
o tophde
hawae
top-
ba-hani rasdndah^ bar darakht-hde bastah, loaqt-i-sliab taraf-i-
Dandd Bdjpurl
at ash niiddd.
"Having provided some
ARTILl.ERY.
HEAVY GUNS.
fixed
Kjl
i'hawae
(air
guns?)
and having
night time fired them in the direction of
them on trees, at Danda Rajpuri".

line
This
is
all
we know
In
the
of this mysterious weapon.
C/tadar.
Maasir-i-'Âlamglrl
295,
13, year
1098 H. (1686), when the army was before Gulkandah, I find this passage, o yah tassuj pesh qadam na shudan-imardum az harish-i-tufang o ban o chadar o huqqah fjhair az Ixushtah shudan o zakhml gardldan maqsad sural nagirift. "From the rain of matchlocks and rockets and 'chadar
and 'huqqaJt, the men could not advance a single inch, and no purpose was effected but to be slain or wounded". The context shows that c/tadar is here something that was
do not know what. Elsewhere, as the conword denotes some kind of tent. As for in Ashob, fol. 265flf, ba pal iva chadar iva tambu, instance where chadar cannot possibly mean anything but a kind
fired
off,
but
text
shows,
the
of tent. I have also seen the
word chadar employed
in
way
that
made
it
mean
a sort of mantlet used as a field
protection to gunners. I have mislaid

passage.
my
reference to the
Euqqah'i-dtash. Horn, 29, refers to Budaoni,

7
i,
376, line
372.
from bottom,
but
It
think
it
must
be,
i,
371,
was at the siege of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand in 952 h. (1545 1546). Sher Shah stood near the wall and ordered huqqah to be thrown into the fort. By
(Ranking, 482).
chance one of these struck the wall and coming back with
force
broke in pieces, and

huqqahs,
set
fire
the
fragments falling on the
them and blew up Sher Shah. This passage does not show whether they were bombs fired from a mortar or thrown by the hand; but it is clear that they must have been one or the other. It shows that the projectile itself was called huqqah, a name derived no doubt from some resemblance in shape to the ordinary
other
to
huqqah used in smoking. Steingass, 426, has huqqah-i-rdash, a kind of rocket used in war. Huqqah were used in 1044 h.
(1634
5)
by the defenders of Dhamonl
in
Bundelkhand,
132
Badshahnamah, i, part 2, p. 108. The Central Asian word for the same thing seems to have been qarorah, see Mujmilut-tarlH bad Nadinyah, p. 78, line 13. We meet with
another
mention
of
these
Ituqqah
in
an account of an
in
p.
assault on
Dig by Najaf Khan's troops
1191
h. (1777),
see Khair-ud-din
Mhd,
'Ibratncimah,
\,
425. The Roheit
lahs
scaled
the
wall by digging their knives into
and
ml
helping
rozgar,
each other up, then hisarvi/an, hairan'i'nairangl'i-
sabackahd o Iiaqqah-hae
baritt
bar
sar-i-shan
andakhtand. "The garrison, harrassed by the instability of
on their heads small pots {sabuchaJi) and gunpowder". This goes to show they were hand-grenades. The same author, i, 75, speaks on an earlier occasion of the garrison of Fatnah in 1173 h. (1759) resisting an assault by sabuchah-i-bdrut. There are some farther remarks on the J/uqqah under the head of Sieges.
fortune,
threw
of
huqqahs
CHAPTER
XI.
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Bernier, 217, says the artillery in
1658 was
of
two
sorts,
the
heavy and the
light,
or "as they call the latter, the
artillery of the Stirrup".
applied to the light field

artillery"
Another general name sometimes guns is toplhanah-i-rezah or "small
{Alrwal-ul-khawaqln, 190<^).
We
also find
it
styled
topkhanah-i'jambishl,
"moveable
495,
fol.
artillery",
by
Khushlial
Chand, Berlin ms.

this in
1144^ and elsewhere. But

is
more frequently the reading

Khafi Khan,
ii,
iop-Jchdnah-i-jinsi.
We
find
953, where the meaning seems to
be "miscellaneous artillery" and in Tarlkh-i-Almad 8haJi,

fol.
1243,
under date the 18th Jamadlli", 1167
h.,
ll^h
April 1754. In the latter passage the sentence reads

jinsi artillery, large
"the
is
and
small,
was ordered
to
be collected
under the JharokaJi' (balconied
window
artillery
of the palace).
Here
it
is
made
as
to include
cannon of
"the
all sizes,
and
used
probably
equivalent
to
attached to the
emperor's person". Top-hhanah-i-jilau^
we
are told by Colonel
Colombari, 36,
kushUe
able
in to
is
the word used by Mirza

artillery".
Mahdi
in
Jahan
used
Nadirl for "moveable

find
I have not been

is
the passage intended.
But the word

p.
Mujmil-ut-tankh
bad
Ncidiriyali^
86,
line
9.
This division into heavy and light artillery endured up to

the end of the
Moghul
as
period, but I should describe the
Artillery of the Stirrup rather as a subdivision of the Light

artillery
than
an identical term
for
it.
For instance,
distinct
from
the Artillery of the Stirrup proper, Bernier
184
tells

US that Aurangzlb had
two hundred
to three
hundred
light
camels, each of which carried a small field-piece, of
the size of a double musket, attached on the back of the animal "much in the same way as swivels are fixed in our vessels".
of the Stirrup. The Stirrup {rikab) was a figufor the emperor's immediate entourage. To be at Court was to be hazir-i-rikab, "present with the Stirrup". The artillery called by this name consisted in
Artillery
rative
expression
Bernier's time (Travels, ~218, 363) of "fifty or sixty small

field-pieces,
all
of
brass;
each piece mounted on a well-
carriage containing two ammunition chests, one behind and one in front, and ornamented with a variety of small red streamers The carriage with the driver was drawn by two fine horses, and attended by a third horse, led by an assistant driver as a relay. The light artillery is always intended to be near the king's person, and on that account takes the name of
made and handsomely painted
the artillery of the stirrup.

in the
When
he resumes his journey
morning and
the
is
disposed to shoot or hunt in
game
which are guarded, it moves and reaches with all possible speed the next place of encampment, where the royal tents and those of the principal omrahs have been pitched since the preceding day. The guns are there ranged in front of the king's quarters, and by way of signal to the army, fire a volley the moment he arrives". Sendhiah in later days imitated this practice, but called such guns his "orderly" artillery (Broughton, 109). But after 'Alamgir's reign and until European ideas were introduced towards the end of the IS*'*^ century, I do not find mention anywhere else that cannon were dragged by horses. Either oxen or elephants
preserves,
avenues to
straight
forward
were used, to the exclusion of horses. Names for Light Cannon. For the lighter guns we come across many names, several of which are probably diff'erent words for practically the same thing. The names that I
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
have
collected
135
are
1)
Gajnal,
2)
Hathncd, 3) Shutarnrdj
4) Zamhiirak, 5) Slia/nn, 6)
8)
Bahkalah. There
is
also a
traveller") used
on
fol.
Dhamaknh^ 7) BamjanaH and word rahraii (literally, "mover, 1005 of the Tarlkh-i- Alamgir Sam.
Referring to the dismantling of the Dihli fort by Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1170 h. (January 1757) it says: "the great and small cannon that were on the bastions and over the gateways were brought down; also the rahrau of the moveable {jinsi) artillery". In reality there seem to have been only two classes of light artillery, which may be
designated respectively,
Field pieces.
class,
(1)
Swivel-guns or Wall-pieces,
(11)
The
distinction lies in the fact that the first
the smaller pieces, were carried on the backs of ani-
mals,
while the second were transported on some sort of
wheeled carriage. The Bahkalah (N. 8) represents the second of these classes, and the other seven belong to the first
category.
1)
Gajnal,
2)
Hathnal. The words mean
literally
'
'ele-
phant barrel"
P.
7ial,
from
H.
(/aj
and H. hat hi, elephant, and
a tube or gun-barrel; for the former Steingass, 1017,

kajnal.
has the alternative form

the Aj7i,
carried
(Fuller's
i,
They
the
are mentioned in
113, and were thus called because they were
on
elephants
backs.
From
Jauhar-i-samsam
fol. 50) it would seem that each two gapicd pieces and two soldiers. We are led to infer that they were fired from the back of the elephant. But perhaps the gun was placed on the elephant for transport only, and dismounted before it was discharged. In any case, the practice of using elephants for such a
translation,
elephant carried
purpose soon ceased to
be common,
later
as
any
trace
of
it
in
the
reigns.
we seldom find The word Jiarnal,

later writers.
literally
i,
"male-barrel", quoted by Horn, 28, from the Ajn,
113, 1 have never
met with
for
in
any of the
It
was Akbar's name

3) Shutanial, 4)
matchlocks which one
man
could
carry.
Zamburak,
5)
Shahm, These words seem
130
all
three to refer to the
same weapon, what we should

is
call
a swivel-gun or wall-piece. Shutarnal

barrel",
literally
''camel-gun
and denotes the fact that they were sometimes carried on and fired from camels' backs. ZamhUrah is derived from zamhUr, a bee or wasp, with a diminutive added, and thus means ''a little wasp", probably in allusion to its sound when fired, or its power of stinging or wounding.
name for the same name which was brought into India by Nadir Shah (17389) or Ahmad Shah, Abdall (c. 1760). Horn,
Sliahm, literally ''falcon", seems a later
a
thing;
28,
refers
to
it,
quoting from Dowson's
Elliot,
viii,
398,
Âli.
passage in Nig elm ama //A- Hind of Sayyad

also
Ghulam
See
W.
H.
Egerton,
29.
An anonymous
the
Indian writer
{Waqat^-diyar-i'maghrih)
in
describing
Durrani empire
1212
(1797-8), writes of "the shakn-khanah, which
are also called zamburalc\
The name shaJim may have been
European "falconet". Colonel F. Colombari "Les Zemboureks", Paris, 1853, p. 28, says it was the Afghans of Qandahar who first fixed the zambUraJc or falconet to the saddle by a moveable pivot. This mode was in use by them when they invaded Persia in 1722. Up to that time the camel had been used for transport only; the weapon when in use being placed on a rough wooden carriage, on the ground. As to the size of the zamburak or shutamcd, we are told by Bernier, 217, that it was "a small field-piece of the size of a double musket". Horn, 28, quoting from the French edition of Bernier (Paris, 1670, p. 110, ed. A. Constable 47, 218) adds that "a man seated behind it on the camel can load and discharge the gun without dismounting".
a translation
of the
later
i,
observer
gives
different
account of their
use
"Zamburaks are long swivels with one or two-pound balls. Two of them are carried fastened upon the saddle of a camel; and when they are brought into play, the camel is, as usual, made to kneel on the
[Seir,
250, note 34).
ground
but to prevent
his rising,
each leg
is
fastened, bent
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
at it
is,
137
with cord, and the animal remains immoveable". According to eJonas Hanway, "Revohitions of Persia", 3^
ed.
1762,
ii,
153,
their
Persians
for
with
at
to
its
stock,
method was also adopted by the "Each of these pieces, was mounted on a camel, which lay down
this
"harquebuses".
command; and from

this
the backs of these animals, trained
exercise,
they
charged
and
fired
these
arms".
diflPer-
Mundy, 215, states the way ently "the gun revolves on

:
of using the camel-gun a swivel fixed on the

sitting astride
pummel
behind
of the saddle,
it,
and the bombardier,

fires
loads
and
with wonderful quickness". This refers

in
to Sendiah's
6)
army
1828.
Blinmakah.
In one or two places 1 find
Bhamakah
1132
h.).
mentioned along with rahkalah,

i-samsam,
fol.
as for instance in Jauliar-
155^5
and Kamwar Khan, 227

i,
(year
The word
kind
of
is
used in the Ajn,
115,
N*^.
39, for
some
was probably applied in later times to a small field piece of the same kind as the rahhalah, although 1 am unable to tell in what particulars they differed. The word is, of course, the Hindi dhamah 7/, the sound made by any heavy body falling on tc the ground. I recollect, in a case of murder brought befrre me, that this word was applied to the thud made by a dead body falling into a well. Shakespear doe^ not give the word in this, its more usual, meaning, but defines it as a kind of cannon carried on an elephant. Forbes copies Shakespear. Fallon, 659, has, however, as second meaning "a blow, thump"; and as third meaning the very vague word "firelock", which does not suit the passages where 1 have found the word it was rather some kind of light
matchlock.
it
;
But
field piece.
7)
Ramjanakl. Another unusual word

155fl).
light field-piece is
fol.
also
some sort of ramjaJd or ramjanakl (Jauhar4-mmsam find the word used during the period
for
fol.
11341147
1
H. in the Alnocd-i-khawaqin,
It is
216^, where
fol.
read
it
Uamchangl.
given as Bamjangl on
138
of
THE AllMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS.

Hidayat'ul-quwaid of Hidayat-ullali, Bahari, comin
the
posed
1128
H. I cannot suggest even a derivation for
the name.
Organ
{Argliun).
"A weapon
called
an organ, which
is
composed of about 36 gun
barrels so joined as to fire at
once"; Letter from De Boigne's camp at Mairtha, dated 13th Sept. 1790, in H. Compton's "Military adventurers",
p.
61.
Steingass, 38, has, Greek,
^^c,'
an organ, or
o^^^^-
Mr. Compton suggests the comparison with a mitrailleuse.

Chala7il.
This
is
word used by Rustam

Via-,
Âll,
BijnorT,
in
his "History of the Rohelahs", fol.
huhn
taiyari
saz âraq, rakkala/i, chalanl, gajual, shutarncil ka. Evidently
from the collocation of words
weapon. But as
and
it is some sort of offensive what it is the dictionaries give no help; have not met the word elsewhere.
to
Field Pieces.
We
artillery, that of field pieces
come now to the second class of light mounted on wheeled carriages.

of
this
Of
the
further
subdivision
branch into ordinary
fifld artillery
and
artillery of the stirrup
we have
already
of the
sp ^ken.
have not come across any
description
pieces in purely
Moghul
times, but Fitzckrence, 88, writes
thus of those taken from the Mahrattas at Jabalpur in 1817.
"They were of cast brass with iron cylinders, two of them three and two bix-pounders, but they are so thick that till 1 looked at the bore I thought they were six and nine.
Six tumbrils with their bullocks
fell
into our hands, with of

balls,
much ammunition and

chain-shot.
great
to
stores
grape and
They appeared
be very careless with their

it
powder, as large quantities of
lay loose near the
guns
The
carriages of the guns and tumbrils have hands painted on them in red, and the only explanation 1 could get of the emblem, used here as well as on the colours, is that
is
it
meant
for ûjali
(worship)" \
emblem much
light
is
On
the significance of the open hand as an
thrown in a learned article by the Magazine" for June 4895, pp. 5972.
late Mr. O'Neill in the "Pall Mall
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
139
Thirteen of the four-pounders taken from the Mahrattas

outside Dihli in September 1803 were of a similar make,
namely,
they
would seem the metal was run

adherence
nothino^
were iron cylinders or bores over which it in casting the piece, "the
so
close
being
that
no chasm appeared, and
but the
different
colours of the two metals dis-
covered the junction. The iron cylinder or bore was com-
posed of four longitudinal pieces of hammered iron, remarkably close and neatly fitted throughout the bore" (Thorn,
Here again we have to remember that these guns were most probably produced in workshops superintended by the Frenchmen in the Mahratta service.
"War",
1J7).
Bahkalah.
In
all
histories
of the later
Moghul
period
word rahhalah used in connection with artillery. means a cart (Shakes. 1203, Hindi). The word rahhalah may be heard to this day in the Upper Duab
find a
Literally
it
we
applied
to
the smallest size of bullock-cart, one having a
platform or body and wheels, but no sides. This cart, also

called a larrl,
is
used to carry produce from the
fields to
the threshing floor, and for similar light work.
The word
seems also to be in ordinary use in the town of

for
field
Bombay
means a
country
piece
or
cart
\ But
in historical
works
it
small
for its transport.
gun, including of course the vehicle These guns were drawn by bullocks. No
in
doubt,
wôuld
the
as
passage
the
Akhbar-i-muhabhat,
strictly
p.
277,
of
show,
top
rahkalah
only:
was
speaking the
dar
name
gun-carriage
Ear
do
dast
zer-i-rahkalah
burdah,
ra ba rahhalah ta sinah bardasht, "Bringing

lifted
both hands beneath the rahhalah, he
both gun
{top)
and carriage {rahhalah)

'
as high as his chest". In ordinary
Parliamentary Paper No. 538, March 1894, p. 30, para. 29 of report by Acting Commr. of Police, Bombay, "natives of Kathiawad, who for the most part find an occupation in driving rehlas (small bullock carts)".
Apparently these rehlas are the small gaily painted bullock carriages used for conveying people about in Bombay, one of which is depicted in
the
water colour by H. Van
Ruilt
(Loan Collection, Empire of India
Exhibition, 1895, No. 398).
140
circumstances no such distinction was made, and

read
of the
number
thereby
is
of top
so
and rahkalah
used
in
an array,
when we we
understand
many
siege-guns and field pieces.

for a field piece in
The word arahah

line
distinctly
1317 of the Hindi poem by Shridhar Murlidhar of Prag on the battle between FarrukhsTyar and Jahandar
Shah, composed
cFT
cJTT
c.
1712;
^T
cFTH
cfTT
^^^
T\Z
^Tc^f^
ZV\
cFT
''kar-kar-hara-kaf sou arctbe chhuten, tat pakani tapkl
But more frequently he

18^^
uses the
in
his
word rahkala.
Chhatar-prakash
Another
(p.
century
poet,
Lai,
267,
:
doha 15,
line 2) also uses
raê as the
name
of a swivel-gun
Goli-gola chhutat arahe.
Calling
the
whole
to
thing
cart {rahkalah
or ârcibah)
is
only
the
equivalent
our saying a
In
"gun", when we mean

three cases the
gun with its carriage, wheel, when they mean a

of a part
is
or the Indians saying chakra, a

cart.
all
name
for
used to express the whole of a thing.

This
is
Âradah'top.
the
name used
in
is,
Khurasan
in
what must have been a

a
field-piece, that
in other words,
his
rahkalah.
It
is
used
fol.
by
Mahmud-ul-Munshi
Tarlkh-i- Ahmad Shahi,
195 and elsewhere.
Qasarah. This weapon, evidently meaning some sort of field piece, is mentioned by the author of the Eusain Shahl,
fol.
lib and elsewhere, as forming part of the equipment

use of the loords ''ârabah'' a?id ''rahkalah'". I
first
of the Durrani armies.
Remarks on
have not traced back the

of a field piece, of a
adoption, in the secondary sense
word
originally
meaning a
cart.
Either
the
usage was of Indian origin and of a date anterior to

a
it might have begun with the translation Turkish or Arabic word already in use in the Chais,
Babar's time; or
of
ghatae army. The former
think, the preferable opinion.
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
141
word which also means word ârahah. But if this were in Turki the well known and accepted name of the cart on which a gun was placed, why does Babar's cousin and contemporary use the Persian word gardim (lit. wheel) for the same thing? See Tarlkh-i-Uashidi, ed. Elias and
in his
cart,
Thus Babar
a
"Memoirs"
uses a
originally
the
Arabic
Ross, 474.
"Arahah. Does Babar by this word

cart,
or
does
is
he include in
it
the field piece also?
mean nothing but a The

recounting his pre-
question
an interesting one.
161,
When
tells
parations for the battle of PanTpat in April 1526, Babar,
"Memoires", P. de C,
ii,
us that he ordered his
men
to
bring
as
many
ârabah as they could, and they
collected
seven-hundred. These were bound together with
strips of hide,
{turali)
and
in the intervals palisades of
some
sort
were erected, the whole forming a kind of stockade

protection.
or
field
How,
then, should
it
is,
we
translate here
the word "arabah? Literally
and for that literal version Pavet de Courteille, ii, 273, and Dr. Horn, 28, give their vote. On the contrary, Leyden and Erskine, "Memoirs of Baber", 304, prefer to render the word by "gun-carriage" and in other places "gun". Sir Henry Elliot follows suit, "Mah. Hist.", vi, 468, adding the curious assertion that "Babar had no light pieces at Panipat".
of course, cart;
Pavet de Courteille admits used to transport a

a "gun-carriage".
that
cart
iâraba/i),
being
field piece,
could also be described as
But the main objection to this rendering is, in his opinion and that of Dr. Horn, the improbability that Babar had 700 cannon of any sort at Panipat; or that in another instance, given by Babar, the Persians could have had 2000 pieces, the word used being in both
cases the same, that
ii,
is,
ârdbah (P. de Courteille, "Memoires",
161, 376). Elphinstone, "History",
363, following
i,
W.
433,
Erskine in his later
work on Babar and Humayun,
writes, "linked his gu7is together
Looking
to the small size
by ropes of twisted leather". of these Bahkalahs, throwing
142
probably
a ball of only two or three pounds' weight, it would not be very difficult to collect a large number of them. Nor would it be impossible to gather together seven hundred or even two thousand of such light pieces. Taking,
then,
all
the
probabilities
of
the
case
into account, the
view of Pavet de Courteille and of Dr. Horn seems wrong,

while
Elliot
I
that
is
of
Leyden, Erskine,
likely to
Elphinstone and H.
M.
more
that
be correct.
We may
safely believe,
by ârahah Babar meant not only a cart, but a cart with the small fun carried on it. The onlv difficulty is that in other passages Babar combines with the word ârabah (cart) the word zarh-zan (lit. "blowthink,
striker") to designate the
gun
itself
it
("Memoires", P. de
C,
ii,
168, 336), and therefore,
may
be argued, he would
mean by "arahah, used by itself, a cart and nothing more. But these very passages, where zarh-zan occurs, may be
round to strengthen the argument in favour of sometimes meaning a gun. For they show that Babar had field pieces in his army. If so, then where were these guns at the decisive battle of PanTpat? Unless we accept with H. M. Elliot the very improbable conclusion that Babar had then no light artillery at all, the obvious answer is that they were on the ârabah, with which he
turned
ârdba/i
formed
chaining
battles
his
first
line
of
field defences in
preparation for
the battle. This operation of entrenching the artillery and
the guns together, was a

later
of
times.
successors did so
what his what Babar did at often afterwards, was

that
common And we may infer

his
artillery
device in the
Panipat,
that
is,
he
placed
in
front of his
it
force in a long line,
and there
partially entrenched
and
chained the guns together.
Turah or
Tobrah.
As
part of this question of Babar's
use of guns in his battle against Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat,

there arises a curious side issue about the
meaning
of the
obscure word turah, s^y, or tobrah, yy. First of all, which turah or tobrah'^ The latter form is that used is correct,
LIGHT ARTir-LERY.
143
fol.
by Nizani-ud-dln,
lowed by
334, line
in
It
Tahnqat-i-Akhar
8/iaJn,
141^7,
foli,
his friend, 'Abdul-qadir,

4).
Budaonl, (Bibl. Ind.
does not seem to be a scribe's error, for would not have been adopted by a contemporary, Budaonl, without any question. It is strange
that
case
it
that Nizam-ud-dln Bakhshl, a soldier, a

at
man
highly placed
Akbar's court, and living barely two generations from

quite evident, he derived his information about
all
Babar's time, should have misread Babar's "Memoirs", from
which, as
is
the battle of Panipat. Yet
the other sources that I have
been enabled to consult agree in giving the word as tUrah,

I
am
indebted to
Mr. H. Beveridge
for
many
valuable
notes on these authorities.
An
excellent manuscript of the
Turk! Baharnamali owned by

fol.
Mr. Say3âd All BilgramT,

foot,
264^, line
text,
6,
has tUra twice in the same line; Ilminsky's
Turkish
the
p.
341, four lines from

the
has
^f/^m
twice;
Bombay
turah.
2),
lithographed edition of the Persian text, p. 173,
has
line
In
Akbarnamah (Lucknow
edition
i,
74,
Abu^l Fazl,
who
is
here evidently using Babar's
"Memoirs", has tUrah. Then Erskine and Leyden, in [their translation of the Babarnamah, p. 304, found the word to be turah in the manuscripts they used; and in a later
work, "History of India",
to
this
i,
433, Erskine practically adheres
To sum up, there can be little doubt, I word Babar used was turah and not tobrah. think, that the It is a little difficult to account for Nizam-ud-din making such a mistake. Perhaps finding a word turah, of which he did not know the meaning he altered it into the more
version.
obvious term, tobrah, a nose-bag. Although he thus obtained

a
in
word more
definite in
meaning than the

?
other, one asks
astonishment
how
leather nose-bags could be converted
into breast-works or palisades or shields
Here the ingenuity

the
rescue.
of Âbd-ul-qadir,
Budaoni,
comes
to
i,
In his
Muntakhab-ut-tawarikh, Bib. Ind.,
334, line 4,
which
is
almost word for word a copy of Nizam-ud-din, and therefore of the
Babarnamah, he writes "between each
pair of
144
THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGIIULS.
carts iârabah), six or seven nose-bags {tohrah) full of earth
{pur4-khak)
were arranged".
the
Being furnished by Nizamthem,

in order to
ud-din
with
word
tohrah, a nose-bag, he at once infilled
vented the earth
with which he
there
make
army
a
the use of such an unsuitable article somewhat more
plausible.
Of nose-bags
nearly
must have been plenty
in an
consisting
entirely of cavalry, but even four
thousand
nine hundred of them (700
X 7)
would furnish
if filled
very sorry protection to the soldiers, and
with
earth could not be carried ''raised in the air" as the turah

occasionally was. Sir
vi,
H. M.
Elliot,
469, accepts Budaoni's version as quite
''Mahomedan Historians", satisfiictory, and

which the
gives the
as affording a gratifying explanation of the use to
nose-bags were put: see Dr. Horn, 74, 75,

references just quoted,
who
which
is
have
verified.
Colonel Rru-
king,
i,
439, I
that
am
glad to
a
see,
takes the view that I do,

for turah.
namely,
difficulty
tohrah
wrong reading
air also
The
about carrying in the

iv,
throws doubt on
D. Price's ("Retrospect",
678) and H. Beveridge's {Akharthis
namah
one
is
i,
242) rendering of "gabion"; although in fairness,

to
bound
admit that
word
fits
better than
any
other the description of the turah as used by Babar at the

battle of Panipat.
At times the
Shahi,
fol.
leather nose-bags {tohrah) were, however,
put to strange uses, as can be seen in the Tdrikh-i-Eusain

39r/.
At the end
of 1760, during one of the
encounters which preceded the crowning victory of Panipat,
Shah Pasand Khan, generalissimo

was seated on the edge
his sword,
of
Ahmad
Shah, Durrani,
of a well, cleaning the blood
from
when
Shuja^-ud-daulah's retinue passed by.
the
Nawab congratulating him, the general asked, many infidels thinkest thou we have slain?" "At the
"Give
On "How
least
five
thousand", replied the Nawab. The Afghan said jokingly,
me
one rupee each for them, and

as
thee twenty thousand heads".
and each man
I will make over to Then he shouted to his troopers, he rode up emptied the heads out of
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
his
145
nose-bag at the feet of the Nawab. There were from

to four in each bag.
two
Tdrah, the meaning of the word. \V. Erskine, "Memoirs

of Baber", 304, in the passage
translates
we have just been
discussing,
"breastworks",
to
meaning assigned
addition
several
to
its
and adds in a note that "the Turnh is merely conjectural". In

a term of military art, turah has
use
as
other meanings,
some
of
which are better known.
Steingass, 334, has torah^ Turkish, "law, regulation, custom,

rite,
a law instituted by Changiz Khan".
The meaning under

of tUra.
discussion he gives on the
same page under the form
But he does not seem

of
to have the not
unusual one of "scion

set
royal
house", (especially
when
the
up
as a claimant
to the throne), see

last
Pavet de Courteille, "Diet." 224. In this

writers
sense
Indian
use
occasion arises. For one instance
word whenever the among many, Muhammad

in
Qasim,
Aurangabadi, applies
it
his Jhival-i-khawaqin,
1725, to the pretender. Prince Nekusiyar.
The above
three
meanings can easily be derived from the Arabic word î^/, "Anything behind which shelter can be taken" (Kazmirski,
ii,
1516).
The same word, with

in
quite a different meaning,

ii,
turns
up
the
Badshdhnamah,
and
is
208,
year
to
(1641-2).
It is
used there for a
gift
made
1051 h. the widows
of Yamin-ud-daulah, of
explained as being "nine pieces
unsewn clothing". According to Platts, "Dictionary", 342, torah is an Indian word for dishes or trays of food and so forth, sent out as presents. In this sense it is also used more than once in the Tdrlkh-i-Âlamc/lr Sdm^yesiY 1171 h.,
this
folios
1735, 175r/ and

a military
As
176^7 term, what then was

ii,
a turah or tfird? In
the passage having reference to the battle of PanTpat, Pavet
de Courteille, "Memoires",
161, translates "sorte de palis-
sades". In his "Dictionnaire Turc-Oriental", 225, the
same
author defines the tarah as pieces of wood and iron bound

together with chains and hooks, behind which the soldiers
took shelter.
The word appears
in other places in Babar's

10
146
memoirs.

For instance, "the infantry marched in
front,
their turah raised in the air" (P. de

p.
C,
i,
150, Ilminsky,
86, six lines from foot, Erskine, 74), and "orders were
to
given
prepare
turah
and
ii,
ladders,
and
also all that is
necessary for the turah ^ without which a town cannot be
taken
by
assault"
is
(id.
intended
Pavet
thus
left
The exact kind of thing extremely vague, as is shown by

328).
alternatives
de
Courteille's
("Memoires",
ii,
828)
"sorte de palissades ou de boucliers". Perhaps Babar employed the word in a shifting, somewhat elastic sense, applying it to anything coming under the general meaning
of "a shelter" or
'*a
protection". I suppose
call
it
was usually
what European military writers would
a mantlet (see
Lake, "Sieges", 216, note). Apparently the same sort of thing
was used by the Mahrattahs at the siege of Karnala in boards 1670, where "they advanced by throwing up which they carry before them", Grant Dnff, 110, quoting the Bombay Records. Quatremere, "Histoire des Mongoles de la Perse", i, 387, note, also holds that the turah was
*'une sorte de mantelet", relying on three passages in the
Zafarnamah, two in the Kabib-us-siyar, and one respectively in the Matla^'US-sa^dain and the Akharnamah \
Muhrah-i-rahkalah. This
is
an expression used by
for
Mhd
I
Qasim, Aurangabadi Akwal-i-khatvdqtn, 210^,

his
which
can find no meaning in the Persian dictionary. Describing

preparations
for
resisting
says,
an expected night attack of

har janih
kih
the
Mahrattahs,
he
Ba
dar-rasand
jamf-i'mubarizan
muqabilah-i-dn
that
1
faraham
nci-pdkdn
dmdah, muhrah-i-rahkalah ba bay ad kard. From this I infer
it
means the
nozzle or
mouth
of the gun.
The same
am
indebted to Mr. H. Beveridge for calling
my
attention to the
passage in Quatremere.
The work
referred to
is
Manuscrits inedits de
la Perse, ecrite
la Bibliotheque Royale Histoire des Mongoles de en Persan par Raschid eldin, publiee, traduite en frangais,
la vie et les
folio,
"Collection Orientale,
accompagnee de notes et d'un momoire sur par [Etienne Marc] Quatremere, Vol. i,
title is
oeuvres de I'auteur",
Paris, 1836.
The Persian
Jami'^-ut-tawarikh.
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
147
word is used, id. 126/^, where it evidently means "chessman". J. Shakespear, 2003, gives muhri (which he derives from munh, face) as the bore of a gun. This must be Mlid Qasim's meaning in the first of the above passages; but is not the word more probably connected with the Persian mori or muhri, a drain pipe? Khushhal Chand, Berlin Ms.
1004^, uses the expression az muhrah-i-bandtiq majruh gaslitah
:
and again
of the or
id.
1015/5
(twice)
and
third,
]019fl.
In
the
second of these four cases the word seems to refer to the
mouth
the
cannon; in the
itself.
first,
and fourth,
tells
to
ball
bullet
Ashob,
fol.
262^, uses Muhrali
quite plainly for the muzzle of a gun.
He
us that in
in
1739,
chants
during
resolved
Nadir
on
Shah's
general
slaughter
Dihli,
having no weapons to defend their warehouses, some merfrightening

the
Persians into leaving
them
unmolested.
from their
they
They removed the poles and bambus thatched roof, laid them on the walls and the
like
top of the gate, with their ends toward the street, so that
looked
the barrels of matchlocks or wallpieccs,
with their muzzles {muhrali) showing.
Ban
treatise.
{Rockets). Dr.
Horn speaks
of these on p. 39 of his
in use
Some form of rocket or fire-arrow was

early times.
among
Hindus from very

gass, 152, to be
The word han

for
iii,
is
said
by Stein-
from vana, Sanskrit
an arrow. But takhsh

439, {MalfUzat-inot found in any
used for a rocket in

Taimurt),
as
Elliot, ''M. Hist.",
quoted by Egerton, 17,

i,
is
modern work. In the Ajn,

kaman, but that
Steingass,
is
110, N". 13,
we have
takhsh
explained as a small bow, while rockets

p.
appear as ban, N. 77,

426,
as
112. Euqqah-i-dtash, defined by
kind of rocket, has been placed by
me under
Khan,
on the
In
ii,
mortars, which see, ante p. 129.
The
stick of a
rocket was apparently called chharl (h. a stick), see Khafi
304, line 15, year 1095
h.,
sadmah-i-chobchharl-
i-ban ba dahan-i-u rasidah bud: ''He
had received a blow
mouth from the
stick
fol.
{chob-chharl) of a rocket".
Tartkh-i-Âlamglr
Sanl,
lo2a,
we have
word
148
descriptive of
pu/a/c,
some portion
Platts,
of a rocket,
I think,
which reads
,
^^j-^.,
but must be intended,

tube",
for 1^j>j
pun(/d,
"a
hollow
"Dictionary",
281.
thing called
qainchi-i'han
(209<^, 219/5i)
is mentioned twice in the Ahwdl-i-khawdqln and Khushhal Chand speaks of Mahabat Jang,
governor of Bengal,
two
thousand
495,
fol.
having with him in 1155 h. (1742) qaichl-i-bdn [Nddir-uz-zamdnl, Berlin Ms.

fol.
W\
1128]. See also Ashob,
110, and again
122fir,
who
h.
this
uses the
1199 what
of
word qaicM when writing in 1198 the events of 1150 h. I am not able to say
but
I
was;
guess
it
to
have been a tripod or

fired.
it
support from which the rocket was
Steingass, 997,
is
gives qai?ichi, scissors. Perhaps, however,
only one of
the descriptive words so often used, like zanjir with elephants

or
rds
with
horses;
in
that case
it
adds nothing to the
meaning. Another obscure name, in connection with rockets,

hahak-hmihd,
iii,
is
found in the Akbarndmah (Lucknow edition,
19, line 9).

to
refers
the screaming noise
of rocket,
koil,
The only suggestion I can offer is, that it made by some special kind and that the word is, h., kuhuk, the cry of the
or scream of the peacock.
Rockets were an invariable part of the equipment of a
Moghul army. Bernier, by Dara Shukoh at the

references to
48,
speaks
of
their
in
being
used
battle of
Samugarh
1658, and
of rockets
rest
them might be multiplied almost

24 1,
into
indefinitely.
Ashob,
fol.
speaks of the great

Shah's
number
with
which
fell
Nadir
hands
the
of
Muhammad
Dakhin.
Shah's artillery in 1152 (1739). The rocket,

first
according to this writer, was invented and
used in the
In his time they were chiefly carried on camels,
each of which carried ten rockets besides the rocket man.
At times they were conveyed on

necessary attendants.
carts
drawn by two
or
four bullocks, each cart carrying fifteen rockets, besides the
The idea of the Congreve rocket, introduced into the British service in 1806, is said to have been obtained from those used by Tipu Sultan at Seringa-
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
149
patara in 1799, where Congreve was present as a subaltern.
But rockets were not peculiar to Maisur, they had been used in all ages and before that time had spread all over India. They were used by the Nagpur Rajah at Jabalpur in 1817 (Fitzclarence, 87). The Ban is N^. 77 of the list of weapons in the Ajn, i, 1 1 2, and is figure 62 of plate xiv. It was adorned with a small triangular flag of green, white, or red. Rocket men marched on each side of the emperor's moving throne or of his elephant. This practice was imitated by the Dutch envoy Kotelar, in his procession into Lahor in 1712 (Valentyn, iv, 283).
We
iron
possess several descriptions of the rocket. Moor, 509,
quoting
Major Dirom, says
''the
rocket
consisted
of an
tube of about a foot long and an inch in diameter,
fixed to a
bambu
with
rod of ten or twelve feet long. The tube
being
filled
combustible composition,
is
set fire to,
and being directed by the hand flies like an arrow to the distance of upwards of 1000 yards. Some of the rockets have a chamber, and burst like a shell; others called ground rockets, have a serpentine motion, and on striking the ground rise again and bound along till their force be spent. They make a great noise and exceedingly annoy the
native cavalry in India,
easily
who move
in great bodies;
but are
avoided or seldom take

thus
effect against
our troops,
who
are
formed in
are
lines of great extent
and no great depth".

Mss. 4307, "Fouquets
They
{ban),
spoken of by an anonymous European,
writing in French about 1767,

a
Orme
species of rocket or pipe of iron filled with fine
powder
and
to
well
a great noise in the
rammed, and tied to long air. They are used

it
is
sticks.
They make
to
throw at crowds
embarrass cavalry, but
easy to protect oneself
against them. Mostly they create
more disorder than they do damage. The Rohelahs are reputed more skilful with them than any one else. Every army has some. The foot soldiers in charge might be styled ^'grenadiers" ".
Difficulties arising in the use of rockets are well described
150
by

Captain Thomas Williamson,
are
6:2,
''Bans are not very
safe engines, being apt to turn back on those
who
use them.
They
hollow
much employed among

is
the native powers.
The
contrivance
very
simple,
being
nothing more
than a
cylinder
of iron,
about ten inches or a foot long,
fore end,
and from two to three inches in diameter, closed at the and the other having a small aperture for filling. These cylinders are tied strongly to Icitldes, or bamboo
six
staves,
or seven feet long, parallel to the thickest end
of
the
bamboo.
is
The
fuze
at
the
vent
is
lighted,
the
direction
given by the operator, a slight cast of the hand
commences the motion, and then the dangerous missile proceeds to its destination. The panic it occasions among
where intended its effect is inconceivable all fiy from the hissing winding visitor, receiving perhaps a smart stroke from the stick, which gives direction to the tube and often causes it to make the most sudden and unexpected traverses. So delicavalry
is
wonderful
When
;
it
does
fall
cate, indeed, is the
management
of this
tremendous weapon,
to
that
are
without great precaution, those v/ho discharge them

not
safe, and it requires much them due elevation, by which
practice, not only
give
their distance
is
pro-
portioned,
but to ensure that they shall not, in the very
act of discharging, receive

infallibly
any improper
27,
bias,
which would
says
produce mischief among the party".

"Hist.
derives
is
M. Wilks,
Indian
rocket
Sketches",
its
ii,
note,
"The
fire
projectile
force
from the same

is
composition
which
used in the rockets of ordinary
works;
the
cylinder
which
its
its
contains
it
of iron;
it
and
is
sometimes gunpowder at
extremity causes
to
explode
when
also
it
has reached
object: a straight
to
sword blade
not
unfrequently
affixed
the rocket; an attached
bambu
trained
or reed steadies
to
its flight;
the rocket
men
are all
to
give
them an
elevation
proportioned
the
varying dimensions of the cylinder and the distance of the

object to be struck
:
as those projected to any distance describe
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
a parabola of considerable height, a single rocket
is
151
easily
avoided, but
when
the flight
is
numerous, the attempt would

is
be useless and their

a
momentum
always sufticient to destroy
man
or a horse.
inferior to
Such was the ancient Indian instrument, so the Congreve rocket of modern European warfare".
brought into use and are
weapon.
far
Lastly, Fitzclarence, "Journey", 255, holds that "Rockets
were
early
from being an
They have an iron cylinder fastened with untanned leather thongs and transported on horses or animals, and on being lighted an additional impetus is given to them from the foot of the thrower. They will pass through the body of a horse or man". Opposite p. 35 of his book he gives a plate showing a private in the Camel Rocket Corps then (1817) forming part of the Bengal Army. Malitah. On Husain 'All Khan's being despatched in 1714
ineffectual
against Ajit Singh of Jodhpur, part of his equipment was
100 Mahtah.
are
am
not sure what these were; but as they

rockets, I
named along with

missile.
;
kind of
firewôrk
Steingass, 1352, says
presume they were some mahtah is a kind of
and
J.
Shakespear, 2000, has "a kind of fireworks,
blue lights", he refers to Qanoone Islam, where mahtah and

naqti mahtah appear in the Appendix, p. Ixiv, under fireworks.
Powder Magazines. These were called BarUt-khanah, see Ghulam 'All Khan, Muqaddamah-i- Shah Âlam-namah, fol. 885.
Pal-i-sii/ah.
I
find this expression twice at least in the

(fols.
Ahical-i-khawaqm
wêre
filled
2095 and
In
'2'27a);
it
"The rahkalahs
with pal-i-siyaK\ and

a
projectile.
is
thus either an ex-
plosive
or
another passage in the same

is
work, 625, the same word

it
used, where from the context

:
ought
to
mean
o
a copper coin
i.
kharmuhrah, o
'pal-i-siyah,
zar-i-sufed
coin,
zar-i-surkh,
e.
a cowrie, a copper, silver
and gold coin. Steingass, 254, has put, a small coin. Badar. I find this word used in the second of the above passages, badar hae-pal-i-siy ah. It was thus something in which the pal-i-siyah was contained. Is it badrah, a bag?
(Steingass, 162).
CHAPTER
XIT.
PERSONNEL OF THE ARTILIiERY.
Of this arm of the service it is doubtful whether the Moghuls knew much before they descended into the plains of India under Babar. What they did know was probably borrowed from the Turks and from Constantinople. Nor could the art and science of gunnery have been very advanced in India itself, when the Moghuls arrived in that
country in the
first
half of the 16^^ century. In the earlier
Moghul
for
period, at any rate, the emperors were dependent

artillery
their
is,
on the help and instruction of Rumis,

Constantinople, or of Farangis,
that
Mahomedans from
(Horn,
first
principally run-away sailors

castes
29).
from
Stirat, or
Portuguese
half-
Rumi Khan
Of
was a well known

either the real
officer
of the
of these classes.
Europeans
or their half-caste Portuguese substitutes,
we
find little or
no mention. The Indian Mahomedans ignored as much as possible the services of the Christians and Europeans in their employment. Possibly this may have been due to the contempt which they really felt for Christian foreigners and their abhorrent ways. The slight consideration with which Mahomedan nobles treated Europeans, even those of some position, up to the middle of the 18^^ century, can be learnt from the statements in a letter written about that time by the celebrated Marquis de Eussy-Castelnau (R. O. Cambridge, "War", Introduction, xxix, xxx). Similarly, Haji Mustapha, a very acute observer, remarks about our early
successes in Bengal,
their relations,
it
"But hear a Moghul, or read any of seems that the whole revolution hangs on
PERSONNEL OF THE ARTILLERY.

the Moghols themselves only, and
if
153
all is
any mention at
made
of foreigners,
it
is
only to hint that Jafer Ali
Chan
gave also his protection to a few hundred frenghees, headed
by one Clive, whom the new Nabob and his party saved from imminent destruction". (Dalrymple, ''Or. Repertory", ii, 217). The same feeling was shown by the governor of
Orissa in 1633,
when he
insisted that Cartwright, an English

i,
trader, should kiss his foot, C. R. Wilson, "Early Annals",
8.
In spite of the almost complete silence of native authors,

there
is
still
evidence that up to the middle of the 18^^
century considerable bodies of Portuguese continued to be

enlisted.
For instance,
we
learn that Juliana d'Acosta, a
office of matron of the harem, imported from Goa three hundred Portuguese, for most of whom she obtained employment (Gentil, "Memoires", p.
Portuguese lady who held the
375).
From
the
Tankh-i-Muhammadl
Shah Âlam
(year
1147
h.)
we
learn that "Julya, a Farangi
of the
deceased
woman, a doctor and favourite Bahadur Shah) and of (i. e.

Shah, died at Dihli in
the
i,
reigning emperor,
MM
Rabf
1147
(August
1734)".
Again,
Father TiefFen thaler, a
Jesuit
priest
from the Tyrol, spent about sixteen years

priest in charge of a
between 1747 and 1764 as
commusettled
nity of Christians in the imperial service,
who had
down
in the obscure (Bernouilli,
Agrah,
Narwar, 108 miles south of "Recherches sur I'lnde", i, 175, and

of
town
pp. 4, 5 of author's preface).
There are other scattered notices about Europeans employed in the

the
artillery. Bernier,
217, (Horn, 32) says "But

pay,
particularly
all
artillerymen
receive
great
the
Farangis or Christians; Portugueze, English, Dutch, German,
and French,
skilled
from Goa and from the Dutch and English companies. Formerly, when the Mogols were little
fugitives
in
the
management
liberal,
of artillery,
the
pay of the
Europeans was more
some remaining, who
and there are still (1658) two hundred rupees a mouth, but now the king (Âlamgir) admits them with difficulty
receive
154
THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. and

limits their pay to thirty
into the service
two rupees" ^
Bernier also mentions, T6, 93, that the garrison of Bakkar

in
Sind had, in 1658, artillerymen who were Portuguese, English, French and German. They had been enterin describing the battle of
tained
by Dara Shukoh. And Hasanpur in 1133 h. (1721)
Khushhal Chand,
of
Berlin
Ms. 495,
fol.
1015^,
speaks
the "skilful Europeans"

the
{Farangiyan-i'chahuk-dast)
who worked
guns.
Later
again, in 1750, the principal artillery officer of Nazir Jang,
was an Irishman (Cambridge, from the Eusain 8/iahi, fol. 1760-1 most of Sendhiah's gunners were 34^, that in Europeans {JSasarl-i-Farang); and Gentil, "Memoires", 285, asserts that at the battle of Katrah in 1774, Hafiz Rahmat Khan's artillery was commanded by a Spaniard. So late as
subaJidar
of
the
Dakhin,
learn
"War", 67);
We
also
service.
1815 the Nizam had some Portuguese artillerymen in his "They had a Portuguese who levelled each gun himself, and appeared to have the direction of the attack. If by chance a shot struck any part of the wall, so as
to
raise
dust,
the
air
resounded with acclamations in
praise
of
the
old
Portuguese,
who seemed
in
no small
degree flattered thereby" (Lake, "Sieges", 16, note).
Mir Atash. At
great
officers
the head of the artillery was one of the

state,
of
the
DarogIiah-i-topk//anah (Superintendent of the
ment). 8ometimes, as in
read of two such
lery,
officers,
Mir Atash (Lord of Eire), or Cannon departJahandar Shah's reign (1712), we

one at the head of
all
the artil-
and the other

attached
to
in special
command
of the light artil-
lery
the
emperor's person.
mansahdars, graded in the usual

services
These men were way according to their
or
the
favour in which they stood. But the rest
that
in
a month. G. Careri, 244, copies the above passage, except he interpolates a statement that the heavy artillery especially was
of
the hands
Frank or Christian gunners, and that the Europeans
entered through Goa or absconded from warships.
PERSONNEL OP THE ARTILLERY.

of the
155
men on
the establishment of the imperial artillery

in
were paid direct from imperial funds, and
this respect
were treated differently from the main body of the army, which consisted almost entirely of cavalry, men dependent
enlisted.
upon and paid by the chief under whose banner they There were, as we know, some bodies of cavalry
direct
in
pay of the emperor,

so forth.
such
all
as
the
Aliadis,
the
so
Wala Shahi and

such
But
the rest of the
men
paid, matchlockmen, artillery-men
and
artificers,
including
an
to
seem
Ahsliani.
and such like, have been lumped together under one head as One point that these men had in common appears
unmilitary
class as cotton-carders
They were all borne on the imperial treasury pay-rolls, and paid direct therefrom as persons in the immediate employ of the emperor, and not entertained through any chief or mansabdar^ to
to have led to this incongruous classification.
whom
this is
fol.
their
pay could be disbursed.

into a
The Mir Atash had grown

1133i^,
most important officer; borne ont by Khushlial Chand's remark, Berlin Ms.,
when Safdar Jang was appointed on
the 21st
has
March 1744, that "contrary to former days, the artillery become the most trusted and favoured corps in the
Involving
as it did the
army".
artillery,
command
of the imperial
fortress or
palace
or
which was always parked round the the tents occupied by the emperor,
it
this office
carried with
the custody of the emperor's person and the

walls, {êir
ii,
guarding of the palace gates and
373, note 170,
and Malumat-ul-afaq, fol. l^b). The Mir Atash seems to have performed for the officers and men under his command most of the duties belonging for the rest of the army to the Bakhshis. He was aided
in the execution of these duties
officer.
The Mir Atash

his
laid before the

all
by a Mushrif, or executive emperor all demands

it
made on
him.
of
department;
orders to
passed through
and inspected the diaries the Arsenal before sending them on to the Khansaman
checked the pay
bills
He
156
or
THE AKMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS.
Lord Steward. He saw to the postings of the artillery and received reports as to all losses and deficiencies. The agent at the head of the artillery pay-office was nominated by him. The descriptive rolls of artillery recruits
force,
passed through his hands,
all
new appointments and
pro-
motions were made on

1641,
fols.
his initiative
{DastUr-ul-Aml, B.M.
23527/;).
artillery, the subject falls naturally
In dealing with
or
under
three heads, 1) Manufacture, 2) Artillery in use, 3) Arsenals
Magazines.
It
is
doubtful
how
far in
later times the
Mir Atash was concerned in the casting of guns or the provision of stores. The Top-khanah was classed as one of
the
workshops, or karkltmiajat, belonging to the Imperial
Household, which were in charge of the imperial Khansaman,

or
in this sense, the
and as Daroghah of the Topkhanah, used Mir Atash must have been a subordinate of the Lord Steward. But in course of time, as the artillery branch developed, the office of Mir Atash grew in importance, until he was the equal or more than the equal of his nominal superior, the Khansaman, and as commander
;
Lord Steward
of the artillery in
use he
must have been wholly indepen-
dent of that
a
official.
In earlier days, judging from passages in Babar's memoirs, Mir Atash was supposed to supervise the casting of cannon. Ustad QulT Khan, Babar's Mir Atash, is described as taking
an active part in the founding of a large cannon at Agrah. I doubt if this was the practice in later reigns; I fancy
that
fell
the
cannon-foundry and ordnance store department

into
more completely
to
the
hands of the Khansaman

confined himself more
and
his officers, while the
Mir Atash
exclusively
his purely military duties.
As
for arsenals,
magazines, or store-houses of cannon and the other requisites
pertaining
thereto,
these
were
under
neither
the
Khansaman nor
stores
the
Mir Atash.
All reserve artillery

fortresses,
and
were kept in certain great
such as Agrah,
Dihli and Labor, in the charge of the special
commandant
PERSONNEL OF THE ARTJLLERY.

{qildhdaf),
in
157
who was an officer appointed direct from court no way connected with or subordinate to the provincial governor {nazini or sUbahdar).
and
from the context
and means an officer of artillery, generally of garrison artillery. The equivalent may be taken to be our rank of captain. Hazarl is, of course, the same word as that used for one of the ranks (mansabs), which we have detailed earlier in this work. But the two t/iin{/s intended by the one word could not have been the same. A mansabdar of 1000 was a officer of high, or at
Ilazar'i.
1
The word hazarl
often appears in histories,

it
have found that
any rate of considerable, rank; while Hazans are spoken of in the plural in a way to show that they were numerous and of no great consideration.
Some
the
writers,
Mirza
Muhammad,
for
instance,
in his
Tarikh-i'Muhammadl, invariably use
for
an
artillery officer
word mink-bashl where others use Hazarl. Ghulam
Âli
Khan,
that
M uqaddamah-i-Shah
Kam
in
Âlam-namah^
fol.
fol.
64a, also uses
word.
Raj, A^zam-ul-harb,
120^, uses both
Mink-bashl and Hazarl in the same sentence. The two are

equivalent
meaning,
of
for
mink-bashl
is
the Turkish for

head). See Horn,
"Commander
14,
1000"
{inink,
1000,
bclsh^
Davy and White, 281). Of course, this and the other Turkish terms for commanders of various ranks must have been known to and used by the Moghuls up to the time that Babar conquered India. But it does not seem as if the Turkish words passed into
136, (Taimur's Ordinances,
the
official
nomenclature of Hindustan. In that country
all
the ranks {mansab) were
known by
their Persian
aud not
by their Chaghatae Turkish names. Apparently the Ajn-iAkbarl

(at
least,
judging from
Blochmann's translation)
makes no use of the word Mink-bashl. From this I infer that the word came into India with the Turks from Constantinople, who were the chiefs and leaders in the Indian artillery during the earlier Moghul period. As the services of these and of Europeans, who were also employed, were
158

first
much prized, they may have been accorded at of commander of 1000 (i. e. mink-bashl or
although,
as
the rank
the
Indians
themselves
with the working of

of
artillery,
and grew more familiar the estimation and market

hazdri),
value of an artillery officer diminished, the original
name
Hazarl or Mink-bds/n may have stuck to the office, after the rank denoted thereby had ceased to belong to it. This designation of Hazarl explains the epithet in Blacker, ''War", 340, applied to the Mahratta qildhddr or commandant of Mandlak (Central India), viz. Sahib Rae Hazarl,
or
as
Blacker spells
it,
Hazeree.
Possibly
also
Pogson's
"Lulloo Hoozooree", commandant of Ajaigarh in Bundel-
khand, ought to be Hazarl

Sadiwdl,
(''Hist, of
the Boondelas",
35).
Mirdahah,
all
Sdir.
These names follow those of

sergeant,
the Hazarl in
as
the official manuals,

lieutenant,
equivalent
to
etymologies are P. sadl,

person, possessor;
and may be taken and privates. The group of 100, lodl h. affix for man,
sdjir
mir contraction of P. mlr, lord, master,

P. the rest, remainder, the
dahah,
others,
a
i.
group of 10;
e.
the
common
gunners, (Davy and White, "InA^zam-ul-harb^

fol.
stitutes",
232).
Kam
Raj,
120(5,
has
the form sadlddr.
Golanddz.
the
When
gunners are
receive,
specifically
named
this is
designation
they
and
in
the
Manuals they
appear
is
among
to
the Ahshdm. Golanddz literally "ball-thrower",

P.
gol,
ball,
derived
from
anddkhtan,
throw.
to each
We
and anddz, the root of P. do not know how many men

it
were attached
deal,
gun and
passage
must have
the
varied a
good
but Horn, 27, suggests sixteen as the average number,

inference
by
from
9).
(Lowe, 18, line
Ahmad
Tuzuhi-Jahdngln Abdali had two men to each

in
viii,
shdhln or falconet (Horn, 28, Elliot
398).
From Mirza
it
Haidar's account of
ferred
Humayun's
that
(Elias
artillery in
1540,
is in-
seven
there was then an average of and Ross, 375?). Deg-anddz. These were the men who had charge of and
by
Horn, 29,
to a
men
gun
PERSONNEL OF THE ARTILLERY.

used the deg, which
I
159
have mentioned under the head of

is
Heavy
this
Artillery.
The name
literally
'Tot-thrower", P.
deg, a pot,
and andaz, throwing.
am
not certain whether
means that they had charge

literal
all
of mortars, called deg,
or whether they used hand-grenades.
The
I
latter
would be
more near the

mortars were at
meaning, and
in
do not think that
common
India until introduced by
Europeans
in
after the
middle of the 18th century.
passage
Fitzclarence, 246, seems to bear out
my
interpretation
of
Deg and Deganddz. He

to
says "at times they have re-
course
thick
earthen-ware
pots
with fuses and
full of
powder, the pieces of which wounded dreadfully".
Ban-andaz,
Ban-dar.
As
these
"Rocket-throwers"
official
or
"Rocket-holders" are rated separately in the

it
books,
must be
inferred that they existed as a separate body.
CHAPTER
AHSHlM.
XIII.
The
Alisliam
is
the heading under which the later native
writers place all connected with the army,
who were
neither
maTisabdars, tablndn, nor ahadis. I retain the heading, with
one change only;

sufficient
I place the artillery
by themselves,
as of
importance for separate treatment. In the Ajn, i, 251 254, there is a chapter headed
Fiyadagan which corresponds generally to the Alisham of the later books. Under the same head as Akbar's 12,000 matchlockmen, who are the only men in the group at all
entitled to be reckoned as soldiers,
come
the doorkeepers,
the palace guards, the letter carriers and spies, the swordsmen,
wrestlers, slaves, litter-bearers, carpenters, water-carriers
so
forth.
and
In
the
Ajn,
i,
254,
there
is
a class of troops
called
Dakhill
(extra,
additional)
which seems no longer

least the
to have existed in
Mlamgir's reign, at
name
has
dropped out of the official manuals. The vague word Ahsham (Steingass, 21, A,
is
pi.
of
ifa.5//<^/;0
defined in the dictionary as servants, domestics, followers,
attendants, retainers, a kind of militia or
the
official
manuals {BastUr-ui- Ami)
it
armed police. In comprehends the

and which
borne
infantry,
the
'personnel of the artillery, the artificers,
the attendants on the court.
The
fact
incident of service
was
common
to all these
men, and caused

that
their inclusion
all
under one head,

direct
was
the
they were
on the imperial books, and received their pay from the imperial treasury, without the intervention of a mansabdar. This fact also accounts for Abul Fazl's apparently
AHSHAM.
anomalous
classification
161
artillery
of
the
as
part
of the
Household
of the
in
Book
in
of the Jjti, instead of with the rest

ii,
army
Book
Ajn
more
to
10.
have also found

1)
Ahsham used with

light artillery
three
restricted
meanings:
The
bb).
which attended the emperor's person wherever

fol.
he went were called the AhJicim {Mirai-ul'IstilaJ/^

This artillery
iii,
is
described by Gemelli Carreri, French ed.,
244, and by Bernier, 217, 363,

(i. e.
who
the
calls it ''artillery
is used gunners of the
of the stirrup"
rikab)
2)
the
for
word Ahsham
constantly
in
the
;
18^^
century
garrison artillery
and
3)
we
find
Ahsham used
as a general
term
train.
for petty
half-armed
militia
zamindars serving in any campaign, and the or levies which they brought in their
ii,
Khafi Khan,
953, names the daroghah-i-ahshain
separately,
between the mir atash and the daroghah-i-top-
Manah-i'jinsl,
distinct
artillery.
which
would make the Ahsham something

artillery
from both the
generally
and the
light
Infantry,
As
already stated, this
arm
little
of the service held
a very inferior position and was of

(Bernier,
or no consideration
219).
Writing about
1760, and referring more

258, says that the
at the first meeting, espe-
particularly to the south,

less
De
la Flotte,
numerous body gave way

stand
before
cially infantry before cavalry;
"nay, seldom would 50,000
infantry
20,000 cavalry".
Another observer,
Orme, "Hist. Frag.", 417,

a
says the infantry consisted in
multitude
or
of people assembled together without regard
to rank
file:
never
very
too
stand
the
some with swords and targets, who could shock of a body of horse; some bearing
some armed with any service, even
lances, too long or
matchlocks, which in the best of order can produce but a

uncertain
fire-,
if ranged with the utmost regularity of discipline. Little reliance was placed on them. To keep night watches and to plunder defenceless people was their greatest service, except their being a
weak
to
be
of
perquisite to their
commanders, who received a
fixed
11
sum
162
for
less
ever}?
THK ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS.

man,
In
price.
short,
and hired every man at a different and the infantry were more a rabble of
than
field
half-armed
men
anything
else,
being chiefly levies
brought into the

to
by petty zamindars, or
men
belonging
who managed somehow or other to provide himself with a mount and obtained enrolment as a cavalry soldier, who was in popular estimation a gentleman. The high figures for Infantry in each district and province, shown in volume ii of the Ajn-i-Akbarl, can only be acthe jungle
tribes.
Any Mahomedan
or
Rajput,
respected
himself,
cepted under considerable reservation. These numbers can

only
duty,
represent
the
men
called
on to render
strictly local
villagers
and they must have consisted almost entirely of armed with long pikes, or swords and shields,
perhaps even with only an iron-bound

Bernier
tells
bambu
staff [lathi).
us,
217, that the foot soldiers received the

to
smallest pay:
figure
at
"and
best
be sure, the musketeers cut a sorry
the
of times,
which
may be
said
to
be
when squatting on
on
a
kind
of
the ground and resting their muskets wooden fork which hangs to them. Even
then they are terribly afraid of burning their eyes or their
long heards, and above
all
least
some
jinn, or evil spirit,
should
cause
the
bursting
of
their
musket.
twenty rupees a month, some

219,
(a
fifteen,
some
ten".
Some have And again,

in-
passage copied almost word for word by Gemelli

iii,
Careri,
244)
"I
have said that the infantry was
considerable. I do not think that in the
army immediately
about the king the infantry can exceed 15,000, including

musketeers,
foot-artillery,
artillery.
and generally every person con-
nected with that
From
this
an estimate may be
in
formed
of
the
number
of infantry
the
provinces.
cannot account for the prodigious amount of infantry with
which some people swell the armies of the Great Mogol, otherwise than by supposing that with the fighting men they confound servants, sutlers, tradesmen, and all those individuals belonging to bazars or markets, who accompany
AHSHAM.
the troops.
that the
163
1
Including these followers,
can well conceive
army ini mediately about the king's person, partiwhen it is known that he intends to absent himself some time from his capital, may amount to two or even
cularly
three
hundred
thousand
infantry.
if
This
in
will
not
the
be
an
extravagant computation,
quantity
of tents,
we bear
mind
immense
kitchens,
baggage, furniture, and even
women,
usually attendant on the army".
Nagas.
These bodies of so-called Hindu devotees were

in the armies of the 18^^ century,
this
common
that
to
and I believe Rajah of Jaipur entertains a large day the

was a corps of them in the Audh 1752 to the end of the century. The these was Rajah Him mat Bahadur, whose
number
service
last
of them. There
from
of
about
leader
name
appears so frequently in our
own
early connection with
Bundelkhand (Pogson, "Boondelahs", 119 122, Francklin, "George Thomas", 364, 365). With this exception the Mahomedans do not seem to have retained any of these fakirs in their employ. Anquetil Duperron ''Zend Avesta", I, Ixxv, describes a body of these armed vagabonds, numbering some 6000 men, that he met in 1757 on their way to Jagannath. The three leaders marched first, a long pike in one hand and a buckler in the other. The main body was armed with swords, bows and matchlocks. Haji Mustapha, during his adventurous attempt in 1758 to reach Masulipatam via Western Bengal and Pachet, came across five thousand of these devotees on their way to the Ganges at Sagar; "they are all of them tall, stout, well-limbed men, in general stark naked, but very well armed" (Dalrymple's "Oriental Repertory",
corps
of these
ii,
239).
description of a
Nagas commanded by a disciple (chela) of Him mat Bahadur, and then in the employ of Daulat Rao,
106,-123.
Gusains
troops".
or
Sendhiah, well be found in Broughton, "Letters", 96, 104,

Blacker,
"War",
"have
22,
says the "Gossyes"
i.e.
Nagas,
always
been
considered
good
164
Âlighol.

In
the
later
years
we
find
a class
of troops
known
ii,
as 'Âhghol,
who from one

to
passage (Fraser, "Skinner",
75, 76)
as
would seem
have been the equivalent of the
ghazis,
we now
style
them, so frequently heard of on

defines
our Afghan
frontier.
Eraser
them
:
as
"a sort of
chosen light infantry of the Rohilla Patans
term appears to be applied to used generally for desperate service". They are also mentioned in V. Blacker, "War", 23. W. H. Tone, 50, makes
out
the
Âlighol to
sometimes the other troops supposed to be
be one of the divisions of the Nezib
1799 the Jaipur Rajah had a body-guard of sixteen hundred men, armed with matchlocks and sabres, who were called the silaJ/posh, no doubt from their being clad in armour (Francklin, "George Thomas", 165). Najlb. The word means literally "noble", and Blacker,
Silah-posh. In
"War",
dained
22, tells us they were irregular infantry,
who
dis-
uniform and carrying a musket, their arms being

sentry
or
a matchlock, or blunderbuss, and a sword. They disdained

to
stand
do any fatiguing duty, considering
it
their
only
business to fight and to protect the person of
their prince.
W. H.
Tone, 50, says that long practice had
enabled them to load with sufficient readiness, while their
matchlock
firelock
carried
farther
of
those
days.
and infinitely truer than the The Najibs was also excellent
swordsmen.
With regard
vice
in
to the Najibs in the
Nawab
of
Oudh's
tells
ser-
1780,
Captain Thomas Williamson, 124,
us
that they were clothed in blue vests and drawers, furnishing

their
own arms and ammunition
(matchlock, sword, shield,
bow and
stand
the
arrows). Their discipline was very contemptible;
they answered very well for garrison duty, but could not
charge
of cavalry,
having no
bayonets, while
prompt execution. As for Nawab's troops organized in imitation of the E. I. Company's battalions, they were, even on actual service.
their arms were
totally
unfit for
the
AHSHAM.
165
nothing but "food for powder". Such as had bayonets had
no locks: those that had hammers
cock, or at any rate the flints were wanting.
had no Such ammunition and cartridges as there were had, through damp and time, become so incorporated with the wooden pouch-blocks, that when touched the tops came ofi", leaving the powder and ball a fixture. A battalion of Najibs could with ease cut to atoms half a dozen of those mock regiments.
to their locks,
Faf/iabaz.
The author
of the Eusain
Sha/n (written in
1212 H., 1797-8) mentions, fol. 345, that in 1760-1 Sendhiah had several thousand FathcMaz, "a word which in the idiom of the Dakhin is applied to courageous men and expert swordsmen". They received their name, no doubt, from their weapon, the patfa or straight rapier (see ante p. 77). Dhalait. This Hindi word (Platts, 572), meaning literally
"shield
applies
bearer",
it
have met with in three writers.
Ashob
in
to
one of the three foot soldiers
who
followed
Sa^d-ud-dln
H,
Khan, the Mir Atash, when forced
1151
(1738),
much
against his will, to
accompany
Nadir Shah's general of
artillery into the streets of Dihli,
was sent as a messenger to carry a note to the Wazir, Qamr-ud-din Khan, (Ashob, fol. 2565). The word is also found in
to put the inhabitants to the sword. This Bhalait
Tankh-i-Alamglr
Sam,
and
fol.
136,
the
referring
to
the
year
1170
fol.
H.
(1756-7);
in
Tahmas-namah
18^^^
of Miskin,
49.
Amazons. At the end of the

Haidarabad had
thousand each,
ever
century the Nizam at
two
which
battalions of female sepoys, of one
mounted guard
in
the interior of
the palace, and accompanied the ladies of his family when-
they
moved. They were with the Nizam during the
war against the Mahrattas in 1795, and at the battle of Kurdlah did not behave worse than the rest of his army. They were dressed as our sepoys used to be, and performed the French drill with tolerable precision. The corps was called the Zafar-paltan or victorious battalion, and the
166

gardani^ a corruption of the word "guard" ^
five
women
The
pay was
Moor,
dancer,
rupees
to
month
tells
(Blacker, 213, note). This

for
Nizam seems
have had a penchant

117,
female warriors.
lady,
"Narrative",
us
of
an Italian
who
so
entranced him, that he conferred on her
and placed a battalion under her command. She now learnt the manual exercise and evidently took her military position au grand serieux. Soon afterwards a foreign male dancer arrived, and the lady was directed to appear in ^ pas de deux. Full of her new dignity, she objected; and as the Nizam insisted, she resigned her command and
a
title
retired to Poona.
name for the armed men enterwhen engaged in collecting the land revenue {Dastur-ul-Âml, B.M. 6598, fol. 483). Colonel Sir R. C. Temple ("Calcutta Review", Oct. 1896, p. 406) in
Sihbandi. This was the
tained
by
local
officers
an
this
article
on the
its
Andaman
way
it
Sibandi Corps, suggests that
word found
into Anglo-Indian use from Madras,
and that
originally
was unknown
in
Northern India.
not
This opinion seems untenable in the face of the authority
above quoted, which belongs to Northern India and

later
is
than 'Alamgir (16581707). The word

12th
still
for local levies
is also used by Danish mand Khan, Bahadur ShalMimnah
(entry of the
Shaban 1120~h.
= 26th
October 1708).
Or we may go when we find
it
932 h. (1526), applied by Babar to the Indian levies of

farther back, to the year
ii,
Ibrahim Lodi. See the Baharnamah, lithographed

the bedhindi of Pavet de Courteille,
163,
is
text, 174; an obvious
misreading.
Barqandaz. This name (literally barq, lightening, andaz, thrower), which came to be the commonest name for a
foot
soldier
using
musket, appears rarely,
if
at all, in
earlier writings, unless as a
mere metaphor.
An
early use
of
it
as a
name
for a
(c.
1
matchlock
147
h.).
man
is
found in Ahwal-i-
khawaqln, 2093,
*
Or perhaps
better,
"guard" plus the feminine termination anl.
AHSHAM.
167
MatcJilochnen, Rates of pay. The following table shows the rates of pay for the various classes of the matchlock-
men;
were
it
may
call
be presumed, perhaps, that the mounted
in
the position of officers, or
men were perhaps what we

we have
the pay of
should
mounted
infantry.
First
the regular matchlockmen {BandtiqcM-i-jangi or Tufang-chi)
Of these some and entered in the official diary at the time when they were entertained {Inihm). The usual rates, which every one else got, were as follows:
either Eaksariyahs or Bundelahs.
who were
drew
rates of
pay specially
fixed,
Class.
168
There are some words which occur in the above which

call for
some explanation:
is
Baksariyah
origin
a curious word, and suggests to us at

of Baksar on the
its
Ganges in the Bhojpur country. The region is one which still supplies from its Rajput and Bhuinhar clans the stalwart clubmen of the
the
town
zamindars
in
Bengal
proper,
the
door-keepers of private
houses in Calcutta, and

of
its
many
of the finest sepoys in our
Hindustani regiments. Bhojpur shared with
Audh
its
the supply
earliest to
18^1^
men
to
our native army in Bengal from

days, that
is,
latest
from
the
middle of the
to
the middle of the 19^^ century. That these

to
our standards, as soon as the
men crowded Company began to raise
an army, was due, no doubt, to their having already been

accustomed, for generations, to serve as matchlockmen and
the army of our predecessors, the Moghuls. 1756 Calcutta was threatened by Siraj-ud-Daulah and preparations for defence were made, we find that "the number of Buxeries" (i. e. Baksariyahs), "or Indian matchlockmen, was therefore augmented to 1500". (Orme, Mil. Trans., ii, 59). See also the Glossary prefixed to an Address
gunners in
When
in
to
the
Proprietors
of
East
India Tracts, 3^ ed. 1774),
"Backserrias
India
Stock
(J.
Z.
Holwell's
foot soldiers
whose common arms are sword and target only". The connection between the Baksariyahs of the army and the town of Baksar in Bahar was evidently a matter of common belief and acceptance. In the Chahar Gulshan
of
Rae Chatarman (my copy,
fol.
127/5),
written in 1173 h.
(1759), in the itinerary from
Rae
Bareli to Patnah,
when
the author comes to Baksar, he adds "original home-country

of the Baksariyahs" {asl loatn-i-Baksariyah-ha). It
is
strange
that
they
should
have
been known by the name of the

of the subdivision of the country,
sirkar Ruhtas, Subah Bahar them nowadays Bhojpuris and
town rather than by that

that
is,
ii,
parganah
157).
Bhojpur,
call
{A}n,
not
We
In
Baksariyah.
the
historians
belonging to the
\%'^^
AHSHAM.
century,
I
169
find that the
men
are,
of the garrison artillery are
usually designated Baksariyah.

Bu7idelahs.
Bundelahs
is
of
course,
the Rajput clan
whose home
eas{.
in the country south of the

(J.
Jamnah and
of the Betvvah river
Rennell, ''Memoir of a
Map
.",
.
p.
^34, but for the northern limit read

list
Jamnah
instead of
Ganges). Their appearance in this
wêre held to be an inferior employed principally as matchlockmen. They were always renowned, however, for their bravery. In the end, through the rise of the Orchhah rajah, the head of their clan, and that of the so-called Dhangya State, formed by Champat Rae and extended by his more famous son, Chattarsal, their position was much enhanced, and during the 18^^ century they played an extremely prominent part, fighting first on the side of the Moghuls and subsequently against
they
shows that originally class of troops, and
them.
Arabs.
best
In
later
times,
in the
Dakhin
at
any
rate, the
infantry
higher
were held to be the Arabs, who received pay than others. They received Rs. 12 a mouth,
while the lowest pay was only Rs. 5 a mouth.
The Arabs
were in general
fully to
be depended on, but particularly
so in the defence of walls (Blacker,
"War",
21).
Other
classes
under
this general
head of Ahsliam were

fol.
Bhilah, Mewatl, Karnataki,
Mughal (B.M. 1641,

in
fol.
593,
h.
60a). For a mention of Bhilah
(1721),
see
and Karnataki Khushhal Chand, Berlin Ms. 495,

{golah,
ball,
1133
]013i5.
The golandaz
man, the
andaz, thrower) or artilleryandaz,

thrower)
Degandaz
{deg,
pot,
and the
Bandar
but
1
{ban, rocket, dar, holder) are included in this section,
have classed them under the head of Artillery. In
one
battle, that against
'Abdullah Khan, Khushhal Chand,
diately
Ms. 495, fol. 10133, speaks of certain men immearound the emperor's elephant as qurqchis, there being two kinds, those in yellow and those in red. The word, an unusual one in Indian works, is defined by
Berlin
170
Steingass

as
"a gamekeeper, a sentinel over the women's
apartments".
whose home is in the rugged country between Ajmer and Gujarat. They are described by an 18*^^ century writer, (Anand
BInlah. These were
men
of the wild tribe
Ram, Mukhlis, Mirdt-ul'Istilah, fol. 1845) as being in their own country nothing but highway robbers and skilful
hunters,
wearing clothes mostly of
leaves.
Their principal
weapon,
which no doubt
they brought with them
when
was the long bow of bambu called kamanth, which has been already described (p. 95). Mewati. These men are further designated Tir-andaz
in the emperor's service,
(archers,
lit.
''arrow throwers").
Mewat
is
the hilly country
south and west of the Jamnah, between Agrah and Dihli

(J.
Rennell, "Memoir", cxx). It derives

it,
its
name from
i,
the
tribe inhabiting
the Meos. In the Ijn,
252, the
men
from Mewat are called Mewrahs, and they are described as post-runners and spies. Neither the name nor these duties seem to have belonged to the MewatTs in the 18^^ century; though mewrah had survived as a name for a post-runner of any kind. From Mewat, the name of the country,
comes the word Mewati, an inhabitant of Mewat. They are now Mahomedans and were famed, until our time, for
their
turbulence.
Their
depredations
made
the
imperial
highway from Agrah to DihlT, via Mathura, at all times unsafe; and it was necessary to travel in large parties, or to hire armed men, who were probably themselves MewatTs,
on the principle of setting a thief
in
to catch a thief.
good
description of the state of things about 1710 will be seen
E.
this
Yar Muhammad's Dastur-ul-Ins/ia, p. 130, 131. The I. Company's envoy, Mr. John Surman, who travelled
way to Court in June 1715, mentions in his diary that at Agrah they were forced to hire an armed guard for their protection (Orme Collections, p. 1694, under date
of
June
8tli).
Karnatakl. These must have been
men from
the south
AHSHAM.
of India, the
171
word Karnatak by the Moghul usage applying to the whole of peninsular India south of the Tungahbhadra, except Adoni (J. Rennell, "Memoir" (Peninsula), 20). I suppose these men in the Moghul army were of the same class as those who formed our first sepoy battalions in the south of India. In Northern India, which they
reached in 1757 as part of Olive's force sent for the
of Calcutta,
relief
they were
known
as Talingahs, that
and Talingah is still the Hindustan for a sepoy in one of our regiments. De la Flotte, 258, who served in South India from 1758 to 1760, says the infantry (no doubt the same men as these Karnatakis) carried on their heads a bundle of
of the Talagti country;
village
men common
is,
word
in
rice
and
their cooking utensils, their
women
carrying the
husband's sword and other arms. Those were a very long and heavy matchlock called kaitoke {ante, p. 107). The whole family followed. Kala Piyadah. Kamwar Khan (Ms. of the Royal Asiatic
Society, Morley's Catalogue
N^
97)
when speaking
it
of the
army
led against
Nizam-ul-Mulk by Mubariz Khan, subahsays
dar of Haidarabad,
there were in
as
30,000 match(lit.
lockmen
"black
of
the
Dakhin known
These
if
Kala piyadah,
identical
foot-soldiers").
not
with,
must
have been very similar to the Karnataki.
Rawat. This
cates
generally
is a name which in Northern India indiany respectable Hindu landholder who is
not of very high caste.
Mahomedan
writers not infrequently
apply
of
it
to the general
whom
were of the kumbi
body of Mahrattah soldiery, most caste, for which such an

It is
epithet
would be appropriate.
applied in this sense
by the author of the Husain-shahl

in
to 12,000 men, who served Sendhiah (Scindiah) Patel's army during the campaign
ending in the battle of PanTpat (17601761).

Bargi. Another general
name used by some

is
writers,
when
speaking of the Mahrattah soldiery,

l-umara,
iii,
Bargl. See Maâsiru-
740, line 17, and
J.
Shakespear "Diet." 319;
172
its
THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHUl.S.

is
use
also referred to in
Grant Duff, 37.

I
do not know
the etymology of this word.
Mughal.
but
As
to these
men
list
can suggest no reason for

serving in the infantry,
there were any Mughals,
their appearance in this

it
of
men
is
curious
to
find
that
who would deign

service.
to serve in this inferior
branch of the
the
These must have been Europeans serving in capacity of common soldiers. They were probably for the most part native Christians, or so-called Portuguese,
Farangi,
either
from Goa, or from the colonies of that nation settled

have
lying
about the
may
ships
been
mouth of the Ganges and Brahmputra. There among them some fugitive sailors from at Surat or Cam bay. More usually, however,
fol.
such
us
men
entered the artillery. Ashob,
266^?, informs
that
service.
artillery
1739 there were still Franks in the Mus^hal They were all Frenchmen, either attached to the
in
or
practising as surgeons, bone-setters {shikastah-
band), or physicians.
The
chief of them, Farangi
Khan and
nobles'
Farashish
pay.
Khan, were accounted nobles and drew
Europeans lived in a special quarter called Farangipurah just outside the Kabul gate, close under the hill Kali Pahar, They killed some of Nadir Shah's provosts {nasaqc/n) and in retaliation the colony was wiped out. Pag. The pay of the classes above enumerated is given
as follows
I
These
(B.M. 1641,
fol. 59/5,
60).
The word
would render "private
soldier", will be
saîr, which found used in
that
sense in the Institutes of Taimur,

soldiers".
Davy and White,
232, sU^yU, "common
AHSHAM.
173
174

and a heldar
table
is
hoe, or mattock,
a digger
up of
earth,
an
excavator, not an axeman.
The following
of
gives the
these
I
artificers
(B.M.,
1641,
out.
fol.
names and pay of some mh). Many of the
words
am
unable to
make
Name.
CHAPTER
XIV.
ELEPHANTS.
Horn, 51
56,
includes elephants in his account of the
fighting force.
But long before the Moghul empire fell into decay, they had become principally beasts of burden or means of display, and their role in the day of battle was
comparatively insignificant.
Akbar seems to have made much use of elephants, bringing them into the field in great numbers (Horn, 51,
52, 53). In his time they carried on their backs musketeers
or
archers.
This practise seems to have soon ceased. But
as late as
1131 h. (Nov.-Dec. 1718) and Muharram 1133 (November 1720) we hear of their being used to carry small cannon. Thus Sayyad Husain 'All Khan, when he
re-entered Dihli on his return from the Dakhin, had forty
gajnal elephants, which each carried two soldiers and two

pieces, Jauhar-i-Sanisam, Fuller's translation, fol. 50.
Again,
when
at
""Abdullah
Khan, Qutb-ul-Mulk, was made prisoner

on
the
prisoner
the battle of Hasanpur, a gajnal elephant was ordered
up,
and
fol.
seated
it
was
carried
before
Fuller's
Muhammad Shah
trans.,
{Jauhar-i-Samsam.,
fol. I58fir,
and
76).
last
To
almost
the
brought into the

entirely
some elephants protected by armour were battle-field. But their use was confined
to
carrying
the generals or great nobles,
and displaying
their standards.
The baggage elephants were
assembled in the rear with those bearing the harem, the women remaining mounted on the latter during the battle,
and protected by a strong
force posted
round them.
176
In the day of battle elephants were provided with armour,

called
steel
paJihar,
Ajn,
i,
129,
W.
21. pieces
This
for
was made of
the head and
and consisted
In one
of
separate
trunk.
place,
A/noal-i-khawaqm, 2186, I find the
epithet barc/ustawan-posh applied to armour-clad elephants.
Again Ghulam
ÂlT
Khan, Muqaddamah,
34/^,
applies the
word kajim
of
to
bargustuioan, as
and defines a protective covering adjusted on the trunk

elephant
armour
in
general,
an elephant when
going into
battle.
The
rest of the
is
complicated gear used in connection with elephants

out in detail in the Ajn,
i,
set
125
130.
Besides their
own
armour, the riding elephants carried on the day of battle
an armour-plated, canopied
the sides were
his
seat, called
an îman, of which
some three feet high. The prince or noble this, and was thus protected with the exception of his head and shoulders from all distant attack {Mirat-id'JstilaJi, 207/5). We are told by Haji Mustapha, Seir, ii, 301, note 140, that the îmari and the haudah (or Haudaj) "are diff'erent, the former has a canopy and
took
seat
in
is
used for travelling or for purposes of

is
state,
the latter
has no cover and

places,
i,
employed
in wâr".
Or
again, in other
33, note 41,
and
i,
337, note 283, he says the
haudah
the
is
made
of
of boards strengthened with iron, having
shape
an
In
octagonal
platform, with sides eighteen

sides
inches
feet,
high.
war time the
were raised to two
and were then covered with iron or brass plates. It was divided into two unequal parts; in the forepart, about
it,
three fourths of
man may
easily sit
with his pillows
and cushions, or upon a stretch, two men. The hind part held one man, and that with difficulty. He adds that when "covered with a canopy it is called an amhari and
is
not
used in the field".

as
all
This
last
statement cannot be
accepted,
the
historians speak of the seat used in
war as an îmari, ^Ûc Moor, "Narrative", in his glossary under Amhara says that a seat with a canopy was so called, and without a canopy it was a haudah. "It (the
ELEPHANTS.
canopy)
is
177
scarlet
generally
made
of
Europe
top.
cloth
and
embroidered, and sometimes has a golden or
silver
urn or
some such ornament on the

crescent".
Mahomedans
prefer a
mounting the general or commander on an elephant was that he might be seen from a distance by all the troops. For in those days battles were nearly always decided by the fate of the leader. If he was killed or disappeared, the army gave up the contest and in a very short space of time melted away altogether. Nadir Shah wondered at this Indian habit of mounting the
object
of
The
general on an elephant:
"What
strange practice
is
this that
Hind have adopted? In the day of battle they ride on an elephant, and make themselves into a target for everybody {Malahat-i-maqal of Rao Dalpat Singh, fol. 54^). The criticism seems to have been taken to heart. For Miskin,
the rulers of
!
fol.
43r/,
tells
us
that Muîn-ul-mulk, governor of Labor
(1748
like
1754),
prisoner
declared that a general on an elephant was

in
the
midst of his guards, and a mere

that he fought
target for the enemy.
The next time
Ahmad,
too,
Durrani,
he meant to ride, a horse. In other ways,

they
the elephants were sometimes of

If
wounded,
were
liable
more harm than benefit. to get beyond control and
escape at the top of their speed. In one instance, in a battle
near Labor in 1124 h. (March 1712), a
wounded elephant
rushed
himself,
off
with Âzim-ush-shan, son of Bahadur Shah, and
jumping
off the high bank into the river Ravi drowned and the wounded prince along with him.
fortified
Elephants were also used to batter in the gates of
places. It is for this reason that such gates are generally found protected by metal plates and spikes. To counteract
these,
the elephant was again, in

of steel.
its
turn, provided with
frontlet
We
find an instance at Arcot (Arkat)
in 1751,
when "the parties who attacked the gates drove before them several elephants who, with large plates of iron fixed to their foreheads, were intended to break them
12
178

:
wounded by soon turned and trampled on those who

but
the
elephants,
down
the
musquetry,
escorted
them"
(Orme, Mil. Trans.,
i,
194).
Under Akbar the elephants ridden by the emperor were called khasali (special), and all others were arranged in
groups of ten, twenty or
In
later
thirty, called Iialqah (ring, circle).
fol.
reigns,
(B.M. 1690,
all
176r/) the
same
classifi-
more extended meaning, and halqah all baggage elephants. Mansabdars from 7000 down to 500 were required to maintain each one riding elephant, and in addition, five baggage elephants for every 100,000 dam of pay. As I understand the rule, these elephants belonged to the emperor, and were not even made over to the mansahdar for
cation was employed, with a rather
khasa/i
then including
riding,
use.
The
origin of this practice can, I fancy, be detected

i,
in
passage in the Ajn,
126
(see also
i,
130), where
Abu^l Fazl says that Akbar "put several halqahs' (groups

of ten,
twenty,
or
thirty
elephants)
"in charge of every
grandee, and required
him
to
to look after
them". In Akbar 's
time apparently have already
the
fodder was supplied by the State. I

this
(p.
referred
matter of Khurak-i-datoabb
20).
under the heading of Pay
is
Armandi's work on the military history of the elephant almost entirely taken up with its use by the Greeks
and Romans. The Moghul period occupies only fifteen pages, and there is nothing in those pages of any novelty. There is another v/ork which covers in part the same ground, "Historical Researches on the Wars and Sports of the Mongols and Romans", by John Ranking, "resident upwards of twenty years in Hindoostan and Russia". The main object of this very discursive treatise, which ranges over India, Siberia, and Great Britain, seems to be to prove that the fossil bones of elephants found in Europe are the remains of those used in war and sport by the Romans and Moghuls. Sixty quarto pages are taken up by a life of Taimur. The most valuable part of the book is
ELEPHANTS.
perhaps the
descri])tion
179
elephant (pp. 440450). In spite of his ''upwards of twenty years in Hindustan",

of
the
Ranking seems to have found some difficulty with the word zanjlr, a chain, as applied to an elephant. On p. 12
of
his
Introduction,
he says "very frequent

;
made
in Asiatic histories of c/iain elephants

for
mention is which always

fairly
means elephants trained
war; but
it
is
not very clear

is
why
easy.
they
are so denominated".
The explanation
The word
zanjtr (chain)
is
here one of the fanciful
catchwords attached to every being or thing in the Oriental art of îyaq, that is, of accounting and official recording.
Some
head,
so
is
fancied appropriateness was discerned in the epithet
so used. Pearls
were counted by danah, seed, horses by

dast,
znjijir,
ras,
shields
by
a
hand, bricks by qalih, mould, and

is
forth.
For elephants the word

reference
to
chain, which
no doubt
is
the iron chain by which an

use.
elephant
hobbled when not in

a
Having
scribe
to speak of
100
elephants,
Persian
or
Indian
writes
100
zanjlr-i-fil, or in
an account he would enter them thus;
mi,
zanjlr,
100.
All elephants had names, as they have
gives
several
still.
Horn, 79,
again, p.
names from the Akharnamah\ and

i,
124, (Von
Noer, Fr. trans.,
171j, he refers to Akbar's
own
has
elephant Asman Shukoh (Heaven Dignity). Catrou, 255, Bahingar (Ornament of the Army) and Aurang-gaj (Throne-elephant). Danishraand Khan; entry of 26^^ Ramazan
1120
H.,
refers
to
Fath-gaj (Victory Elephant), and

95,
we
find in Elliot,
viii,
Mahasundar (Queen
of Beauty)
ridden by Nadir Shah.

After the introduction of fire-arras and the gradual extension
to
of their
use,
elephants ceased, even in the East,
be of
much
value in the fighting line of battle.
As
have said above,
the
chief
men
still
rode them and dis-
played their standards on them. But this was more for the
180

ral-
purpose of being seen and of acting as a centre and

phants
themselves,
either
lying point, than for any advantage derived from the ele-
through their strength or their courage. (To the same effect, see De la Flotte i, 258, and
Cambridge, "War", Introd. ix). Nizam-ul-Mulk seems to have maintained a large number
of
elephants
even
so
late
as
about
1143
h.
(1730-1).
When
of
on a campaign to the north of his dominions, in
the direction of the Tapti, he had with
him 1026
218(^).
elephants,
which 225 were provided with armour, and presumably

used
he
in battle
were
{Ahwal-i-Jihatoagm,
On
this
occasion
otherwise.
made
curious
trial
of their staunchness or
In an open space near the river he ranged his

line, (there
guns in a drew up
were 44 top and 1225 rahkalah), and

opposite
fired,
fast,
his
elephants
them. As the elephants

supported by musketry.
advanced, the cannon were
few of the elephants stood
but the greater number
fied for miles,
the only result being that

foot.
306
foot-soldiers
were trodden under
Towards the end of the period they were more largely employed as beasts of burden or as aids in the transport of
heavy guns. Captain T. Williamson, ''Oriental Field Sports",
43, says that
when used
for the latter
purpose they were

also
furnished with a thick leather pad, covering the forehead,

to prevent their being injured.
The same work has
one
of the best early accounts of the Indian elephant, wild
and
domesticated. In time of peace, as a means of display, for

riding
largely
on,
for
shooting from,
they have continued to be

us that Asaf-ud-Daulah,
used.
of
Ranking,
13,
tells
Nawab
of the
Audh (17751797), kept

even
for
considerably above
1000 elephants merely

elephant,
for pleasure. Still the
gradual decline
is
purposes of state and show,
proved unmistakeably by a recent paragraph in the Indian papers ("Pioneer Mail", Sept. ^1^^ 1894, p. 2). The Govern-
ment "howdah-khanah" has been broken up,
there being
all
only two to three hundred elephants on the roils
over
ELEPHANTS.
India, nearly
ries;
all
181
of
the equipment at
which are maintained for heavy batteAgrah has been sold off, only the
silver
vice-regal
howdah
far
of
being kept.
We
have
thus
travelled
from
the
days when one of our early com-
manders-in-chief,
troops
Colonel
Richard
Smith,
''reviewed
his
from the houdar

i,
(sic)
of his elephant" (Carraccioli,
"Clive",
133).
CHAPTER XV.
According to our European notions discipline was extremely

that
lax,
if
not
entirely
absent.
Bernier, 55, tells us
when once thrown into confusion, it was impossible to restore a Moghul army's discipline, while during the march they moved without order, with the irregularity of
a herd of animals
cause of their
lery,
to lie in
and Europeans generally held the true dread of fire-arms, and particularly of artilthe inexperience of their leading men, who
;
never understood the advantage of discipline or the use of

infantry (Cambridge,
"War", Introduction,
viii).
Nobles while
a
at
headquarters were bound to appear twice

at the emperor's audience,
day,
morning and evening,

this point they
and on
seems
were
strictly supervised.
drill
to
have
been no regular
But there and no manoeuvres.

and the
state of
From time
to time they
paraded their troops in the outer
court during the time of public audience,
the horses and elephants was then observed. Occasionally, but

very rarely, there were special parades in the open
generally
' ;
these
took
place
on the
line
of march, the
emperor
passing in review the troops of some particular commander,

as
he was making his march
to his next
camping ground.
his troops
(8*^1
For instance, Datid Khan, Panni, thus paraded

before
Bahadur Shah on the 26^^^ Ramazan 1120 h. Dec. 1708), Banishmand Khan, entry of that date.
^
These were the Mahallah ahêady referred
to, see
ante, p. 46.
The
phrase in Khurasan was San dldan, see Mujmil ut-tdrlkh ha^d Nadirlyah,
p. 81,
hne
5.
183
Orgamzatio7i. There was no regimental organization; the
only divisions
chief
known were
his
those created by reason of each
own following of troops. Such tumandar have no strict or definite words as tUman meaning. The first meant any body of soldiers, and the second the leader or head of such a body. Jama Mar is a word of the same signification and equally vague, though it
or
noble having
or
may
18*11
be taken as denoting a smaller

is
man
than a tumandar.
Qas/mn
but
I
word employed
it
in
the
second half of the
century, having been borrowed from the Durrani system,
do not think
had a much more
definite sense
than the above
words.
In the dictionary, Steingass 971,
Q^^s
is
defined as T., body, company, troop, army, soldier,
military station.
was a red turban worn by all in the imperial employ. For the great mass of the army there was usually no uniformity of dress; but in a general way each class of
for
As
uniform,
the
only
sign
of
it
originally
troops
dressed
in
in
similar
style,
Persians
in
one way,
be
Mughals
another,
Hindustani Mahomedans could
distinguished from Rajputs, and so forth (Horn, 25). But
such distinctions, though obvious at once to a practised eye,
would take long to record, even what they were. One Sabit Khan,
Âligarh,
for soldiers,
if
we knew
sufficiently
at
one time faujdar of

attire
was famed as the introducer of a kind of which wâs called after him the sahit-khanl
dress.
There were, however, some few regiments clothed

For example, as early
poshari' (the
shali
in uniform.
as Farrukhsiyar's reign the ''Surkhis
Red Regiment)
fol.
spoken
it
of.
(Ijad's
Farrukh-
namali,
27, line 3).
And
would seem from a

207, line 4, that in
surkhposh,
coats, red,
passage in
the
Sharaif-i-ûsmam,
p.
Muhammad
body-guards
zardpos/i
Shah's
clad
time there
alike,
were some regiments of

as
and
known
the
and
siyahposlt,
from the colour of their
yellow
or
black.
These
men
carried gold or silver clubs
{gathak).
184
The Chaghatae origin of the ruling house and many of its officers was shown in the frequent occurrence of military terms from the language used in Central Asia. The emperor and many about the court spoke and understood the Chaghatae language so late as 1173 h. (1759-60), Seir,
iii,
142;
and Mustapha,
id.,
iii,
400, note 63,
tells
us
up to the time he wrote (c. 1785), the word at Ian mounted) was "carried round to the horse guards when the emperor is going to mount his elephant". (P. de C, 5, from oUi^j5, atlanmaq, to ride on horseback). Another instance of familiarity with Eastern Turkish is
that
(Be
found in
1739,
when Aghar Khan

settled
of
the
Aghar
tribe,
whose family had been

years,
in India over a
hundred
talked
to
Nadir Shah in that language, and even

verses in
it,
composed some
Ashob, foL
258<2.
enemy we read occasionally of men being blown from the mouth of a gun. In 1714 two Mina robbers were blown from guns by Husain 'All Khan, when on the march from Dihli to Ajmer. Again Haidar Qui! Khan, when commanding at the siege of Agrah in 1131 h. (1719), had recourse to this punishment with good effect, Siwrniih-i-khizrl (my copy). In the year 1174 h. (1760) the Mahrattahs blew away from guns two Mahomedan leaders taken prisoners by them at Kunjpurah, ''History of the Rohelas" by Rustam 'Ali, Bijnorl,
Punishments. For desertion to the
fol.
51.
And
in
1175
h.
(30tli
May
1762) the Mahrattah
commander, Narti Pandit, blew two men from guns at Burhanpur, Mirat-us-Safa, ilQa. In the "Abrege Historique"
prepared
by Colonel Gentil in 1772, (E. Blochet,
"Inventaire et description des miniatures des Mss. orientaux

conserves a la Bibliotheque Nationale", p. 202, N^ 219) there is a picture of a man tied to the mouth of a cannon.
deals with the subject of desertion on pp. 49 and but both of his references to Babar's memoirs, viz., P. de C. ii, (should be i) 325, and ii, 352, 353, seem to
51,
Horn
be cases of surrender. That to the Badshahaamalt
i,
334,
DISCIPLINE, DRTIJ.,
is
AND EXERCISES.
185
not a case of desertion at

in
all.
The
garrison of Mansur-
garli
Orissa
(1049
of
h.)
asked for quarter by holding

is
blades of grass between their teeth. This
the well-known
see
Elliot,
Indian
custom
indicating
s. v.
submissiveness,
"Supp. Gloss.", 252,

is
Dant-tinka (teeth-straw), which

is
practised by villagers to this day. It
also said to
have
been resorted to by the Mahrattah horsemen at DihlT (Feb. 1719), when they were overpowered in a street riot, Mlid
Qasim, Lahori,
stance
is
Ibratnmiah 244, my copy. Another infound in a book written c. 1147 h., gah dar
^
dandan giriftah {AJnoal-i-khawaqln,

Drill.
fol.
2I7fl).
as
such,
There seems to have been no drill for soldiers, and no training in combined movements of any
individual, on the other hand, paid the minutest
sort.
The
with
attention to the training of his body,

self
all
and exercising himwere the

series
his
weapons.
to
For
this there
of
movements
English
21
practised daily,
known
as kasarat. In
1791
an
visitor
the
Nizam's camp near

of
order,
Kadapah
and
(Cuddapah) writes
1795,
the
i,
to the following effect, Ouseley,
"Or. Coll",
32,
"the
traces
discipline,
science are so faint as to be scarcely discernible, except in
outward appearance of the men, the management of horses, and their dexterity in the use of the spear and sabre, which individually gives a martial air". He adds
their
that the
pieces of
men
exercise at
home with dumb
bells or
heavy
wood; and he also describes the kasarcd movements. There were in addition the clubs called mugdar,
the
chain
bow
or
lezam,
Egerton
last,
147,
150-1,
N^
808,
and
single-stick
play.
In this
a stick covered with a
loose sheath of leather
round buckler in the
was held in one hand and a small other, Egerton, 148, quoting from
p.
Mundy
is
(3rd ed.
1858,
165, 191, 310, 322).

little
The
stick
called gudka,
gadka
or gadga, a
club, from gada,
a club (Shakes. 1689).
An
account will be found in Briggs,

shield,
"Ferishta",
stick
iii,
207, of yak-ang-bazl, play with one single-
or
sword,
and do-ang-bazl, with sword and
186
or
two swords, one held in each hand. There were also bouts, which usually took place in the rainy season. For mounted men there were tent- pegging and shooting at bottles: and the archers had their daily shooting
wrestling
at
an earthen
Sword'play.
mound
or target.
skilful
The swordsmen were exceedingly
and
accompanied by the wildest gestures, the most extraordinary leaps, and elaborate feints of every sort. Something of this may still be seen at any Muharram festival, where the most complicated
active; their attack and defence being
evolutions
straight gauntlet
and sweeping circular cuts are made with the sword or patta. Burton, writing of Sindh in 1844, gives us a good
of Indian
single-stick
picture
style of
and sword-play. The usual

is,
sword exercise
top,
in India
he
says, "Life",
list
i,
119,
with a
to
up and a small shield in the left hand. The swordsman begins by "renowning it", vapouring, waving his blade, and showing all the curious fantasie that diskind of single-stick, ribbonded with
cloth
the
tinguish a Spanish espada. Then, with the fiercest counte-
nance,
to
side,
he begins to spring in the

to
air,
to
jump from
side
crouch, and to rush forwards and backwards,
action of an excited baboon. They never thought of giving "point": throughout India the thrust is
all
with
the
confined to the dagger.
The cuts as a rule were only two, one on the shoulder and the other, in the vernacular called qalam \ at the lower legs. Nothing was easier than to
guard these cuts and have been fatal with
to administer a thrust that
steel.
would
native
Colonel Blacker on the other

of
hand,
"War", 302, thought more highly

it
the
cutting stroke,
being the only one capable of penetrating
many folds of cloth worn as turbans by Indians. The colonel held the opinion that the then Dragoon sword would not penetrate these, even by giving
the quilted jackets, or the
"point".
'
He
adds "the native practice not only requires a
Probably from qalam kardan, to lop or prune.
DISCIPLINE, DRILL,
stiff
AND EXERCISES.
187
for a
wrist,
but a
stiff
though not a straight elbow,
cut that shall disable".

Fitzclarence, 102, thus describes the charge
made on
the
Sitabaldi
hill
by the Nagpur Rajah's Arabs on the 26^^

"Their manner of advancing was exceedingly
Nov.
a
1817.
imposing. Being perfectly undisciplined, they advanced in
crowd; the bravest being in advance and taking high bounds and turning two or three times round in the air, they rushed forward to the sound of small drums, accompanied by the perpetual vociferation of the war-cry "Din
Din!
ding',
Muhammad!"
which
is
This sounds at a distance like 'ding,
often used instead of the correct expression".
As this represents what was, no doubt, the long-established mode of fighting on foot, I give it, in spite of its referring to a period after the fall of Moghul rule. Horsemanship. The cavalry had their horses trained to a sort of manege, where the horse was made to stand on
its
hind legs and then advance by bounds

horseback
for a consider-
able distance.
This manoeuvre was resorted to in Bundelattacked any one
khand whenever a man on

on an elephant. Once, when
Muhammad
Khan, Bangash,
invaded Bundelkhand in 1727, he was thus attacked. he writes in his report to the emperor: "1 drove my
As
ele-
phant straight into the thick of the enemy, where seemed to be struggling hopelessly against them.
my men
At
this
moment two of the enemy's horsemen, one

so that their forefeet
after the other,
rode their horses with the greatest boldness at
my
elephant,
aid
were on the elephant.

in Shakir
is
By God's
they were, one after the other, dispatched by our arrows"

(see
the
official
report
Khan's Gulshan-i-sadiq,
adhered to by the
my
copy).
This
caracolling
still
cavalry in the Bundelkhand native states, as could be seen by those who witnessed the review of their troops at Agrah
in 1876, in the presence of the then Prince of Wales.
The
Persians in the
Moghul
service did not think
much
of Indian horsemanship, judging
from the following passage
188
of an anonymous memoir written about the middle of the 18^h century. ''As a rule the people of India do not know
and horsemanship is unknown in Hindustan. they use their utmost efforts to efface from horses all the qualities of the horse, and make it epileptic and mad. Their movements are not regulated by an intelligible principle, and it is impossible for them to be under the rider's control. I am a good rider and relying on my skill, I have often mounted Indian horses barebacked, in the belief that they would not be too much for me; and yet, when I have wanted to go east, they have carried me north, south, or west, and vice versa. If one wants to control the speed of the horse and make him travel at the speed one wishes, the beast either stands up on his hind legs or jibs, or hugs a wall till he crushes his rider or kills him in some other way. His paces are accompanied by jumps wholly unnatural". {Tankh-i-Farah Bakhsli, trans. ~~ W. Hoey, i, App. p. 7).
to ride,
how
In
addition,
In
in
this connection the following passage,

is
although written
1844,
quite as applicable to the Indian
Moghuls
as
if it
had been written a century or two

to
earlier. ''All
nations
seem
despise
one
another's riding, and none seem to
know how much

bound off at hand gallop, Hindu (Indian
diminishing
the merit of holding the horse well in hand,
The Indian style has making him a touch of the heel, stopping him dead at a and wheeling him round on a pivot. The
they have to learn.
?)
will canter over a figure-of-eight, gradually
dimensions tell the animal leans over at an angle of 45, and throwing himself over the off side and hanging down to the earth by the heel, will pick up sword or pistol from the ground". (Burton, "Life", i, 135). This is as favorable as the preceding extract was unfavorable.
the
When
doctors disagree,
who
shall
decide?
Mounting Guard. In time of peace the nobles took it in turn to mount guard with their troops at the palace gate. This was called chauh and the guard-house was the
DISCIPLINE, DRILL,
AND EXERCISES.
i,
189
257.
chauJci-Hanah \ The rules will be found in the Ajn,
The duty
a
lasted for twenty-four hours
week.
The
relief
and recurred once took place every evening. There was
also
another division of the army into twelve parts, each
of
see
which
mounted guard for one month. But 1 do not how the two divisions, that into seven and that into
twelve parts, are to be reconciled with each other.
Hunting. The nearest approach to army manoeuvres was
when
the
army
or a division was ordered out to take part

is
in a royal hunt. This subject
touched on by Horn, 69.

functions; in peace
One branch
of the
army combined two
they were huntsmen, in war, skirmishers. These were the

their
Qarawal, with the Qarawal Begl, or Chief Huntsman, at head ^. Horn, 69, refers to two descriptions of a
iii,
royal hunt, namely, Budauni,

ii,
92,
and Erskine, "History",

Mirat-ul-Istilah,
also shikar-i-
286. I add another from

184fl.
is
Anand Ram,
(or
fol.
ShiJcar-i-qamrghdh
called in
qamrc/ah),
jargah,
Hindi Iiata-jorl \ For this hunt a king huntsmen {qarawal), to his governors and the zamindars and cultivators (ryots) to surround a wide space full of game. This was closed in on daily till the area was very small. Then the ruler and his friends arrived, entered the enclosed space, and hunted the game. As this was a privilege {jquruq) of kings, no one else, not even a great noble, was allowêd to practise it. This method was also followed in Iran; in India it was given up after the middle of Âlamgir's reign.
gives orders, through his
1
Steingass, 402, chauki^ H. a raised seat, chair; a guard; a place for
collecting
customs; a watchhouse.
J.
Shakes.
507,
chauk, a market, a
city square; a court yard.

2
Steingass,
962, a sentinel, watchman, spy, guard; the vanguard, a
gamekeeper, a hunter.
Kamrg_hah, Steingass, 988, the hunting ring formed to enclose the in the grand royal chase. Id, 360, jargah, a circle or ring of men or beasts. Hatna, H. to drive back, jorna, to collect, therefore hata-jorl^ a drive of game.
game
CHAPTER
ARMY
IN
XVI.
THE FIELD.
Having sprung from a Central Asian nomad horde, the

early chiefs of Taimur's race
were perpetually on the move,

This traditional
earlier
habit was and more active emperors of that house \ From Babar to Bahadur Shah, they were seldom long in one place, and the greater part of their life was passed under canvas. For example, during the five years of his reign Bahadur Shah never slept in any building, and did not enter one in the day time on more than one or two occasions. From this habit it resulted that the empire had never had a fixed capital, the only capital was the place at which the sovereign might happen
accompanied
maintained
by their army.
India
in
by the
and as a consequence, the whole apparatus of government was carried wherever the emperor went. Ail the great officers of state followed him, and all the imperial records moved with them. Thus a Moghul army, where the emperor was present, was weighted with the three-fold impedimenta of an army, a court, and a civil
to
be
2,
thus easy to account for the immense size camps gradually extended. Mir Manzil. To preserve order in the audience-hall and its approaches, and to regulate the access of the public thereto, there were a number of guards {yasaioal), at whose
executive. It
to
is
which
their
The
original
nomadic habits of the royal house are betokened by
the singular habit, that the wives of the emperors were delivered lying upon a saddle-cloth. The authority for this is found in a letter said to have
been written
Misc."
*
i,
in
1137
H.
by Nizam-ul-Mulk to
said,
Muhammad Shah
ibi
("Asiatic
490).
as the
Or
Romans
"Ubi Imperator,
Roma".
ARMY
head were several
of Arrangement).
IN
THE FIELD.
191
(literally,
officers styled
Mn
Tuzak
Lords
The
first
of these officials
it
was one of the
great officers of State, and
was
his
duty when the court
was on the march, to fix the route, to decide on the marches, and to proceed ahead, select a place for encampment, and lay out the site of the various camps and the lines of shops {bazar). When carrying out these duties, the first Mir Ttizak was more commonly known as Mir Manzil, Lord of the
Stages.
Transport.
The means
of transport, consisting of elephants,
camels, pack-ponies, bullocks, bullock-carts and porters, were
only provided
officially for
the imperial tents and establishleft
ments; every one
else
was
to
make
his
own
arrange-
ments. Each soldier did his best for himself. The baggage
was known as bahlr o hangah ox 'part dl. In Ashob, fol. 265, we find Partdl used for the means of transporting, instead of for the baggage itself: P artdl-i-aksare-i-eshdn shut ar ani-Bakhtl-i-asil loa khdtirhde,
jins'i- Wildyatl.
yanl
usfiturhde katai^-i-khush-
Bakhtl
is
the large,
two-humped
or Bactrian
camel.
Commissariat. In an Indian
left
very
much
to take care of itself.
fed
a certain
number
of
was The imperial kitchen palace servants and some armed

the commissariat
artificers.
army
guards,
matchlock men, and
There
was
also
charitable kitchen kept up, at the emperor's expense,

called the
and
Langarkhanah. In the same way, a chief

Outside these limited
every
distri-
buted cooked food to the men more especially attached to

his
person.
circles,
man was
left to
provide for himself, buying from day to day enough
for his daily
wants from the numerous dealers, or hanyas,

These men's huts or shops were
who
followed the army.
erected in long double lines, so as to form temporary streets.
These were the so-called bazars or markets (Bernier, 381). Each great leader had his own bazars, and in these were
to be
found not only dealers in grain, but merchants and

sort
artificers of every
and kind.
192
Banjara or Birinjara. The suppliesof grain were brought on the backs of bullocks by the wandering dealers known as Banjarahs or Brinjarahs. There are two derivations alleged for this word, 1) H. bnnij, trade, plus the affix ctrah, denoting a doer or agent (Steingass, 201), and 2) P. birinj,
in
rice, ar,
am,
the root of dwardan, to bring (Steingass, 179).

is
Eitzclarence, 93, says "It
armies in the
either army.
field are fed,
paid
for.
The grain is They encamp for

They and
by these people that the Indian and they are never injured by taken from them, but invariably
safety every evening in a regular
square formed of the bags of grain, of which they construct
and the oxen are made fast outside. Guards with matchlocks and spears are placed at the corners, and their dogs do duty as advanced posts. I have seen them with droves of 50,000 bullocks. They do not move above two miles an hour, as
a breastwork.
their families are in the centre
the
cattle
are
allowed
209.
to
graze
as
they proceed on the
march".
On
these men, see also Thorn, 85, E. Moor, 131,

iii,
and M. Wilks,
Fodder.
The
grass for the horses was provided, as
it still
is, by sending men out to gather it. If they had a pony, the grass was loaded on it and brought in if not, it was carried in on the man's head (Cambridge, "War", Introd. These men were either engaged as servants by the vi). troopers or worked on their own account, (Bernier, 381).
;
With an
cut
off,
active
enemy about,
frightened
these followers were often
or
even
into
not
going out at
all.
Camels were, of course, sent out to pick up what they could in the country round the camp (idem). These, too, were often raided by the enemy. Foraging. In addition to those brought in by traders, supplies were also added to by raiding and plundering in the country through which the army marched. Even in the best time of the monarchy and under the strictest commanders, the course of an army was marked by desolation. These was great destruction of growing coops when the
ARMY
army passed through a
sation
IN
THE FIELD.
193
fairly cultivated country.
Compenwas
under the name of
paemcllt,
"foot-treading",
certainly
allowed, according to the rules, in the shape of
a remission of revenue on the land injured, but this
must
have been a very incomplete indemnification

of the crop.
for the loss
Scarcity and other sufferings. An army supplied in the way indicated above was peculiarly liable to have its supplies
cut
off;
then followed at once scarcity, high prices,
and if the stoppage continued, death from starvation. Mention of these difficulties is seldom absent long from the pages of native historians. Great heat and want of water were also frequent grounds of complaint, and from one who went through the march of A^zam Shah from Gwaliyar to Dholpur in June 1707, escapes the bitter cry, "May God Omnipotent never subject even my enemy to
such a day as
fol.
we then passed through"
{Ahioal-i-khawaqin,
Sikh leader,
the
Again in Bahadur Shah's operations against the Bandah, in December 1710, he was much hampered by the heavy rain and the intense cold, many
\\a).
of
transport animals being
lost.
graphic picture of
campaigning difficulties, even in the case of a force which was finally victorious, is given by KhafT Khan, ii, 888.
his way in July 1720 to attack Âlim Khan, governor of Aurangabad, passed several days Âii in extreme discomfort, exposed to incessant rain and in the middle of deep black mud. The constant rain and the
Nizam-ul-mulk on
swollen
streams stopped
all
supplies, the Mahrattas plun-
dered close round the camp, not an animal could be sent

out or brought
cattle
in. For many days the only food of the was the pounded leaves and young shoots of trees;
"the smell even of grass or corn did not reach the fourfooted animals",
shoulders in
and many of them, standing up to their mud, starved to death. One rupee would only
earlier.
buy 2 to 4 lbs. of flour. Referring to a century Sir Thomas Roe, as quoted by Cambridge, "War",
Introd.
13
194
vii,

gives a very lifelike description of the sufferings of a
march through woods and over mountains.

of the
Flight of Inhabitants, Colonel Wilks, i, 308, note, speaking south of India, says the inhabitants of a country
their
and woods upon the approach of an invader, taking with them whatever food they could carry, and often perishing of want. Such an
deserted
homes
for
the
hills
exodus was not unknown in Northern India, as for instance, when the Sikhs first rose in 17 JO, and invaded the Upper
Jamnah-Ganges duabah and the country north and east of Lahor, the inhabitants, especially the Mahomedans, fled at their approach. More usually, however, the peasants
continued with tranquil unconcern to plough, sow, or reap within a stone's throw of a raging battle. Like true sons
of the
East, they
"bowed low
before the blast"
and
"let
the legions thunder past".
What had
they to hope or fear
from defeat or victory?
CHAPTER
XVII.
CAMPS AND CAMP EQUIPAGE.
Each
even
if
soldier
it
seems to have had the shelter of a
tent,
consisted only of a cotton cloth raised on
two
sticks.
The kinds
of tents were numerous, from the rautl,

to the
mere low awning, up Ayn, i, 54, names twelve

Guldlbar,
on.
huge imperial
tents.
I
The
have
different kinds of tents.
just
spoken of one of these,
the Uautl, and of another,

I
the
not a tent but an enclosure,
shall speak
further
The sarapardah
W.
11 also
is
a screen and
to,
not a tent.
From
a perusal of the passage referred

xi,
it is
coupled
with plates x and
fairly easy to
understand what
The Shamiyanah^ N". 9, is still known and in common use; the name may be from sham, evening, that is an awning for use in the evening, or from shamah (Steingass, 725), a veil. The khargah, N". 8, (Steineach of these tents was
like.
gass,
456) are spoken of by Bernier, 359, note 4, and 362, where he says they are folding tents with one or two doors,
leads
tents.
and made
them "cabinets", and us to infer that they were set up inside the large The emperor and the great nobles were provided
in various ways; he calls
set
with tents in duplicate, one
being sent on to the next
camping ground while the other set was in use (Bernier, 359). The tents thus sent on were knov/n as the peshkhanah (literally "advance-house").
Camp, description of. The laying out of the emperor's camp, a plan continued to the last, is described in the Ajn, i, 47, and is shown with more detail in plate iv. In
the
centre
was the imperial enclosure of canvas screens
196 ]530 yards

long,
and about one
fifth
of that distance in
breadth. It was
divided across in its length into four courts.
Over the entrance, which faced in the direction of the next inarch, was the drum-house (naqar-khanah), in the second court was the audience tent, in the third a more private hall, and in the fourth the sleeping tents. Behind was a place for Akbar's mother, while outside and still more to the rear were the women's apartments, surrounded on all
four
sides by guards. Along the outside of the enclosure were ranged on each side the kdrhhanahs, or departments
of the household
Still
farther
and arsenal, about ten tents on each side. away and towards each corner, the tents of
the guards were erected. Outside the gate of the enclosure
were the elephants and horses with their establishments on one side; and the records, the carts and litters, the general desof artillery, and the hunting leopards on the other.
cription
of Jahangir's
"War",
Introd.
v,
camp will be found in Cambridge, who quotes it from Sir Thomas Roe's
immense
size.
journal, the chief impression produced on the ambassador's
mind being
that of
good account of the mode of pitching an imperial camp is to be found in Bernier, 360, 361. First of all the Mir Manzil selected a fit spot for the emperor's tents. This was a square enclosure 300 paces each way. The whole of this was surrounded by screens {qanat), seven or eight feet high, secured by cords to pegs and stayed by poles fixed at an angle, one inside and one outside, at every ten paces. The entrance was in the centre of one of the sides. On each side of the gate (Bernier, 363) were two handsome tents, where were kept a number of horses ready saddled and caparisoned ^ In front of the entrance was a clear space, at the end of which stood the naqar khanah, or station for the drums, trumpets and cymbals.
Close
to
it
was the chauki-hhanah
or tent of the officer
on guard
*
for the day.
This
is,
no doubt, what
we
read of so often under the
name
of the Ji7ai<.
CAMPS ANI) CAMP EQUIPAGE.
197
Round
which a
the enclosure were the imperial bazars, through

street
led from the gate in the direction of the
next day's march, marked out by long poles, which were
300 paces from each other. The princes and great nobles pitched their camps at various distances, sometimes of several miles, from the emperor's tents. Each was surrounded by the tents of his men and his own bazar, the only order observed being that the chief's tents must face towards the imperial Public
tails
surmounted by yak
and placed
at
Audience-hall (Bernier, 366).
Bernier estimates, 367, that
where there was ample space for spreading, Âlamgir's whole camp would have measured about six miles in cirwere marked out (Bernier, 365) by long poles surmounted, as already said, by the tails of
cumference.
bazars
The
the
great
Tibet cow
"which have the appearance of so

4*0,
many
p.
periwigs".
is
The camp
128,
12^^,
thus described by Catrou, French ed.,

to have the Venetian,
iv,
40, 57, possibly borrowing from Bernier,
although he
his authority
:
professes
Manucci, as
was
laid
nature
of
"The camp where this numerous army rested out daily in the same manner, so far as the the ground permitted. A great enclosure was
square shape, and this was surrounded by a
roped
off of
deep ditch.
to
distance
The heavy artillery was ranged from distance and defended the approaches. The emperor's
was placed in the centre of the camp. This also was square in shape and the light artillery was disposed all round it. The tents of the generals, of a much less height than those of the emperor, were pitched in the different quarters of the camp. The sutlers and traders of all sorts had streets assigned to them. To sum up it may be said that Aurangzeb dragged in his train a travelling city as large and as peopled as his capital".
palace
Some of the tents were of an enormous size. These was one made by order of Shahjahan which bore the name of
Dil'badil (Generous Heart).
When Bahadur Shah
ordered
198
this

tent
to
be erected at Lahor in the year 1711,
five
hundred tent-pitchers and carpenters were employed for one month in putting it up, and in so doing several persons were killed {Mirat-ul-Istilah, 218^). Kamwar Khan, entry
of 4th
cost
Sha'ban 1123 h* (16th Sept. 1711), sayTthis tent

rupees.
50,000
the
later writer, Seir,
i,
25, note 32,
says
emperor's
it
camp was about one and
a quarter
miles in circuit,
contained one hundred and twenty tents,
some of them big enough for several hundreds of men, and the largest might admit two thousand or three thousand. All this was surrounded by a qanat, or wall of cloth
six
feet
high, outside which

:
is
a paling which surrounds
the whole
and
it
is
betwixt these two enclosures that live

off,
the guards. Further

too,
in
there
is
another paling, and here,

reside guards
the
to
intermediate space
the
and people
chairmen,
attached
imperial
household,
such
as
watermen, or taper-bearers.
In trod.
V,
See also Cambridge, "War",
an account of Nasir Jang's camp in 1750, over twenty miles in circumference. There is also a good
for
description of a native
camp
in Wilks,
i,
292, referring to
the year 1752, where he
tells
us of the motley collection

to
of cover, from superb tents
down
;
ragged blankets; tents
and animals
the flags set
lines
all
intermixed
the only
mark
of order being
up by each
chief, the
only regularly laid out
being those of the traders' booths or shops.
Colour of tents. The tents of the emperor,* his sons, and grandsons were of a red cloth, called kharwah, a stout
canvas-like cotton cloth,
plant.
dyed red with the root of the al
Round
the emperor's tents was the enclosure called
the gulalhar.
Some
of the great nobles such as the viceor
gerent (loahl-i-mutlaq)
the
chief minister, {Jamdat-ul-
mulk) were allowed patapatl or striped tents, one red stripe and one white stripe alternately. Patl is h. for a strip of anything, {Mirat-ul-Istilah, fol. 275 and Bernier, 366). The latter writer on p. 362 seems to imply that the imperial
tents
also
were striped outside, but as
his phrase
is
"or-
199
namented with
Gulalbar.
of
as
stripes",
perhaps the
two statements are
not absolutely conflicting.
being
It
The name of the screen which Bernier speaks put up round the emperor's tents was the
is
Gulalbar.
mentioned
will not
in
the
Ajn,
i,
45, 54, but a
fuller description
be out of place, since the word
frequently
appears in
histories,
and
it
is
well to have a
definite idea of
what
is
meant. Gulal in Hindi means "red"
and
bar,
"anything in the nature of a wall which prevents

it".
entrance or passage through

equivalent
of the
to
Thus the whole word
is
"Red Wall".
(lit.
Before Akbar's time the tents
Gurgani kings were surrounded by a rope called

"the rope of hindrance"). In Akbar's
the
the ia7idb-i-qUruq
reign
gulalbar
was devised.
It
was formed out of

that
it
bambus coloured red and held

like
together by leather straps
might be extended or gathered up at will. Its height was three gaz, or about eight feet, and it had two gateways to the front and one on the side where the harem tents stood. This screen was erected round the imperial tents, which were styled collectively the Daulat-khanah (literally. Abode of
Prosperity). Outside
it
a network {jail), and so
made
a ditch was dug, and red flags, an
attribute
of sovereignty,
were displayed on poles {Mirat-
ul-Istilah, fol.
Jail.
203).
jail is similarly
The word
precincts
jcil,
to
the
H.
of the emperor's tent.
met with The
in reference
derivation
is
from
a net,
and
it
means
that
lattice, grating,
network.
From
in
the passage quoted in the last paragraph and another
{jail) was European observer, who probably had seen an emperor's camp, says the gulalbar was the outer paling fifty yards from the qanats, or cloth screens seven feet high, which enclosed the emperor's tents {Seir, i, 159, note 120). For gulalbar Khushhal Chand in
the
same book, we
see
this
network
the gulalbar under another name.
But
one
place,
Berlin
Ms.
495,
fol.
1010^, uses salabat-bar

fol.
"majestic-enclosure":
and Ashob,
196^,
claims
it
as
200
the

invention
of Salabat
Khan ^ Mir Atash
to Âlamgir,
gulal-barah
being
nothing
more than a popular name.
Ashob
minute description of its construction; this differs in details from that of x^nand Ram given above. The tents of princes continued to be protected by the old
gives a
device of a rope, which
still
bore the
name
of tandb-i-quruq,
or rope of prohibition {Mirat-ul-I.).
Bahkalah-bar. This word

plus
bar, enclosure. It
is literally
rahkalah^ field-piece,
artillery
was the park of
arranged
at the entrance of the imperial quarters, or
a protection against attack.
were
of 4th
at
round them, as Mir Atash the imperial gateway (Danish mand Khan, entry
The
quarters of the
Zai Hijjah 1119 h., and Bernier, 363)7 Rarem women with armies (Horn, 57). On all campaigns harem of women with their attendants seems to have
accompanied the emperor and the chief men. On the day of battle these women were put on elephants and carefully guarded by the force forming the rear guard, which was
some distance behind the centre, where stood the emperor or other chief commander. Many references might be quoted in illustration of this statement. The habit of being followed by a harem might be justified in cases where the camp was the only home, for perhaps years at a time. But the practice was the same even on short campaigns. For instance, the redoutable GhazT-ud-din Khan,
posted
at
Îmad-ul-mulk,
who became wazir at sixteen years of age and had deposed two emperors before he was five and twenty, was born in his maternal grandfather, Qamr-ud-din Khan's,
camp. This noble, who was
then on his way to
1
Muhammad
Shah's wazir, was
Malwah on an
ii,
expedition against the

742,
23rt^
According to the Maâsir-iil-umara.
Khwajah
Mir, Khwafi,
(Salabat
Khan) was made Mir Atash

25tii
in
the
year of 'Âlamgir, then
removed, but reappointed in the

year).
year; he died in 1103 h. (the 36*^

died in
The Tarlkh-i-Muhammadi says he
1104
h.
Neither the
his
Maâsir-ul-umara nor the Maâsir-i-Âlamglrl makes any mention of

having invented the gulalbar.

Mahrattas.
201
Wilks,
ii,
38,
writes as
if it
were a peculiar
weakness
darabad
of the particular noble, that the
Nizam
of Hai-
1768 "accompanied in the field by his But in so doing Nizam 'All was only favourite following the usual practice of Moghul commanders.
was
in
wives".
CHAPTER
XVIIT.
ON THE MARCH.
When
an army or the emperor

difficulties
first
took the
field,
there
and delays in making a start. Nothing was ever ready when wanted and if a great noble was put in command, he had always some further
were generally great
;
petition
to urge or objection to
to start.
make
before he could be
persuaded
consulted.
i-sald)
Then
there were the astrologers to be

until the lucky
No march began
fixed
moment
{saat-
had been
by reading the
stars. If it
were not
possible to
make
a real departure on the proper day or at
the proper time, the advance tents would be sent out and
a pretended start would be the
made
in the
hope of cheating
cases,
Eates {Seir,
first
i,
309, note 248). In
all
however,
march out was a very short one, in order that stragglers might have time to join and anything left behind might be sent for. This regard for lucky and unlucky days was a great obstacle to the Moguls' success in war, as it often prevented them from taking the most obvious advantages of an enemy (Cambridge, "War", Introd. xi). Emperor s taking the field in person. The emperor was
the
not supposed
to
take
the
personal
command
unless the
and the campaign important (Horn, 46 relying on the Tuzuk-i-Taimuri). Thus, when Bahadur Shah in 1710 headed the army sent against the Sikh, Bandah, he was blamed for meeting an antagonist unworthy of him. On the way it was usual to pay visits to holy men of
large
army was
repute
of
in
order to obtain their blessing; and the shrines

line of
any noted saints situated near the
march were
ON THE MARCH.
203
perambulated and the
saint's help
implored. Thus Shah Âlam
to fight his brother, offered Bahadur Shah when on his up prayers at the tombs of Qutb-ud-din and Nizam-ud-din Auliya at Dihll. In the same way Farrukhsiyar, marching
way
up from Patnah
ud-din
ut
JhusT,
to
Agrah, prayed at the tombs of Taki-
Badf ud-dln at Korah, and of Shah Makhanpur. Another curious practice is described by Yaliya Khan, 1295. He says that when in 1721, Prince Muhammad Ibrahim was raised to the throne and was about to start against Muhammad Shah, he was taken, in
of
Madar
at
accordance with an old custom, to Qutb-ud-din's shrine, to
have his turban wound round

attached to his waist.
his
head there, and a sword

its
Then
bow with
string loosened
ought
itself
to
have been placed near the tomb. If the string of

its
would be held a sign of victory. On this occasion, such was the uproar and confusion, the order to bring the bow was not carried out. Description of an army on the march. Catrou, Vl^^ ed. 1715, iv, 49 57, or 4to edition p. 126, gives us the fol-
resumed
place,
this
lowing picture of a march of the emperor Aurangzeb. The
went first and formed as it were the advance guard. The baggage followed in good order. First came the camels bearing the imperial treasure, one hundred loaded with gold and two hundred with silver coin. The load of each did not exceed 500 lbs. The treasure was succeeded by the hunting establishment. There were a great many dogs used for coursing deer and numerous "taureaux" ^ for hunting tigers. Next came the official records. It is the practice of the Moghul empire for these never to be separated from the emperor. The accounts and other archives of the empire were carried on eighty camels, thirty elephants
heavy
artillery
1
This must surely be a mistake; perhaps leopards (chitah) are meant

47, says nothing about bulls.
or buffaloes for fighting with tigers. But the original Portuguese text of
Manucci, Berlin Ms., Phillipps 1945,

sentence reads
:
p.
The
"One hundred and

of which
fifty
camels loaded with nets (redes) for
hunting
tigers,
sport
have already spoken".

p.
For the use of
these nets, see Constable's Bernier,
378.
204

carts.
and twenty
is
Immediately behind these came

in
fifty
camels carrying water for the court and the princes. This
a
necessary
precaution
Indian
travelling,
you are
often in a waterless country or the water, speaking generally,

is
stagnant and unwholesome.

fifty
Behind these camels

camels with the pro-
came the imperial kitchen and

visions
as
for
the
day.
There were
fifty
cows
to give milk,
Aurangzeb
chiefly lived
on milk.
servants riding on horses followed.

particular sort of stew
One hundred kitchen Each man prepared one
Next was the wardrobe of the for this fifty camels and one hundred carts sufficed. Thirty elephants bore the harem jewels and the store of swords and daggers, from which the emperor makes presents to his generals. In front of the baggage train and the artillery two thousand pioneers marched with spades ready to smooth the ground. There were other thousand who followed to repair any holes made
emperor and the harem, and
by the camels
or elephants.
after
The army came
the
baggage.
It
was composed
it
is
almost entirely of cavalry. As for the infantry
made
up in case of need from the numerous sutlers, traders, and servants that follow the army. These are armed only with the sword, spear and shield. After the cavalry came
the
emperor, followed by his seraglio. Ordinarily he rode
an elephant.
built
On
the back of this great animal, they had

glass
room with
for use
windows,
.the
in
which was a couch

to
and a bed. By the

all
side
of the elephant were palankins
ready
of
should
emperor wish
change
his
His elephant was followed by led horses. Aurangzeb was fond of riding and at a considerably advanced age he was still the best rider in his empire.
conveyance.
mode
Some camels preceded
emperor bearing some large cooking-pots always steaming, perfuming the air as they went by. Forming the two wings on the two sides of the emperor's elephants, marched in good order the whole of the imperial guard. The queens, princesses, and ladies of
the
ON THE MARCH.
the
205
harem followed the emperor. They were carried, as he was, on elephants, but the room which contained them was surrounded with wooden blinds [jalousies) covered over with loose, thin muslin. They saw all and could breathe the air without being seen. The other women who worked in the harem were on horseback, wrapped in long mantles covering their faces and reaching to their feet. The line of march was brought up by the light artillery, each field piece on its carriage being drawn by horses. The rear guard was swollen by the prodigious number of people always at the Court, and the innumerable multitude of servants leading elephants, camels, horses, and those carrying the tents and baggage of the lords of the court and the generals of the army. All moved in order and without confusion. This rear guard had its place allotted as exactly as the disciplined troops.
Standards.
ried
The
138).
flag of the noble or sovereign
was
i,
car-
on an elephant during the march (De
la Flotte,
258
Fitzclarence,
These was a special
officer
entrusted
with the insignia and standards.
Of
these
some account
has been given under the head of Mansabddrs. Collectively
they were called the qUr, an Indian usage of the Turkish
word which
Courteille,
is
not given
among
The
the definitions in P. de
title was QUrbegt, and the men under him carried a supply lord of the Qur\ of weapons for the emperor's use. The details, as they stood under Akbar, will be seen in the Ajn, i, 109, 110.
"Diet."
425.
officer's
Bernier, 371,
speaks of the qur (or as he spells
it,
cours)
preceding the emperor on the march: these standards and
emblems were surrounded by a

cymbals and trumpets.
large
number
of players on
The following graphic description of an emperor on the march with music playing and standards displayed is found in a Hindi poem by Shridhar Murlldhar of Allahabad,
lines
355376:
206
Phajir 8hahanshdh sajeu,

JSakal brind
gayand gajeu,
ab,
Bajl nauhate gahgahi tab,
Bhai naubat rawarl

Ghor dhamisd dhuni dhakdrat,
''Phateh, pliateir
^^
,
manu pukdrat,
Ho'hu-Iio' karandi bdjat^
8hdhanshdh-hi sagun 8djat,
Sagun son
siirandi bdjl,
Siddhi rdm karlju
sdjl,
"Jhdru-jhdrun' jhdnjh jhankat,
Khanan
Phil tvdr nishdn jliaharat,
Idgi-hi
g limit ''khanakh'kat'\
Man-hu agd phatuli phaharat,
At pair anup
Jhdlarl
rdjat,
Indr syon prabhu tdbi
rdjat,
muku
tdsu lachhak,
Man-hu tdrd chhatr rachhak,

Aphtdb blhds ken kar,
Man-hu rakhshak sang

Tog sundar mdha mdhl^ Sagun
kl
dini ar,
manu
det gwdhl.
Next morning the King of Kings started, The throng of elephants roared, The royal march was beaten loudly, Then played the music of His Majesty, The big drums shook with mutterings and growlings,
Men
shouted 'Victory! Victory!',
The trumpets brayed 'ho-hu-ho'. The King of Kings' good omens appeared. The hautboys sounded happy augury,
Rama and
'Clash, clash' clanged
the sages joined the throng.
the cymbals,
Jingling bells began their 'tinkle, tinkle',
The elephant
riders displayed their standards,
In front ran
men
shouting 'Victory!'
ON THE MARCH.
Everywhere incomparable brightness
reigns,
207
The splendour
Fringes hang over their
is
that of Indra's heaven,
faces,.
Guardians of
stars
and umbrellas,
they shout for the Faith,
Sun
screens waving in their hands.
Hearts
full of joy,
Yaktails, sundar, the fish dignity.
Give evidence of happy augury.

Military Music and the Naubat. The beating of drums, accompanied by the playing of cymbals and the blowing of trumpets, at certain fixed intervals {naubat), was one of the attributes of sovereignty. The place where the instruments were stationed, generally at or over a gateway, was
the naubat or naqqar khanah, the latter
name coming from

would seem
naqqarah, one kind of

the Ain,
to
i,
drum
used. Details will be seen in
51.
As
are
I read that passage, there
have been nine naubat in the twenty four hours, but

they
generally
spoken of as recurring at the end of
each of the
eight watches {pahr) into which that period
was divided. The number is differently stated by different writers. Haji Mustapha, Seir, i, 3 note 31, after saying that in its origin this music was a mark of sovereignty, though later usurped by all provincial governors, goes on, "It played four times by day and once by night, and also
to
announce good news". Others speak of only three

192,
writes
is
^w6r/^.
Fitzclarence,
"the continual
beating
of
the
naubat, or great drums,
one of the highest signs of rank
and power; over the gate of every palace is a gallery or balcony where this noisy instrument is beaten at certain hours in the day and night. One of them (i. e. a drum)
is
always carried on an elephant before the commander of

native
At Murshidabad, when I was there, the Nawab had them continually beaten. Four gates to his palace had each a naubat, and each of them sounded a quarter of each hour and made the most horrid din imaa
army.
208
ginable".
there
is
As
to the beating of kettle
drums on the march

Captain
J.
a passage
to the
same
effect in
p.
Wil-
liamson "Oriental Field Sports",

In
79.
addition to the fixed periods at which the imperial
drums were beaten and the music played, it would seem music and drum beating accompanied the march of the emperor (Fitzclarence, 138). The intention to make a march was announced by the beating of kettle drums, as was done for instance by Prince 'Ala Gohar in 1171 h., Tankh-i- Alamgir Sam, fol. 1555. Or as Manucci asserts,
that
trumpet was sounded for the same purpose. If the emperor were not present, the commander, if entitled
ii,
68,
to this high honour, caused his
own drums
in
to be beaten,
and
as
Horn,
that
17, remarks, the
sound of these drums was
a sign
some great noble was
commatid and that

battle.
probably the army under him was a large one. The drums
were also beaten at the opening of a
We
are told
by one writer of the year 1169

Sanl,
fol.
h. (1756),
Tanhh-i- Almnglr
49^,
that
to
horn was blown at night in the
emperor's
read
of
camp
indicate a halt for the next day.
We
one
noble
who kept
that
in his service one
hundred
horn-blowers
{Jcarranctl), so
when
a fight was trembling
in the balance, they should all
blow together and inspire

i,
the
other
side
with
dread.
[Majasir-ul-umara,
also
514).
After a battle the
employed by the victors to announce their victory; and even on ordinary occasions a noble was preceded by music. In 1757
iVnquetil
drums and trumpets were
Duperron, Zend Avesta,
i,
xliv,
after
being pre-
sented to Siraj-ud-daulah, speaks of the

to visit the mint,
Nawab coming out and "nous entendimes un bruit affreux

fusils
de
et
tymbales,
de trompettes, entremele de coups de

the usual practice.
de
cailletoques".
This picture taken on the spot must

it,
represent, as I take
were made of iron hoops, and they were twice as big as those used by cavalry in Europe {Seir, i, 24, note 31). One of the drums used was
The
kettle
drums
{7iaqqarali)
ON THE MARCH.
called
209
Bankah, a small wooden drum, no doubt identical

i^^n-,
with
Shak. 1129, a bass kettledrum, in

or as
size
between
the naqqarah and the laJwra,

p.
la
Iv,
Q.anoone Islam, App.
has
it,
the bass end of the small kettle-drum.
De
Flotte,
211,
compares
the
sound
of
their
trumpets
182,
{(rom.pettes),
ten or twelve feet long, to that of a French

iii,
cowherd's goathorn, only louder; and G. Careri

speaks
of
seeing a
man walking
of
in
front
of the
camp
Provost Marshal {kotwal), blowing a copper horn 8 ''palmes"

in
length,
the sound
fait
semble tout a
Patrolling
a celui
which made him laugh, "il resque les porchers font en Italic
cochons egares".
lorsqu'ils veulent rassembler leurs
and Watching. At night time some troops were sent out to march round the camp and protect it. The name of these detachments was tildyah {Mirat-ul-Istilah, fol. 202^, Steingass, 817). In 1151 h. (1738) when" Muhammad Shah marched out to Karnal to oppose the advance
of Nadir Shah, these night rounds or patrols were apparently
still
carried
out;
Ashob,
fol.
1826
calls
them shah-gar d,
which seems the correct technical name, Steingass 732. He uses tali alt, fol. 182, for advanced posts or pickets, which seems the more exact meaning of that word, Steingass 819. The same form, taltah, is used c. 1169 h. (1755-6) by
Muhammad
As
describes
ÂlT,
Burhanpuri, in his Mirat-us-safa,

of watch and
cries of
fol.
99.
for the care of the interior of the
camp, Bernier, 369,

prevailing.
care),
the
system
ward then
His watchmen with their

the
khabardar (Take
guards at their watch fires every five hundred paces round the camp, and the kotwal with his armed men and their trumpet, were better fitted to prevent thieves and
robbers
cautions
entering
against
the
camp than
In
to
act
as
military
pre-
surprize.
later
times
even
these im-
seem to have been abandoned. In the it was found that, often as native troops had been surprized in the night by Europeans, they could never be brought to establish order and vigilance in their camp.
perfect precautions
18^^ century
14
210
THE ARMY OF THE ~TNDTAN MOGHULS.

they acted as
allies of
When
guard,
the English, the most earnest
entreaty
could never prevail upon them to be upon their

or quit their
ground in the morning to take part ate a heavy meal just after night fall, many indulged also in drugs, and about midnight a whole army would be in a dead sleep (Cambridge, "War",
in a surprize.
The men
Introd.
or
xiii).
In the police of the camp the provost-marshal,
kofwcil,
special
was aided by a censor, or muhtasib, whose duty (usually very imperfectly performed) was to
gambling,
law.
for
suppress
drinking,
and other breaches of the

this
Mahomedan
Escort.
(Steingass,
The name used

163).
duty was badraqah
and usages on his passing hy. Shah 'Alam Bahadur Shah (17071712) generally travelled his stages on a moving throne [tahht-i-rawan). It is described
Etrfperors conveyance
by Bernier, 370. Another account, 8eir, ii, 171, note 95, us it was a chair resting on two straight bambus or poles and carried on the shoulders of eight men. Two or three persons could find place in it, and it had not only a canopy over it, but an awning in front to intercept the glare of the sun. Preceding the moving throne were the yasawals (Steingass, 1531), whose business it was to preserve order (Malumat-ul-afaq, fol. 795). Sometimes Bahadur Shah mounted a horse, but he does not seem to have ridden on an elephant except in the battle field. Whenever the emperor passed, it was the etiquette for princes, nobles, and chiefs to come out to the edge of their camp and present a gold coin or other offering. There are numerous instances of the practice in the historians such as Danishmand Khan and Kamwar Khan; and Bernier,
tells
382, also speaks of

Kotelar, the
camp
of
at
it. The custom was observed by Herr Dutch envoy, when he was in Bahadur Shah's Lahor in 1712. The practice spoken of by Bernier
entering
the
camp sometimes on one
side,
sometimes
on another, was the taghaiyur-i-rah dddan {Mirat-ul-Istildh,
ON THE MARCH.
fol.
211
80), a
custom either founded on superstition or devised

Rivers.
as a precaution against assassination.
Crossing
On
this
subject Horn, 25, quotes P.

ii,
de
Courteille,
"Memoires",
336,
the
occasion
being
Babar's
practice
boat
bridge across the Ganges near Kanauj.
The
was exceedingly common. Any river, if unfordable, was crossed by a temporary bridge of boats, such as are still to be seen in the present day. Horn, referring to
Elliot, vi,
363, somewhat emphasizes the fact that elephants
could
cross
such
bridges,
but
this
is
a matter of every
day experience.
of
special officer, dignified with the
name
struction of these bridges
Mir Bahr, Lord of the Sea, was charged with the conand the provision of boats. The
of one of these
description
bridges in Bernier, 380, can
be improved upon. "The army crossed by means two bridges of boats constructed with tolerable skill, and placed between two and three hundred paces apart. Earth and straw mingled are thrown upon the planking forming the foot way, to prevent the cattle from slipping. The greatest confusion and danger occur at the extremities for not only does the crowd and pressure occur most there, but when the approaches to the bridge are composed of soft moving earth, they become so broken up and full of pits, that horses and laden oxen tumble upon one another
hardly
of
into them,
and the people pass over the struggling animals in the utmost disorder. The evil would be much increased if the army were under the necessity of crossing in one
day;
to
but the king generally
fixes his
camp about
half a
league from the bridges of boats and suffers a day or two

elapse
ere he passes to the opposite side of the river;
his
when,
bank,
pitching
tents
his
within
half a league from the

so
he again
delays
departure
as to allow the
army three days and nights at least to efi'ect the passage". The practice referred to in the last sentence could be illustrated by more than one instance of river-crossing in the reign of Bahadur Shah (17071712).
212
It

seems that there was one defect in the purely native
of
system
making
a boat-bridge.
of
these,
They did not make use

followed
the tedions
result
of grapnels.
Instead
they
mode
of driving stakes into the river bed.
The
was
a bridge less secure; and what might have been ready in
one day took eight or ten days to complete (Remarks by Major R. E. Roberts, "Asiatic Miscell." i, 419).
In
Ashob's
across
Skahadat-i-Farruk/isii/ar,
fol.
112/5,
have
come
curious
device
bv the Mahrattas
to
mark
the fordable part of a river. In 1148 h. (1735) Pilaji Jadon

crossed the
Jamna
to attack Saâdat
Khan, Burhan-ul-mulk.
At the
place
of crossing
he caused bamboo poles to be
planted in the water, to show the line of shallow water in

case they
had
to retire.
His forethought was, however, of
fled in haste, and missed drowned being taken prisoners. Marching through Passes. The passage through a hilly country of such a huge assemblage as a Moghul army, consisting as it mainly did of undisciplined men, was, it need hardly be said, a matter of extreme difficulty, and in the presence of an active enemy likely to end disastrously. Of this difficulty Bahadur Shah had ample experience while governor of Kabul during the last ten years of his father's life. It was with the greatest difficulty, and more by guile than force, that he was able to pass yearly from his winter quarters at Peshawar to his summer residence at Kabul, and back again (Raverty, "Notes", 84, foot note, 86, 90, foot note, 372). Warned by what had happened to him in Kabul, we find Bahadur Shah adopting special precautions whenever he came to any narrow defile. On his return from the Dakhin, when he arrived at the Eardapur pass between Aurangabad and Burhanpur on the 23rd Shawwal 1121 h. (25tii Dec. 1709), he sent ahead
no
avail; they
were badly beaten,
the ford, those that were not
his
son, Jahandar Shah, with orders on reaching end to occupy in force a position in the open plain beyond (Kamwar Khan, entry of above date). Shortly
eldest
the
other
ON THE MARCH.
afterwards he
or
pass,
213
came with
his
army
to the
Mukand
darrah,
and the three great Rajput chieftains of Udipur, Jodhpur, and Jaipur being in open revolt, there was every
sudden onftilL This narrow valley in the Kotah state has a melancholy interest in Anglo-Indian history as the scene of Colonel Monson's disastrous retreat before Jaswant Rao, Hulkar, in July 1804 (Thornton, "Gaz." 624, Thorn, "War", 358363, Welreason
to
take
precaution
against
lesley
"Despatches",
iv,
178
^).
Bahadur Shah took very
great precautions.
plan of the pass was prepared a week

the road was reported to be only
before they
came
to it:
4i dirdh wide (about 12f feet). Accordingly on the 25*^ Muharram 1122 h. (25th March 1710), the eldest prince,
Jahandar Shah, was again deputed narrow

days
to
valley. It
to
march through
exit
in
advance of the main army, and occupy the

get
clear,
from the
gafar (5^^
seems to have taken the main body eight

as
it
was not
until the
6^^^
April) that the emperor quitted his

at
camp on
the hill side,
the
top
of the pass, a position

since the 29^^
which had been occu-
pied by
him
March (Kamwar Khan, entry
of above date).
department was always and war. Reports of all sorts, descending even to idle gossip and scandal, were always welcome. Danishmand Khan, entry of 11*^ j^^^mazan
intelligence
Scouts and Spies.
The
in active operation, both in peace
1120
H., tells
us that there were in
all
four thousand spies
{Jiarkarali) in the imperial service scattered throughout the kingdom. There was a head spy {daroghah-i-harharah^ who
was a man of influence and much feared his establishment formed a branch of the postal department, managed by a
;
high
court
official
called
the
Baroghah-i-dak,
or
super-
intendent of the Post.

sent
When
in the field, these spies
were
out in
all
directions. Their
"for
'
every work"), arose in

of this retreat
name, harkarah (literally the Dakhin but was adopted

is
ii,
The best account 715, 3135.
perhaps that in Frazer's "Skinner",
214

1.
by the Moghuls (Danishmand Khan,

it
c). In
modern usage
has
been transferred
to the runners carrying the mail
bags. Despatches
and orders were

If
either sent through the
ordinary post,
sengers
manned by
the
foot runners, or
on camels.
recipient
by special meswas to be specially
imperial
honoured or the matter was very important, one of the mace-bearers carried the message or letter to its
Negociations. These were carried on as a rule through holy
destination.
men
{darvesh) or through eunuchs, the sacred character of
the one and the peculiar position of the other class

their persons
making
more
likely to
be respected. Connected with
this subject is the case in
by Horn,
ii, 248, quoted where during Humayun's flight through Sind in 1542, Mai Deo, the son of Rae Lankaran of Jaisalmir, when he came to remonstrate about plundering, bore a white flag. Another instance is found in Ashob, fol. 2565. He tells us that during the general slaughter of 1739 in Dihli, the Shah's men were opposed in superior force by
Erskine "History",
51,
the AVazTr's troops stationed round the hitter's mansion. It
became necessary to communicate with the VVazir and send a letter. The messenger displayed a white sheet "that is to say, the signal of peace and negociation", and then advanced to state his purpose. The only other instance that I have met with of a flag of truce being used, was at the siege of Malligam in 1818, where Lake, 127, says "the garrison hung out a flag of truce, that we might carry away our dead and wounded".
him
CHAPTER
XIX.
LENGTH OF MARCHES.
Rennell,
317,
speaking from
his
experience,
says
the
length of a day's journey in Hindustan was 11 to 12 kos

or about
22 miles,
for
an ordinary traveller; but that of a
courier
sions of
for
may be reckoned
at 30 or 33 miles; and on occaemergeney they could travel even more, and that
continuance of fifteen
figures
ching.
But these must not be taken as any standard for army marThese was an official rate of progress laid down for
or
tv^ênty
days.
single officers or small parties travelling to or
from Court.
At
times there were, however, forced marches which
much
exceeded the ordinary length; on the other hand, the rate

of advance of a large
official rate
army was very much
less
than the
of marching, for ''slowness of motion stages
and the
{Sei7\
i,
smallness
of the
are in the idea of the Indians a
part of the state that
must attend a great man"

358,
alludes
to
this
187,
note
131).
is
Bernier,
when he
writes,
"this
indeed slow and solemn marching, what
we
day,
here call a la mogole\
In detailed histories where events are recorded day by
such as Danish mand Khan's
Bahadur
8Jidh
namah
and Kamwar Khan's Tazkirah-i-salatm4'chaghatai7/a/i, the

length
of each day's
march
is
stated with great precision
in jaribl or measured kos. This precision is accounted for, no doubt, by a statement found in Firishtah, Maqalah ii,
p.
212,
line
1.
He
tells
us that a tanah-i-'paimcdsh
it
fol-
lowed
the
army, and by
the
distance
traversed
was
measured. The introduction of the practice into India was
216
attributed
(the

to Babar.
is
One hundred
tanab
made one tanah
word
kos,
in
the quotation of the passage to be
B.M. Or. 2005, Tnnkh-i-AImad Shahi Each tanab was of 40 yards {(jaz) and each c. 1167 H.). gaz was of nine average fists (mus/il). This would make a kos of 4000, instead of 5000 gaz, as the later reckoning was. It was apparently Akbar who lengthened the tanab from 40 to 50 gaz {Ajn (Jarrett) ii, 414).
found on
fol.
38
of
Niccalao Manucci saw these measurements actually being
made when 'Alamgir

lipps 1945,
process.
fol.
left
Dihli in 1663, Berlin Ms. Phil-
48, and he gives a detailed account of the
foot march with a rope to measure They begin at the royal tent when the king starts. The first man, who holds tho rope in his hand, makes a mark in the ground, and when the man behind comes up to it, he calls out ''One". Then the other man makes another mark and counts two: and thus they continue for the whole march, counting "Three", "Four" and so on, the other peon also keeping count. Should the
"Other men on
as follows.
the
road,
king ask
of
how
far
he has gone, they calculate the number

league,
ropes making up a
and answer accordingly".
Dr. Horn, 115, states that his researches have not yielded
him
material
for
an exhaustive treatment of this section.
Without any pretence to be exhaustive, 1 hope to he able to throw some further light upon the subject. The official days inarch. If a man was summoned to court, the time for his arrival was calculated in the following way (B.M. 1641,
1)
fol.
405):
the postrunners, 30 measured {jarlbl) kos (78 miles) a day. 2) For preparation to march, one week. 3) For the march, 7 measured kos (18.2 miles) a day. The imperial measured kos was 200 jaribs of 25 dira^h each, that is, 5000 dirdh (B.M. 1641, fol. 51^). The folto
For the order
reach
him by
lowing doggrel
lines aff'ord a
memoria technica of
this fact
LENGTH OF MARCHES.
217
Panj alaf amad
zi
gaz nnqdar-i-mll.
In manabazat bar In has/iad dahl.

"Five thousand will yield in yards the mile's length,
This specification affords the proof thereof".
(Klmshhal
fol.
Chand,
'Nadir-uz-Zamani,
B.
M.
Or.
1844,
159/^).
The dirdh may be

the gaz-i'ildhl,
safely assumed to be the same as which has been found to be, as nearly as
(Elliot,
could
Gloss."
see 89).
be ascertained, 33 inches in length
"Supp.
88,
480, under "llahi Guz", and 229, under "Coss",

Prinsep, "Useful Tables", Calcutta,
of one jarlbl kos
also
1834,
p.
would be 4583| yards or 2.6 miles; and 7 kos equals 18.2 miles. The reputed {rasaml) kos was shorter, one jarlbl equalled 1.71 rasaml kos, and the rasaml kos was thus 1.52 miles in length. But this latter kos varies greatly in different parts
of the country.
Thus the length
We
can prove the ordinary rate of a day's journey from
other sources. For instance, Khushlial
Chand Nadir-uz-Zamanl,
B.M. 24,027,
twelve
fol 247^, tefls us that from Dihli to within
kos of Kabul the distance was 306 jarlbl kos, or
5351 rasaml kos, and that it was one and a half month's journey. Taking thirty days to a month, or forty five days
in
all,
we
find
that
this
brings out a rate of 6| jarlbl
and II9 rasaml kos travelled each day, or almost exactly the same as the distance fixed in the official manual.
Then Mirza Muhammad,

details
Harisi, gives in his
Memoirs
of several journeys
that
he made. After Bahadur
Shah's death he came from Labor to Dihli in twenty three
marches, via Nakodar, Phaltir, Ambalah, and Karnal. The
was 107 kos, measured on the map it comes to about 288 miles, or at the rate of 2.6 miles to the kos to 278 miles. This gives only 4.65 kos or 12.09 miles a day. But then we must recollect that for most of
reputed
distance
the
time he travelled in the company of Bahadur Shah's
218

for burial
widows, who wêre bringing that emperor's body

at Dihli.
to
Under
(1718)
these circumstances they

less
may be supposed
went from
in five
have travelled
H.
quickly than was usual. Again in
1130
the same
in
Mirza
Muhammad
Dihll to
Jalalabad
the
Muzaffarnagar
district
marches; the distances he gives, when added up, come to 53 kos, an average of over 10 kos (27 miles) a day. He
also
returned
H.
to
Dihli in
five
marches.
The next
year,
1131
(1719) the
in
same man went
as an
'Amil to parreached the
ganah Rahun
the
Jalandhar duabah.
He
Measured on the map the distance is roughly about 200 miles, which gives an average of 161 miles as his daily march. Again in 1126 e. it took Âbd-ul-jalil, BilgramT, four months to 'march from Bhakkar to Dihli, a distance of about 850 miles (Oriental Miscellany, 295, Letter N^ 6) by the usual route via Labor. pp. 133
place in twelve marches.
This yields an average of a
little
over seven miles a day;
but then we do not know what halts he made.
Forced marches.
tioned by Horn, 21.
The tlghar, or forced march, is menSome remarkable feats of this nature
in
were performed by Akbar; notably his advance on Gujarat 1573 (Elphinstone, 443). Such activity was not displayed
in later times,
and the Moghuls were habitually outmarched and out-manoeuvered by the Mahrattas. It is true that late instances of forced marches by Maistir troops are on record,
but these can hardly be taken as applicable to the Moghul
organization.
Haidar and Tipu Sultan kept their troops in

order,
and what they did could not be done by other native armies. In 1781 Haidar marched one hundred miles in two days and a half, and in November 1790 Tipu s entire army marched sixty three miles in two
exceptional
days. In our early days in India our
feats quite as wonderful.
own
troops performed
In 1805 General Smith's cavalry
followed
Amir Klian 700 miles in 43 days (Blacker, 281). Lord Lake also made some wonderful marches in 1803
and 1804.
LENGTH OF MARCHES.
219
Army
long
marching.
We
possess several detailed accounts of

later
marches
undertaken by the
emperors at the
head of large armies.

fought
together
for
When
the
Âlamglr died two of his sons

west of Peshawar,
at
crown. But at the time of their

little
father's death,
one was at Jamrud, a

in the imperial
and the other was

in the
camp
Ahmadnagar
them
other,
Dakhin. There were thus about 1200 miles between they at once commenced to march towards each
and finally met in battle in June 1707 between Agrah and Dholpur. The eldest son. Prince Mu^zzam, Shah 'Alam, reached Agrah in sixty-two days. The route was covered thus:
Jamrud
Lahor
distance
to the Indus, 8 days, the to
Indus to Lahor, 19 days,
DihlT,
25
days,
Dihli to Agrah, 10 days.
The
eighth for the windings of the road
measured on the map, with an addition of one ', is about 690 miles.
distance
The average
Starting
covered
is
thus about
11.1
miles
(including halts).
from the other direction. Prince A^zam Shah, the second son, was ninety two days on the march. From Ahmadnagar to Aurangabad took him 15 days, Aurangabad to Burhanpur, 22 days, Burhanpur to Sironj, 20 days,
Sironj to Gwaliyar,
29 days, Gwaliyar
about
5.48
to
Dholpur, 6 days.
The
tance
total
number
of days being ninety
on the
details
map
two and the dis505 miles, the average rate of

miles (including
halts).
progress
farther
was about
Some
may be
noted.
was,
we
are told, 56-2 kos
Aurangabad to Burhanpur done in 18 marches and 4 halts;

3J^
the actual marching thus averaged here

a day.
miles),
kos (8.16 miles)
of 6.7
Burhanpur to Sironj, given as over 114 kos (296.8 was done in 17 actual marches, or a daily average kos (17.42 miles). By the map I make it 242 miles,
which yields an average of 14.2 miles. The two marches above described were made under the
1
Rennell's
rule,
-'Memoir",
miles,
portions of 100 or
150
7, is "Break the horizontal distance into and add one eighth to get the road distance".
220
strongest

possible
and must represent the utmost that a Moghul army was able to do in the
pressure
of
haste,
way of continuous marching. In ordinary times the usual march of an army never exceeded 4| kos (11.7 miles) and was sometimes as little as 11 kos (3.25 miles). When Bahadur Shah marched from Agrah to the Dakhin, and then back via Ajmer to Lahor, the historians record the length of 340 separate marches. Most of them were of 3 to 31 kos each (7.8 to 9.1 miles). This monarch always halted on Friday, and there was generally a long halt in
the
month
of
Ramazan on account
tabulated as follows-.
of the fast.
Some
of the
facts
may be
op Place.
Name
LENGTH OF MARCHES.
route
221
mated
was by the Eolan pass, the distance may be estias 60S miles. This gives an average daily march of
have also some other accounts, which are sufficiently
18.4 miles.
We
specific to afford us information of the usual rate at
which
marched. For example, we have the advance of FarrukhsTyar from Patnali to encounter his uncle, Jahandar
an army
Shah,
in
the
neighbourhood of Agrah.
The
prince
left
Patnah on the 22^^ Sept. 1712 and reached Sarae
Begam,
opposite Samtigarh, east of Agrah, on the 4^^ January 1713.
The distance from Patnah to Agrah was commonly reckoned as 800 Jtos (780 miles)^ Khushhal Chand, B.M. Addl 24,027, fol. 220^. I make it no more, however, than 585 miles on the map (allowing i^^ for the windings of the road); and
as
Farrukhsiyar
a
did
not
to
keep
to
the
usual
route,
visit
but
the
deviated
shrine
of
good deal Shah Madar

actually
the right, in order to
at
Makhanpur,
at
should estimate
the
distance
travelled
about
610
miles.
The
stages (including the final advance to Dihli) were:
Stages.
222
Stages.
CHAPTER XX.
ORDER OF BATTLE.
The ranging
as
saff
of an
army
saff,
in order of battle
was known
file;
arastan,
from
a row, rank, or
another
134^).
phrase for the same thing i^parrah hastan (Ashob,
fol.
Horn, that what

Dr.
tactics
59
1
70,
has worked out this section so fully,
have to say must be in a great measure a

of his
reproduction
remarks.
He
shows that the Moghul
were founded on the rules laid down in Taimur's ordinances (Davy and White, 228 and foil, Horn, 136 151).
When
the
first
was the duty of Bakhshi, the Bakhshi-ul'mamalik, to draw up a

great
battle
it
was imminent,
scheme of
attack, dividing the force into divisions, assigning
and naming the leaders of each. The proposed distribution was laid before the Emperor and his approval obtained. The day before the battle the Bakhshi
to each its position
also
caused
musters to be made, and an abstract of this
present-state
was
laid before the emperor.
For instance, we
28th
read in
Danishmand Khan, entry

that Zujfiqar
for
it
of the
first
1120
a
H.,
Khan, the
against
Shawwal Bakhshi, drew up

Bakhsh, and
plan
the
battle
prince
Kam
presented
to the
emperor
for approval.
was then, roughly speaking, as follows. First came the skirmishers. Next was placed the artillery in a line, protected by rocket-men and sheltered by a rough field-work, possibly the guns being also chained together. Behind the guns stood the advanced guard; a were the right and left wings. Then, at little behind it some distance, was the centre, where stood the emperor on
of battle
The order
224
his

elephant,
having a
{iltmisli)
little
way
in front of side of
it
him an
ad-
vanced guard
and on each
two bodies,
its
thrown a
the
little
way
ahead, called the tarah. Behind the
centre was the rear-guard {cha7idaioul), having in
charge
baggage and the women. I would beg a reference to the diagrams in Horn, 60, 63, 65, 66, 73. One book, B.M. 6599, fol. 164(f^, has the following disposition:
Qar Clival
(skirmishers)
Iltmish
Juz-i-harawal
Harawal or MuqaddamahJaranghar
(Left
ul-Jais
Baranghar-i-
(Vanguard)
Harawal
(Right wing of advance guard)
Wing)
Iltmish
Al-altar{l)
GJiol (Centre)
Dastchap-i-ghol
(Left
(where the com-
wing of Centre)
mander was
stationed)
Dast-i-rast-i-g liol
(Right wing of
centre)
Chandawul
(Rear guard)
As
battle
the
names
differ
for
these
different parts of an
it
armv
in
array
a good deal,
will be as well to set
them out somewhat

qui for the
left,
at length. The words so/-ân and soland ong-qul for the right wing of the centre, as introduced by Eabar (P. de Courteille, "Memoires", ii, 17, Horn, 60), seem to have dropped out of use. We hear
nothing of them in the later

Qalawurl. This word
is
histories.
employed
in the Mirat-i-Ahnadl,
ORDER OF BATTLE.
fol.
225
in the sense of men guiding or showing the an army. Steingass, 983, defines it as "road-guides, horsemen who guard the flank, spies, scouts".
186^,
to
way
Iftrdl.
From
been
of
a passage in
ii,
Wilson, "Early Annals",

to
John Surman's Diary, C. R. 2nd part, 26, this word seems
advanced force or vanguard "Meer Jumlah has arrived att Attayah (Itawah) and his Aftally
used
for
have
an
consisting
12,000 horse att Shasadpore (Shahzadpur)".
Steingass, 80, has.
Ifted: "dispersed, scattered, rent, torn". Skirmishers. Qarawal is defined by Steingass, 962, as T.
sentinel,
keeper,
hunter.
in
watchman, spy, guard, the vanguard, a gameIn peace these men were the imperial
war, they
huntsmen;
skirmishers.
were sent ahead as scouts and
Vanguard. This was called either Harawal ov muqaddamah' ul-jais. The former word Iiaraioal, harol, or arawal is defined by P. de Courteille, 10, 515, as "troupe qui
marche en
avant
de I'armee pour
I'eclairer,
troupe envoyee en avant
pour soutenir I'avant garde". Steingass, 1494, has "vanguard, running footmen". Muqaddamah-ul-jais is the Arabic phrase,
meaning "front-part
instead
of
of the
army {jaisy\ and

60,
is
often used
harawal.
Horn,
speaks of certain families

to certain
among
the
Moghuls having hereditary claims
positions. In India the right to fight in the
vanguard was
one of
i,
conceded, from the time of Akbar, to the Barhah sayyads,
and the
line
8, I
fact is often referred
to in later times as
their best titles to honour.
In the Badshah-nmiah,
214,
'Abd-ul-hamid speaks of troops sent ahead of an army by the name of manqalah. The expression is
find
not very
in
common;
have met with

Berlin
it
once spelt manqala

fol.
Khushhal
as
for
Chand,
Ms.
495,
1127^,
c.
and
h.,
several times in the
Maasir-ul-umara (written
i.
1155
1742),
instance on p. 543 of vol.
It is
used in
Tarikh-i"^ Alamgir
also the
Sam, on
fol.
1055.
It
is
said to have
form manghalae, the
latter a
Moghul word meaning
"forehead, front" (Steingass, 1331, 1333).

15
226
Advanced post of the Vanguard. This body was named

juzah-i-hardwal, literally "chicken of the vanguard", Horn,
61,
who
refers to
Budaoni,
ii,
231, line
4.
Bight
Wing. There are
five
names
for this part of the
army, two Arabic, one Chaghatae, and two Persian. They

are
(1)
maimanah^
(2) ansar-i-maivianah,
'"
(Dastur-ul-lnsha,
233), (3) baranghar, (4) dast-i-rdst, (5) taraf-i-yamln (Khafi ~~
Khan,
ii,
876)7
left
Left Wing. In the same way the

five different
wing
is
referred to
by
names, the maisarah, A.ansdr-i-??iaisarah{Ds.st\lr-
ul-Insha, 233) jaranghdr, Ch., dast-i-c/iap^ P.,
and
jdnib-i-
yamr
India,
(Khafi Khan,
ii,
876). Jaranghdr, the form used in
should be more correctly juivdnghdr (Horn, 39, P.

157,
289),
de
C,
but jaranghdr does
not
seem
to
be
merely
a mistake of the press, as Dr.

it
Horn
suggests, for
we have
in the dictionaries (Steingass,
359).
Advance guard of the Centre. This bore the Chaghatae
number sixty, that is, iltmish, (P. de C. 31). Possibly it may have originally consisted of this number of men, and the name having been once adopted, it was retained regardless of the actual number of men employed.
for the
name
Khafi Khan,
ii,
876
spells,
galtmish.
The Centre. This Chaghatae word qTil

qalb,
literally
division
(P.
was known
"troop",
^?7/
either
by
the
de C. 433) or the Arabic words
"heart",
and
ii,
ghol,
"assemblage".
For example, Khafi Khan,

i'Mhd. Shah,
Chaghatae.
because
it
876 uses
and the ^m/^^this
fol.
1135, uses ghol. Qid also means slave in
Perhaps the centre was called by
name,
was formed out of the personal retainers or slaves of the leader or sovereign. Another name for the centre is qamargah, Mirdt-i- Ahnadi (circa 1170 h.) fol. 17v<^. This
word is more usually applied to the circle within which game was driven by troops used as beaters. It was also a term of fortification (see farther on under "Sieges"). It was in the centre that the leader took up his station with his standards displayed.
ORDER OF BATTLE.
Winc/s
Courteille,
227
taraJi.
of the
Centre.
These
were called
this
P. de
"Diet."
382,
ii,
translates
word as used in
Babar's ''Memoirs",
167, Text, 344, by the word "reserve".
Horn
centre
to
assigns to the tar ah,
which he
also calls the reserve,

in advance, of the
a position on each side, but

itself.
somewhat
In this position these troops would seem rather
be the advanced guard than the reserve of the centre.

ii,
Khafi Khan,
876, distinguishes into tarah-i-dast-i-chap
and tarah'i'dast-i-rast Rear guard. The name of

288)
the
is
this
was chanddwul
(P.
de C.
literally,
water-carriers, people belonging to the rear

its
guard (Steingass, 400). Tn
charge was the baggage of
army
(bahir-o-bangah). Horn, 61, says the correct form

1,
chaghdaul, referring to Babar 131, line
and 184,
is
line
10. This
form
is
not used by Indian writers of later date,
nor
is
it
in P.
de Courteille, "Dictionnaire". It
found
395 of Steingass. Saqah. The rear of any division of the army or of any camp was called its saqah, Ashob, fol. 182a, Steingass, 642. Nasaqchl. From the time of Nadir Shah's invasion, we hear a good deal of the nasaqchl. This word, which seems to have passed then into Indian usage, is from nasaq, order, arrangement. The nasaqchl was an armed man employed to enforce orders and there were several thousand of them in Nadir Shah's camp. Military punishments were inflicted through them, and one of their duties was to stand in the
on
p.
;
rear
of
the
army and
i,
to cut
down
every one
who dared
office,
to flee. Their
(Jchanjar),
arms were a
340,
battle-axe, a sabre,
and a dagger
JSeir,
note 286.
Their signs of
says, fol. 263^^, were a staff" or baton carried in the and on the head a tadai, J^^j, of moulded brass, three sided, in shape like the deeply ribbed or winged
Ashob
hand,
fruit of the
kamra/ch (Averrhoa carambola).

(^^.iiip')
Taulqamah
ghatae
to
or
Taulghamah
(i^^^S).
This
is
a Cha-
word used
to denote the troops posted in
ambush
turn the enemy, or the action of turning the flank of
228
the
enemy
(P.
several
places
(22,
de C. "Diet.", 243). Horn refers to it in 23, 60, 73, 75). It was a manoeuvre
i,
executed by Babar (P. de C. "Memoires",

described
194) and
is
by him as a sudden onslaught accompanied by
a discharge of arrows, and followed by as sudden a retreat.
From
But
this passage
Horn holds taulqamah

p.
to be the
name
of a manoeuvre rather than of a particular part of the army.

in his
diagram on
before
73,
showing the position taken
by Babar
the
battle of PanTpat, he places a taul-
qamah on both the right and the left of the two wings. Thus the word must be accepted in both senses, namely as a manoeuvre and as a section of the battle array. Khafi Khan, ii, 876, when setting forth the divisions of Nizamul-mulk's
army
Khan,
19th
before the fight with Sayyad Dilawar 'All June 1720, says "Fathullah Khan, Khosti, and
Rao Raghuba,
appointed
the
Binalkar,
with a force of 500 horse were

.
taulqamair
This bears out the use of the
word
array.
as
one of the divisions of an army when in battle

without giving
this
The manoeuvre was one employed by Ahmad Shah,

it
Abdali,
(p.
name, see
p.
233.
Qazaql
sort.
240) was also a movement of
much
the
same
CHAPTER
XXI.
CONDUCT OF A BATTLE.
An
cavalry
open country was one of the
first
necessities for a
successful action
by a Moghul army,
for
without this their
could
not deploy freely (Horn, 21). Even ground
covered with thick scrub was unfavourable, while

ravines
still
more hampered
their
and movements. In a mounhills
tainous
their
region
they were at a terrible disadvantage; and
horsemen were quite unequal to guerilla warfare. In their palmiest days they found themselves unable to reach the Pathans amidst their rocks; and in their decadence they were helpless as children against the nimble
mail-clad
Mahratta.
Usually
battle
one,
if
not
both,
the
armies
made ready
for
by drawing out the guns in a long
line
and protecting
them by earth works, the guns being also connected together by chains or hide-straps, to prevent the horsemen of the other side from riding through the line and cutting down the gunners. For instance, Dara Shukoh used chains at Samugarh in 1658 (Bernier, 47); and before the battle of the 22nd Rabf i, 1161 h. (2lst March 1748) with Ahmad Shah, AbdalT, between Machhiwarah and Sihrind, the imperialists "joined their
fashion of
58a).
Rum"
cannon together by chains after the (Anand Ram, India Office Ms. 1612, fol.
Again, outside Labor, on
Ahmad
Shah's second in-
vasion in 1165 H. (1751-2), the subahdar, Muîn-ul-mulk,

resorted to zanjlr-hnndl of his cannon
(Ghulam
it
''All
Khan,
Muqaddamah-i-S. A.
survived
to
namah,
last,
fol.
79).
find
the
very
for
we
Nay, the practice put in force by
230
the Mahrattas at LaswarTin

214).
November 1803 (Thorn, "War",
good description of the zanjlrah-hand (as he calls by Ashob, fol. 182/5, with reference to Muhammad Shah's camp at Karnal in the year 1151 h. (1739). ''The zaujirah hand began at the last bastion of the town wall, a narrow path one or two yards wide being left on the bank of the canal for the passage of the guards (chauki)
it)
is
given
on their rounds ishah-gard). were

planted
four
The swivel-guns
{rahkalali)
yards apart, with iron chains strongly
attached to the wheels {lialqah) of their carriages (arabah).
Between every two swivel-pieces were stationed

with
wall-pieces
{jazair),
five
men
side,
having
pushtahs (breastworks)
thrown up {andakhtali), and their pieces ready, side by

on their tripods".
If
the
guns were not too numerous,

village;
practice to post
in
some
it was often the them behind the clay walls of the houses or to take up a commanding position on
;
or a temporary entrenchment might be formed out of the earthen bank and ditch which usually surround a grove of mango trees \ A discharge of rockets from the artillery position generally began the action. Then the guns were brought into play. The fire never became, I expect, very rapid. Orme, for example, "Mil.
the top of an old brick-kiln
Trans.",
18^^!
i,
74,
referring
to as late as the
middle of the
1016/5,
century, speaks of their firing once in a quarter of an

fol.
hour. Khushhal Chand's remarks, Berlin Ms. 495,
show that in 1721 the usual rate of fire was one shot every three hours (one
Haidar Quli Khan's
cooled
vals
of the heavy
pas).
guns
He
praises
men
for the
energy with which they

^=- 44 minutes). must have been very
their
guns, loaded them, and fired them at inter-
of three-quarters of an hour {do-ghari
In
Babar's
time the
rate
of firing
slow. In his battle near Kanauj, he says (P. de
C,
ii,
337)
"Ustad Quli Khan"

1
(his
mir atash)
"made
very good use
Clive found one of these last very useful at the battle of Palasi (Plassey),
^'Mil.
Orme,
Trans.",
ii,
172.
of
his
artillery.
231
The
first
day he discharged eight projec-
tiles,
the second he shot sixteen, and so continued for three
or four days".
He
(i.
used for this the piece called "the Cannon

the
of the Conqueror", the
against Sanka
its
still
same that he had used in the battle Rana of Chitor), and to this it owed name of Ghazi. He had also mounted in a battery a
e.
larger piece; but

to
it
burst at the
first
discharge.
Owing
unable
to
the slowness of the draught oxen,
who were
seldom
cavalry
which
cause,
defeat
up with an advancing line, the artillery took any further part in the battle, once the advance had passed beyond the entrenched position had been taken up at the outset. From the same it seldom happened that in case of a retreat or the guns could be saved; they had to be spiked
keep
and left behind (Fitzclarence, 255); or as Blacker puts it ("War", 128) "In an action the guns of an Indian army are generally immovable and their cavalry all motion. The
object
viously
of
to
the
batteries
is
to fire as long as possible pre-
being taken; and of the horse, to secure their
retreat if discomfited, unfettered
by any incumbrance". While the artillery duel went on, the rest of the army was drawn up at some distance behind the guns in the
order of battle already detailed, with standards displayed,
drums
its
beating,
for
and horns blowing. "As the army took up

battle,
^
position
the
long brass
horns
{karranai)
sounded and heralds

kharln
text,
made proclamation"
i,
{8air-ul-MutaIsaiah
says,
59,
Seir,
208).
Since,
as
"every battle of the warrior
is with confused noise", some mention must be made here of battle cries. Horn, 23, tells us that in Babar's time there was a pass word to distinguish friend from foe we hear nothing of such a prac; 1
Heralds,
that
is
naqlb, Steingass 1421, a servant whose business

of his master, and to introduce those
it
is
to
proclaim
respects
the
to
titles
who pay
their
him. In 1870, on the day of the Duke of Edinburgh's
arrival
at
Benares, such a herald preceded the late Rajah Deo Narayan

I
Singh as he walked from the railway station to the river bank, and heard the man shouting out the Rajah's titles.
232
tice

in
later
times.
But shouts and battle
cries,
coupled
with abusive or taunting language, were copiously resorted
Such cries were Allahu akbar ! (God is great) and Din! Din! (The faith! The faith!). Akbar used the cry of Yd Muln! (O Helper!), Horn 109, quoting BudaonT, ii, 167, Lowe 170. The passage in Budaoni is:
to.
Kamdn-i-liiydnl dar elm ad

YaJce guft
''
ba-zilt,
''
Ba-sitdn\ yalce guft
DUi\
''The royal
bow was drawn
to the full.
'Strike' ".
One
called 'Seize',
and another
i,
''
In another place, Budaoni,
335, line 3 from end, speaks

Ba-kasI/!' o
of awdZ'i-' Dill' o ''Sitctn' o

cries
"Ba-zan\ ghostly
still
of "Strike", "Seize" "Slay", "Smite",
supposed
to be heard after night-fall
from the
battle-field of Panipat.
Steingass,
547, has
to
di!i,
strike thou, inf.
dadan, and 548,
dihddih
zadan,
of sadde
raise
a battle cry. Khafi

''Ba-kasli'
Khan
ii,
58,
speaks
''Ba-kash!''
buland sak!itah,
"having raised loud
cries of 'Kill! Kill!'"
We are reminded
fly
of Michael Drayton's "Battaile of Agincourt":
"Whilst scalps about
like
broken potsherds
And
'kill',
'kill',
'kill',
the Conquering English cry".
The most common cry in later times was Din! Din! Muliammad! This was used by the Arabs at Nagpur in 1817 (Fitzclarence, 103). It is what Robert Orme represented, "Mil. Trans." ii, 339, as "the sound of Ding Mahomed", or as a contemporary account of the battle of
Baksar,
Oct.
23rd 1764, says (Carraccioli, "Clive",
i,
57)
"when our seapoys observed the enemy they gave them a ding or huzza \ One Mahratta war cry was "Gopal Gopal!"
!
{AJucdl-ul'khaivaqln,
207^;);
this
is
one of the names of
Krishn. iVnother, according to Grant Duff, 109, was "Har, Har, Mahadeo" these are also the names of Hindu gods.
;
When the guns were supposed to have done their work and had sufficiently demoralized the opposing army, successive charges were delivered from first
Cavalry
cJiarges.
CONDUCT OV A BATTLE.
233
one wing, then the other. The horsemen began with matchlock
fire
and a discharge of arrows,
finally
coming
to close
quarters and hand to hand fighting with sword, mace, or

spear. This latter
was the chapqalash, evidently from
(ji^^xjl:^,
P.
1165
de C. 271, a combat. H. (1752) to have

the
Ahmad
brought
(ante,
Shah, Abdali, seems in

in
p.
mode
in
of attack,
resembling
taulqamah,
228)
which the
matchlock played a conspicuous part.

ready
lighted.
He
divided his horse

all
into several bodies of one thousand each,
with matches
The
first
body
{dastaJi)
rode hard at the
enemy, delivered its fire, then galloped off again. A second body followed and did the same, and so on in succession
(Ghulam
January
'All
Khan, Muqaddamah,
7*11
fol.
79/5).
At
the battle
oFPanTpat, fought on the

1761),
he repeated
this
Jamadi ii, 1174 h. (13*^ manoeuvre at a critical

thereby
moment
fol.
with conspicuous success,
throwing the
Mahrattah centre into confusion, {Tdnkh-i-Eusain ShaM,

445,
45^^).
In
the
Maâsir-ul-umara,
it
ii,
671,
told that in the south of India
was the practice
we are to make
the
first
attack against the rear of an army.

frise or Caltrops.
Chevaux de
Steingass,
According
to the dictionary,
460,
khasak
is
the
word
for a caltrop
thrown
impede the movements of cavalry. I have seen only one mention of their employment, namely, in the Akharnamah (Lucknow edition, i, 75, five lines from foot) where Taimur is said to have used them. But I have come across the word in Sa'di's lines quoted by Muhammad Mun'îm, Ja'farabadi, in his Farrukli-namah, fol. 275, (1128 h.) and
to
down
by
'Ishrat, Siyalkoti, in his
Nadirnainah^M. 56a (1151

rez,
h.)
'Âdu ra ha jcte
khasak zar ha
Kih bakhshish kund kunad dandan-i-iez.

"Before an enemy scatter gold, not spikes.
For
gifts
will blunt the sharpest teeth".
between Moghul cavalry and that of European armies in their methods of fighting.
As
to the distinctive difference
234
Colonel Blacker has some judicious remarks ("War", 189).

First
of
all,
to
show how formidable such
gular bodies of cavalry seemed, he quotes

ever has seen a
full
Orme "whoso-
solid
but
irre-
body of ten thousand horse advancing on all together will acknowledge with the Marechals Villars and Saxe that their appearance is tremendous, be their courage or discipline what it will". Yet a few European squadrons could ride them down and disperse them. There was a want of sympathy between the parts, and this prevented one part depending upon the
the
gallop
assistance of another.
Owing
horse
could,
for the
to its size, an army moment, meet the attack

its total
of
Moghul
and
of a small
compact body by a portion only of

since
as
strength,
against
disciplined
cavalry an equal front of an
irregular
body of troops can never stand the shock of an attack, the Moghuls were bound to give way. The whole being thus broken up into parts, the parts avoided exposure
to the brunt of the action
;
the part actually attacked fled,

fall
but the parts not menaced did not combine to

rear
on the
of the
pursuers.
On
the other hand, the disciplined
troops divided, reassembled, charged and halted on a single

trumpet-call,
if
and threatened each
single part in turn.

it
the drilled cavalry tried skirmishing,
that the
Moghul
combat
horse, apparently so
iii,
But was soon found despicable, were most

also of opinion that
formidable in detail. Wilks,

in single
a
392,
is
European seldom equalled the address
of a native horseman.
The objective was the elephant of the opposite leader, and round it the fiercest of the battle raged. The centre was the ultimate object of attack and every effort was made to get closer and closer to it. As a rule, a battle in India was a series of isolated skirmishes, the contending bodies holding themselves at first at some distance from each other, and ending in close individual fighting. One European observer, writing at rather a late period, declares that numbers always decided the day, that the smaller
invariably gave
235
way
before the larger force. This view

it,
may
an
have
some
truth
in
but cannot be hiid
down
as
axiom.
Accident as frequently as not was decisive, while
treacherous desertion or half-hearted support wâs a frequent

occurrence.
The most
have been
decisive
point of a battle was, however, the
death or disappearance of the leader. If he was

killed,
known
to
or
could
not be seen on his elephant,
the troops desisted at once, and the greater part forthwith
sought their
la
own
ix).
safety
in flight (To this
eff'ect,
see
De
Flotte,
i,
258, Orme, "Hist. Frag.", 419, Cambridge, In order to be conspicuous, the leader
"War",
Introd.
rode on an elephant, preceded by others bearing displayed
"Nothing was more common than for a whole army to turn its back the moment they perceived the general's seat empty. But Europeans having these forty years past (1745 1785) gained many a battle by only pointing a four-pounder at the main elephant, Indian generals have abandoned the custom and now appear on horseback, nay have learned to discipline their troops and
standards.
to have
an
artillery well
served" {Seir,
to panic
i,
10, note 20).
The
troops
were very subject

so
much
that
the
fact
off,
"one soldier makes
and sudden flight; so was summed up in the proverb and a whole army is done for" \ by the event above referred
to,
is
Many
the
battles
were
lost
death or disappearance of the leader.
One
instance
the loss of the battle of
Samugarh
Khan,
in 1658, because
Dara
Shukoh descended from

suing the
flying
his elephant to
mount
The
a horse, at
the entreaty of Khalilullah
with the object of purloss
enemy
(Bernier, 54).
or flight
or capture of the leader also determined the great battles of Jajau (18th June 1707), Haidarabad (13th January 1709),
Labor,
(15th-18th
March
1712),
Agrah, (10th Dec. 1712)

first
Hasanpur (13th Nov. 1720). In the

1
Prince A'zam Shah

Horn,
111,
Lashkarl garezad,
ii,
lashkarc sar
shavvad^
quoting
Budaonl,
196, line
4.
236
and two sons were killed; in the second, Prince Kam Bakhsli was mortally wounded and made prisoner. At
Lahor the three younger brothers of Prince Jahandar Shah were defeated by him one after another and killed. At Agrah, Jahandar Shah left the field of battle and fled in disguise to Dihli. At Hasanpur, Prince Ibrahim and the rebel wazir, Âbdullah Khan, both became the prisoners of
Muhammad
Shah.
On
this
head see also Horn, 46, and

i,
the cases there referred to, Badsliahnamah,
512,
last line,
Akharnamah, iii, 54, line 12 and following. Once more. Sir Eyre Coote, "Minutes of Sel. Com", SQtli April 1772,
reprint, 39, attributes the victory of Palasi (Plassey) partly
to
the
loss
of
one Meer Noodur, Siraj-ud-Daulah's head
general.
One
rider
of our
cannon
balls killed his elephant
then
its
was
killed by a fall
from
it;
this,
and and the
death of the oxen
dragging the guns, threw the enemy
into the greatest confusion.
Untimely plundering.
eagerness
to
There was also an undisciplined
day
wâs really decided;

for
trously
and begin plundering before the and this habit often ended disasthose who had too easily assumed themselves
break
off
to be the victors.
Single combat. Horn, 46, quotes instances {Akbarnamah,

iii,
97, 98
and Khafi Khan,

his
2adly^ in
ii,
304, 305),
1st
where Akbar
challenged
opponent, Datid Lodi, to a fight in single
combat; and
of the
1095 h., when M. Ibrahim, a general Haidarabad rulers, made a similar ofier to Prince Mu'azzam, eldest son of 'Alamgir. We may add to these
proposal sent in 1119 h. (1707) by the same Prince Mu'azzam (afterwards Shah 'Alam Bahadur Shah) to his next brother, xVL. A'zam Shah, when they were both claimants for the throne, then vacant through the death of
the
their
father.
It
does
not
appear that any of these duels
actually took place; the last
most certainly did
not.
Challenges to single combat seem to have been not unusual between men of lower rank. We have an instance
in
237
Khafi Khan,
robber
ii,
633, line 14, where he says that Sarwa,

of Papra, the toddy-seller,
associate
and one
of
the latter's petty
officers,
Purdil Khan, had such a violent
quarrel about each other's soldierly qualifications, that they
fought a duel {jang-i-yahyangi), "as
is
the custom in the

itself
Dakhin"
in
(see ante, p. 185).
Later on the practice showed
1782, when the English under Sir Eyre Coote were opposed
to the Mysore army under Haidar "All. Individual horsemen would ride up within speaking distance and, with contemp-
tuous abuse
of a
mode
of
warfare
excluding individual
prowess, would give a general challenge to single combat.
Many
times and with uniform success these were accepted

Dallas,
by Lieut.
man
six foot high,
who rode
a coal-
black horse, and formed a striking exception to the general
European to native swordsmen (Wilks, ii, 392). The TJtara. Dismounting, (from H. utarna, to descend, dismount), or fighting on foot, was a peculiarity of Indian horsemen of which they were very proud. It was specially
inferiority of
affected
H. M.
Elliot,
among Indian Mahomedans by the Barhah Sayyads. "M. Hist.", i. Appendix, 537, speaks of this
and the
allied
practice,
one of Colligation in Fighting, as a custom of the Hindu tribes. The Beglar-namah, (Ell. i,
293)
a
history of Sind written about 1625, quotes
Rana
Kumba
of
Amarkot
as saying "it
custom amongst their tribes from their horses and engage on foot". Other instances are to be found in the same Appendix. Horn, 21, seams to be referring to this habit, when he says that the Moghul horseman had to serve sometimes as
His reference in the Âlamgir'namah, 67, line 8, a case of the utara. It took place at the is undoubtedly battle with Jaswant Singh, Rathor, and it is specially said
infantry.
to
was an old-established that both parties should alight
be "the custom of the valorous reputation-seekers of Hindustan". Anand Ram, writing in 1161 h. (1748),
O. L.
I.
N^
1612,
fol.
876, refers to
it
as a special feature
of Rajput
tactics.
An
instance of the practice by Rajputs
238
will be

found in Budaonl's account, text
the
battle
i,
368, Ranking,
478,
of
fought
in
1562 near Ajmer between
Sher Shah and Mai Deo, Rathor. Again, we find it in use in 1151 H. (1739) at the battle near Karnal, where Klian
Dauran,
Samsam-ud-daulah,
fol.
Khan
the
killed. Ashob, dead bodies of Mirza 'Aqil Beg, Kamalposh, and of
227,
was wounded and MuzafiFar tells us that "they found
others, his brethren, with their skirts tied together".
This dismounting was resorted to at the crisis of a battle; and when the horsemen alighted, they bound themselves
together by the skirts of their long coats. There are
references
to
this
many
mode
of fighting in the descriptions of
battles in the early part of the 18^^ century.
The
Persians
in the Indian service scoffed at this habit,

it
and attributed
not to valour but to defective horsemanship. An anonymous writer of that nation remarks, "So when Hindustani
it
cavalry go to battle,
is
impossible for them to

If
make
stand
without
their
suffering physically.
they are caught inleft
volved in a fight they have no resource
but to alight
killed in
life
and
let
horses
go.
Though they may be
either
case,
yet
the
chances are greater in favour of

it
is
when
kills
they alight. If they remain in the saddle,
im-
possible for
them
to escape, for the horse, as likely as not,
the
rider before
the
enemy touches him. Anyhow,

appearance of bravery and
trans,
Lit.,
this
manoeuvre
boast of
of utdra has the

it.
they
("Memoirs of Dihli",
of Tankh-ii,
Parah Bnkhsh, by W. Allied to what Elliot

which
I have only
Hoey, M. A., D.
App7~8).
or
refers to as "colligation",
men
binding themselves together
when
once.
fighting,
is
an incident
met with
In 1165 h. (1752) at
the turning-point of the battle fought outside Lahor against Ahmad Shah, Abdali, the nazim, Mu'in-ul-mulk, and his
chief
other's
captain,
stirrup,
Bhikari
Khan, put each one

fort of
foot
in
the
and
thus, knee to knee, fought their
way
back to shelter in the
Lahor (Ghulam
'Ali
Khan,
Muqaddama/i,
fol.
l^b).
CONDUCT OF A
BATTTÊ.
239
Some
other technical terms of fighting. There are several
words and phrases which often occur in accounts of battles, and seem to have, in that connection, a more or less technical meaning. These I note, with such explanations as
occur to me.
Earakat-i'mazbu/n. This means literally the expiring throes
of a slaughtered animal, but seems used to express a feeble and hesitating attack, which is never carried home. In Budaoni, ii, 234, occurs the following passage: o sare chand az fidaigdn-i-Rana, kih mahal-i-Tt-rd muhdfazat nn-kardand^
sare chand-i-dtgar, suknah-i-muâbad^ kih majmu'' bist kas
bdshand, binabar-i-rasm i-qadlm-i- Hindustan.^ kih waqt i-khdli

sdkhtan-i-shahr, ba jihat-i-radgat-i-ndmus, kashtah mi shav-
vand,
az
andarun-i-khdnahha o
kardah,
ba
butkhdnahhd bar dmdah,
harakat-i-inazbuhi
zakhm-i'Shamsher-i-jdn-sitdn
it
jdn ba mdlikdn-i-dozakh sipurdand. Lowe, 240, renders
"And who were the

thus:
tants
in
certain of the devoted servants of the Rana,
guardians of his palace, and some inhabito
amounting accordance with an ancient custom

of the temple, in all
twenty persons,
of the
Hindus that
when they
are compelled to evacuate a city, they should be killed in order to save their honour, coming out of their houses and temples performed the sacrificial rite and
by the stroke of
this
their life-taking
swords committed their
souls to the keepers of hell". See also Lowe's note. I take
passage
a
as
meaning,
purposeless
on the contrary, that the men

onslaught
{harakat4-7nazbuhl),
made
feeble
and were slain not by their their Moslem opponents. Again in the Ma fisir-i-^ Alamgirl, 299, at the taking of Gulkandah, 24th Zul'Qa^dah 1098 h., 9th Sept. 1687, we
have the
useless
own swords, but by those of
expression
used in
its
literal
sense of a feeble
fort,
effort.
When
the besiegers entered that
their
leader seized the king be an kih U o hamrdhdn-ash harakat-
i-mazbuhl namdyand, "before he and his companions could
make any
fruitless effort".
As
the prisoners thus
made were
240
Mahomedans, it can hardly be supposed that the writer means they were about to perform a "sacrificial rite", that in other words, the Hindu jTi/iar, or immolation of is, themselves and family. In the Maâsir-ul-wriard, i, 844,
the
words are used to describe the opposition offered in 1153 H. (1740) by Sarfaraz Khan, 7iazim of Bengal, to the
invasion of the usurper, 'All Wirdi Khan,
Mahabat Jang.
"movements
Wilks,
ii,
552, attributes to Tipu Sultan's personal malig-
nity the use of this phrase for describing the of
the
enemy".
it
No
is
doubt,
contempt
is
included in the
meaning, but
writers
a regular stock expression, used by all
when
describing the
movements
of troops.
Khushhal
literal signification
Chand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 10103 uses it in its strictly with reference to the execution of Rajah Ratn Chand (1133 h.). Once more he uses it, rather indefinitely,
on
a
fol.
10153.
of course, from qazarj, Stein-
Qazaqt.
gass,
The word comes,

partisan,
968,
light
armed
soldier, a
highway
robber,
a Cossack.
Qazaqi he defines as a military incur-
sion, guerilla warfare, free-booting, brigandage.
But in Indian
writings
it
seems to
me
to have a
more
definite application,
and is used for something equivalent to a loose attack in open order, followed by retreat as soon as the attack has been delivered, in short something the same as the taulqamah movement already referred to (ante, p. 227). Modern writers speak, I notice, of the Cossack "lava-like" form of attack, and I suppose the above-named is what they mean. Horn, 64, rejects, and I think rightly, the use of this word as one of the divisions of an army, but he does
not give
I
us
any
definition
to
replace
the one rejected.

iS'^s,
fancy that Dr. Oskar Mann's reading of faraql

J.[^,
on
p. 95, line 6, of Mujmil-ut-ianM might be better
qazaqi.
Bar gosliah-i-kaman zadan. This

of
is
in the literal sense
the words "to take in the corner of a bow". But the words seem to have also the specifiic meaning of surrounding and overpowering any body of men.
Talaql'i-fariqain,
241
the
fact
"Meeting of the two parties", denotes that the two armiCwS are in touch and within
lit.
striking distance of each other.

Sii/ah
namudan,
said
"to show black",
is
the phrase for
the
first
Ilallah^
fight,
enemy's appearance in the distance. by Steingass 1506 to be from hamlah, a was the general word for an on-rush or charge.
faint signs of an
expedition,
deC, 545 u^^j^.,7narche, same sense as hallali. Hniât'i-majmui was also a word for some sort of combined advance. Literally it means haiât, form, mode, majmul, collective, aggregate. I think this had a technical use,
Ynrish, Steingass, T., 1537, P.
was
also used in the
but I have
Chapqalash
tazi
failed to satisfy myself as to its exact
meaning.
ChapkuncJii, a reconnaisance,
I
Horn
21, T
have never seen.

p.
have already referred to (ante,
233); Turk-
was an expression for hard or expeditious riding. The words TJimaq or Aimaq, Horn, 21, Blochmann Ajn, i, 371, note, were not in use in the later
(Turk-galloping)
period.
Sipahl-i'frdez. This phrase, literally "soldiers of the
melon
bed",
has often
puzzled
me.
It
is
used as a description
body of troops. Presumably the metaphor means that in such a case their heads are as easily cut off as melons can be gathered from a melon-bed. Mirza Haidar (Ross and Elias, 323) puts Avords something like it into the mouth of a prince, looking on at a review of raw undisciplined troops: "with such a troop as this it would be dangerous to try and rob a kitchen-garden {paliz)". Defeat. In case of a reverse the heavy guns were generally abandoned, as they could not be removed. We are told that in such cases they were spiked and rendered useless (Blacker, "War", 128). One instance where this was done was at Gulkandah in 1097 h. (1685-6) by 'Alamgir, Khafl Khan, ii, 355, last line, mlkh zadah nahud salchtand.
of a defeated, non-resisting
Generally, on the retreat of an Indian army, so great was
the dispersion that some days elapsed before the direction

16
242
by the principal body could be ascertained. There were no dispositions taken to cover its escape, no stratagems to mask its route, cover its baggage, gain an
of flight taken
advance,
lay
an
ambuscade,
or
mislead
a pursuer.
All
impediments to flight retreat became a sauve qui pent. This result is attributable partly to the want of discipline and to defective leadership, which leaves every individual to rely more on himself than on his commander (Blacker, "War", 162). Juhar. This well-known Hindu practice of killing women and children to prevent their falling into the enemy's hand was once, I find, proposed for adoption by a small body of Mughals under Khwajah Asa^d Khan (son of Mubariz
Khan),
were successively abandoned, and a
when surrounded hy an overwhelming body

fol.
of
Mahrattahs {Jhval-i-kliawaqm,
won,
side
194).
Proclamation of Victory, Horn, 109.

the
victor
When
the day was
ordered his drums to strike up and his
horns to
blow,
to
both to announce the victory to his
own
and
produce further disheartenment among his
opponents. Sometimes, to re-animate the drooping energies
men, a general would order his drums to beat as hope that they would be cheated into the belief that the day was going favourably for them, and thus inspirited, might turn an imagined into a real success. Pillars of heads. It was the custom for a subordinate commander to accompany his despatch announcing any
of his
for a victory, in the
lected.
many heads of the slain as could be colwas a survival of the Central Asian practice of erecting a pillar or pyramid formed of the heads of the dead enemy. There are two cases in Budaoni, ii, 17, 169, Lowe, 10, 172. In 964 h. (1556-7) Akbar built a pyramid of heads at Panipat; again in 981 h. (1573-4) near Alimadabad, he did the same. There are also several instances of
success
with as
This
heads
being sent in during

18tl^
the
reigns of 'Alamgir
tells
and
us,
Bahadur Shah. For example, Danishmand Khan

entry of
Ramazan 1119
h.,
i1^^ Dec. 1707, that an
imperial
Matliura,
officer,
243
after taking the Jat fort of Sansani, near
sent
in
one thousand heads in ten

85,
of
carts,
along
with
heads,
the
weapons taken. Nicolao Manucci

1945,
Part
i,
also
speaks,
piles
Phillipps
p.
having seen
of
once as
journeys
many
as ten thousand heads;
and
for
in his
many
he
between Agrah and Dihli (1656

fresh heads in the niches
1680),
in
six
always
the
saw
made
on
pillars.
In
1122
the
h.
(1711)
of
Mhd
Sihrind,
them Amin Khan,

sent
when
announcing
of heads,
capture
cart-loads
and reported that the
rest
had been
fol.
built into a pillar {minar),
Kam
Raj, Îbrat-namah^
435.
Again in 1715, in Farrukhsiyar's reign, between two and

three hundred heads carried on poles graced the triumphal
entry into Dihli of the victors of Gurdaspur. And, according

to
the Ahlihclr-i'Muliahhat,
fol.
279, pillars of heads were
constructed by Ja^far
Khan
in
1124
h. (1712)
on the edge
1115,
of the high road to Hindustan, just outside Murshidabad,

after
he
had
defeated
Rashid Khan. Ashob,
fol.
speaks
of Saâdat
Khan Burhan-ul-mulk sending

h. (Oct.
to
Court
the heads of the slain after his defeat of
Bhagwant Singh,
Khichar,
Jang,
in
1]48
1735). Abdullah Klian, Firuz
who
and
died in 1054 h., 1644-5, boasted, according to

ii,
the MafisiT-ul'Umara
heads,
pillars
all
788, that he had cut off 200,000

to
the
way from Agrah
Patnah had built
with them.
CHAPTER
XXII.
PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES.

D]\
Horn
devotes
many pages
(71
105)
to
reproducing
first
detailed
at
battle
pieces.
These comprise Babar's
battle
Panipat,
IG^h
21^^ April
1526, Babar's battle against Rana
March 1527, Akbar's battle at Panipat, 5tli Nov. 1556, the battle at Korah between Shah Shuja^ and
Sanga,
""Alamglr,
3^^
pass
near
Jan. 1659, and the taking of a mountain Ajmer. Most of these serve more as specimens
of style than as plain
and
direct reports of
what happened
at these actions. All of them, except Babar's
own
description
of
the
battle of the 21st April 1526, are written in that

inflated, rhetorical style, of
which Persian and Indian writers are so proud, where sense is drowned in sound and plain facts are buried under far-fetched metaphor. Such turgid stuff reduces the translator to despair and engenders disgust in the European reader. As will have been noticed. Dr. Horn brings his specimens no further
deplorably
down than the first year of Âlamgir's reign. There was much fighting in the rest of that reign and in the following reigns,
possible
I to
and from the

those
of
later historians it
would be
(1712),
put together accounts of

Jajau
many
other battles.
may
instance
(1707),
Agrah
to
Hasanpur (1720). For the first of these recourse might be had
Ni'amat
Khan
i,
Danishmand Khan), poetically A^li. This well known poet and literary man, who died SO^b Rabi'
(afterwards
1122
H.,
28tii
May
1710, was appointed historiographer
245
by Bahadur Shah, and has left two descriptions of the battle at Jajau, in which his patron defeated a brother, A'zam Shah, and obtained the throne. That in the Bahadur Shah-
namah
is
the simpler; the other, a separate

is
the Jang-?iamah,
written in the florid, full-blown
which was considered requisite for ver}^ clever performance; an admirable specimen of a detestable genre. The proportion of bread to sack may be known from the fact that when, after transcribing the whole piece, I proceeded to make an excerpt of the bare facts, I found that they occupied only one-fifth of the original
a
space.
work known as manner such show pieces. It is
Following Ur. Horn's example,
1 will
give a description
13th
Shah had been raised to the throne at Agrah by the two Sayyad brothers, Âbdullah Khan and Husain ÂlT Khan. Shortly afterwards
(8^^h
of the battle of Hasanpur, fought on the On the 28th Sept. 1719, Muhammad
Nov. 1720.
Oct.
1720),
with
Muhammad
was
Shah's tacit approval,
the
younger
brother
assassinated.
Âbdullah
Khan
thereupon
Ibrahim,
raised another scion of the royal house. Prince

to
the
throne, and
marched from Dihli against

the south-east.
Muhammad
were
at
Shah,
who was coming from

those
of
Just before the decisive battle, the emperor's head-quarters
Hasanpur,
Âbdullah
Khan about
six
miles further north, at Biluchpur. Both places are between
Mathura and
Dihli, on the right bank of the Jamnah, in parganah Palwal. The authorities on which the following description is founded are 1) Kamwar Khan, 2) Shiu Das,
3)
Khafi Khan, 4)
6)
Mhd
Qasim, LahoTl,
5)
Mhd
Shaff,
7)
Warid,
Khwajah 'Abd-ul-Karim, Kashmiri, and
Mhd
Ûmr, son of Khizr Khan.

nesday
The Battle of Easanpur. Early in the morning of Wedthe 13th Muharram 1133 h. (13th Nov. 1720), before the sun rose, Muhammad Shah mounted his elephant, Padshah Pasand, and took his place in the centre. Haidar Quli Khan was sent on ahead with the strong artillery
246
force

under his
command
to
';
while
Khan Dauran and
Sabit
Khan were
left
ordered
follow
and support him with the

and
the
rear.
wing.
sent
Muhammad
towards
person
his son,
Khan, Bangash, and Sa'adat Khan

river
were
the
Round
his
Majesty's
were the new wazir,
Muhammad Amin
Qamr-ud-dm Khan, Dil Daler Khan, Sher Afkan Khan, Hizbar Khan and others. Zafar Khan,
Khan, and
Fakhr-ud-dm Khan,
garh,
'Aziz
his brother.
Rajah Bahadur of Kishn(Jai
Nusrat Yar Khan, Jag
Ram
Singh's
diwan)
Khan, Mir Mushrif, and Rajah Gopal Singh, Bha-
dauriyah, were placed in charge of the main camp, which
was at a distance of one kos from the position taken up by the emperor. The prisoner, Ratn Chand, diwan of 'Abdullah Khan, was now sent for. He was brought
was there made to dismount, and was at once executed. The severed head was thrown before the emperor's elephant and trodden under foot.
before the emperor on an elephant; he
'
If
we
are to interpret Khushhal
Chand
literally,
Berlin Ms. 495,
fol.
10d4&, Haidar Quli
Khan
used a telescope to
make out the enemy's
position.
He says H. Q. K. at a distance of one farsakh (3 miles) saw the enemy's army by the eye of a dur-bln (telescope). Or is it only his "farseeing eye" {chashm-i-durbvi)1 A late writer (c. 1790) Rustam 'Âli, Bijnori,
in
his
"History of the Rohelahs",
fol.
526, states that at the battle of
Panipat in January 1761,

to
Ahmad
Shah, Durrani, used a telescope (dnr-fctn)
years after the event,
watch the movements of the Mahrattahs. As he was writing thirty I do not know whether he is to be relied on for such a detail. Also in the Husain Shahl of Imam-ud-din Chlsti, fol. 656, we have mention of the field telescope as used by Taimur Shah, son of Ahmad Shah, Abdali "The king mounted his elephant and slowly inspected the army. From time to time he raised his telescope to his eye" {qaribi-chasm-i-mubarik guzasht). This telescope produced unexpected results
:
some of the commanders: they received a severe beating from the of the nasaqchis sent to them. A learned man standing by the king, puzzled by this infliction of punishment, asked what it meant. Taimur Shah replied "Through my telescope I saw that these commanders were
for sticks
:
seated under the shade of their horses, while the
men
I
of their regiments
were exposed to the full heat of the sun. Tomorrow of honour to console them".
will give
them
robes
247
Chura
west, cut
Jat,
ofiP
who was hovering near the army on the many followers and penetrated into the camp.
But the above-named Rajahs drove him out again. Next the Jats attacked on the south, whence they carried off some goods and part of the imperial property. Zafar Khan, Muzaffar Khan and Muhammad Khiin, Bangash, once more repelled them. They then made a further attempt on the east side. Here Mir Mushrif and 'AlwT Khan,
TarJn, of Lakhnau,
met and defeated them. But the uproar was very great, and the camp followers and traders were so frightened, that they jumped into the Jamnah and tried
to
swim
across
it,
many
losing their lives in the attempt.
By
still
three o'clock the baggage
camp was moved

it
to a safer
place,
and the confusion continuing,

off.
was again moved

head oftheSayyad
farther
When Najm-ud-dm
vanguard,
the
river,
"All
Khan
at the
appeared in the distance from the direction of

Haidar
Quli
Khan, the imperial Mir Atash,
tered
his heavy cannon into the open, and encounadvancing enemy with a storm of balls from them and his field-pieces. The fire was so continuous and
moved out
the
heavy that the
artillery of the other side
was
his
silenced. After
every volley Haidar QulT

gifts of
gold and
silver.
Khan urged on As the artillery
men by
lavish
advanced, the rest
of the
army followed and occupied the ground. Stimulated by their commander's liberality, the gunners worked zeal-
ously,
and a second set of guns were loaded by the time the first were discharged. Khan Dauran's troops moved in support of the imperial artillery, Sanjar Khan and Dost
ÂlT
Khan, in command of that noble's guns,
particularly-
distinguishing themselves.
foot.
The
latter
was wounded
in the
Sayyad Nusrat Yar Khan and Sabit Khan

created a diversion on the
fell
it
also took
a leading part, while Sa'adat
Khan and Muhammad

left.
Klian,
Bangash,
a rocket
During the day
on Sayyad 'Abdullah Khan's powder-magazine,
exploding
and causing much
loss of life.
248

iS^'i,
Throughout the day of the

one of
the battle was chiefly
artillery. The brunt of the fighting on 'Abdullah Khan's side was borne by his brother, Najm-ud-din Âli
Khan, who commanded had intended

Singh,
to rely
his vanguard. Originally the
Sayyads
on a general onset. But Rajah
Muhkam
who had
deserted from the imperialists, dissuaded
ful artillery as the other side possessed,
them, pointing out that to charge down on such a powerwould be to expose
themselves to destruction. Their

ought,
the
own
small supply of guns
he said,
of events.
to
be entrenched in a good position on
edge of some ravine, and there they could await the

the
favour
in
Although Muhkam Singh had acquired Dakhin the highest reputation as a soldier, his advice was not adopted. The Sayyads' artillery was placed on a high mound, under the shelter of some trees, near a
deserted
fire
village,
and
it
tried to reply to the other side's

ability.
to
the
extent
of its
In the
field,
the usual
scattered fighting, charging

all
and counter-charging, went on

it
day,
and
at
one time
looked as
if
the imperialists
would give way. But Khan Dauran, Sayyad Nusrat Yar Khan, Sabit Khan, Dost 'All Khan, Sayyad Hamid Khan and Asad 'All Khan by redoubled exertions prevented a
catastrophe. In the end,
some
of the Sayyads' field pieces
were taken, and they were ejected from their sheltered
among the trees. Najm-ud-din 'All Khan was wounded by an arrow near the eye ^, and a ball from a swivel-gun struck him on the knee. Among the chiefs who
position
lost their lives
were Shekh Sibghatullah of Lakhnau, three

his
sons,
and seventy-five of
(son
men, 'Abd-ul-Qadir Khan,
Thathawi, (nephew of Qazi Mir, Bahadur Shahi), 'Abd-ul-
GhanT Khan
Pal wall.
*
of
'Abd-ur-Rahim
Khan, 'Alamgiri),
Ghulam Muhi-ud-din Khan, and Many soldiers also were

He
lost
it
the son of Shiija' Khan,

slain.
his
eye from
this
replaced
of his
was a
subject of
wound, and the glass ball by which he wonder to the common people for the rest
ii,
life,
(Ma,asir-ul-iimara,
508).

'Abdullah
249
Khan had decided
to
single out for attack
the force under Sayyad Nusrat Yar Khan,
who had com-
this
mand of man
the the
advanced guard near the emperor. Against Sayyads had a special grudge, because he,
one of their own clan and a relation, had sided against them. Having swept him on one side, 'Abdullah Khan hoped
to be able to
push on
he
tried
to to
Muhammad
make
his
Shah's centre {qalb).
First
of
all,
way
to
his objective
from
that
to
his own left, but found the river such an obstacle, he changed his direction and moved across his front
the
right of his
own army. As soon

left
as the
movement
generals
was detected, reinforcements were sent

Shah, the centre having been
for
by
Muhammad
The
very weak.
to
who were
thus
summoned
objected
quit their posts.
The imperial
and part
point.
artillery present
with the emperor's division,

river
was then despatched towards the

of the vanguard
to bar the
way,
was
also transferred to the
same
Unfortunately
the
change in 'Abdullah Khan's
line of
advance resulted in his being drawn away from the river

bank, and thus his main position was now some miles from the water side. The battle had continued till the afternoon, and so far 'Abdullah Khan showed no signs of
discouragement. But his men, more especially the new levies, became uneasy, and soon lost their heads completely. On pretence of watering their horses and camels, they rode off
towards the
water,
left
river,
only to find their opponents in possession

after group,
of the banks.
Group
and
on the pretext of getting
the standard. These desertions continued until

all
the night
fell;
night long, from the
camp
to Barah-
encumbered with fugitives. At night-fall there were not more than a few thousands left of the huge host that had set out from
pulah just
outside Dihli, the road was
Dihli a few davs before. /
At
first
'Abdullah
Khan had
ordered a small tent to be
put up
for the
night where he stood, but countermanded
250
it,
THE ARMY OV THE INDIAN MOGHULS,
when he
fire.
reflected
that
it
would be a
a
its
target for the
enemy's
in
The night was
moonlight
fire.
one,
and the
stirred
imperial artillery never ceased

the
If
any
man
Sayyad position or showed himself, a gun was at once pointed in that direction and discharged; and from time to time the guns were dragged forward, the oxen
being harnessed to the muzzle instead
breach
those
of,
as usual, to the
end of the gun.

fired
Among
the
guns in use were
named GhazT Khan and Shah Pasand. These heavy

oftener
guns were
in
than had ever been done before
the
recollection
of the oldest
man. Haidar Quli Khan

continual gifts
;
kept up the energy of his
Khan's continued
to
men by make ofp in
Âbdullah
small parties.
Muhammad
Shah passed the night seated on his elephant so near the vanguard as to be under fire. When day dawned on the 14th Muharram (14tiiNov. 1720), Âbdullah Khan found his army reduced to a few of his
relations
and his veteran troops. They were altogether not more than one thousand horsemen; with these he continued
fight
to
the
the
best
of
^\li
his
power.
the
Najm-ud-dm
wazir's
'All
Khan and Saif-ud-dm

brothers,
Khan,
younger
Sayyad Afzal Khan,
High Almoner
{Sadar-ns-
sadur),
Rae Tek Chand,
a Bali Khatri, his chief officer,
Khan (Ahmad Beg), Nawab Allahyar Khan, Shahjahani, and Ruhullah Khan were found among these faithful few, who had passed a sleepless night on their elephants, having seen neither food nor water for many
Ghazi-ud-din
was blocked by the Jats, and foe. As dawn was drawing near, a ball struck the seat upon Muhkam Singh's elephant. The Rajah got down, mounted his horse, and galloped off; for many years it was not known whether
hours.
Access to
the
river-side
who plundered
impartially
friend
he Avas alive or dead.

Early in the morning, returning to his plan of the previous day, 'Abdullah Khan, joined by Najm-ud-din "All
Khan and many Barhah
chiefs,
again delivered an attack.

in the
left
251
hope of reaching the emperor's centre. The imperial opposed a stout resistance to this onset, and at length the Sayyads dismounted to continue the fight on foot at
close
quarters.
Shahamat Khan and
his
son,
Fatli
hammad Khan, Tahavvar 'All Khan (better Bahadur 'All Khan), and many others on the Sayyads'
were
slain.
Muknown as
side
Darvesh 'All Khan, head of Khan Dauran's

killed
;
artillery,
was
Dost 'All Khan and Nusrat Yar
were severely wounded. Sa'adat Khan were

also
and Sher Afkan
prominent in
this encounter.
Khan Khan 'Abd-un-Nabi Khan
and Mayah Ram, two of Haidar Quli Khan's officers, and Mhd Ja'far (grandson of Husain Khan) were the only other
men
of
name who
a
lost their lives
on the imperial
side.
After
time the
men
of
Khan Dauran, Haidar Qui!
Khan,
Sa'adat
surrounded the
to
Khan and Muhammad Khan, Bangash, ex-wazir, and an arrow struck him on the
wound. The
soldiers then tried
forehead, inflicting a skin
make him
mail, he leapt to the
a prisoner. But, clad although he was in chainground sword in hand, with the in-
tention of fighting to the death. In spite of their

his
knowing
practice
of
fighting
on foot at the
crisis
of a battle,
the ex-wazir's troops,

a
rider,
when they saw
his elephant without

fled,
imagined that their leader must have
and
each
man began to think of his own safety. Then Khan charged at the head of his men, and cut down Shekh Nathu, commanding 'Abdullah Khan's artillery; the RajTali 'Yar
puts,
coming up, took possession of the Shekh's body, and carried it to the imperial camp. Najm-ud-dm 'Ali Khan and Ghazi-ud-din Khan did their best to rally their men,
but
no one paid them any heed.

'All
Shuja'at-uUah
Khan,
fled.
Zujfiqar
Khan,
'All
and
'Abdullah
Khan, Tarln,
Even Saif-ud-din
the
three
was lost, hundred men, taking with him Prince Ibrahim, who abandoned his elephant and mounted a horse. His elephant
day
Khan, the ex-wazTr's brother, thought and left the field along with two or
252
and imperial umbrella were afterwards found, and taken by Muhammad Shah's men. The feebleness of the defence would be fully proved, if we believe, as Warid tells us, that after two days' fighting, only forty men were left dead on the field. Najm-ud-din Âli Khan, a drawn sword in his hand, rode
and search for his brother. Âbdullah Khan standing on the ground quite
after
on to enquire
He
found
alone,
and
although
while
every
lay
wounded
in the
hand,
still
fighting like a lion,
on every side the crowd of assailants grew greater minute. Still not one of them had the courage to
hands upon
returned
his
him; one of Khan Dauran's men had

the
wounded him on
Nawab
man's leg and
hand, but the which struck the horse's shoulder. Najm-ud-din 'All Khan
a
finger
of the
right
blow by a
elephant
cut,
dismounted
""Abdullah
of Fortune,
from
his
Khan
called out to
and joined his brother. him "Behold the inconstancy

earthly greatness!", adding
and the end of
all
Haidar Quli Khan, who had noticed that the howdah of 'Abdullah
verse of Sa^di, Shirazi, fitting to the occasion ^
Khan's elephant was empty, made enquiries, and was
in-
formed by one of his soldiers that the Nawab was on foot and wounded. Coming up at once with a led elephant, Haidar Quli Khan addressed the Sayyad, in the humblest
manner, with
words of praise and
life
flattery.
''Was he not
a well-wisher, and was not his
one with his? Except
to set forth for the presence of the emperor,
what course
a
was there left?" Najm-ud-din

to
'All
Khan made
movement
his
cut
'
the
speaker
down, but 'Abdullah Khan held
Khizr Khan,
was near enough
who took to know
part in the battle as one of the Sayyad army,

that ''Abdullah
Khan
called out,
but from the
uproar could not hear his words. Some years afterwards (1138 h.) he met at Mathura, Najm-ud-din ''Aii Khan, then on his way to Ahmadabad,
and obtained from him the

the contrary,
details in the text.
Khafi Khan,
ii,
933, on
life)
makes out that A. K. claimed aman
(safety for
by
announcing himself as a Sayyad.

brother
back.
253
air,
Then,
with
haughty and dignified
he took Najiu-ud-din 'All Khan's hand and mounted the

elephant. Haidar Quli
Khan
followed on his
and conducted
Shah.
his prisoners to the
own elephant, emperor, Muliammad
His hands bound together by Haidar Quli Khan's shawl,

'Abdullah
Saluting
said
this
Khan was brought before Muhammad Shah. him with a "Peace be upon you", the emperor
you have yourself brought your affairs to Overcome with the disgrace, 'Abdullah
only "It
to
is
"Sayyad!
extremity".
Khan answered
Khan, unable
with joy,
confided
to
God's will".
Muhammad Amin
ground
be
in
contain
himself, leapt from the
and exclaimed "Let

this
this traitor to his salt
ancient servitor".
But Khan Dauran,
respectful terms, intervened. "Never! never!
Make
for
not the
Sayyad over
inadvisable.
to
Muhammad Amin
Khan,
he will at
once slay him in an ignominious manner, and such a deed

is
of Zujfiqar
What did FarrukhsTyar gain by the murder Khan ? Let him remain with Haidar Quli Khan, or be made over to the emperor's own servants". The prisoner was accordingly made over to Haidar Quli Khan,
along
with Najm-ud-din 'All Khan, his brother, whose wounds were so severe that he was not expected to recover. Hamid Khan, TuranT, was also taken a prisoner and brought,
bare-headed and bare-footed, before his cousin,
Muhammad
his
Amin Khan, and Khan Dauran. The wazTr calmed

fears
and assured him of being tenderly dealt with. There were many other prisoners, among theui the chief being Sayyad 'All Khan, (brother of Abu j Muhsin Khan, Bakhshi) and 'Abd-un-nabi Khan.
On
nearly
the Sayyads' side the entrenchments were held and
the fight maintained by GhazT-ud-din Klian and others for
an
hour
after
the
capture
of
'Abdullah
Khan.
lost,
When
they
at length they
were
satisfied that the
day was
desisted.
Ghazi-ud-dln
Klian
with
such baggage as
254
could be saved, followed by AUahyar
Khan and many
others,
moved
their
off
and marched
to their
straight for Dihli; while the
Barhah
Sayyads endeavoured
to cross the
Jamnah,
in order to
make
way
homes. Saif-ud-dln 'All Khan had brought

the field of battle, but owing to the
Prince
Ibrahim
off
entire absence of carriage,
was obliged
to leave
him
in the
Khan close to the village of Nekpur. Saif-ud-dln ""All Khan went home to Jansath, sending Baqir 'All Khan and Khizr Khan to Dihli to bring away the Sayyad women and dependents. These messengers reached
orchard of Qutb-ud-din
the
capital
before the emperor,
and carried
off the ladies
and children
to the Sayyads' country.
To
return
to
the field of battle.
The Moghul
soldiery,
custom was, took to plundering, and appropriated to themselves whatever horses, camels, mules, and cattle fell into their hands. Churaman Jat followed suit, and plundering both sides with strict impartiality, made off with
as their
his booty to his
own
country.
Among
his spoils
were over
one thousand baggage oxen and camels, which had been

left
negligently on a high sandy
mound
close to the river,
meant for charitable distribution, and the records of the Grand Almoner's department. Reports of Battles. Somewhat in the same way that after a battle a modern general sends off a despatch to his superiors, a Moghul commander prepared and submitted a report (ârsah-ddsht) to the emperor. Often he also drew up a separate description of the fight for distribution to his friends and equals. These latter papers were styled tfmiar, or roll, (a word which had another technical signification in the finance department). If the emperor was
several
camel-loads
of goods
especially
satisfied
with
any general, he gave orders that

recorded
in
the
victory
should
be
the imperial diary of
proceedings (the waqiâh), equivalent to our gazette.
Many
specimens of battle reports sent in from Bundelkhand by Muhammad Khan, Bangash, will be found in Sahib Rae's
Khujista/i
Kaldni
and
the
same work contains a tUmdr

circulated
255
Sayyad
by Nizam-ul-mulk
after his victory over
Dilawar 'All Khan, Rajah
Ehim
Singh, Hada, and others.
Stratagems of War. Dr. Horn, 70, states that deceit and stratagem did not play a leading part in Moghul warfare.
This
may be
to
so, still
they were not
unknown. Of a character
similar
the pretended desertion, in order to obtain in-
formation of the
enemy's plans and strength, which was

at
employed by
once
Rumi Khan
ii,
Chunar
is
in
1538 (Horn, 71,
quoting Erskine,
140, note),
a plot put into execution
by Nizam-ul-mulk.
for
In
the
middle of 1720,
when
about to fight
'Alim
with
'All
supremacy
in the
Khan, governor of
Dakhin against Sayyad Aurangabad, he arranged

dispute
officer
one of his principal
officers that a fictitious
about pay should be raised, that the

disrespectfully,
to
should behave
'Alim
'All
and after receiving Khan's camp. So
his
money, should desert said, so done. After an
altercation,
Nizam-ul-mulk paid the
man and
officer
let
him
go.
was received with honour and taken into the Sayyad's service. But on the day of battle, as secretly agreed on with Nizam-ulmulk, the deserter turned his men traitorously on 'Alim 'All Khan's rear, and bringing him under two fires contributed materially
to his defeat (Shiii Das,
fol.
When
he reached the Sayyad's camp, this
425).
was not an uncommon stratagem. Matchlock men were hidden in high crops, or on the edge of a ravine, at a spot where the opposite leaders would most probably pass. At the proper moment a volley would be discharged, and occasionally with deadly effect. It was in this manner that Qaim Khan, nawab of
{ha
Ambush
kamm-gdh
nisldstan)
Farrukhabad, and many of his chief

on
12th
officers lost their lives
th7 Zuj Hijjah, 1162 h. (22^^^ Nov. 1749), see A.S. B. for 1878, p. 381. An ambush was not unfrequently supplemented by pretended flight, so arranged as to draw the pursuers on and bring them under fire. We have an instance of this in Nizam-ul-mulk 's fight with Sayyad Dilawar 'All Khan in Barar on the 19tii June 1720.
J.
256
Between the two forces there were deep ravines, where a large army could have been effectually concealed. Nizamul-mulk sent out his guns and placed them in position, so
as to
command from
both sides the only road across this
ravine.
on each
the
His advanced guard was concealed in the hollows side. Then two or three men, closely resembling
in beard
and features and age were dressed up, placed on elephants, and sent out to represent Nizam-ulmulk at the head of his main body, which showed itself in front of the entrance to the ravine. Dilawar Âli Khan's
and were drawn on and Anxious to slay or capture the opposite leader, who as they believed was in command, they pursued steadily, disposing on their way of several pretended Nizam -ul-mulks. When Sayyad Sher Khan at
straight
at their foe,
Nawab
men came
on by a simulated
retreat.
length
the
brought his elephant close to that of Îwaz Khan,

a sign caused his elephant to kneel,
and by this trick, escaped with his life. AVhen the ravine was reached, the guns did their work; and their leaders being killed, the rest of Dilawar Âli Khan's army dispersed
(Shiti
fol.
Moghul by
Das, 37^,
M. Qasim Lahori, 314, TariklU-muzajJan,
183).
This device of having "six Richmonds in the field" was

not unusual,
it
having been put in practice against us in
our
own
early fighting in the
"War",
Introd.
xi).
century by Sa'âdat
Dakhin (R. O. Cambridge, was also resorted to earlier in the Khan, Burhan-ul-mulk, founder of the
It
Audh
family.
The Khichar zamindars
of parganah GhazTpur
in sirkar Korah, sub ah Allahabad,
had long given trouble
to the imperial officers, although several ineffectual attempts
had been made to reduce them to order. At length, the Sirkar was made over to Burhan-ul-mulk; and on the 10th Jamadi ii, 1148 h. (27^^ Oct. 1735) that noble while on his way from Audh to Dihli, undertook to eject the then zamindar, Bhagwant Singh, son of Udaru. When the contending parties came face to face, a servant, clad in
PARTICULAR BATILES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES.

rich
257
robes belonging to the

elephant.
Nawab's
another.
Burhan-ul-mulk
Nawab, was placed upon the took his seat upon
Several fierce attacks on the suppositious
Nawab
were repelled successfully. Finally, the Rajput chief gathered together some seven hundred men, and fully resolved on
death or victory,
forty
made
his
way
to the centre of the at
Ma-
homedan army, which he reached

to
fifty
men. Then, with
head of only not more than seven or

the
eight
men
left,
he arrived close to the leader's elephant.
Bhagwant Singh knew the Nawab's attire, and thought he was in presence of Burhan-ul-mulk himself. Before the
Mahomedans could attempt

leader
a rescue, he pulled the supposed

seat iîman)
out
of
his
high-sided
and slew him,

aloof,
with rejoicings at having successfully carried out his enterprize.
But
Burhan-ul-mulk,
who had
stood
now
one of his officers to advance with five hundred men, and in a few moments Bhagwant Singh was slain. The body was skinned and the skin filled with straw then, with its head and that of the rebel's son, it was where in Sha'ban of the same year Rustam sent to Dihli Âli, Shahabadi, saw them hanging in the main street,
ordered
-.
near the chief police

fol.
office
(Nadir-uz-zamanl, B,M. Or, 1844,

'All, fol.
152, 1523, and

a
Rustam
to
2683).
When
leader
for
took
not unusual
him
it was change places with the driver in
to flight
on his elephant,
order to escape molestation in case of pursuit and capture

(Fitzclarence,
133).
(shah-ldiUn, night-blood, or shah-c/lr, night-
Night surprizes
seizing)
employed.
were also a form of stratagem not unfrequently It was in this way that Ahmad Khan, Bangash,
1st
on
the
superior force of Naval

river
attacked and overcame the Rae on the bank of the Kali-nadi near Khudaganj (13 miles east of Farrukhabad). The
August
1750,
Pathans started during

sunset,
heavy rain at three hours after
and avoiding by a long detour the front of Naval Rae's position, they got round to his rear near the river.
17
258

hour and a half before sunrise, when
it was so dark you could not tell friend from foe, the attack was delivered. Naval Rae's guns were fired at random and did no execution, he was killed, and his troops dispersed.
An
that
of Losses. Dr. Horn devotes one section of work (xiii, pp. 113 115) to the subject of losses in battle. Here again, as in the question of the total number
Statistics
his
present,
or
the
strength
of
particular
divisions,
agree
with him that to obtain any idea of the numbers of killed

or
to
wounded
is
exceedingly
if
difficult, historians either

so,
omitting
mention them, or
After
they do
battle
contradicting each other

to
irreconcilably.
no attempts were made
ascertain the losses or count the slain.

wê
Any
statements that
may meet with

certain
are thus
mere guesses, and we may be
quite
feated,
that they are
much exaggerated
for the victorious
for the de-
and much diminished

no basis
army.
From
these causes such statements are quite worthless,
and can
form
like
for the calculation of percentages, or such-
strict
arithmetical
treatment.
Incidentally,
we
learn
from passing allusions the severity of the

or the
losses in a battle,
number
18th
of the slain in
some
are
special
group of those
who were
on
the
fugitives
present. Thus, after the battle of Jajau, fought
J^ne 1707,
off
we
told
that the defeated

lost
made
towards
Gwaliyar "and so many
on the way at the hands of Jat plunderers and the Rohelahs of Dholpur, that the ravines leading to the Chambal were encumbered with decaying bodies" (Kamwar
their lives
Khan).
Another
loss
Avriter,
Khushhal Chand,
this battle
fol.
is
373,
tells
us that the
on both sides in
said to have
amounted
particular
to
ten
thousand
or
of
men.
As
to
losses
among
group,
men from one
town, we have an
instance in the Tahsirat-mi-nazinn of Sayyad
BilgramT,
thirty
Rae's
Muhammad, who informs us, under the year 1163 h., that seven men from Bilgram lost their lives on Naval side, when he wâs attacked by Ahmad Khan, Bangash,
Scattered
notices
near
Khudaganj.
of this sort
might be

collected.
259
But
as
enable us to sav whether the

not.
But
what value would they be? They might fio'htinof had been severe or we do not know the total strength and have
of
losses,
only
vague accounts of the

be
how can any minute

such as they are, for
calculations
made? The
figures,
nine battles in the time of Babar and

collected in a table on p.
Flotte,
i,
Akbar
will be
essay.
found
115 of Dr. Horn's

is
De
la
258,
who knew something
of the south of India
between
1758 and 1760,
of opinion that battles were
much
less
bloody than in Europe.
Slain and toounded. Plundering of the slain and
wounded
seems to have been

those
chiefly
universal
the
camp
followers were
but the fighting men were not above lending a hand. In reading the memoir of Colonel
concerned,
Skinner's
so
life,
man
is
half Indian
by blood and wholly
by education, one
struck with his exultation over a
piece
of valuable plunder, and his obvious belief that it was a legitimate source of income. The dead bodies left on a field of battle do not seem to have been usually
buried, they were
left to lie as
they
fell;
but once or twice

pits,
we
are told of their being collected in great
were styled ganj-i-shahld,

instance,
or martyr store-houses.
which For an
see Rustam Âli, I'arikh-i- Hindi, fol. %\lb. The wounded seem to have been left mostly to their fate; there
for their succour,
was no organization
nor any attempt to

or friends.
heal their wounds; this was
left to their relations
CHAPTER
XXIIT.
FORTS AND STRONGHOLDS.
As
and
early as Alexander's time the Indians possessed walled
towns (Mc Crindle, Invasion of India, 119). practice of building such strong places was never abandoned, and by the sixteenth century, when the Moghul
fortified
The
rule
began,
petty
forts
held by chiefs of
Hindu
clans or
by grantees from
thickly
Mahomedan
sovereigns, were scattered
over the country. Speaking of the Mahratta terri-
tory at the end of the
W^
century, Colonel Blacker, 305,
believed that no province of the
same extent
in India, or
perhaps in any part of the world, possessed so

usually placed on an artificial
many fortressess.
for
In the plains of the Ganges and Indus, these forts were
which was taken from the foot of the site, thus forming on one or more sides a large pond or marsh, which protected the fort from a sudden attack. As a rule these forts consisted
of four
mound, the earth
high
walls,
enclosing
rectangular
space;
they
were provided with a bastion or tower at each corner; and had a fortified gate on one side, the entrance lane
turning several times at right angles before arriving at the
of the place. This narrow tortuous entrance lane was generally enfiladed with guns and loop-holed on every side. These gates with their intricate passages are well described by R. Orme ("Mil. Trans." i, 320, Trichinoply), and in the south of India generally by Lake, "Sieges", 56, who considered the gateways the strongest part of the Indian forts. The outer walls were generally of clay and
interior
very
thick
they
were
loop-holed
for
musketry,
round
lÔRTS
AND STRONGHOLDS.
inserted
in
261
walls
for
this
earthen-ware
pipes
being
245,
the
purpose (Fitzclarence,
Orme, ''Mil. Trans." ii, 203, If the owner were lucky enough to have any wall255). pieces, they would be mounted on the flat roofs of the
houses
walls
built against the inside of the wall. These outer might be from twenty to thirty feet in height. Such a stronghold was safe against any small force, and with the means then in use, could hardly be reduced except by starvation. At the more important places they added one and sometimes two ditches, together with outworks,
so
as to
render
11).
regular
hilly
approaches
country
necessary (E.
in
Lake,
"Sieges",
fortresses
In
were of
Dakhin the much more elaborate construction. Of

and
the
additional protection, such places
these I shall speak in a subsequent paragraph.
Bound Hedge. As an
or
were often surrounded by a thick plantation of thorny trees an impenetrable screen of bambus. Some of the latter were of great depth and in the operations in Rohilkhand
during the suppression of the Mutiny of 1857, our troops came across bambu hedges which a cannon ball was unable
For instance, Khushhrd Chand, fol. 177r/, tells us that when Muhammad Shah came in 1158 h. (1745) to besiege 'All Muhammad Khan,
to penetrate.
This was no
new
thing.
Rohelah, in Bangarh, he found "a great wilderness of bambus
round the fort, through which the wind even found its way with difficulty quick-handed diggers and axemen were collected to cut this down and uproot it". Again, in 1805 we found Rampur in the same province surrounded by a bambu hedge thirty feet thick (Thorn, ''War", 435). In the same way, it was in Bundelkhand the usual custom to protect a fort by a wide belt of thorny jungle; and in
;
1140
to
H.
(1728)
his
Muhammad
Khan, Bangash, when reporting

speaks
of these jungles as
DihlT
campaign
an entirely
there,
retarding his operations considerably.
Going
that
to
different
part
of India,
the
town adjoining the
fortress
of
we find Ahmadnagar in
262
the Dakliin had inside a low wall an
immense
prickly-pear
down, a work of the utmost diffi-. culty, as it presented on every side the strongest and most pointed thorns imaginable. Being full of sap, fire would not act upon it, and an assailant while employed in clearing it, would be exposed to the enemy's matchlocks from behind it; thus it was stronger than any abbatis or other barrier (Fitzclarence 241). We find another good instance of the
it
hedge about twenty without cutting it
feet high.
No human
being could pass
adoption of these protective belts of jungle in the case of

miles N. E. of Vizagapatnam which was by Bussy in 1757: ''An area of five hundred yards or more in every direction is preserved clear, of which the circumference joins the high wood, which is kept thick,
Bobili,
1.40
,
attacked
in breadth, around this centre. Few admit more than one path through the The path admits only three men abreast, winds wood continually, is everywhere commanded by breast-works in the thicket, and has in its course several redoubts, similar
three
or
four
miles
of
these
forts
to
that at the entrance, and like that flanked by breastworks on each hand" (R. Orme ''Mil. Trans.", ii, 256). In early Anglo-Indian writers, for instance Wilks, iii, 217,
such
plantations
are
definitions will be
styled a "bound-hedge", of w^hich found in the glossaries of Major Dirom's
and Lieut. Moor's works. "Bound-hedge" hedge"?

Hill Forts.
nences,
often
= quasi "Boundary
com-
In the parts of India where detached emiof great extent, are found, these were
for
monly
brated
selected
of
these
in
The most celeNorthern India were the two forts of

the sites of fortresses.
Ruhtas,
in
one in
the Panjab, the other in Bahar, Kalinjar
Bundelkhand, Chitor in Mewar. Further south there were Asirgarh in Khandesh, Daulatabad ^ near Aurangabad,
and
'
many
is
others equally celebrated. Forts on the tops of
There
a good view of this fortress as the frontispiece to Fitzclarence's
"Journal".

hills
263
Dakliin.
were extremely numerous
in
the
In that
town (or pettah) at the foot of the liill, and the fort itself was provided with two or more enceintes. Tn the Dakhin stone
part of the country there was generally a walled
walls were
common,
that material being abundant.
Lake,
205,
is
of opinion that
many
of these hill forts,
if
properly
defended, were absolutely impregnable, unless by the tedious

process of strict blockade.
On
the contrary, he thought the
fortresses in the plains exceedingly
weak
(id.
208).
Places
of Befage.
Most
of the petty semi-independent
princes were careful to provide themselves with
some
fort
or place of safety, generally situated in a country difficult
of
access
and
at
their reserves of
some distance from treasure and munitions
their capital.
Here
such
re-
of
war were stored

to furnish
and
carefully guarded.
Ranthambhur used
a store-house for the rajahs of Jaipur; and

collected,
as will
be
the
rajahs
of Banaras
provided such places at

south-east of Mirzapur.
Latifpur and Bijigarh, in the
hills
Walled
Toions.
Tn the western half of Northern India,

all
walled towns were frequent;
the principal places being
provided with a high brick wall. In that part of the country, even the smallest village was capable of some defence, the
flat-roofed, clay-built huts
being huddled very close together, and the only entry being through a few narrow, tortuous paths between the houses. Some of the largest towns had walls as well as fortresses, as for instance Lahor and Dihli.
was built in one corner of the town, a continuation of the town wall forming its outer side. Such strongholds were palace as well as fortress, and covered
At
these places the fortress
considerable
extent
of
ground.
the
Other towns, such

they possessed
itself.
as
Agrah and fortresses, had no wall round

Technical
loords.
I
Allahabad, although
first-class
town
In their case,
the fortress stood apart from the rest of the town.

insert
here
I
such
technical
terms
connected
reading.
with fortification as
for a fort
have come
across in
my
The names
were hisar (Steingass 421),
264
hasin
(id.

422),
qalâh,
qWah
(id.
984), and h. garh.
small fort or redoubt was a qalâhchah (Steingass, 985) or

garhi.
invest
To be
invested was malisar or mahsun shudan: to
was mahasarah kardan. The wails were collectively harah, the former word meaning a bastion, a tower, (Steingass, 170) and the latter, the curtain, the walls, fortifications (id. 142). The Central Asian word for the curtain of a fort was badan, see Mujniil-ut'tankh bad JSadirlyah, p. 79, line 13. The battlements were hungur, kangurah, (St. 1056); the ditch was khandaq. Fasilm^Q
bnrj
dictionary
fortification,
(St.
931)
is
defined
as
breastwork inside
an entrenchment, wall, rampart; but

it
I believe
that strictly speaking
the inside of the wall,

or
meant the platform running round on which the guns were mounted,
fired.
(J.
from which the defenders
Shak. 1494). It
is
apparently what Europeans call the terre-plein (Lake, 113,

Voyle, 428).
âfU
(Shak.
fol.
1292) was a vulgar form of the

Is
same word. Ashob,

at
it
284, speaks of the Chhatah-i-qilah

this.
Shahjahanabad.
only
chhat,
cannot find any meaning for
the
Hindi
"the
for roof?
Mujmil'Ut'tarikh
"foot
of the
ba'^d
Nadir'igah, p.
The word khakrez in 78, line 12, meaning

seem
to
wall",
glacis", does not
have
been in use in India.

Goonga.
I
it
cannot restore the true form of this word, as
have not
found
it
except in books by Europeans.
Can
be intended
of Col.
for kungur, battlements? In the "Military
Memoir
of
Skinner",
i,
230,
we have
at the taking
HansT in Dec. 1801, the passage: "we commenced mining, and advanced to within ten yards of the crown work, called in Hindustani goongas\ On id., 266, the word is spelt goonju "these brave fellows stood upon the goo7ijus for a full hour, under one of the heaviest fires of musketry and great guns I have seen", (this was at the siege of 'AlTgarh by Lake in 1803). Kummurgah {Kamrgali). I find this word used for the second line of defence at Aslrgarh in the Uakhin (Blacker,
:
265
"War",
420). This
is
a metaphorical use of kamrgah, the

is
place where the belt
placed, the waist (Steingass, 1049).

"it
As Lake
murgah
"a fine
explains,
156,
has
been
aptly styled kum-
(or the
belt)".
Tlaunee, Bainee, Benny, Fitzclarence, 110, saw at
Nagpur
masoury" bottom of the wall "which

piece
of
in
I
front of
suppose to
and covering the be what is in this
country
ao'ain,
called
a rainee, similar to a fausse-braye" ^

:
And
id.
245
"thouofh thev do not understand the con-
struction or advantages of a glacis, they
saw the necessity of covering the foot of the wall from an enemy's fire, and formed a defence, similar to our fausse-braye, which they call rainee\ Thorn, 400, speaking of Hathras fort (now in the Âligarh district, N. W. P.) says "a renny wall, with
a
deep,
dry,
broad ditch behind

i,
it,
surrounds the fort".

it
James Skinner, "Mil. Mem.",
172, spells
rounee,
Fraser erroneously translates "counterscarp", being as

says "nonsense as well as incorrect". Blacker,
and Yule
"War", 299,
writes "Sholapur had a fausse-braye of substantial masonry".

is shown Malligam (Plate 31). This was about twenty feet high, and about fifty feet from the main wall. The word raunee is used by him on plate 38 (Asirgarh) and here the secondary wall stood at the foot of a slope, about eighty feet from the main wall. The derivation of the word roiinee is a puzzle: Yule, 583, says it is the Hindi word raoni, but suggests no etymology and admits
suppose this was a rauni or rainee. Such a wall
in his plan
and
sections of
that it is not in either Shakespear or Wilson. Can it have any connection with a word in J. Shakespear, 1189, rmdhna, to surround or enclose as with a hedge? Fallon evidently did not know it, and in his "Eng. Hind. Dictionary", 264
renders
valents
"fausse-braye"
which
also
by Blms, Matti ka piishtah, equishow fairly well that he had no clear

504) "Fausse-braye, a work between
engineers". See also
idea of what a fausse-braye was.

'
Moor, '^Narrative",
(Glossary,
the ditch and curtain: not

E. Lake, "Sieges", 219,
much adopted by modern

note.
and
266

ii,
Sang-andaz. Budaom,
146, uses this word

is
when
des-
cribing the fort of Surat. This
here evidently "embrasure",
and
so translated
afkan
and
sang-andaz,
the
by Lowe, 150. Steingass, 703, has sanga loophole in a fortress. But a

i,
passage in
siege of
Majasir-ul-umara,
in the
76,
referring
to the
Dharwar
Dakhin
in Shahjahan's reign,
would
lead one to infer that sang-andaz was a pathway or tunnel,
down which
Damaghah.
"Karachi
crenelles
call
stones were literally thrown.
When
Sindh
a
was taken by
tall
us,
we found
with fancy
surrounded by
wall,
tipped
and perpendicularly striped with what the Persians Damagheh, or nostril holes, down which the besieged
pour hot
Burton",
oil
i,
could
or boiling water" ("Life of Capt. Sir
R. F.
126).
Possibly the derivation might be

534), the crest of a falcon or
oil
from
damaghah
(Steingass,
similar bird.
at
ii,
We
siege
have an instance of the use of boiling

of
Ak bar's
Asirgarh
(Von Noer, French
trans.,
336, Horn, 128).

Descriptions
of small Forts. I find a good description of a petty Rajah's fort in W. H. Russell's "My Diary in
India",
ii,
318. Although this was written in 1858,
it
is
quite
earth
as
applicable to an earlier time.
south-east
profile
was we made out the entry. The gateway was approached by a dam across a ditch full of water, which was dominated by a bastion with the embrasures directed upon the dam. A sort of causeway at the other bank led us to a high gateway in a mud curtain, which was also flanked by a musketry fire and by a few embrasures. The lines of all the works were exceedingly irregular. The gates were of wood, studded and clamped with iron". Again, this time in Bundelkhand, we get the following
field.
was the outer parapet of Audh), with a very deep ditch separating it from the level of the
ere
"The low bank of the fort of Amethi (in

of
irregular
It
some time
description
of
the
ordinary native fort (Fitzclarence, 59).
"These
forts are in general of
mud, but from
six to
twelve

feet at the
267
bottom of the wall are often of masonry. They are surrounded by a deep ditch, and the defences consist of small round-towers connected by curtains. Some of them have two or three lines of these walls and towers within
each
for
other.
On
but
the glacis are generally large excavations

this,
grain;
of course,
is
only in dry situations.
The mud
and they
similar
walls receive the shot without being shattered,

are in consequence very difficult to breach".
description
is
applying
to
the southernmost part of

ii,
India,
to
be found in Wilks,
95.
Blacker,
of
"War", 229,
forts in the
gives a
good general description
Dakhin. "Tmagine a mound of earth of about one hundred and fifty yards diameter and
the
small
about
sixty
or
seventy
feet
high.
Then the
sides of this
and the prominent parts shaped into flanking towers. Let the whole be reveted and surmounted by a parapet, and then only an entrance will be wanted. A gateway pierced in the revet ement of a reentering angle, something lower than the interior of the fort, will form the inner communication, and on each side will be projected a tower to flank it and to plunge a fire into the next (gateway?). This will be found in a lower wall, the extremities of which will terminate in the revetement of the place, inclosing a small space and it will be
are scarped off by labour,
;
likewise
by projecting towers, independent of the defences being loop-holed. These works, it is evident, may be frequently repeated; and the form of the traverses as
flanked
well as the relative position of the gates continually varied;
but the general practice avoids placing two successive gates exactly opposite, and the outer aperture is invariably on
lower ground than that next within, to favour the ascent. On some occasions so much earth may be scarped off as
to
it
form a high glacis, which makes the space left between and the wall actually a ditch; but in very few cases is a ditch actually excavated round a garhi". Particular Forts. 1 have collected from European writers
268
the
I

descriptions
of
a
have
no doubt
I
that
good many Indian fortresses; and many more such notices are in
list
existence.
append a
of those I have seen, arranged
in alphabetical order
with references.
Ahnadnagar. Fitzclarence, 241, a detailed account.

Ajaigarh. Fitzclarence, "Journal", 62; Pogson,''Boondelas",
136,
face,
it
whose book a plan, a general view of the east of the breach at the N. W. gateway may be seen. 'Allgarh. Taken by the English on the 4tli Sept., 1803: was of European design. Thorn, "War", description on
in
and
p.
102, view on plate 3.
Aslrgarh. Blacker,
views, one from the north
"War", a description on and one from the
p.
414, two
east,
and on
Plate 38 plan and sections.
town and its fortifications are described in Lord Combermere's "Memoirs". Vol. ii, p. 236. Chinglapat. Description by John Call, chief Engineer, Madras, in Cambridge, "War", appendix.
Bhartpiir. This
Baulatahad.
detailed
account in
IS^î
Fitzclarence,
1,
216,
ccli.
and
it
also
in
Anquetil
Duperron,
"Zend Avesta",
Anquetil visited the place on the
April 1758,
when
was held by a French officer on behalf of M. Bussy. Dhctrwar. A view and description in Moor, "Narrative", 39.
HatJiras.
Fitzclarence, "Journal", has a plate of
it
oppo-
site
p.
18.
is
Kalinjar. This place

delas",
fully described in
148
157;
Pogson, "Boon-
he
tells
the story of the siege of 1812
on pp. 139147. Nagpur. Described

"Sieges", 35.
Trichinopolg.
Col.
in Fitzclarence, "Journal", 110,
Lake,
There
is
a description
in
of this fortress
by
Stringer
Lawrence
R. O. Cambridge, "War", 15.

the
official
Imperial
several
forts
lists
Fortresses.
In
manuals we have
of these places.
The
of
greater
number
of these
were in
the Dakhin, and in the better days of the
Moghul
period,
the
charge
them was committed
to

imperial
269
officers called qildhdars, who were appointed from the capital, and were quite independent of the governor of the province. This arragement was rendered necessary from the importance of these strongholds, both
direct
means of retaining hold of the country, and owing to their employment as great store-houses and arsenals. Moreover, if left under the control of a governor, he might be tempted to make a try for independence, when the possession of one of these fortresses would contribute largely
as
to his chances of success.

I
find
from
list
referring
to the reign of ''Alamgir
(B.
M. Or. 1641
I
fol.
525), that there were forty-two imperial

all
forts.
cannot read
the
names but
7)
have made out
the following. 1) Shahjahanabad, 2) Akbarabad, 3) Lahor,

4)
9)
Kabul,
JhansI,
5)
Kashmir,
6)
Atak,
11)
Allahabad, 8) Ajmer,
12)
Sitapur, 18)
10)
Gwaliyar,
Kalinjar,
Taragarh, 14) Bargarh, 15) Chandu, 16) Ujjain, 17)Raesen,

18) Ranlgarh, 19) Dohad, 20) Kakrun, 21)
Ranthambhor,
22) Ruhtas Khtird, 23) Stirat, 24) Kangrah, 25) Hunger,

26)
Jodhpur,
27)
Mairtah,
28)
Sambhar, 29) Ghaznain,

18, 32^ 33,
places.
80) Pishawar,
31) Zafarabad, 82) Shergarh, 33) Lankarkot.

14,
is
The
the
list,
identity of Nos 12, 13,
doubtful;
this
others
are
well-enough
must be looked on as very incomplete. In it are included none of the strongest places in the Dakhin, where to say the least, fortresses were as numerous as in Hindustan.
forty-two places,
although containing as
known many as
However,
CHAPTER XXIV.
SIEGES.
remained in the same Europe before the introduction of the regular systems. The Indians placed their reliance more on a strong profile than on a judicious plan; and they never realised the importance of the maxim that every work of a fortress should be fianked by some other (Lake, II). Blacker holds that nothing proved more forcibly their ignorance of the attack and defence of fortified places than
India
it
In
the
art of fortification
state
as
was
in
their
manifest
superiority
when
acting
on the defensive.
native
army
scarcely ever succeeded in taking a place
which attempted resistance: it was generally reduced to terms through the distress caused by the force lying around
it.
some very vigorous defences had been made, prolonged by determined defence of the breach and by bold sallies to the trenches. Mining had found its way to some but not to all parts of India; but there were few
the contrary,
its
On
instances of
being practised with
eff'ect
(Blacker,
"War",
23). In the Mujmil-ut'tanJch

it
is
bad Nadirlyah,
p. 78, line 7,
had a practise before dog and throwing it in the direction of the fortress. I have never seen this mentioned elsewhere, and one does not quite see what was symbolized by the act. Strong places were most commonly reduced by strict investment and starving out (Fitzclarence, 245). There were few captures by a coup de main {sar-i-suwari), the walls were not often breached, and rarely escaladed. Treachery
stated
that
the
Afghans
commencing
siege of killing a
SIEGES.
271
within
the walls was as frequent a cause of surrender as

sitting
it
any other thing. In
down
before a fortress, a
Moghul
army
''they
tried to
surround
completely so as to prevent any

expresses himself,
of undertaking a
ingress
As Grant Duff, 165, never considered an army capable

or
egress.
regular siege unless sufficiently large to surround the place

invested
and completely obstruct communications". Earth
works {mUrchal) were thrown up, in which the siege guns

were placed. The system of digging approaches and laying mines {naqb) was known and practised, at any rate in Northern India. No doubt. Lake, 14, holds the contrary view; he says ''the natives appear to be utterly ignorant
of the art of conducting approaches
by sap: and generally
they are also unacquainted with Mining". But this opinion
must be understood as applicable to the Dakhin only. There was also a plan, to which recourse was sometimes
had,
of building high towers with the branches of trees,
and when these were of a height to command the interior place, guns were mounted on them. These were called slbn. Scaling ladders {narduhcin) were not unknown,
of the
and were occasionally brought frequently brought up to batter

fort.
into
use.
Elephants were
gates of a
in the
wooden
The
Seir translator,
iii,
182, note 45, says the gates,
baing always covered by some work, could not be broken
by grenades (of which the natives knew nothing), or by pushing against them elephants, protected by iron, or by setting fire to them. It was as a protection against elephants that the gates were studded with iron spikes;
in except
to
meet which
it
was the practice
to furnish the elephant
with an iron frontlet (Fitzclarence, 137). For instance, we read in the SiT/ar-ul-mutakharm (translation, iii, J 81), with
reference to an assault by the Mahrattas in
that
the
Khizri
gate
of
the
Dihli
citadel
1173 h. (1759), "was covered
with sheets of brass and

out twelve inches,
set thick
with iron nails jutting
and an inch square at the bottom". Often the gateway was bricked up when a siege was im-
272

it
minent, and this device rendered

in.
impossible to blow
it
At' Cuttack in 1803, the gate was partially built up
in this way,
and we had considerable
difficulty in entering
(Lake, 211, note).
Lake's
their
These general remarks are borne out by a passage in "Sieges of the Madras Army", 14: "when one of
armies
sits
down
before a place, the object appears
rather to be to harrass the besieged and weary
them out
by a
strict
blockade, than to effect an entrance by breaching
the walls: for although guns are used, they are placed at
such a distance from the town, out of musket shot, and

not
always in
day;
battery,
that their effect
is
uncertain,
and
even
the
of a
this desultory fire is only
kept up at intervals during
for at night, to
guard against the consequences
sally,
the guns are always withdrawn to the

process
is
camp;
and
this
ridiculous
continued
is
till
the besieged
are tired out,
and a compromise
entered into".
Fitzclarence, "Journal", 245, also enters at
some length
into
the
question.
"The investment
of an eastern fortress
did not in general consist of anything beyond a blockade;
and
it
will
be seen by a reference to Indian history, that
the surrender of these forts has been caused more by trea-
chery and scarcity than by any other means, and that the
length of some sieges in this country equal those of Troy,
Ostend, and Mantua. The food of the Indians being almost

entirely rice \
which
the
is
the least perishable of any article

of
of
subsistence,
defence
such
places
may be
the
longer protracted.
the
Though
glacis,
the natives did not understand

still
advantage of a
they saw the necessity of

fire
covering the foot of the wall from the enemy's
when
are
exposed to
very
1
it,
and formed a defence similar

loopholes
to
fire
to a fausse-
braye, which they call rainee (see back, p. 265).

partial
to
They
through,
If
Each of
"corn" were sub-
This
is
not true of Hindustan, outside of Bengal.

still
stituted,
the argument would
hold good, and exactitude would not
be
sacrificed.
SIEGES.
273
is
these
narrow
the
and confined [entrance] lanes

force
generally
enfiladed
with guns and loopholed on every side, so that
should
enemy
the
outer gate, they find them-
selves exposed to a continuation of fresh dangers
invisible garrison at every turn. 1
am
not, however, a
from an good
judge of native
fortresses,
having only seen those of Chunar
on the Ganges, of Alighur, of Agra, and Delhi. The gates at Agra, Alighur and Chunar are examples of this difficulty of entrance" \
"The
the
Indians, in the defence of their forts, behave with
the greatest gallantry and courage, and in this differ from
Europeans,
who
often fancy that,
when
a practicable
breach is made in their walls, surrender becomes justifiable. But here all feel desirous of fighting man to man, and look upon the contest in the breach as the fittest occasion for meeting their enemies with sword and dagger. They
use large heavy wall pieces called gingalls" (see ante, p. 109),
two or more ounces to a very considerable distance. Having no shells or handgrenades, they cast bags of gunpowder into the ditch, which exploding by fire thrown on them, scorch the assailants; and at times
"which send
a ball of
they
have recourse to thick earthen-ware pots with fuses
and full of pow^der, the pieces of which wound dreadfully. They have been known to line the sides of the ditch with straw thatches, and by throwing other lighted thatch on their enemies, envelop them in flames. Our success against
Hatras by bombardment has been a wonderful encouragement to taking all the native forts by similar means; and
from their having no casements,

tive
shells are the

(id.
most
effec-
means
for
reducing them";
246).
Approach by sap and mine. The word used for the galleries of approach seems to have been sdhdt. This is defined
by the Lucknow editor
of the
Akbarnamah
(Vol.
ii,
p.
is
245,
also
note 7) as a roof {saqaf) between two walls, which

I
After this date tbe author also
saw Daulatabiid,
pp.
215221, and
Ahrnadnagar, 241, 242.

18
274
THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGBULS.

;
called "the path of safety" {kUchah-i'Salamat)

says,
sabat
is,
he
the
name
it
of a
town
in Transoxiana.
Steingass, 638,
explains
as
covered
passage connecting two houses.

for a
The ordinary Hindi word
mine
is
surang (Platts, 656)
and surang urana is to spring a mine. This mode of attack was known and practised. For instance Sher Shah in 952 h. (1545-6) at the siege of Kalinjar advanced galleries {sabat) to the foot of the wall, and then prepared naqb, which appears to mean here mines, and not the mere digging through of a wall (Budaoni, Text, i, 371, Ranking, 482). Again at a siege of Budaon in 963 h. (1555-6), the besiegers resorted to mining, and the commander of the garrison thwarted them by counter-mining, having detected
to
the
direction of their approach by putting his ear
the ground and listening, just as our engineers did at

Text,
of
i, 465 (Ranking, 599), Lucknow". And again, at the siege of Gurdaspur in 1715, 'Abd-us-samad Khan made covered ways or approaches {sabat)^ Yahya Khan, 123<7. Once more, at Allahabad in 1719 the imperialists worked their way close to the walls of the fort "and began to mine under the walls", and Girdhar Bahadur, believing that the day was lost, made overtures through Muhammad Khan, Bangash, {Siwrniih-i-Khizri, 13). So also at the siege of Agrah (July, August 1719) Haidar Quli Klian, who had
Lucknow in 1857, Budaoni, and McLeod Innes' "Siege
under his command many Europeans whom he had brought from Surat, drove several saps towards the walls (id.). Sabat. According to the dictionary this is "a covered
passage connecting two houses"; and as a military term
it
means a trench
or approach
made
in besieging a fortress.
According to Briggs, "Firishtah", ii, 230 (siege of Chitor) the sabat were constructed in the following manner. "The
zigzags,
commencing
at
consist of a double wall,
gunshot distance from the fort, and by means of blinds or stuffed
gabions
covered with leather, the besiegers continue their

till
approaches
they arrive near to the walls of the place
SIEGES.
to be attacked".
275
There
is
another passage to the same effect
with reference to the year 1595 and the siege of Ahmadnagar.
more explicit as to the Maqalah ii, p. 257, beginning at line 22). A body of five hundred carpenters, stone-cutters, blacksmiths, excavators, earthworkers, and shovelmen were set to work to construct sabrd, ''which are peculiar to India". These men laboured at making sabrd and digging mines {naqb). ''Sabat is the name for two walls which are made at the distance of a musketshot; and under the shelter of planks and baskets which are held together by skins, the said walls are carried close to the fort. Then the matchlock men and the mine-diggers {naqqab) come in safety, through the wide way between those walls, to the foot of the fort, and there they dig a mine and fill it with gunpowder. When the fort has been
text
The
of
Firishtah
is
even
siege
of
Chitor
(Lucknow
edition,
breached {rakhnah shud), the rest of the array reaches the

spot by
We
the
and effects an entry into the fort". have the story of the same siege told by Nizam-udof the sabat,
fol.
way
din in the Tabaqat-i-Ahbar Shahi,

i2tt
209^, line
of
7,
(under
h.,
liahi
year,
the
beginning
Ramazan 974
1566 A.D.).
in
It is practically
the same as Firishtah, some-
He says work was begun two places. They prepared something like a lane (or narrow street) up to the wall of the fort. "The sabat which began from the emperor's entrenchment was so wide, that ten horsemen could ride abreast along the bottom of it; and so deep that a man seated on an elephant, holding a spear in his hand, could go along it". In spite of the shields of ox-hide, a hundred men a day were killed by shots from the garrison. The bodies were built into the walls. There was in addition a place upon which Akbar sat
times word for word the same.
'
The word
actually used
is
irtafd", "height",
which evidently means
"height" from the floor of the trench to the natural surface of the ground, or to the top of the earth thrown out on each side. In other words, what
we
call
"depth", when speaking of an excavation.
276

off
and picked
for his
men
appearing on the fortress walls. "His
Majesty sat upon the top of a building {khanali) prepared

reception
upon
the
sahat
of
his
entrenchment
matchlock in hand". Budaoni, ii, 103, (Lowe 106), here copies and abridges Nizam-ud-din: and in describing the siege of Kalinjar in 952 h. (1545),
{murchal).
sat there
scibat as if he meant by it a sap or and not a tower. Allowing for a certain amount of obscurity and vagueness in the native historians, we may, I think, assert that, so far, the meaning of sabdt is tolerably plain. It was a trench begun at some distance from a fortress, deep and wide enough to conceal the workers, the excavated earth being thrown up on each side to increase the protection. In rocky soil it may have been necessary to form the protecting wall of material, such as planks, trees, or earth, brought from elsewhere; but in most instances the obvious and easy method was to dig a trench in the ground, and use the earth from it to heighten the sides. But a sabat was
He
he uses the word

trench,
not a tower or erection, built up from the surface of the
thrown the subject into confusion by his use of the word sabdt in the Akbarndmah^ the meaning of the word would be clear enough. But he persists in using it as the name for a temporary tower,
ground.
If
Abûl Fazl had
not
or
battering
ram, as he explicitly says in

edition), describing the siege of
ii,
261, last
line,
(Lucknow
in
the \^^^ year, 22^^

to
Ramazan 976
the
h.
Ranthambhur The besiegers of

sarkob-i-gnrdanfol.
Ranthambur came
kashdn
also
conclusion
that the fort could

kili
not be taken without recourse to sabdt,

bash ad.
the
ii,
uses
As to this word sdbdt,
siege
Nizam-ud-din
enters
into
212a,
but
no
details.
Budaoni,
closely.
107 (Lowe, 111), follows Nizam-ud-din very
Ab.ul Fazl persists in using sabdt in a different sense
from everybody
Abûl
Fazl
else.
(Lucknow
To begin with the edition), Book i,
siege of
Chunar,
6,
114, line
says
SIEGES.
277
Rtimi Khan, ha hisMlhae

sage
is
tari'tb-i-sabai sakhtah.
i,
The
pas-
translated by Mr. Beveridge,
331,
"Rumi
Klian,
constructed a covered
way
{sdbdl)
".
arranged
Jauhar,
such
roof
[sat aha)
upon boats, and But if we go to

took three
Aftabchi,
fol.
my
we
on
Ms.
fol.
\^b, or to Nizam-ud-din,
Tabaqdt,
ijoats
151/5,
find that
RumI Khan
them a battering ram {muqabll-kob). same effect in Stewart, Tezkereh-al'Vaklat, p. 20, lines 1125, Erskine, "Babar and Humayun", ii, 140, 141, BudaonT, Ranking, i, 456, and Elliot, "Mahomedan Historians", v, 199. In none of them is there a word about a sabat, nor did they ever dream of calling this high erection built on boats, a
and
built
The passages
are rendered to the
sabat.
It
is
the
siege
of
same with Ab.ul Fazl's long account of the Chitor, (Lucknow edition) ii, from line 11 of p.
;
245, although in one place he says they made diivar-i-gilln' i'ariz-i-marpech, "serpentine, wide, earthen walls" but he
Akbar sat aloft upon a sahat, which commanded the walls, and from thence he shot. How could
writes elsewhere that
which a man shot; or a battering ram, as he elsewhere defines a sdhdt to be? Abuj Fazl has misled Count von Noer "Kaiser Akbar", i,
a serpentine wall be a tower, from
234
240,
French edition,
i,
165 (Horn 121) into asserting
that a sahat should "if possible
command
the walls", that
from "the top of the sahat, cannon breach the walls of the fortress". Then he speaks of the rolling of movable shields.
Dr.
p.
Horn seems
here,
it
142) to identify
ii,
by a reference to the tUrali (see ante with the sabat. But I think the text of
the Akbarnamali
243
254, Lucknow
workmen
edition, leads to the
conclusion
Chitor,
shields
1)
that
a
three things were
long
and deep trench

the
employed by Akbar at {sabdt), 2) movable

and
3)
to
protect
{tUrah),
a high
erection
commanding
so
far
the walls {slba).
Apparently open trenches were resorted to by the Mahrattahs
back as 1670 at the siege of Karnala, for
278

''they
Grant Duff, 110, quoting the Bombay Records, says advanced by throwing up breastworks of earth".
handbags. In order to
fort
facilitate
an attack, the ditch of a
up with sacks {jmvctl^ Steiugass, filled with earth. This was done at Âlamgir's siege 376), of Gulkhandah in 1097 h. (1685-6), Khafi Khan, ii, 356,
at
was
times
filled
mentioned as part of the Sikh equipment when they advanced in 1710 against the town of Rahun in the Jalandhar dUahah, Khafi Khan, ii, 658,
line
L We
find these bags
line
9,
juwalah-hae pur az
reg,
harae mUrchal hastan^
"and bags full of sand to make batteries". Movable shields. In 1710 the Sikhs, when attacking the town of Jalalabad in the Ganges DUabah, adopted the plan of using movable wooden screens, or mantlets, mounted
on ordinary cart-wheels.
walls,
These they brought close to the
and from
their shelter
showered bullets and arrows
on the besieged, (Khafi Khan, ii, 656). Mantlets in general have been described, ante p. 142, under the word TUrah, when dealing with Light Artillery. Shatur, ^^bU. In Budaoni, Text, i, 382, we find this
word, and
article
it
would seem from the context
to refer to
some
it
made
of the trunks of trees, something connected with

in
a siege. Colonel G. Ranking, 494, note 7, not finding
any dictionary, suggests the Turkish
sdtu, the roof of a house, to
meaning a shelther under which

something
like
approach the walls,

roof of planks
the
Roman
vinea,
and
wicker work supported on poles eight feet long, and carried
by the men
as they advanced.
May
not the correct word
be shahtlr, a beam?
is an obscure word used by Âbd-ul-hamid Badshalmamah, i. Part 2, p. 107, 1. 15, and p. 108, 1. 18. Both passages belong to the year 1044 h., 1634-5, and the first refers to the siege of Urchhah, the second to that of Dhamoni, fortresses in Bundelkhand. The wording
Malchar. This
twice,
in the second instance leads one to infer that the malchar
was something
in the nature of an approach
by trenches.
SIEGES.
279
for-
Temporari/ wall. Another device was to surround a

tress
with
temporary wall, leaving a few openings
at
to
which strong guards were posted, and no one was allowed enter or come out without a pass. This was done by 'Alamglr at Gulkhandah in 1098 h. (1686-7), Maâsir-i296. The materials employed were trunks of and clay. A somewhat similar plan was resorted to by Âbd-us-samad Khan, when he invested Bandah, the
"Âlamgirl,
trees
Sikh, in Gurdaspur.
Towers {Stba). In connection with
this siege of
Gurdaspur,
we
are
told
of the
building of high wooden towers, on

fortified place
it
which guns were mounted, the inside of the

being
thereby
commanded,
so
as
to
make
untenable.
The following passage
gives a description of these towers
by a contemporary, who was present. "At a distance of two

arrows' flight, batteries were erected of a size sufficient to
allow
cubits
of the
(42
guns being worked. They were about three
in height and in shape like bastions. A was kept up on both sides. Whenever a gunner shewed his head above the top of the earthwork, he would be fired at by one of the Sikhs concealed behind the battlements. In the same way a head showing above the wall was immediately fired at. The Sikhs answered shot for shot, and the imperialists were unable to move out to an attack in the open. Then, at the battery of Ârif Khan,
feet)
constant
fire
Âbd-us-samad
fort wall,
Khan prepared
his
a tower over-topping the

it.
and mounted
their
guns upon
This device
dis-
concerted the besieged, as the interior of the fort was
now
commanded and
Zakariyah
movements thereby hampered. Similar

re-
towers were raised on two other sides of the attack, where
Khan and Qamr-ud-din Khan commanded spectively", Ghulam Muhi-ud-dln Khan, fol. 57.
Ijad, fol.
23, with respect to the same operations, uses

I
a
to
word which
these
read cJiob-slbae, and
suppose
it
applies
towers.
"The
besiegers threw
up
chob-slbae,
and
drove
subterannean passages towards
each corner of the
280
fort".
But
am
doubtful of this interpretation, as he had

to distance
just
trees
i.
spoken of "mounds of earth raised on the trunks of
and placed from distance

in other words, "towers".
to
round the
fort"
e.
Why
then should he refer
again
the same thing by another
name
{chob-slbae) in
the next sentence?
Slba
is
defined by Steingass, 714, as from the Turkish,
"a place
the
surrounded by
walls"; but Horn,
103, quoting
Âlamgirnamah, 313, translates siba "aus den Befesti-
gungen sich erhebender Bastionen", or in other words what was called in Europe, a cavalier. This latter meaning would apply equally to Âbd-us-samad Khan's towers,
although
It
they
were independent structures, and not part
of a fortress.
was evidently a slba that was built by Dara Shukoh besieging Qandahar in 1063 h. (1653). "He mounted a battery on a high and solid mound of earth" (Elphinstone, "History", 513). We also find the word used in the Mw/us-safa, foil. 99/5, when in 1169 h. (July 1756^) the French under Bussy were invested in the Chahar Mahal at Haidarabad. The assailants erected sibaJi. Something of the same sort was had recourse to by the native besiegers of Arcot in 1751 (Orme "Mil. Trans." i, 191). They filled up a house with earth, and on this as a base they raised a square mound, which commanded the gate and every part within the fort. The same kind of thing is referred to by Orme, "Hist. Frag.", 153, on the authority of Manucci (Catrou, 4to edition of 1715, 3"^^ part, p. 177), as having been used at the siege of Gulkhandah in 1687. A vast mound of earth was raised to a level with the wall and the artillery mounted on it. Wilks, ii, 360, was told by Sir Barry Close, one of the garrison, that when Tellicherry (Malabar District) was besieged in 1782, Sirdar Khan employed what was evidently a slba, though the
when
name
1
is
not used.
"An immense
extent of base served as

p.
See Malleson, ''French in India", (new edition)
490.
SIEGES.
281
the foundation for several successive stories, constructed of
the trunks of trees in successive layers, crossing each other
and compacted by
the
contrivances
in
earth
rammed between
rear
for
the intervals;
the
raising
the
guns were
removed when the erection was complete; successive stories were raised as the besieged covered themselves from each in turn". Lake, 221, calls these erections "cavaliers", and
compares them to the great mounds raised by the ancients
in their sieges.
(For "Cavalier", see Voyle, 69).

the inefficient artillery of those days, a
rarely effected,
Storming.
With
and we hear of very few forts being actually stormed. Entrance was oftener secured through breaking in the gate, and for this purpose
breach
was very
elephants, as already stated on p.
177, were employed.
was narduhan, Steingass, 1395. Babar mentions them more than once. Their use in the reign of Humayun, 963 h., 1555-6 is proved by a passage in Budaoni, text, i, 465, Ranking 600. The words employed there are zlnah-pae, the round of a ladder or step of a stair, and kamand, which Ranking
Scaling ladders.
The name
for scaling ladders
though from the context "ropeladder" would be better. Again they were used in Shahjahan's reign, (1044 h. 1634-5), at the siege of Qrchhah,
translates literally "noose",
Badshahnamah,
i,
part 2, p.
107, line 15.
time we hear of their being used at a
From time to much later period.
For instance, at the end of 1719, when Girdhar Bahadur was besieged in Allahabad fort by Haidar Quli Khan and
other
imperial
officers,
we read
that a general attack in

of these
officer
two directions was ordered. One Sher Afgan Khan, Daud Khan, an
was headed by
under
Muhammad
Khan, Bangash, and
They drove the besieged back t^ the very foot of the wall, then "Daud Khan, Bangash, brought up the scaling ladders, hoping to make an entry, but after much struggle and effort, he was obliged to abandon the attempt", Siioanihi-kldzn. In 1710 the Sikhs
others.
had scaling ladders with them when they
tried to take
282

ii,
Jalalabad in the upper Ganges Bliahah, Khafi Khan,
657.
Modes of
reference
repelling assault.
Burning
p.
oil.
Powder Bags &c.
In a quotation already given on

has been
273, from Fitzclarence,
made
to the
throwing down from the

thatch.
I
walls of bags of
gunpowder and burning
have also
referred on p. 131 to the hnqqah-i-atash used for a similar
purpose. Other missiles are
named by Horn,
trans.",
i,
123, quoting
Von Noer
cloth
to
i,
254 ("French
161),
who
says that
at the siege of Chitor the Rajputs
brought sacks of cotton
and
fascines steeped in
oil,
which they endeavoured

a
set fire to
while the breach was being stormed. As to

full
the
throwing of skins
of
gunpowder with
match
attached,
we read
of this being done by the defenders of

in the fourth year of
a fort in the
Shahjahan (1631 A.D.). Horn, 132, quotes the passage from the Badshahnama/i, i, 376, sixth line from end, az darun-i-Msar ban tufang o huqqah o sang o mashh-hae bar Tit ra at ash
Dakhin
zadah ml andakhtand,
rockets
"From
inside the fort they threw
and grenades and stones and lighted powder-skins". A somewhat later instance of the use of the huqqah or hand-grenade and the handl or firepot, was at the siege of the Ghasahrl fort ('Aligarh district) by Suraj Mai, Jat, in the year 1753. In the Sujan Charitr, Canto v,
bullets
and
stanza 24,
we have:
Vththan maru ghanl paclau, saththi mitkh mode

Ha7idi huJcke aggi de, gadh-ioalaun chhode.
"There he
fierce fighting fell,
his
men turned
back;
The defenders threw

means
lighted handis and
huqqahs\
Quite at the end of the Moghul period, v/e find these of defending a breach resorted to by George Thomas'
the Mahratta assault on HansT (3^^ Dec.
officers, in resisting
houses), powder-pots,
"Burning choppers (i.e. thatch from the roofs of and everything he could get hold of, were showered upon us; but our greatest loss was from the powder-pots, which greatly disheartened the men"
1802):
SIEGES.
(^'Military
283
i,
Memoirs
of Lt. Col.
Again,
similar
at the siege of
James Skinner, C. E." Ehartpur in 1805, we find
238).
in use
means
of repelling an assault. Thorn, ''War", 457,
says ''the people on the walls continually threw

their heads
down upon
filled
ponderous pieces of amber and flaming packs

oil,
of cotton previously dipped in
followed by pots
with gunpowder and other combustibles, the explosion of
which had a terrible effect". See also a case, which occurred in 1781, quoted by Lake, "Sieges", 212. Stones. Where the fort was on an eminence and stones were available, these latter were stored, and rolled down
the
hill
upon any
1634-5,
besieger.
(Blacker,
in
1044
H.,
when Dhamoni
"War", 318). In Bundelkhand was

their assailants.
besieged, the defenders rolled stones
down on
part 2, p. 108. This was also done Dakhin in 1674, when it was attacked by Shiva-ji (R. Orme, "Hist. Frag.", 47). And it is only a year or two ago that we found the same mode of defence still resorted to at Hanza in the Himalayas. This use oi stones was the principal cause of our failure at the first storming of Chunar on the Ganges, Nov. 29<^^ 1764, (Carraccioli, "Clive", i, 64). "Large stones, which the enemy rolled out of the breach and on each side of it, threw our men so often down and rolled them back Our people were at again by twenties at a time
Badshahnamah,
a
fort
i,
at
in
the
last
so
fatigued
that
they
were obliged to give
it
up".
Here Captain
by
a
stone,
Dow
for
(the historian)
had
his skull fractured

to
which he
was obliged
tells
be trepanned.
Khair-ud-din, Îbrat-nfimah, 75,
us that sang-asiya were
thrown from the walls of Patnah when it was attacked in 1173 H. (1759); the dictionary, St. 701, says these are
whetstones, possibly the stones of hand-mills are intended
by the author.
(the
We
were also repulsed twice, in 1789 and
again in 1791, at Kistnagarhi (Salem District) "simply by

garrison)
rolling
down
stones
and large masses of

207,
note.
granite
on
the
assailants".
Lake,
Again,
at
284
Trimbak,

in
Khandesh, our
repulsed
assault
on the
24^^^
April 1818
was
chiefly
by
the
garrison rolling
down
large
stones
on their assailants (Lake, 105); and great damage was done in the same way at Gopadrug on the IS^h May 1819 (id. 201).
Evacuation after a repulsed Assault. Lake, 150, remarks,
as
among
the
many
inconsistencies of the Indian character,
that while they surrendered impregnable fortresses without
would not only defend a mere walled town, after a practicable breach had been made. Another curious habit connected with these defences is pointed out by Blacker, 346. It frequently happened that a garrison would repulse an assault in the most dauntless manner and with severe loss. Yet during the following night they would silently evacuate the place they had defended so well. Naturally Europeans wondered and sought for a cause. The object did not seem to be to divert the attacking force from some enterprize of greater danger to the general cause. The effort was nearly always isolated and desperate. Why not abandon the place at once, or ask for terms? It seemed that it must be a point of honour with them to try their strength, and having
a blow, they
but stand
an assault
proved their valour, they then withdrew. Reduction by Starvation. Many instances of this cause of surrender might be adduced. This was, for example, the
principal
reason
of the
surrender
of
Agrah
in
1131
h.
(Aug.
throne,
1719),
when Nekusiyar,
after laying claim to the
was invested in that
fort
by Husain 'All Khan.
month, provisions began to be scarce. Many of those who had joined from the country round began to
"After a
desert,
getting
over the walls at night, only to be seized

sentries.
by the Nawab's
'All
These fugitives informed Husain
Klian
of the disheartened
and
suff'ering condition of
the
garrison.
All the good grain had been used up, and

left
nothing was
but inferior pulses, and even these had
been stored over seven years and smelt so strong, that even
SIEGES.
285
fourfooted beasts would not eat them with avidity. Attempts were made to bring in small supplies of flour, which were dragged up by ropes let down from the battle-
the
ments.
part
in
Some
this
of
the
artillery
of the besieging force took
traffic.
After this was found out, the strict-
moving in the river was fired upon, and expert swimmers were kept ready to pursue and seize any one who attempted to escape by way of the river", Mhd Qasim, Lahorl, 286, 287. Negociations commenced, and the fort was surrendered on the 12tb Aug. 1719, after an investment of nearly three
at night
ness of watch was redoubled, anything
months.
Gurdasjmr. The reduction of Gurdaspur and the conse-
quent surrender of Bandah, the Sikh leader,

instance of the starving out of a garrison.
is
another
Khan appeared
not taken
before the place in
'Abd-us-samad April 1715, but it was
before
the
17*^^
Dec. of that year.
Some time
to an end,
before this happened, the provisions
had come
not
grain
a
being
little
left
in
the
storehouses.
The
garrison
obtained
for
food from the
common
soldiers outside,
which they paid at the rate of two or three shillings a pound; they also slaughtered oxen and other animals, and having no firewood, ate the flesh raw. Then they picked up and ate whatever they found on the road. They gathered the leaves from the trees; when these were gone, they stripped the bark and gathered the smaller shoots, and grinding these down, used them as a substitute for flour. The bones of animals were also ground down and used in the same way. It is said that some of the Sikhs even cut flesh from their own thighs, roasted it, and eat it. Thun {First Siege). In another instance the attempt to take a place by starvation was not successful. Thun was
a fort built by the ancestors of the Jat rajahs of Ehartpur,
and
it
was
their chief place of strength before they
to Bhartpur. It
Gobardhan,
to
removed somewhere between Dig and was situated the west of Mathura. In 1716 the cup of
286

full,
it
Churaman's transgressions being

Jai Singh
was resolved
to
proceed against him, and the duty was confided to Rajah
Amber. Thun having been completely invested, the siege began on the IQ^'^ Nov. 1716. The fortress was provided with lofty walls and a deep ditch filled from springs, and round it spread a thick and thorny jungle "through which a bird could hardly make its way".
Sawae
of
Supplies
were abundant; indeed (though

it
this
is
probably
salt,
an
exaggeration) there were,

cloth
was
said, grain,
ghl,
tobacco,
and firewood sufficient for twenty years. When the siege was imminent, Churaman had forced all merchants and traders with their families to quit the place, leaving their goods behind them. He made himself personally responsible for compensation,
if
he gained the day,
and
as
the
property could not be removed, the owners
gave their consent without
Muhkam
fort
Singh,
and
his in
much demur. Churaman's son, nephew, Rtipa, issued from the

open.
and gave
the trees
battle
the
In
his
report of the
21^^ Dec.
1716, the Rajah claimed a victory.
He
next cut
and erected a large number down of small guard-houses, in which he placed his men. A large cannon was sent to him from Dihli, while three hundred mans of gunpowder, one hundred and fifty fuans of lead, and five hundred rockets were supplied from the arsenal at Agrah. The siege dragged on for twenty months, and even in the end Thun was not taken. The rains of 1717 were very late in coming, prices rose very high, and great expense fell on the Rajah in bringing supplies from his own country of Amber. In January 1718 the Rajah reported that he had had many encounters with the Jats, in which he had overcome them, but owing to support at Court, they were not willing to yield. Soon after this Sayyad
round the
fort,
Khan
ciated
Jahan,
Barhah, a near relation of the wazir, nego-
a peace over Jai Singh's head, and

to
settle
allowed
lakhs of rupees to
Churaman was by ofi'ering a tribute of thirty the government, and a present of twenty
matters
SIEGES.
287
lakhs for the minister himself. Rajah Jai Singh was then
recalled.
ThUn {Second Siege). On a second occasion, in the year 1722, Rajah Jai Singh was more successful, and Thun was then razed to the ground. He reached Thun a few days before the 25th Oct. 1722; the fort was then held by the sons of Churaman, and at first there were daily fights. On the 31st a report came from the Rajah stating that he had taken three small forts from Muhkama (who was the son of Churaman), and he expected that Thun would soon fall. He asked for a large cannon, one hundred rahkalahs, five hundred mans of lead and powder, and three hundred rockets. The capture of the fort was reported to the emperor on the 20th ]nôv. 1722. Churaman's sons had fled. This speedy and apparently brilliant victory was, however, the result of treachery and not of hard fighting. Badan Singh, who was on bad terms with his cousin, Mulikam Singh, had been persuaded to betray the fort, on a promise that he would be appointed to the chieftainship. Communication bettveen Besiegers and Besieged, In Fraser,
"Mil.
at
Mem.
of Lt. Col. J. Skinner",
i,
231,
we read
that
HansT the Mahrattas rolled letters upon arrows and shot them into the fort from the trenches, and received answers from George Thomas' men in the same way, agreeing to give their leader up. In 918 h. (1512) at Gazhdawan, Babar
communicated in this way with the Uzbak i, 444). Another case is at the siege of Qandahar in 1545: "The dwellers in the fort wôte daily accounts of Mirza Âskari, and shot them down from the walls, twisted round an arrow", Akbarnamah (Beveridge) i, 466, line 4. The same mode of communicating, Manucci tells us, Philipps Ms. 1945, Part i, p. 251, was employed by the besiegers of Bhakkar in Sind (1658); one of these arrows struck Manucci on the shoulder, and he took it just as it was to the eunuch commanding the garrison.
is
said to have
garrison, (Budaoni,
Ke7/s
of Fortresses. Horn, 133, quoting
Elliot,
v,
176,
288
says that

the
fortresses
had gold or
is
silver keys;
is
in this
particular
passage
the
place referred to
Rantharnbhur.
line 21.
An
are
to
instance of this practice in Persia

(ed.
found in Mupnil-ut-
Tanhh-i-had-nadinyah
told
Oskar Mann) 85,
We
here
that
the keys of Naishapur were delivered
Ahmad
a
Shah, Durrani, when peace was made.
Again,
we have
governor
somewhat
on
earlier instance.
In 1119 (1707)
when
Mir Wais,
Ghilzai, killed
Gurgin Khan, Gurji (Georgian),
behalf of Sultan Husain Mirza, Safawi, and
took possession of Qandahar, he sent his submission to Shah
"Alam Bahadur Shah, together with a golden key {M.-ul-u., iii, 702). Another Central Asian practice is to be found Mujmil-ut-tankh bad Nadinyah, p. 88, line 2, the in
planting of a flag on the bastion of a fort as soon as
taken. I
it was mention of this in India. As showing have found no
the importance attached in India to the keys of a fortress,
we may instance the trouble taken by Aurangzeb Âlamgir to make his father, Shahjahan, surrender those of Agrah, sending his eldest son. Sultan Muhammad, to demand them
(Bernier,
Dihli,
63).
In 1707,
Mhd
Yar Khan, the qilahdar of
sent his son with the keys of the fort to

in token of submission (Khafi Klian,
ii,
Bahadur
Shah
577).
And
we read in Ghulam Âli Khan's Muqaddamah-i-Shah ÂlamnamaJi, fol. 615, that during Nadir Shah's invasion (1738), Burhan-ul-mulk and Tahmas, Jalair, were sent ahead from Karnal with a note from Muhammad Shah addressed to
Lutfullah Khan, Sadiq, {subahdar of the province), directing
up the keys of the fortress at DihlT to the Shah's agent, which was done accordingly. Then, when Najaf Khan took Agrah from the Jats in 1773, the mes-
him
to
give
senger conveying the news to DihlT "carried with him the keys of the fort to be laid at His Majesty's feet", W.
Francklin, Shah Aulum, 53.
Particular
Sier/es.
For the period covering the end of
Shahjahan's reign and the whole reign of 'Alamgir, I add a few notes and references in respect of the more notable
SIEGES.
sieges.
I
289
little
then give an account, in a

18^'^
more
detail,
of
sieges
belonging to the
century. In the second half
of Âlamglr's reign sieges, or at least attacks on forts, were
very numerous.
Dara Shukoh had at the siege of Qandahar 1063 H. (1653) four heavy guns, 30,000 iron shot, great and small, 1500 mans (60,000 lbs) of lead, 5000 mans (20,000 lbs) of gunpowder, 5000 artillerymen, 10,000 musketeers, 6000 pioneers, sappers and axemen, 500 pak/idhs (men bringing water in large skins carried on animals), 3000 aJiadts, 60 war elephants, and a great number of Brinjaris (grain-carriers), Raverty, "Notes", 22. There is a long account of the campaign, id., 23 28.
Qandahar.
in
Bljapur, 1097
entries),
id.
h.,
1685-6. B.M. 1641, foL 113 (sixteen
138<?,
Khafi Khan,
ii,
322
368,
Maâsir-i-
Âlamgin, 275.
Gulkhandah, 1098
h.,
1686-7, Abûl-Hasan
in Zu^l
and took refuge

Possession
of
in
Gulkhandah
left Haidarabad Qa'dah 1097 h.
Gulkhandah was obtained on the 24tii Zu^l Qa'dah 1098, Ma^dsir-i-A., 299. The siege lasted eight months and some days, id., 300. Description of the fort, id., 301. See also B.M. 1641, fol. 113r/, (forty entries). /m^Xn05-9H., 1693-7. Khafi Kh. ii,418, Ma,asir-i-'A.'d^\.
Khelnah, 1113
h.,
1701-2. Kliafi Kli.
ii,
499, Maasir-i-'J'.,
510, Madsir-
445457.
Kanddnak, 1114
i-'J.
u.,
1702-3. Khafi Kh.
ii,
469.
h.,
Wdkankherd, 1116
i-'I.
1704-5. Khafi Kb.
ii,
527, Ma,dsir-
490.
Jaitpur.
One
of the best
known
sieges of the 18^^^ century
was that of Jaitpur in Bundelkhand, where Muhammad Khan, Bangash, was invested by the Bundelahs aided by the Mahrattas. This siege is memorable, among other reasons, as the occasion on which the Mahrattas first took
a prominent part in imperial politics north of the Narbada.
The
siege lasted
over three months, namely, from the

19
15tii
290

to
May
the
31st
Aug.
1729.
in
Cliattarsal,
Bundelah, had
submitted
himself
earlier
the
year,
and
Muhammad
settling the
Khan, quite unsuspicious
of danger,
was out
country at the head of a small force. Suddenly he heard that a large Mahratta army, under BajT Rao and eleven
other
the
chiefs,
15*11
finally
stores
was close at hand. From the 12^^ March to May, he maintained himself in his camp, but was forced to retreat on Jaitpur. There were no of food, and no time to provide any. Soon they
were completely surrounded, but the Mahrattas, always poor hands at siege operations, made no impression on the
place.
They resolved to starve the garrison out. After a or two there was no longer any grain for food. Recourse was then had to the slaughter of the horses and bullocks. Flour could not be procured even at one hundred
month
rupees
the
seer;
the
only
supplies
were those furnished
and this flour by the Mahrattas was composed mainly of ground bones. Money was let down by a rope, and the corresponding amount of flour, at the rate of 100 rupees for a seer, was attached to the rope and drawn up. Many men died of starvation. But by Baji Rao's orders, any man on giving up his arms was allowed to pass out unmolested. In the end only some
surreptitiously
outside,
thousand or twelve hundred
hammad
the
fort
Eyian was
forced
to
men remained. At make terms and

p.
last
Mu-
evacuate
(Journal A. S. B. for 1878,
300, and Mirat-i18^^^
toaridat,
my copy, pp. 25, 26. Allahabad. This fortress was besieged twice in the
first
century,
(1750).
in
1131
h.
(1719) and again
in
On
the
first
occasion the imperial forces
1163 h. were sent
to eject the governor, Girdhar
Bahadur; on the second, it was attacked by the Pathans of Farrukhabad, when held by the officers of the then governor, Safdar Jang, who was
also
subahddr of
Audh and
wazlr of the empire. The
first
investment lasted
about nine and the second some seven
months, but on neither occasion did the besiegers succeed
SIEGES.
in reducing the fort.
291
(1719) Girdhar Bahadur
In 1131
ii.
yielded on obtaining the government of
A udh, and marched

1163
h. (1750) the
out
with
all
the honours of war. In
Pathans, before they had

against a
made
the least impression upon
homes combined attack by Safdar Jang and the Mahrattas. Bangarh. Almost the last expedition commanded by a Moghul emperor in person involved a siege. Between Abii^l Mansur Khan, Safdar Jang, governor of Audh, and 'All
the fortress, were recalled hurriedly to defend their
Muhammad
to
Khan, Rohelah, a man who had recently
risen
what we now call Rohilkhand, there had long been ill-blood from one cause and another. Now, Amir Khan,
power
in
Muhammad Shah, had been and sent as governor to Allahabad, the boundary of which runs with Audh. With this noble Safdar Jang struck up an intimacy. After a time, Amir Khan was recalled to Dihli, where he resolved to oust his
Ûmdat-ul-mulk, a favourite of
banished
from
court
enemy, the wazir Qamr-ud-dln Khan. For

sought the aid of Safdar
to
this
purpose he
Jang,
and caused the emperor
summon him from

with
his
government. Safdar Jang was
received
or
marked favour and appointed Mir Atash, commander of the imperial artillery. Having secured
it
influence at court, he proceeded to use

of 'All
in the
for the destruction
Muhammad Khan. The latter had, however, a friend ivazlr, with whom he had prudently formed a matri-
monial connection. Meanwhile Safdar Jang's influence with

the emperor was on the increase, and was crowned on the 25th June 1744 by the honour of a visit to his tents from
Muhammad
Shah
in person.
The importance
so fully impressed
in his reign
of ejecting 'All
Muhammad Khan
for the first
was
time
on the emperor, that
he was persuaded to take the
field in person.
Amir Khan and

result, for
little
Safdar Jang worked hard to secure this

effect
without the emperor's presence they could

nothing.
or
The
loazir,
Qamr-ud-din Khan,
was
friendly to 'Ali
Muhammad
Khan, Qaim Jang, the nawab
292
THE ARMY OP THE INDIAN MOGHULS. was in army was Muharram, 1158
his
of Farrukhabad,
secret concert
efficient
and
alliance with
and well-equipped. On 24tli (25^^^ February 1745), making h. the a pretext of a hunting expedition in the Loni preserve, Muhammad Shah crossed the Jamnah, his real purpose being kept secret even from the wazlr. Omitting the intervening events, we pass on to the 21st Rabf ii (May 22^1^ 1745), the day on which the army reached Budaon; and here Muhammad Shah effected a reconciliation between Qaim Jang and Safdar Jang, which was ratified by an exchange of visits. All the same, Safdar Jang continued actively to carry on the campaign. Then, seeing the imperial army so close to him, Âli Muhammad Khan quitted his abode at Anwalah, and took refuge in
him,
and
his
stronghold
of
Bangarh,
some kos
to
the
south.
To
the
this place
he was followed by the imperial army.
On
one hand, the wazlr persisted that he could bring in 'All
Muhammad Khan;
if
on the other, Safdar Jang urged that

free
he
were given a
sent
to
hand,
he would soon overcome

his position, Safdar
the rebel by force.

also
To strengthen
for
Audh
Jang reinforcements. His hakhs/n, Naval
was ordered to march with this force by way of Shahjahanpur to Bangarh. Bangarh was now surrounded by the imperialists. Kalyan Singh, rajah of Kumaon, who had recently suffered from an irruption of the Rohelahs, joined the army as an ally. Round the fort was a thick screen of bambus "through which the wind found its way with difficulty". Labourers and axemen were set to work to cut this hedge down, and batteries were erected. But the army and its commanders were only half-hearted in their exertions, many nobles had passed long years at court and had never seen a skirmish or heard the roar of cannon, and others again blamed the wazlr for bringing them to do a work which he did not care to do himself. The remarks just referred to caused great annoyance to Qamr-ud-dm Khan; so much so, that
Rae,
SIEGES.
293
(son of
Haiyat-ullah
Khan,
liizbar
Jang,
of Saif-ud-Daulah
wazlr),
Zakariyah
Khan,
of
and
son-in-law
the
begged
urgently for leave to advance and end the matter.

In
spite
the
overwhelming odds,
"All
Muhammad
He
also
Khan
perial
held his ground. Khushhal Chand, although an imofficer,
cannot help admiring his courage.

territory, the lands
breaks forth
of the
into unstinted praise of the flourishing state
Rohelah
being fully cultivated, the
crops good, the peasants well-off. Theft, outrage and highway-
robbery were
unknown within
those boundaries. These results
were the
standing
:
fruits of the ruler's strong
reason and good under-
"The
fox carried off the morsel from the wolf,

wits, the latter, little".
For the former has great
One day
'All
Muhammad Khan came
out of the
fort,
and was attacked by one of Safdar Jang's officers. Safdar Jang mounted and was anxious to make an onset. Muhammad Shah thought this imprudent, when on the one side were the Moghuls (the waz'ir^ troops) and on the other the Pathans (Qaim Jang and his men), neither of whom were to be trusted, and might act in collusion with the
Then 'All Muhammad Khan fired some balls which fell in the camp of the nobles, some even coming near to the imperial enclosure "to make
besieged. Several days elapsed.
obeisance".
Shah sent for the tvazir and consulted. There was no want of men; one division by itself would have sufficed. Yet nothing was done. Once Muhammad Shah appealed to Rae Hemraj, a Saksena Kayath, a mere
clerk in the artillery office; "If I
to
Muhammad
you,
how
long
would
it
made over this take?" The /ia?/al/i
business
replied:
"Your Majesty's artillery is so powerful that 1 could reduce Bangarh to ashes in four ^//ari (about one and a half hours)". But the imperialists continued to discuss helplessly what should be done next. In this interval. Naval Rae arrived
with
20,000
horsemen and 40,000
infantry. Safdar
Jang
294

to
went out a kos or two
the siege in earnest, and 'Ali
meet him. Naval Rae commenced Muhammad Khan began to
think of flight or surrender.

effect
He
sent an intimation to this
to the wazir, whose second son, Mu'ln-ud-daulah (commonly called Mir Mannu) was sent to talk the matter over. Having received a promise that his life would be spared, ''All Muhammad Khan came to the Presence on
the
3rcl
Jamadi
i,
158
h.
(2^ June
1745),
Khushhal Chand,
Shah, Abdali, in
B.M. Or. 1844,

Agrah.
foil.
After their
164 181(5. defeat by Ahmad

for a
January 1761, the Mahrattas

India. Suraj Mall of
time quitted Northern
Bhartpur was then the only powerful
ruler
left from the gates of Dihli to the banks of the Chambal. The only place of strength remaining to the Moghuls was the fort of Agrah, and in 1763 Suraj Mall determined to acquire it. Since 1754 the commander and
troops had received no pay, living on the produce of
what
Suraj
of
they sold from the
magazines within the

difficult
fort.
Obviously
such
people
would not be
pretence
of
to
deal with.
Mall made a
the
Still,
crossing
to the north
bank
Jamnah, then turned suddenly and blockaded Agrah. he could never have taken the place, had it been in charge of a good commandant. At this time the command was held by a mere boy, and he was under the thumb
of a subordinate, a greedy coward.
tures
From
this traitor over-
were received, and the fort was given up. The blockade had lasted twenty days, but though the inhabitants of the city suffered
been
Suraj
done
off
to
the
fort.
Suraj
of
from plundering, no damage had Mall is supposed to have

rupees
from the town. ''When Mall took Agrah, it had the most numerous and the best artillery in the kingdom, with powder, balls and bullets, and other goods of the Royal Wardrobe, collected during a long course of years. Everything was carried off. The best cannon were removed to Dig and Bhartpur. Two years ago (1765?), Juwahir Singh caused most of the
fifty
carried
lakhs
SIEGES.
295
houses
to
at Allahabad, to allow
the fort
imitating what had been done room for the artillery to play. But guns can do no harm as the bastions are so high.
be
demolished,
entrenchments and batteries,

leaders of the Jats
Nay, the debris of the houses could be used as ready-made to secure an approach to the main body of the place. The present commandant and the
know nothing
of war, they are
men
of
low extraction, owing their
rise solely to their
devotion to
young Juwahir Singh", ''Orme
Collections", p. 4308.
CHAPTER XXV.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
The war
study
organization of the
Moghul empire
offers
someI
thing more than a mere antiquarian interest.

the period, the more I
The more
am
if
convinced that military

sole,
inefficiency
was the principal,

comparison with
not the
cause of that
empire's final collapse. All other defects and weaknesses were

as nothing in
this. Its
revenue and judicial

the habits of the
system
was,
on the whole,
suited
to
and so far as those matters were concerned, the empire might have endured for ages. But long before it disappeared, it had lost all military energy at the centre, and was ready to crumble to pieces at the first touch. The rude hand of no Persian or Afghan conqueror, no Nadir, no Ahmad Abdali, the genius of no European adventurer, a Dupleix or a Clive, was needed to precipitate it into the abyss. The empire of the Moghuls was already doomed before any of these had appeared on the scene and had they never been heard of, there can be little doubt that some Mahratta bandit or Sikh free-booter would in due time have seated himself on the throne of Akbar and Shahjahan. It is a curious problem, then, to consider what causes could have led to the military decrepitude of a monarchy which had been founded and maintained by its military prestige. How came to pass that what had been gained by the sword was it at length to perish by the sword? In the Moghul army there was little loyalty to the sovereign's person, and absolutely no patriotism or devotion
people, they looked for nothing different,
;
to
297
one's country.
To
a slight extent the zeal
of
Mahomedanism was on
the side of
and fervour the ruler. But in a
country
of this
a faint
house,
where the majority were still Hindus, any excess feeling was as much a danger as an advantage. In degree, there was some attachment to the reigning
which
still
on the reputation of such great Babar and Akbar. But Aurangzeb rulers and had alienated both the Rajput warrior clans and the general Hindu population. The army was thus, in effect, a body of mercenaries, men who served only for what they could get, and ready at any moment, when things went badly,
lived
as
soldiers
to
desert
or
transfer
themselves, to a higher bidder.
The
sol-
army'was
full of Persian,.
Central Asian, and Afghan
diers of fortune, whose
swords were at the service of
any
one who chose
to
pay them.
constitution everything turned, in such
he^^^^
By
able
its
original
an army,
upon the characler_.ofJts
If he were
an
and successful soldier, or even one gifted with the power of leading and governing men, all went well, some sort of discipline was maintained, and some unity of purpose was secured. Thus the first necessity was a strong emperor; for no one but the emperor was readily obeyed, and even he could not always secure obedience. But after
the death of Aurangzeb in
1707, efficient rulers ceased to be found among the scions of Taimur's house. A free field
was
thus
iVll
opened
courts
in
to
the
jealousies
and
rivalries
of
the
nobles.
seem
more
soil.
or
less
hot-beds
of petty
intrigue;
to
but
its
eastern countries this evil growth seems
find
most congenial
Intrigue seems to accord
with the genius of eastern races; and in that respect perhaps no eastern country equals India. My experience of India is that if a man has only two servants, one of them
will at
once attempt to supplant the other and monopolize

consequences
followed
nobles.
his master's confidence.
Disastrous
from
these jealousies
aptly says
amon^
the great
men and
As one writer
298
a noble

was
(lasad-pesha/i,
"one whose profession was envy".

to
In
for
military
matters
this
we have not
jealousy
in
go
its
far in
our search
examples of
and
consequence, base
Khan left A'zam Shah to his fate, because he had been made to serve under Bedar Bakht, that prince's son. Again, in 1712, the same
treachery.
At Jajau
1707,
Zujfiqar
Zujfiqar
rival,
Khan
him same
to
stood aloof at Agrah, in the hope that his
Jahandar Shah's foster-brother, might be destroyed,

reap
the
benefit of an unshared victory.
battle
leaving
In
this
we
see treachery at work, the troops
of Turani race having been bought over
by the other
side.
Instances might be multiplied
ad
infinitum.
Furthermore, the constitution of the army was radically
unsound. Each
ally
man
to
was, there can be no doubt, individurecklessness.
brave,
even
Why
then
do we find
them so ready to retreat from a battle-field, so anxious to make off after the slightest reverse? Simply because they had so mucîo^Jose and so veryJitlle_lo âin. A trooper
and if it wa s^ kil l ed he w as ruined As a European writer of the middle of the 18^1^ century justly enough says: "Their cavalry (which are among them very respectable, and also~weri~paid) though not backward to engage with sabres, are extremely unrode
his
own
horse,
irretrievably.
jwilling to bring their horses within the reach of our

so that they
lives,
guns
do not decline' so much through

their fortunes,
fear of their
as
for
wdiich are
all
laid
out in the
viii.
"liofs'e'^They'nde on", Cambridge,
"War", In trod.
effect.
In
1791-2
that the
to
ffloo r^
204,
noTice3~~among the Mahrato^cavalry
same cause produced the same

will
"A
reluctance
charge
cause:
be frequently
great
observed;
proceed from any deficiency in

this
which does not personal courage, but from

the Mahratta
the property of the riders,
part
of
the horses in
service are,
we have understood,
monthly pay, according to the goodness of Jhe horse, for their own and their beast's services. Tf a~man has his horse killed or wounded, no equivalent
receive a certain
who
is
299
made him by
;
the Sirkar, but he loses his animal and
his allowance
he will therefore, of course, be as careful as

i,
possible to preserve both". See also Seir,
315, note 250,
Orme,
Blacker,
''Hist.
Frag.",
21.
to
418,
this
Fitzclarence,
"Journal",
73,
"War",
in
Then
his
addition
hindrance to zeal caused by

the individual soldier
personal
interests,
we
lind that
and the State, or consider He was the soldier of his immediate commander and neve r loo ked beyond him. If a great leader was hike- warm in th e cause or w as bought over, was forced to flee from the field, or was slain in the
did
not look
to the sovereign
his interests identical
with
theirs.
battle,
liis~
men
dispersed at once.
With the
leader's dis-
appearance, theirj.nter est in the fight was at an e nd, and

their first concern
was
their
own and
their horse's safety.
To take one instance out of many, Sayyad Husain Âli Khan left Agrah in Muhammad Shah's train at the head
had ever been collected by any Moghul general. A week or two afterwards, he was suddenly assassinated. An hour or two had hardly elapsed, and not a trace of his mighty army was left, his camp had been plundered, and even his tents burnt.
of
as
large
force
as
The death
or disappearancejpfjhe^general-in-chief always
decided the battle. Outside Labor,
sMn's elephant ran
off
when prince Âzim-ushand drowned him in the Ravi, his
army dispersed and his treasure was plundered. Again, when Jahandar Shah fled from the battle-field at Agrah,
the
day
be
was
lost,
although Zujfiqar Khan's division was
intact.
Of
treacherous defection in the field the examples

endless.
would
serving with allies
The luke-warmness of Indian troops was shown many a time in our earlier
in
Rohilkhand in 1774, where to do all the work, and in the Dakhin in 1792, when the Haidarabad and Mahratta troops proved more of a hindrance than a help to their English allies. In 1803 the Nizam's horse were useless, and
campaigns;
for
instance,
Shuja^-ud-Daulah
allowed
us
300
in the
campaign of 1817 the conduct of the irregular horse was contemptible. As an auxiliary force they were hurtful in consuming forage and provisions, for which they made no return (Blacker, 348). Speaking of the Nizam's army, a writer at the end of
JSt'i
the
less
century says: ''As an army, the composition
is
no
expensi^ê^^han defecti veT'aM'Iotany untitlorTn ilitary
operations.
They encamp
are
easily to
at
in front, flaiik, or rear, an3^1n consequence of this
random, without proper pickets and other

surprized
negligence
be
in
short,
these
numerous bodies of robust_ men and active horse, seem designed for no other purpose than_tp adorn t hejmarch of their chief, who rides in the midst of them, upon one elephant, his standard displayed upon angther^âttended by
c/iohdars
calling irat his titles".

;
march
"^wordrnrf-' them
No orders were given waônveyed to each chief by
for
his
news-writer,
attention
birth
who
attended the darbar every evening. Little

to merit;
was paid
preferment was obtained through

caBal,îi3r"'other
*
and~~connections,
in trigue~,
means
equally'êstructive'tDr-ffittiMry'character (Ouseley's 'Orjental
ColIecHons^-m
Similar
-^
"~
comments~~areô be found in the chapter on Orme's paper on the government and people of Indostan (''Hist. Frag." 417420). In short, excepting want of personal courage, every other fault in the list of
war
in R.
military vices
indiscipline,
may be attributed to the degenerate Moghuls want of cohesio n, luxurious habits, inactivity, bad commissariat, and cunTbiwsTquipmeht. rn~fact, Mount:
stuart ElphinstonO"ir1iis~^'Iiisfofy^579, gives us succintly
the conclusion of the whole matter,
admirably
fitted
to
prance in
"They formed a cavalry procession, and not ill-
adapted to a charge in a pitched battle, but not capable of any long exertion, and still less of any continuance of
fatigue
and hardship".
The End.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED

I.
AND REFERRED
1170
Calcutta,
TO.
Persian
1.
(printed books).
DaslUr-ul-Insha, by Yar
(1853).
Firishtali
40.,
Muhammad,
(c.
ii.),
1270
ii.
2.
(Muhammad Qasim, son of Hindu Shah),

h. (18G4).
vols.
Gulshan-i-Ibrahlml^
(Bib, Ind.), Calcutta,
hthographed, Lakhnau 1281
3.
Badshah-namah^ by ""Abd-ul-Hamid, 2
1867-8.
4.
Mu)ita/diab-ut-kiwarlkh, by Âbd-ul-Qadir, Budaoni, 1004

(Bib. Ind.)
h.
vols.
Calcutta7l868.
(Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1868.
5.
Âlamgir-namah, by Mhd. Kazim,

Calcutta, 1871.
6.
Maâsir-i-Âlmnglrl, by Mhd. SaqT, Musta'îd Khan, 1122 h. (Bib. Ind.)
7.
Muntakhab-ul-lubah by Khwafi Khan, 1137

Calcutta, 1874.
h.,
vols.
(Bib. Ind.)
8.
Tarllih-i-Jahcm-kushcie Ncidirl by Mirza Mahdi
Khan
(lithographed)
9.
Bombay, 1292 h. (1875). Akbarnamah by AbhJ Fazl, 3

1886.
Id.
vols., 4to. (Bib. Ind.)
"(lithographed
"Âli
edition)
Calcutta,
1873
(litho-
Lakhnau 1883.
composed 1174
11.
10.
Mirat-i-Ahmadl by
Muhammad Khan,
h.
graphed) Bombay, 1307

11.
(1889)~
12.
Tuzuk-i-Babari, lithographed edition, Bombay 1308 H. (1890). Maâsir-ul-Umard^ by Shah Nawaz Khan, 3 vols. (Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, ~~
Bcibarnamah or
188891.
13.
Mujmil-ut-tdnkh
ba'^d
Nadiriyah by Abul Hasan

h.),
b.
Muhammad
Amin, (composed 1196 and 1896.

II.
edited
by Oskar Mann, Leiden, 1891
Hindi
(printed books).
Chhutfii Prukash of Lai Kuvi, edited by Captain

1829.
III.
W.
Price, Calcutta
Persian
1.
(Manuscripts).
Jauhar, Aftabchi, TazkircU-ul-waqfat, Irvine Ms. N^. 43, 995 h.
2.
Nizam-ud-din, Tabaqdi-i- Akbar
Shdii'i,
B.M. Additional Ms. No. 6543,
1002
H.
302
3. 4. 5. 6.
7. 8.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
QUOTED AND REFERRED
TO.
DastUr-ul-%ml, British Museum No. 1641 (c. 1118 h.). do. B.M. 6598. do. B.M. 6599. do. B.M. 1690. Kamraj, A'zam-ul-harb, B.M. 1899 (c. 1119 h.). Danishmand Khan, Bahadur Shcih-natnah, B.M. Oriental, No. 24
(c.
1120
H.).
9.
Bhim
Sen, Nuskhah-i-dilkusha, B.M. Oriental No. 23, 1120 H.
10. History of
11.
Muhammad
(1128
Jahandar Shah, B.M. Oriental No. 3610. c. 1124 H. Munîm, .la'^farabadl, Farrukhnamah, I. 0. L. No. 1876,
Hidayat-ul-quwaid, Irvine Ms. No. 251, 1128
H,
H.).
12. Hidayatullah, Bahari,

13.
Mirza
Muhammad
(son of Muta'^mad Khan), TazPiirah^ India Office ~~

h.).
Library. N". 50, (1131

14.
15.
Kamraj, 'Ibratndmah (Daftar I), I. 0. L. No. 1534 (c. 1131 h.). Mhd Ahsan, Ijad, Samanawi, Farrukhsiyar-namah^BM. Or. 25 and
Irvine Ms. No. 113, both incomplete
(c.
1131 ii.). 194 (c. 1133 h.). 17. Shiu Das, Shdhnamah, Manavvar-i-kaldm, B.M. Or. 26 (c. 1134 h.). 18. Chhabilah Ram, Nagar, letters of, 'Âjaib-ul-dfdq^ B.M. Or. No, 1776 (c. 1134 H.). 19. Ghulam Muhl-ud-din Khan, Fatuhat-ndmah-i-Samadi, B.M. Or. 1870
16.
Mhd
Qasim, Lahorl, "Ihratnamah,
I.
0. L. No.
~~{c.
1135
H.).
20.
Kamwar Khan,
(c.
Tazkirai-iis-salatln-i-Chaghtaiyah, Irvine Ms. NO. 70
1137~it.).
21. 22.
RaeBihari Ram, Nagar, Guldastah-i-baha}\lv\meMs. No.176(1139h ). Mhd Qasim, Aurangabadi, Ahwdl-ul-khawaqin, B.M. Addl. 26,244
1147 H.). 23. Yahya Khan, Tazkirat-ul-muluk,

(c.
I.
0. L. No.
1149 (1149
h.).
h.).
24.
Rustam
'All,
TarUih-i-hindi, B.M. Or. 1628 (1149
25.
26. 27. 28.
29.
Mhd
30.
Shafi^ Warid, Mirat-i-waridat, B.M. No. 6579 (c. 1149 h.). MaHumat-ul-afaq, B.M. 1741 (c. 1150 ii.). Risalah-i-Mhd Shdhl, B.M. Or. 180 (c. 1150 h.). Risalah-i-tlr o kaman, B.M. Additional Ms. No. 5629 (c. 1150 h.). Jauhar-i-samsam, B.M. Or. 1898, and Col. Fuller's translation, B.M. 30,784 (c. 1152 h.). Anand Ram, Mukhlis, Mirat-ul-istildh, B.M. Or. 1813 (1157 h.).
31. Sahib Rae, Khujistah-kalain, Irvine Ms. No. 18 (1159 h.).

32.
Khushhal Chand, Nadir-uz-zamdnl, B.M. Or. 1844,

and Berlin Ms. No. 495
(Cat. p. 476)
(c.
id.
).
Addl. 24,027
1161 h
33.
34. Mirza
Anand Ram, Mukhlis, Events of 115961 h., I. 0. L. 1612 (1161 h.). Muhammad, Tmnkh-i-Miihammadi, B.M. Or. 1824 and Irvine
Ms. NO. 143 (c. 1163 h.). Tarlkh-i- Ahmad Shahl, B.M. Oriental No. 2005
(c.
35.
1167
h.).
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
36. Mahmud-iil-Munshi,
(c.
QUOTED AND REFERRED
TO.
303
Tarlkh-i- Ahmad S/iahl, B.M. Or. Ms. N^. 196
1471
H.).
37.
38. Shakir
39.
Rae Chatarman, Chahar Gulshan, Irvine Ms. N^. 118 (1173 ii.). Khan, Gulshan-i-sadiq, Irvine Ms. No. 69 (c. 1174 ii.). 'All Muhammad Khan, Mirat-i-Ahmadl, B.M. Addl. 6580 (1174 ii.).
Tdrlkh-iWlcumfir
Scini,
40.
B M.
Or. 1749
(c.
1174
ii.).
41.
Muhammad
*Âh,
Burhanpuri, Mirat-us-saff'd, B.M. Addl. Mss. Nos.

h.).
6539, 6540 (1179

43.
42. Dalpat Sing, Maldhat-i-maqdl, B.M. Or. Ms. N.
1828 (c. 1181 ii.). Sayyad Muhammad, Bilgrami, Tabsirat-un-ndzirm, Irvine Ms. N^. 34
(1182
H.).
44. 'Abd-ul-latif,
45. Ashob,
Ahmad-ndmah,
Irvine Ms. No.
100 (1184
h.).
Shahddat-i-Farrukhslyar
wa julus-i-Muhammad Shah by
1832 (1196
h.).
Mirza
46.
Muhammad
BalvhSi, Ashob, B.M. Or.
47.
Ghulam Hasan, Bilgrami, (Samin), Tazkirah, Irvine Ms. No. 113 ~(1197 H.). Ghulam Hasan, Bilgrami (Samin), Shardif-i-Sismdm, Irvine Ms. N". 27
~~(c.
1200
H.).
48.
Ghulam ''Ah Khan, Muqaddamah-i-Shdh "Alam-ndmah, B.M. "24,028 (c. 1204 h.).
Mhd, ''Ibratndmah,
Waqdf-i-diydr-i-maghrib,
identical
Addl.
49. Khair-ud-din
50.
Irvine Ms. No. 15 (3 vols.) (c.1204h.).
Irvine
Ms. N^.
189 (1213
H.) (almost
with
Tdrlkh-i-I/usain
Shdhi by Imam uddin,
Chisti,
Rieu, 904).
51.
52.
Imam-ud-din
Chisti,
Husain Shdht,
BM
Or. No.
1662 (1213
h.).
53.
54.
Mhd 'Umr, Siwdnih-i-lihizrl, Irvine Ms. No. 80 (c. 121314 h.). Mhd =Ah Khan, Tdrlkh-i-muzaffarl, Irvine Ms. No. 25 (c. 1215 16 h.).
Rustam
'Ali,
Bijnori,
Rohelon
k'l
tdrikh, B.M. Addl. Ms. No. 26,284
(1803 A.D. Urdia).

55.
Muhabbat Khan, son

Irvine
of Faiz Âta Khan, Daudzai, Akhbdr-i-muhabbat,

h.).
mTno.
21 (1220
56. Collection of Portraits, B.M. Oriental No.
375
(c.
1835
A.D.).
IV.
Books and Mss.

1.
in
European languages.
N. Manucci, Storia do Mogor, KonigUche Bibliothek, Berlin, Ms. Phil-
2.
Hpps 1945 (1700). Robert Orme, Ms. Collections
3. F.
now in the India Office (17601805). Catrou (and N. Manucci). Histoire Generale de I'Empire du Mogol, one vol. 4to. Paris, 1705, and 4 vols. 12o. or one volume 4to.
Paris, 1715.
4.
F. Valentijn, Beschrijving van

fol.
Oud en Nieuw Cost
Indien, Vol. IV,
Dordrecht, 1726.
5.
6.
7.
Gemelli Careri, Voyage autour du Monde, 6 vols. 12mo. Paris, 1726. James Fraser, History of Nadir Shah, 2nd ed. 1742. R. 0. Cambridge, Account of the War in India, 1750 60, 4to. 1761.
304 LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED AND REFERRED

8. 9.
TO.
Jonas Hanway, Revolutions of Persia, 3rd.
ed.,
1762. 1771.
De
la Flotte, Essais
Historiques sur I'lnde, 2 vols. 12nio. Paris, 1769.

vols.
10. P.
11.
M. Anquetil Duperron, Zend Avesta, 3
4to., Paris,
Minutes of Select. Com. House of
Commons
of 1772. 8vo. (T. Evans).
12.
London, 1772. Z. Hoi well, India Tracts, 3rd. ed. 1774. 13. C. Carraccioli, Life of Robert Lord Clive, 4 vols. 1775? 14. Davy and White, Institutes of Timour, 4to. Oxford, 1783.
J.
15. Asiatic Miscellany, 2 vols. 4to. Calcutta, 1785-6. 16.

J.
Bernouilli, Description de I'lnde, 3 vols. 4to.
Berlin, 1788.
17. Seir
Mutaqherin (1195
vols.,
ii.),
trans, by
Notamanus
(Haji Mustapba),
4to. Calcutta, 1789.
18. Asiatic Miscellany, 3 vols., 8vo. Cal. 1788.

19.
J.
.
New Ditto,
4to., Cal.
1789.
Rennell,
Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan.
3rd. ed. 4to. 1793.
20.
E Moor, Narrative of Capt. Little's Detachment, 4to. 1794. Jonathan Scott, History of Dekkan, 2 vols., 4to. Shrewsbury, 1794. 22. A. Dalrymple, Oriental lêpertory, 2 vols. 4to. 1794-5. 23. W. H. Tone, A letter on the Maratta people (1796), Bombay, 1798.
21.
24. Oriental Miscellany, Calcutta, 1798.
25.
26. Sir
27.
28. 29.
Shah Aulum, 4to. 1798. 17971800. R. Orme, Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, 4to. 1805. W. Francklin, Military Memoir of Mr. George Thomas, 8vo. 1805. Lewis F. Smith, Rise and Progress of the Regular Corps, 4to.
Francklin, History of the reign of
W.
W.
Ouseley, Oriental Collections, 3 vols. 4to.
Calcutta 1805.
30.
31.
32.
Thomas Williamson, Oriental Field Sports, folio, 1807. Lieut.-Col. Mark Wilks, Historical Sketches of the South of 3 vols. 4to. 18101817. W. Thorn, Memoir of the War in India, 1803-6, 4to. 1818.
.
India,
33. Lieut.-Col Fitzclarence, Journal of a
34. Lieut.-Col. V. Blacker,
Route across India,! 81 7-8. 4to.l 81 9. Memoir of Operations in India 181 71 9. 4to. 1821
35. Major
D. Price, Chronological Retrospect of

4to.
Mohammedan
History,
vols.
36. L. Langles,
folio,
18111821. Monuments Anciens
et
Modernes del'Hindoustan, 2
vols.,
Paris 1821.
Gentil,
37.
J.
38. E. Lake, Sieges of the 39. 40.

J.
J.
Memoires sur I'lndoustan, 8vo. Paris, 1822. Madras Army, 1825. Leyden and W. Erskine, Memoirs of Baber (translated), 4to., 1826. Ranking, Historical Researches on the Wars and Sports of the Mongols and Romans, 4to. 1826.
B.
J.
41.
W.
J.
R. Pogson, History of the Boondelas, 4to. Calcutta, 1828.

I,
42.
Prinsep, Useful Tables, Part.
Calcutta 1834.
G., ed.
43. Despatches of the 44. E.
Marquess Wellesley, K.
(translator),
folio,
M. Martin, 5
la
vols.,
1836.
Quatremere
Histoire
des Mongols de
Perse,
by
Rashid-ud-dln,
45.
Paris 1836.
H. Wilkinson, Engines of
War, 1841.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
46. Chevalier P.
QUOTED AND
REFERIlEl) TO.
305
Armandi, Histoire
J.
niilitaire des elephants, Paris, 1843.
47. G. A. Hansard,
48. Captain St.
Book of Archery, 1845.

gun
at Moorshedabad,
D. Showers, Inscription on a
Journal A.S. Bengal, XVI, Calcutta, 1847.

49. 50.
J.
Shakespear, Hindustani English Dictionary, 4th. ed. 4to. 1849.

B. Fraser, Military
J.
Memoirs of
Lieut.-Col.
James Skinner,
(folio), St.
C. B.,
2 vols. 1851.
51. A. Rockstuhl
and
F. Gille,
Musee de Tzarkoe
Petersbourg
18351853.
52. Colonel F. Colombari, Les
Zamboureks, Paris, 1853.
53.
54.
W.
Erskine, History of India under Baber and
Humayun, 2
vols.
1854.
M. Elphinstone, History of India, 4th ed., 1857. 55. G. C. Mundy, Pen and Pencil Sketches in India, 3rd 56. H. M. Elliot, Supplemental Glossary, Roorkee, 1860.
57.
ed.,
1858.
W.
3
H. Russell,
My
Diary in India, 2
vols.
1860.
58. R. Ornie, History of the Military Transactions in Indostan (reprint),

vols.
Madras, 1861.
59. E. Thornton, Gazetteer of India, 1862. 60. G.
A. Herklots, M. D. Qanoone-Islam,
2nd
ed. Madras, 1863.
61. E.
W.
Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, 1867,
62. Colonel T. Seaton,

63. P.
From Cadet
to Colonel, 2 vols. 1866.
Meadows Taylor and James Fergusson, Architecture ofBeejapore,

1866.
64. Viscountess
Combermere and W. W.
vols.
Knollys,
Memoirs of F. M.
Paris, 1870. Paris, 1871.
Viscount Combermere, 2
66.
67.
1866.
65. A. Pavet de Courteille, Dictionnaire

id.
,
Turc Oriental, Memoires de Baber, 2 vols.

1
H. Blochmann, Âîn-i-Akhari,
vol. (translation),
Calcutta, 1873.
68. Voyle
and Stevenson, Military Dictionary, 3rd.
ed. 1876.
69. H. M. EUiot, History of India,

70.
Muhammedan Period, 8 vols. 1867 1877.

Asiatic
W.
Irvine,
Bangash Nawabs of Farrukhabad, Journal of the
and~~XLYni, 1878, 1879. 71. R. B. Shaw, Sketch of the Turki Language, Journal A. S. Bengal, 1878. 72. M. J. Walhouse in "Indian Antiquary", Vol. VII, 1878. 73. Honorable W. Egerton, Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms, 1880.
Society of Bengal, vols.
74. 75.
XLYH
Graf F. A. von Noer, Kaiser Akbar, Leiden, 1880. L'empereur Akbar, trans. Alf Maury, 2 id.
,
vols.,
Leide, 1883.
76. Col.
T.
H.
Hendley, Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition, 4

folio,
vols.
London 1883.
77. H. G. 78. S. 79.
Raverty, Notes on Afghanistan, 4 parts,

Fallon,
1881-3.
W.
H.
W.
Lowe
Eng. Hindustani Dictionary, Benares, 1883. (translator), Muntakhah-ut-tawdrikh, Vol. II, of 'Abd-
New
ul-Qadir (Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1884.

80.
John T. Platts,
Dictionary of Urdu, 1884.
81. H. Yule and A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, a Glossary, 1886.
306
J.IST
OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED AND REFERRED TO.

Mac
Ritchie,
82. David
Account of the Gypsies, 1886.
83. Sir E. C. Bayley, 84. 85.

J.
B.
The Local Muhammedan Dynasties, Gujarat, 1886. Tavernier, Travels in India, trans, by V. Ball, 2 vols. 1889.
W. W.
2
H,
Lowe
(translator),
Tuzuk-i-Jahangirl, Fasc.
(Bib. Ind.)
Calcutta, 1889.
86.
Hoey, M. A., D.Lit., TclrlkJi-i-Farah Bakhsh (1233

vols.
h.),
trans.,
Allahabad, 1888-9.
87. F. Bernier, Travels in the 88.
Mogul Empire 1665-8,
ed. A. Constable, 1891.
Syad Mhd
Latif, History of
Labor, Labor, 1892.
89. F. Steingass, Persian-Eng. Dictionary, 1892.
90. T. D. Broughton, Letters written in a

edition, 1892.
Mahratta Camp, 1809, new

in India, 1892.
91. Herbert Corapton, 92. G. B.

93.
European Military Adventurers
Malleson, History of the French in India, 1893.

of the
Manual
fol.
Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol.
Ill,
Madras, 1893.
94.
W.
I.
Forbes Mitchell, Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny, 1893.
95. E. G.
Browne, M.
A.,
year
among
the Persians, 1893.

vols.
96.
Burton, Life of Captain Sir R. F. Burton, 2
1893.
97.
98.
J.
W. Mac
Crindle, Invasion of India
by Alexander, 1893.
99. Paul Horn,
100.
101. 102.
103.
August Demmin, Die Kriegswaffen, 4th ed. Leipzig, 1893. Das Heer und Kriegswesen dor gross Moghuls, Leiden, 1894. Emile Berbe, Le Nabab Rene Madec, Paris, 1894. Sir Hope Grant, Life and Correspondence, ed. H. Knollys, 2 vols. 1894. Parliamentary Paper, N^. 538, March 1894. N. Elias and E. D. Ross, Tdrlkh-i-Rashidi of Mirza Haidar Dughlat, 1895.
Martineau,
Life
104. John
and Correspondence of the Right Honorable
Sir Bartle Frere, 2 vols. 8vo. 1895.
105. Dr. S. Weissenberg in "Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in
Wien",
Vol.
XXV,
Vienna, 1895.
106. Col. R. C. Temple, Calcutta Review, October 1896. 107. T. P. Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, 1896.
108.
W.
Irvine,
Nadir Shah and xMuhammad Shah, by Tilok Das, Journal
A. S. Bengal, LXVI, Calcutta 1897.

109. George S. A. Ranking (translator), ilfunâ/^/ia&M-i-toiyarl/^/i by "Âbd-
ul-Qadir Badaoni, Vol.

110. R. 111. E,
S.
(Bibl. Indica), Calcutta
1898.
White way. The Rise of Portuguese Power in India, 1899. G Browne, The Chahar Maqdlah of "Ârudi, composed about
I
1161A.D., Journal R. Asiatic Society, 1899.

112. C. R. Wilson, Early Annals of the English in Bengal, Vol.
(part 1), Calcutta 1895, 1900. 113. E. Blochet, Inventaire des miniatures
Paris 1900.
and
II
des
manuscrits orientaux,
114.
W.
Irvine,
Jangnamah
of Farrukhslyar
by Shridhar Murlidhar,
Journal A. S. Bengal, LXIX, Calcutta 1900.
CORRECTIONS, EMENDATIONS AND ADDITIONS.

Page
(six lines
1.
from bottom). For "te" read "to".
48,
20,
Miskin,
Tahmasp-namah, B.M.
Oriental Mss. NO. 1918,
fol.
59a,
states
that the chihrahs of the mcmsabdars were

1945.. part III, fol. 27,
written on red paper.

y^
49.
The Imperial Brand. Manucci, Philiipps
says that the imperial brand was of this shape
CI
and was
impressed on the horse's right flank.
The Noble's Brand. Manucci, id., mentions that the nobles had but it was put on the horse's left flank. It consisted usually of the first letter of the noble's name. 51, (line 2). For "niferred" read "inferred". 62, note. For "Jems'" read "gems". 64. The Akharnamah (Lucknow edition), III, p. 17, lines 10 and 11 from foot, has dabalghah (spelt *aJ^). The same passage has
50.
a separate mark,
the word pesh-blni for nose-guard.

For "seated" read "seated". 99 (Add at end of paragraph). D. S. Margoliouth, "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society" for July 1903, p. 491, in an article 'On the origin and import of the names Muslim and Hamf\ quoting
76
(line 11).
a story from the Kamil, I, 210, refers to an ancient Arabian custom of giving protection to a stranger by writing on an
arrow "So-and-so
is
my
Guest".
101
(line 26). Delete
"to" after "into".
y>
For "these" read "there". For "fumaces" read "furnaces". (line 11). For "more" read "move". (line 4). For "is" read "it". (line 21, add at end of paragraph). The expression is also nsed in a Hindi poem (c. 1720) by one Sudisht, line 725, Mangae kahak ban sabh Hind ke. 188 (line 28). For "tell" read "till". 192 (last line). For "these" read "there" and for "coops" read "crops". 205 (line 19). For "these" read "there". 216 (line 14). For "tho" read "the". 233 (add under Caltrops). In the Edinburgh Museum of Science and
(line 12). (line 9).
110 114 117 120 148
Art,
to
among
the oriental exhibits,
is
a four-pronged caltrop said

field
have been found on the battle
of Multan (1849). This
goes to show that the Sikhs used this
mode
of obstructing cavalry
as late as the middle of the 19*^^ century.
INDEX.
A.
Allahabad, 269; siegesof 1719, 1750,
290.
Ah (temper
of sword blade), 75.

feathers), 97.
Ahlaq (black and white
Al Maisir (divining by arrows), 98. Amazons, 165.
Absence, without leave, 25.
Ambush, 255.
Adjutant-General (Bakhsht). 37.
Amir
(noble), 9.
9.
Advance guard ofiheCentYe{iltimish),

226.
Amir-i-A'^zam (great noble),
Amir-ul-umaiâ (Noble of Nobles). 38.

of,
Advances of pay, 18; recovery

Aftah (kind of standard), 32.
Aftabglr, Affdhgirl, 31, 34.
18,
Angarkhah
Ankus
(a long coat), 68.
Ankri-dar (kind of arrow), 98.

(elephant goad), 80.
Agrah, siege
of,
294.
Ansar-i-maimcmah (right wing), 226.

Ansar-i-maisarah
(left
Ahadis, 10, 19, 25, 43, 53; Bakhshl

of the, 40.
wing), 226.
Ahangav
(blacksmith), 174.
Appointment of an Officer, mode of, 40. Approach by sap and mine, 273.
""Arabah (gun carriage), 141; use of
Ahmadnagar, 268. Ahsham, 20, 26, 43, 155, 160; three

meanings
of,
word, remarks on, 140.

"Arabi (Arab troops), 51.
Arabs, 169.
"^
161.
Aimaq, 241.
Ajaigarh, 268.
Aradah-toid (wheeled artillery), 140.

(mitrailleuse), 138.
Ajmer, 269.
Arah-kash (sawyers), 174.

for branding,
Akbar, his rules
46;
Arghun
'Ârif;
system of making over elephants

to grandees, 20; artillery
of,
(old
name
of a BakJishl), 38.
115.
Akbarabad, 269.
Arkalon (a tight coat?), 29. Armandi, treatise on elephants, 178.
Akhtah Begl (Master of the Horse), 21 Âlam (a standard), 31, 32, 34, 85.
'Âlamgir, artillery
A'^la
of,
"Arme
blanche", 73.
116.
regi-
Armour, defensive, 62, 63. Arms, offensive, 73; "short",
73.
Shahl (Exalted Imperial

Khilji,
Army
chiefly
horsemen, 57
strength
190; on
ment), 44.
'Âla-ud-dln,
his
of the, 59; in the
field,
branding
the march, 203; mai'ches, length

of,
system, 46.
Âligarh, 268.
'Âlighol (class of tioops), 164.
219.
;
Arrow, 73, 97
symbolical
and bow, 90
of,
shafts,
97; heads, 98; for practising, 98;

use
Alkhaliq
(a tight coat), 29, 68.
98 (and see
310
Errata); divining by, 98
;
INDEX.
declaring
99 from the king's quiver, security for peace, 99; symbol of

by,
;
war
Bagtar (body-armour), 66. Bahlr hangah (baggage), 191, 227.

BakJishis, First, 39; the other, 39;
second, 39; third, 39; fourth, 40;
authority, 99.
Artak-i-kajim (horse-housing), 71.

Artificers, 20, 173.
of the ahadis, 40.
Bakhshi, of the
114; Humaof
1
Wdld
Shdhls, 40;
;
Artillery, 113; Babar's,
provincial
and other, 40
of the
yun's, 115; Akbar's, 115; ""Alamgir's
Realms, 42.
Bakhshi-i-tan, 39.
116;
Light,
133;
the
Stirrup, 133, 134; Moveable,
33
of,
Bakhshi-ul-mamdlik, 37; duties of, 38.

Bakhshi-ul-mulk, 39.
personnel
;
of,
152; departments
;
156 Manufacture of, 156 Arsenals, 156; in battle, 230.

Artillerymen, 20.
"Arzah-dasht (report), 254.

'Ârz-i-makarrar (Confirming Order),
13, 18, 42.
Baksariyah (kind of infantry), 168. Baktar (body armour), 66. Bdldhand (turban ornament), 29. Bdldtang (surcingle), 72. Ballam (kind of spear), 84.
Ban
(Rockets), 147.
'Âsd-shamsher (straight sword), 76.

Asirgarh, 268.
Bdti-anddz (rocket-man), 159.
Bandahlide
(servants),
44
n. 1.
Aslah (weapons generally), 62.
Asnan
(spears generally), 81.

forts,
Bdn-ddr (rocket-man) 159, 169. Bandldr (part of a sword), 75.
Assault on
modes
of repelling
Banduq
167.
(a matchlock), 73, 103.
282; repulsed, evacuation after. 284.
B anduqchi-i-jang I (match\ock-m2in\
Banduq-i-chaqmdqi
105.
(flint
Assignment of revenue (jdgir), 14.

Astrologers, 202,
musket),
Atak, 269.
Atashbaz (firework-makers), 174. Audiences, parades during, 182.

Auditors (mustaufis), 19.
Bangarh, siege
of,
291.
Banjdra
(grain-carrier), 192.
Aunchi (bow),
91.
Bank (kind Baranghdr
of dagger), 86, 87.

(right wing), 226.
Aurang
(throne), 31.
list
Authorities,
of,
301 - 306.
81.
Bardt (order on Treasury), 56. Barchhd, Barchhah, Barchhi, Birchha

(kind of spear), 83.
Axe, battle, 80;
silver,
Ayyam-i-hilali, 19.
Barchhah,
see "Barchha".
A^hdaha-jmikar (kind of stiinda.rd.)32.
Bargarh, 269.
Babar's Artillery, 114. Back-scratcher (piisht-khdr), 80.
Bargl (name for Mahrattahs), 171. Bdrglr (hired trooper), 37, 47. Bargustuwdn (elephant armour), 66. Bargustuwdn-posh (armour-clad elephant), 176.
Badaha
(class of artificer), 174.
Bddalij (catapult), 129.
Barqanddz (matchlockman),
24, 25, 26.
20, 166.
Badalljah (catapult), 129.
Bartarafl (rejection of horses), 22,
Badan (curtain of fort), 264. Badar (powder-bag), 151. Badraqah (escort), 210.
Bdrut-khdnah (powder magazine),
151."
INDEX
Basall (an armourer). 174. Basolah (kind of weapon), 81.
Battle Axes {tahar). 73, 80.
Battle cries, 231.
Battles,
311
cloth,
Broad
73
n. 1.
Bunain
(butt of spear), 81.
Bimdelahs (class of infantry), 169. Burning oil, throwing of, 282.
particular, force present at

of,
60
order
223 conduct of 229

;
particular, 244; reports of, 254.
Cailletoque (a musket), 107.

Caltrops, 233 and see Errata.
Bayonet
{sang'ui), 83.
Bazciv (camp market), 191.
Camps and Camp Equipage, 195; a

description
of,
Baz-yaft (item under objection), 19.
195.
Beldar (a digger), 173, 174.

Belly-piercer (kind of dagger), 86.
Besiegers
and
Besieged,
communi-
cation between, 287.
Cannon, construction of, 114; rate of firing, 116; names of, 118; mode of mounting, 121 heavy, desci'iptions of, 123; wooden, 128.
;
Beiita (chain-mail shirt), 67.
Cartridge, blank, 107.

Casualties, 22.
Bhal (arrow-head), 97. Bhala (kind of spear), 82. Bhanju (part of armour),
Bhartpur, 268.
Cavalry charges, 232; Moghul, tactics

69.
of,
234.
(qui,
Centre
170.
qalb),
226;
advance
;
Bhllah
(class of infantry).
guard of the
(iltimish'),
226
wings
Bichwa (kind
Bijapur, siege
BilTi-shart
of dagger), 87.
of,
of the (tarah), 227.

Certificate of heirship
289.
pay), 13.
(warisnamah)^
office {tasdlq),
(unconditional
27
from Bakhshfs ~~
Bimarl (illness), 25. Bimari-namah (medical

25.
41, 42.
certificate).
Chadar
131.
(missile or tent or mantlet),
Birinjara (grain-carrier). 192.

Blacksmiths' forges, establishment of,
52.
Chaghatae language, use
of,
184.
Chahar-a'inah (breastplate), 66.
Chahlam
(kind of armour), 68.

81.
Blank Cartridge, 107.

Blockades, 272.
Chakhmagh (battle-axe), Chakhmdq (id.), 81.
Blowing from guns, 184. Burj bar ah (fortifications). 264.
Chalanl (small piece of artillery), 138. Chalqat (doublet over armour), 69.
Bound Hedge. 261.
Bow
(of a saddle), 72. 73, 90, 91

;
Bows and arrows,

mation
of, of,
;
esti-
Chamchaq (kind of battle-axe), Chamkhakh (a long knife), 87. Chamkhaq (kind of battle-axe),
Chandu
102.
(imperial fort), 269.
81.
81.
90
recent use
of,
90
Chandawiil (the rear-guard), 227.

Changal-i-baz (mode of holding bow),
make
94, 96
92; mode of drawing,

;
stringing the, 102
shooting
with, 102.
Bow-men,
the
53.
Brand, imperial, 49 (and see Errata)

noble's,
50 (and see Errata).
Chapkunchi (a reconnaisance), 241. Chapqalash (an onslaught), 233,241. Chaqchdq (kind of knife), 87.
Chaqchaql-i-wilayatl (a long knife),
89.
Branding. 45.
Bridge of boats, 211.
312
ChaqU
(a knife), 89.
INDEX.
D.
Dabalrjhah
(helmet),
Charges of cavalry, 241.

C/iarlvh (cross-bow), 92.
64
and see
CharlihcJd-hashl (head bowman), 92.
'Corrections".
Chatr (state umbrella),
31.
Daggers, 73, 85.
Clicitr-lok (yak-tail standard), 31.
Dagh,
13, 25.
Chaukl
(guard), 23, 25, 188.
C/iauki-khd)iah (guard-house), 196.
Daghlah (quilted coat), 68, Dagh-o-mahaUl (parades), 46.

Dagh-o-tashlhah (Branding and Verification), 46.
Chelas (slaves, household troops), 11.

Chevaux-de-frise (caltrops), 233 and
see Corrections.
Bagla
264.
(quilted coat), 68.
Chharl
(rocket-stick), 147.
?),
Dah-bist (proportion
men), 10.
of horses
to
Chhatah-i-qila^h (platform
Chihaltah (wadded
Chihilqad (wadded
coat), 68, 69.

coat), 69.
Dakhili troops, 160.
Dam
roll
(a coin of account), 6.
Chihrah
(descriptive roll), 47.
Damclghah
of
for
(holes
on fortress wall
oil),
Chihrah-i-aspan (descriptive
horses), 49.
pouring down boiling
266.
Dant-tinka (form of surrender), 185.

(descriptive
roll
Chihrah-i-tabinan
of troopers), 48.
Bar goshah-i-kaman zadan

ture), 240.
(to cap-
Chillah (bow-string), 93.

Chilta (wadded coat), 69.
Daroghah-i-dak (Chief of Post), 213.
Daroghah-i-harkdrah (Head Spy),

213.
Chinglapat
(fortress), 268.
of,
Chirah, meaning
Chirivah (kind of
47
n. 1.
Daroghah-i-topkhdnah
neral), 154.
(artillery ge-
shield), 78.
Chob-sibae (wooden-tower), 279.
Dashnah
(kind of dagger), 89.
Choppers (thatches of
Christians in
roofs), 282.
Dastar (a turban), 29.

Dast-i-chap
(left
Mogul
Service, 152, 153,
wing), 226.
154; contempt
for,
152, 153.
Dast-i-rast (right wing), 226.
Coats, wadded, 69.

Colligation in fighting, 237, 238.
Dastwanah (gauntlets), Daul (estimate), 18.

Daulatabad
199.
70.
Combat,
single, 236.
(fortress), 268.
Commander-in-Chief, 37.
Commissariat, 191.
Conditional pay (jmashrut), 13.
Daulat-khdnah (emperor's
residence),
Confirmation
karrar), 18.
of orders ("arz-i-ma-
Dead on battle field not buried, 259. Death (fauti)^ rules for pay, 25, 27. Deductions from Pay, 19.
Defeat, 241.
Contingent (suivars),
6.
Coup-de-main, 270. Cross-bow (charkli), 92, 95.

Crossing Rivers, 211.
Crutch,
fakir's,
Defensive armour, 02.

Deficiency,
in
horses, 22; in equip-
ment, 22; in troopers, 22.
77.
Cuirass (oi/inah), 67.
Deg (Mortars), 129. Deg-anddz (mortar-man), 129,

169.
158,
INDEX.
Delay
203.
Descriptive
Roll,
313
field in
in Verification, fines for 24, 54.
Emperor's taking the

202; conveyance
Ensigns, 31.
of,
person,
Description of an
army on the march,

of
and usages on
his passing by, 210.
men,
47;
of
horses, 49.
Entering the service, procedure on, 36.
Desertion {Farari)^ 25; pretended,
Equipment, 62, 73, 90; deficiency

22.
in,
mm
255.
(a shield), 77.
(foot-soldier),
Escort (badraqah), 210.

165.
Bhalait
Establishment, subordinate, 52.

Estimate, rough, 17; {daul), 18.
Bhamcikah
(small gun), 135, 137.
Dhara
(kind of mace), 79.

(fortress), 268.
Estimation of weapons, 90.
Dharwar
Europeans
154.
in
Mogul
service, 152, 153,
Dhunah (cotton-carder), 174. Dhup (straight sword), 76.

Diary, see Waqiâh.
Evacuation of fortress, after repulsed

assault, 284.
Diary-writer, see
Waqiâh
navls.
Exercises, 182.
Bircc'h (measure of length), 217.
Discharge {bartarafl), 25.

Discipline,' 182.
Fakir's crutch, 77.

fight, 237.
Dismounting to
FalakJian
(sling), 95.
Divination by arrows, 98.
Falltah (match for
firelock),
107.
Biwan-i-ala (chief minister), 17. Biwan-i-tan (second revenue minister), 16, 39.
Farangi (European), 172. Fararl (desertion), 25, 26.

F3.vnevs{na^lband), 53; establishment
of,
Driver of elephant, general changing

places with, 257.
Do-angr-?)azl (kind of sword-pIay),l 85.
52.
(terre-plein), 264.
FasU
Fausse-braye (rauni), 265.
Dog, killing
of,
before a siege, 270.
Dohad
Drill,
(fortress), 269.
Fauti (death casualties), 25, 27. Fencing Shields, 78.

Field Pieces, 138.
Bo muhcin ah (kind of arrow-head), 98.

182, 185.
Fighting, on foot, 237
colligation in,
of,
Drums, miniature, 30.

BUasjJcth, 23.
237, 238
technical terms
239.
Fines, 22, 63.
Bumchl BUr-bm
38.
(crupper), 72.
(telescope),
Finger
stall (zihglr),
93.
246 n. 1. Duties of the Bahhs/il-ul-mamalik,
Fish (Mahl) standard, 32; and dignities,
"
33
fish-scale
armour {baktar),
67.
Fish
back-bone (Khar-i-mahl), 80.
E.
Elephants,
in
Flags, 31, 32; of truce, 214.
general,
;
175; made
gifts of,
Flail (sant), 80.
over to grandees, 20
30
Flight, of inhabitants,
94; pretended,
armour
of,
175;
kfiasah,
178
255.
Flint-lock (banduq-i-chaqmaql),iOb.
names of, 179; disuse of, 179, 180 numbers in use, 180.
Elephant-guad (aukus), 80.
Fodder, 192.
Foraging, 192.
314
INDEX.
Golandaz (artillery-man), 158, 169.
Gold-coin presented on passing by of
Force actually present at particular

battles, 60.
Fording
Forts
river, 212.
of.
emperor, 210.
287.
Fortresses, keys
and strongholds,
of,
260;
des-
Goonga (battlements?), 264. Goonju (battlements?), 264.
cription of, 260; Hill, 262; small,
Gophan
(a sling), 95.
description
266; particular, des-
cription of, 267; Imperial, 268.
Goshah (notches of bow). 93. Government revenue, assignment of

{jagir). 14.
Furlough, 25.
Grandees, elephants
Grass cutters, 191.
made over
to, 20.
Gajbag (elephant goad),

Gajnal (small gun), 435.
80.
Gudka
199.
(single-stick), 185.
Gajbail (kind of sword), 77.
Gulalbar (imperial enclosure), 195,

Gulel (pellet-bow), 95.
Guns, na mes of,
light,
11
Gandam
(a chopper), 85.
Ganj-i-shahld (martyrs' grave), 259.
8 heavy,! 1 8
;
1 28
Gardani (amazons), 166.

Grrfa?2i (neck-piece for horse), 71, 72.
133147;
wooden,
128;
spiking, 241.
Gardi
(drilled
French sepoys), 106.

of mace), 79.
Gupti (stick-sword), 77.

Giipti-kard (knife in stick), 89.
Garguz (kind
Garh
(a fort), 264.
Gurdaspur, siege
Gu7'z (mace), 79.
of,
285.
(pellet-bow), 95.
Garhi (small fort), 264. Gar My a (small fort), 85.
Gurohah, kaman-i-
Garwah
(a shield), 78.
Gusains (kind of infantry), 163.

Gwaliyar, 269.
Gaz-i-ilahi (measure of length), 217.
Ghahdrah
Ghaznain
(kind of field-piece), 129.
Ghair-haziri (absence), 25.

(fortress), 269.
H.
Hadaf
241.
65.
Ghetâ (kind of shield), 78.
(object aimed at), 101. Haiat-i-majmu% (mode of attack),
Gherah (kind of arrow), 98. Ghoghi (armour head-piece), Ghol (troop), 226.
Hallah
(charge), 241.
Ghor-dahan (kind of matchIock),lll. Ghughl (armour head-piece), 65.
Halqah (class of elephants), Hamaîl (shoulder-belt), 75. Handl (firepot) 282
178.
Ghughwah (armour
Ghunghl (armour
Gifts, of money, 1 8
;
head-piece), 70.
head-piece), 65.
other than money,
Hanger (kind of dagger), 87. Haqiqat (statement), 16, 40. Harakat-i-mazbuhl (a feeble attack),
239.
29.
Gingall (wall-piece), 109. Ginjal (wall-piece), 110.

Gipsies, 116.
Girih-kushd (kind of spear), 94.
Harawal (vanguard), 225. Harem women with armies, 200. Harked (part of armour). 68. Harkarah (spy, scout), 213.
Hasanpur, battle
of,
Girwah (a shield), 78. Guhhan (a sling), 95. Godhu (ai-m-guard), 100.
245.
26.
Hashu (margin of account book), Hathnal (small gun), 135.
INDEX.
Hathras
(fortress), 268.
315
Jackets, quilted cotton, 64.
Haudah,
Hazatn
176.
Jae narela (part of sword)
75.
(artillery captain), 23, 157.

9.
Jaglr (assigmenL of revenue), 14, 22.

Jacfirs,
Bazlr-i-rlkah (present at Court),

Heads, pillars
of,
management
of,
15, 16.
242.
desci'iptions
Jaiba/i (coat of mail), 07.
Heavy Guns, 113, 118;

of,
Jaiba/L-i-Jiazar-mikht (kind of armour),

67.
Jaitpur, siege
of,
123.
Hedge, Bound, 261.

Heirship, certificate of {ivaris-n amah),
27.
289.
Jail (railing before throne), 199.
Jamagl (match
??.
for fire-lock), 107.
Heralds (naqlb), 231

'
1.
Jamah
(court dress), 29.
Ilissah-i-ajnds (]iayment in kind), 19,

20.
Historians, florid style
of,
Jamah-i-fatahl (kind of coat), 68. Jama'^hdar (petty leader), 183.

Jambishi, topkhanah-i- (light
artillery), 133.
field
244.
Horsemanship, 187.
Horsemen, Mogul army made up of,57.

Horses, in general, 29; deficiency
in,
Jamblyah

22 to be furnished by
;
recruits,
47
descriptive
roll
;
of,
49;
;
classifi-
Jambwah Jamdhar Jamhhak
(kind of dagger), 86. (kind of dagger), 87.

(left
cation
of,
51
"Ârabi, 51
;
Persian,
Janib-i-yasar
wing), 226.
51
Mujannas, 51 Turkl, 51 Yahu, 51 Tdzi, 51 Janglah 51

;
Janjal (wall -piece), 109.

;
Jaranghar
(left-wing), 226.
discrepancy
of,
52.
Jats, said to
be gipsies, 116.
of sword-blade), 75.
Humayun,
artillery of, 115.
Jauhar (temper
Hunting, 189.
Javelin or short spear, 81.
Huqqah
(hand-grenade), 282.
(id.),
Jazail (wall-piece), 109, 111.
Huqqah-i-atash
131.
Jazair
(id.),
109.
Jhalar
I.
(a fringe), 33.
Jhambwah
Jhanda
Jhansi, 269.
(a flag), 31.
Iflall
(advanced troops), 225.
Ilghar (forced march), 218.

Illness
Jihlam (kind of armour), 68.

Jinjal (wall-piece), 110.
Jinji,
(Bimarl), 25.
Iltimish (part of order of battle) 226.

'Îmarl (protected howdah), 176.
'Înan (reins), 72.
siege
of,
289.
'
Jins (goods, food-stuff), 20.
/msi, top-kJvanah-i- (light artillery),

of,
Infantry, 161; pay
173.
133.
Intervals after which verification ^vas
Jodhpur, 269.
imperative, 54.
Joshan (kind of armour), 66, 68.
Investment of
fortresses, 272.
Jubah (kind of armour), 67. Juhar (immolation), 242.

Juzah-i-harawal(\)art of van-guard),
226.
Jaba (coat of
mail), 67.
Juzzail, see ^''JazuiV'.
Ja*bah (a quiver), 99.
316
INDEX.
Kalah-i-has (arrow-shaft?), 97 n. 1. Katar, katarah, katdrl (dagger). 85.
Ka%ah
(a long
gown), 29.
rocket), 148.
(class of arti-
iiraî6a/i-i-6as/i (arrow-shaft?),
97 n.l.
Kabul, 269.
Kaukabah
33.
(kind of .standard), 31, 32,
Kahak-hanha (kind of Kahardah, Hindustani

ficer),
174.
(class of artificer).
Kayetoc (kind of matchlock), 108. Kettledrums, 30.
Kahardah, Turdni
174.
Khakrez
(glacis),
264.
Khall-goli (blank cartridge), 107.

Khal-o-kliat (marks on horse), 49.
Kaitok, kaitoke (kind of matchlock).

108, 171.
Kajem (horse-armour). Kajim (id.), 71.

Kakriln
(fortress),
71.
Khan (Lord), 28. Khanda (kind of

Khanjar (kind
sword), 76.
of dagger), 86.
269.
Khapwah
Kala Piyadah
Kalinjar
(kind of infantry), 171.
Kharati (turner), 174.

Kharch-i-sikkah
pay), 19.
(a deduction
(fortres.s),
268, 269.
from
Kamal
(kind of armour), 69.
Kamal-posh (Blanket Wearers), 44. Kaman{hovi). 73, 92; i-gurohah.9b.
Khargah
Khasak
(kind of tent), 195.
Khar-i-mahl (kind of mace), 80.

(caltrops),
of,
Kamand
22.
(rope-ladder), 281.
233 and Errata.

289.
Kaml-i-haradari (deficiency of men),
Khelnah. siege
Klierah (a
shield), 78.
Kamin-gah (ambush),
255.
KhiUjf't (robe of honour). 29.
Kammal
(blanket), 44.
96.
Khila^t-khanah
(state wardrobe), 29.

piece), 65.
Kamnait (kind of archer), Kamptl (bambu bow), 96.
Khoghi (armour head Khogir (saddle), 72.
Kamr
(accoutrements), 107.
Khor hahliyah
Kamrhand (waist belt), 29. Kamrgah (part of fortress),
Khud
264.
75.
(helmet), 64.
KhundU-pkdnsl
80.
(kind of mace), 79,
Kamr-i-khanjar (sword-belt),
Kamrsal
(sword-belt), 75.
Khurdk-i-dawabb
(feed of cattle), 7,
Kamthah, kamanth (kind of bow), 95. Kandanah, siege of, 289. Kangrah (fortre.ss), 269.
Kantha-sohlid (gorget), 70.
~i9,
20, 178.
71.
Richlm (horse-armour),
Kilk (arrow-shaft), 97.
Knives, 85.
Kard (a long knife), 88. Karkhanahs (workshops),
Koft work, 62.

196.
Kohar-tardsh (kind of arrow), 98.
Karnalakl (class of infantry), 170. Karranai (horns), 208. KdrtUs (cartridge), 107. Kasarat (exercises), 185. Kashmir (fortres.s), 269.
Kn.uir-i-do-daml
(deduction
Kont (kind of spear), 85. Kos length of, 216. Kotdh sildh (short-arms), Kotah-yardq (short-arms),
Koiivdl (police
officer),
I
73.
73.
Kothl (kind of armour), 69.

210,
from
m),
19.
Kuc/ia ft- L-aalaina (coMimd way), 274.
INDEX.
317
(fortress), 269.
(left
Kuhuk
(kind of rocket), 148.
Mairtah
Kiimraurgah (part of fortress;, 264. Kunrjur (battlements), 264.
Maisarah
wing), 226.
Maisir, al- (divination by arrows), 98.
Kurkuh
(kind of drum), 30 n.
1.
Malhus-i-klids (emperor's robes), 29.
L.
Ladders, scaling, 271, 281.
Malchdr (mode of approach during

a siege), 278.
Lais (kind of arrow), 98.
Labor
(fortress), 269.
Malk (part of armour?), 68. Manjaniq (catapultj, 130. Manqalah (advanced troops),
Mansab, generally,
sy.stem,
3.
225.
Lake, Lord,
maid
conferred on, 33.

of,
42;
first class,
Lance, cavalry, 82; Mahratta use

82.
6; .second class, 6; third class, 6;
58;
.system,
connection
present, 58.
Langarkhanah "
191.
(charitable kitchen),
with number of
of horsemen, 57.
men
Mansabdars, 19, 43; formed an army

of spear), 84, 85.
(fortress), 269.
Lange (kind
Lankarkot
Mangab-i-zat, table
pay, 8.
of,
with yearly
Leader's death or disappearance, effect

of,
235; changing places with
ele-
Mantlet (turah), 146, 278.

Marabba'^ (mode of archery). 102.
phant driver, 257. Leather Guard (godhu), 100. Leave of absence, 25. Left Wing, 226.
Mardtib (kind of standard), 33.

March, army on the, 202; description
of.
203; lengthof,215,
219 222;
;
Length
Light
of marches, 215.
for exercising), 185.
measurements made of, 216

day's,
official
Lezam (bow
216; forced, 218.

pa.sses,
artillery. 133.
Marching through
212.
Lion dignity (Sher~mar7jJAh), 34.

Loans, 18; recovery
of,
Maru
(parrying shield), 79.

68.
13.
18.
Lord {Khan), 28.

Losses, 244; statistics
of,
Masari (part of armour?), Mashrut (conditional pay),

Mashrut-ba-khidmat
(id.),
258.
13.
M.
Maces (gurz), 73,
79.
Match
167.
(falitah), 107.
Matchlockmen, 20, 53; rates of pay,

Matchlocks. 73, 90, 91, 103; barrels,
Madad-i-mu'ash(kindof2i\\o\waince),3.
Mahadaji-Sendhia, 33.
Mahallah (parades), Mahasarah kardan

fortress), 264.
46,
(to
182
n. 1.
106; stocks, 106; hammer of, 106. Measurements of marches, mode of,
a
216.
invest
Memorandum
Mewatl
(ydd-ddfiht), 18, 42.
Mahi
.31,
(a kind of standard), 32.
(class of infantry), 170.
Mahi-o-maratib (kind of standard),

33.
Mewrah
Mighfar
(post-runners), 170. (part of armour), 65.
Mahratta
use of lance, 82.

264.
Military music and the^Yaufea^ 207.
Mahgun shudan (to be invested), Mahsur shudan (id.), 264.

Mahldb
(blue lights), 151.
(right wing), 226.
Mllteq (a matchlock), 108.

Mines, 271, 273, 275.
Mink-bdshl
(artillery captain),
157.
Maimanah
Mir 'Art
(old
name
of Bakhshi), 38.
318
Mir Atash
duties
INDEX.
(general of artillery), 154;
N.
habah (furrows on sword blade), Nagas (class of infantry), 163. Ndgphani (kind of shield), 78.
Nagpur
Najib
(fortress), 268.
(class of infantry),
of,
155.
75.
Mir Balir (head of boatmen), 211. Mir Bakhshl (second noble), 37. Mirdahah (petty officer), 23, 26, 158.
il/irManziZ(Quarter-master-general),
190.
Missiles, 90.
164.
Najjar (carpenters), 174.
Mizan (kind of standard), 32. Mochi (class of artificer), 174. Moghul Army, an army of horsemen,
57.
Nal (barrel), 103. Naqar-khanah (music-room

stand), 196.
or Band-
Moghul
cavalry,
tactics
compared
with Europeans, 234.
Naqb (under-mining), 271, Naqb-kun (digger), 174. Naqd (cash pay), 14, 20.
Naqlb
(herald), 231
n. 1.
275.
Moghul Empire,
of,
War
Organization
of,
reasons for decay
296; no
jea-
patriotism,
structed,
lousies
296, 297;
badly con-
297;
weakened by
Naqqdrah (kettle-drums), 30, 208. Nardubdn (scaling-ladders) 271 281 Narsingh moth (kind of dagger), 87.
,
of officers, 297, 298; bad
Nasaqchi (army
police),
227.
30, 207.
system of recruitment, 298, 299

troops only
fit
Naubat (drum-beating),
for a procession or
Nawak
(kind of bow), 96.
a charge, 300.
Negotiations, 214.
Mortars {deg), 129.
Nets (redes) for hunting tigers, 203 n. i

71.
Mounting Guard, 188. Mozah-i-ahant (part of armour), Mugdar (wooden clubs), 185.
Nezah (lance), 81, 82. Nezah-bazan (spear-men), 82. Ni'âmat Khan, ATi, quoted, 244.
Night surprizes, 257.
Mughal (class of infantry), 172. Miiharmf (mode of archery), 102. Muhnal (scabbard mountings), 75.
Muhrah-i-rahkalah
piece), 146.
Nimah-asiln
75, 112.
(a jacket), 29.
Nimchah-shamsher
(short sword),
(nozzle of field-
Noble ofNobles(ylmir-w?-wmam),38.
Non-verification (âdam-i-tashihah),
22.
Muhtasib (Censor), 210.
Munger
(fortress), 269.
Muqabil-kob (catapult), 130. (vanguard), Muqaddamah-ul-jais

225.
Notch of bow, 93.
Nuktah Number
(kind of arrow), 98.

of
weapons
carried, 73.
Murchal
271.
(battery,
entrenchment),
O.
Observations, general, 296.
Offensive weapons, 90.
Musa'âdat (money advances), 18
Musht (mode
of archery), 102.
Music, military, 207.
Offering
presented
on
passing
of
Mustaufis (auditors), 19.

Musters,
false,
emperor, 210.
Officer, first
45.
18, 38.
appointment
march, 216.
of,
40.
Mutalibah (recovery of loans),
Official day's
Officials
and their
duties, 55.
INDEX.
Oil,
319
yearly, table of Mansah-i-zat,
rates
of,
burning, throwing
of,
282.
Pay,
8-,
Opchl (a bowman), 91. Oqchl (a bowman), 91. Order of battle, 223.

Orders, confirmation of (ârz-i-ma-
8; for one horseman,
10; date from which drawn, 12; conditional (MashrTU) 13; unconditional (Bila-shart), 1 3
;
in arrears
karrar), 18.
always, 13; in
Naqd
(cash), 14;
Organ (Arghnn), 138.

Organization, 183.
by Jaglr (assignment), 14;

of infantry, 172.
rates
Ornaments, jewelled, 29.
Paymaster
and Adjutant-General {Bakhshi-ul-mamalik), 37, n. 1.

(id.),
P.
Paehaql, right to collect arrears of
Paymaster-General
Pensions, 25, 26.
37.
Percussion weapons, 105.
Jaglr rents, 21.
Peshkhanah
for
(advance-tents), 495.
Paemali (compensation
crops), 193.
damaged
Peshqabz (kind of dagger), 88.
Pharl (fencing
Pioneers, 53.
shield), 78.
Pahrl (small shield), 78. Paikan (arrow-headj, 97. Paikan-kash (arrow-drawer), 101.
Pishawar
Pistol
(fortress), 269.
{tabanchah or
Pisiol), 73, 90,
Pakhar
Palarak
151.
(elephant armour), 176.

(a sword), 75.
91, 91, 111, 112.
Paî-si?/a/Hkindofgun-ammunition),
Piyadagan (infantry), 160. Piyadah (foot-soldier), 24.

Piyazl (kind of mace), 79.
Plundering, untimely, 236.
Palkls
(litters),
29.
Po.Uah
(headstall), 72.
Pommel ofasaddle(gar6ws, qcish)^

spear),
72.
Panach
or panchak (bow-string), 93.

84.
Pandi-hallam (kind of
Panjah (kind
of standard), 31, 34.

84.
Powder Bags, 282. Powder horn, 107. Powder Magazines, 151.

Practising,
Panjmukh (kind of spear), Par (arrow-feathei's), 97.

id.
arrow used
for,
98.
Privileges (mangab), 4.
Parades (mahallah, sandidan), 182,

n. 1.
Procedure on entering Service, 36.

Provincial
and other BaJihshls,

109.
40.
Parah (gun-hammer), 106. Par rah has tan (hattle-array), 223.

Parlal (baggage)
at, 60.
Punishments, 184.
Pushtah
(field shelter),
191.
Pusht-khar (kind of mace), 80.
Particularbattle,forceactually present
Q.
Parusa
Passes,
(battle-axe), 81.
marching through, 212.
Qabchah
(quilted under-jacket), 63.
Patapaii or striped tents, 198.
Pathabaz (swordsman), 165.
Patkah
(part of armour), 71.

71.
Patkah-poshan,
Patrolling, 209.
Qabz (pay-bill), 26. Qabzah (sword-hilt), 75. Qabzahgar (mode of archery), 102. Qaiduq (a matchlock), 108.
Qainchi-i-bdn (rocket tripod), 148.
Patta
(rapier), 77.
Qal'ah (a
fort),
264.
320
QaVachah
(small fort)
INDEX.
264.
98.
Ramchangi
137.
(kind of small cannon),
Qalandara (kind of arrow),

Qalciwurl (skirmishers), 224,
Rdmjaki
(id.),
137.
Qalh (centre of army), 226. Qamargah (centre of army), 226.
Rdmjangi^
(id.),
137.
135, 137.
Rdmjankl
(id.),
Qamchi-kard (narrow knife), 89. Qamrgah (mode of hunting), 189.

Qandahar, siege
of,
Rdnak
(greaves), 71.
(fortress), 269.
4.
Ranigarh
289.
Rank (mansab)^
Rank, suwar,
9.
Qanduq (gun-stock), 408. Qarawal (skirmishers), 189, 225. Qarawal Begi (chief of skirmishers,
Head huntsman), 189. QarhUs (pommel of saddle), 72. Qasarah (kind of field-piece), 140. Qash (pommel of saddle), 72.
Qctshqah
(frontlet), 71,
Ranking's work on elephants, 178. Ranthambhor (fortress), 269. Raonl (fausse-braye), 265.
Rasad-i-jins (payment in kind), 20.
Raunee
Rauti
(fausse braye), 265.
(a small tent), 195. (a
72.
Rawat
Hindu
trooper), 171.
Qashun (hody
Qcizaql
of troops), 183.
Rear guard, 227.

Recovery of loans and advances, 18.
Recruit, to furnish
Qatas (yak-tail), 34.
(mode of
fort),
attack), 240.
own
horse, 47.
1
Qidr (a cauldron?). 111.

Qil'ah (a
264.
Redes (nets for hunting tigers), 203 n.

284.
Reduction of fortresses by Starvation,

Refuge, places
263.
Qila^hddr (fort commandant), 269,
Qirhdn (bow-case), 100.

Qizzilbash (Persian horsemen), 58.
Quilted cotton jackets, 64.
of,
Regiments. 57.
Rejections, 22.
Quiver (tarkash), 99; the King's, a
Reklas (kind of conveyance), 139
>?.
1.
symbol of authority, 99.
Renny
army),
(fausse braye), 265.
Qui 44
(a slave, also centre of
Report {Haqlqat). 41.

Resignation, 25.
n. 1, 226,
QTiltuq (the armpit), 108.
Revenue, assignment of (jdgir),

Right
14.
Qumqicmah(kmd of standard), 32,33. Qunddq (gun-stock), 104. Qur (armoury, armed attendants),
31, 205.
Wing
of
army, 226.
Rikdb
(stirrups), 72, 134.
Risdlah (department), 42.

Rivers, crossing
of, 211 fording, 212. Robes (of Honour), 29.
;
Qurbegl (head of armoury), 205.
QurqcMs (emperor's
R.
Raesen
139;
140.
guard), 169.
Rockets (ban, kahak-ban), 73,
147'.
mode
of,
of carrying, 148; description
149, 150;
mode
of discharging,
149, 150, 151.

(fortress), 269.
field-piece),
Rodd
135,
(bow-string), 93.
Rahkalah (wheeled
use
of
Rolls, descriptive, 47,
49; for Troo-
word, remarks on,
pers, 48.
Ruhtas
Khiii-d (fortress), 269.
Rahkalah-hdr (artillery park), 200, Rainee (fausse-braye), 265.
Rukhsat
(leave of absence), 25.
INDEX.
s.
321
Sa'at-i-sa^ld (lucky
moment), 202.
Sarkob (catapult). 130. Sarnal (scabbard mountings), Sarpech (head ornament), 29.
72.
75.
Sahat (covered way), 274, 275, 276,

277.
Saz-i-marassa" (jewelled trappings),

Sdz-i-Uldc (gold-mounted trappings), 72."
Scaling-ladders (narduban), 271, 281.
Sabuchah-i-barut
(fire-pots), 132.
âdiql (coat of mail), 69.

Sadiival (artillery sergeant), 23, 26, 158.
Scarcity and other suffering, 193.

Scouts, 213.
Saff
amstan
(battle array), 223.
Safll (terreplein), 264.
Set (kind of spear), 84.
Sahalki
Selarah (kind of spear), 81, 84.

Service, entering the, 36.
Sahm
(arrow), 97.
(a kind of standard), 31.
Saiban
Shab-gard (night-rounds), 209.

Shab-glr (night-surprize), 257.
Saif (a sword), 75.

Sailabah-i-Qalmacfi (a kind of knife),
89.
Shab-khun
(id.).
257.
Sainthl (kind of spear), 81
84.
Shahin (falconet), 135. Shahjahanabad (fortress), 269.

Shdlih (powder horn). 107.
Samtl
(id.),
79, 84.
Saints, shrines of, 202.
Shakh-dahdna
104".
(id.),
107.
Sair (privates), 158.

Sa?a6a^fcar (imperial enclosure), 199.
Shalih-i-tufang (tripod for matchlock),
Salhqaba (kind of armour), 68.

Sdlotrl (farrier), 174.
Shamiydnah (kind Shamsher (sword),
of tent), 195.
75.
Sambhar
(fortress),
269.
Sandbags, 278.
Shamsherbdz (swordsman), 78. Shashbur (kind of mace), 79.

Shast (thumbstall), 94.
San didan (a parade), 182 n. 1. Sang (kind of spear) 83. Sang-afkan (aperture for hurling down stonesj, 266. Sang-anddz (id.), 266.
Sang-i-falakhan
95.
(slings for stones),
Shast-awez
(id.),
94.
Shdtur (a catapult?), 278. Sherbachak (a blunderbuss), 112. Sher-bachah (a class of troops), 58. Shergarh (fortress), 269.
Sher-mdhi (kind of
(a bayonet), 83.
fish-bone), 89.
Sangln
Sher-mardtib
Sher Shah,
(a
kind of standard), 34.

fencing, 78;
Sangra'^d (catapult), 130.
his
system of musters, 46.

;
Sang-tarash (stone-mason), 174.
Shields, 73, 77
movable
Sank
(kind of bpear), 81, 83.
(or mantlets), 278.
Sant (kind of spear), 80.

Sap, approach by, 273.
Shikdrband (part of horse trappings),

72.
iSaqah (rear of any troops). 227.
Saqatl (horse casualties), 22, 24.
Shikdrgah (kind of sword), 77. Shooting, modes of, 101 with bow,
;
Saqat-namah
death), 25.
(certificate
of horse's
102.
Shrines of noted saints,
visits to,
202.
Sari (arrow- shaft), 97.

Sar-i-suwarl (coup-de-main), 270.
Shutarndl (small gun) 135;

136.
size of,
322
biba (towers at
liers").
INDEX.
sieges,
also "cava-
Stringing the bow, 102.

STiln
271, 277, 279, 280.
(part of armour), 68.
Sieges of Gurdaspiir and Thun, 270,
Sufdr (notch of bow), 93.

Sultani (Royal), 44.
285; particular, 288; of Qandahiir,
289
of
of BIjapur, 289
;
of Jinji. 289;
of Khelnah,
289 of Kandanah, 289

;
Wakankhera, 289 of 289; of Allahabad, 290

,
Jaitpur,
Sunain (head of spear), 81. Suraj-mukhi (kind of standard), Surang (a mine), 274.
Surat (fortress), 269.
34.
of Ban-
garh, 290.
Surgeons (jarah), establishment

52.
of,
Siham
(arrows), 97.
(local
Sihhandi
militia), 166..
Surkh-posh
(class of troops), 44, 183.
Sih-hlvdlah (kind of spear), 98.

Sih'ioaijah (tripod for matchlock). 104.
Snwar
(troopers), 5;
Rank,
9.
Swivel-gun, 109.
Silah (weapons in general), 62.
Swordplay, 186.
Swords, 73, 74; mode of carrying, 74.
Sword-stick, 77.
Silahdar
(class of trooper), 37, 47.
Silah-posh (a class of troops), 164.
Sinan (spear in general), 81. Singauta (parrying shield), 79.

Single-stick play, 185.
System, Akbar's, of making over
ele-
phants to grandees, 20.
Singrd (priming horn), 107.

Sipahi-i-falez (undisciplined troops).
241.
Sijmi' (a shield), 77.
Tahal (head-piece), 227.
Sirohl (kind of sword), 76; gaj hail

(id.).
77.
Tahanchah (pistol), 112. Tahar (battle-axe), 80. Tabar zaghnol (kind of axe),
80.
Sitapur (fortress), 269.
Siyaha dead (estimate of allowances).

17.
Tdblnan (cavalry soldiers), 9, 43, 48. Tabindn-i-baradmn (class of cavalry),

10.
Siyah namUdan
distance), 241.
(to
appear in the
Table of Mcmsab-i-zat^
8.
Tabrddr (axe-man), 174.

Tafdivat-i-asp (a deduction from pay),
22, 52.
Siyahposh
Slain
(class of troops), 183.
Skirmishers {qarawaldri), 225.
and wounded, plundering of, 259.

73, 81
;
Tafaivat'i-silah
(id.),
22.
Spears,
short, 81
mode
of
Tafawat-i-tabindn
(id.),
22.
wielding, 82.
Spies, 213.
Taghaiyur-i-rah dddan (change of

route), 210.
n.
1.
SqarVdt (broad-cloth), 73
Standards, 32, 205; Yak's-tail, 34.

Starvation, reduction of fortre.sses by,
Tahnal (scabbard-mounting), 75. Ta%nat (posted to a province), 9. Takhsh (kind of missile), 147.
284.
Takhsh kaman
of,
(cross-bow), 95.
Statement {Haqlqat), 16.

Stones, use
Takht-i-raivan (portable throne),210,
by besieged, 283.
Talafl (deduction from pay), 20.

Talaql-i-fariqaui (encounter of armies), 241.
Storming, 281.
Stratagems, 244; of war, 255.
String of bow, 93.
Talfah
(videttes), 209.
INDEX.
Ta^liqah (executive order), 43.
323
;
Tir (arrow), 73, 97

of.
various meanings
Talwar (sword),
75.
11-1,
129.
(loaded), 129.
Tamanchah
(pistol),
112.
Tlrah-bcmd
TamanchaJi (id.), 111. Tanab-i-quruq (rope enclosure), 199. Tankhicah (pay), 17, 21, 38.
Tcmkhwah-i-ina'^m
(a gift), 18.
Tir-cmdaz (archer), 91.

Ttrbardcir (arrow-extractor), 101.
Titles, 28.
Tobrah (nose-hag), 142.

Toc/h (kind of standard), 34.
Taraf-i-yamin (right wing), 226.
faragarh
(fortress), 269.
Tarah
(part of battle array), 227.

98.
Top (cannon), 65, 113. Top (helmet), 64, 65.

Top-i-liaioae (air-gun?), 130.
Tarah-i-hadam (kind of arrow),

faraii-i-halal
(id.),
98.
Top-i-kalan (heavy gun), 114.

Top-i-ljMlrd (field-piece), 114.
faraii-i-khar (id), 98.
Tarah-i-khornl
(id),
98.
Top-khanah
Torah
(artillery), 113.
Tarah-i-mah
farah-i-toko
(id.),
98.
98.
Tor a (gun match), 107.

(law, custom), 145.
(id.),
farcmgalah
Target, 101.
(battle-axe), 80.
Toredar (matchlock), 104.

Toshah-lzhanah (wardrobe
sents), 29.
for pre-
Tarkash
(quiver), 99.
Tascllq (certificate), 41, 42.
Tashihah
2277
(verification), 46, 53.
Taulghamah
Taulqamah
(part of battle array),
Towers (st&a), 279. Towns, Walled, 263. Tozdun (pouch), 107.

Transport, 191.
(part
of battle array),
Trichinopoly (fortress), 268.

Troopers, fine for deficiency
roll for, 48.
in,
227, 233, 240.
22;
Taivaqqi(f-i-tashihah (delay in verification), 24, 54.
Truce, flag
of,
214.
Tawaqquf
Technical
o 'âdam-i-iashihah (non-
Tudah
(earthen target), 101.

n.
1.
verification), 22.
Tnfak (matchlock), 103

of fighting,
terms
239;
Tufak-i-dahcln (blow-pipe), 97.
words connected with

263.
fortresses,
Tufang (matchlock),
73, 103.
Tegh (sword),
75.
blade), 75.
Tufang-chi (matchlock man), 167. Tufang-i-farcmg (European matchlock),
Teghah (sword
Telescope, 246.
104.
97.
Tents, colour
of,
198;
striped, 198.
Tukah, Tukkah (kind of arrow), Tumcln (body of troops), 183.
Tei're-plein, 264.
Tumandar
98.
(head of tumdn). 183.

(kind of
Thonth (kind of arrow),

287.
Tuman-togh {Tuman-tok)
standard)^ 31, 34.
Thnn(First Siege),285; (Second Siege),
TTimar (despatch, report), 254.

of arrow), 98.
Thuth (kind
Tilayah
Tilak (sect-mark), 72.

(patrol). 209.
fupak TUrah
(matchlock),
103
n.
1.
(mantlet), 142, 145, 277.
Turk-tazl (Turk-galloping), 241.

Tynasliee work, 62.
Tilivah (kind of shield), 78.
324
INDEX.
Wazir
(chief minister), 37.
Weapons, 29; great number that a
UiiMq
(class of cavalry), 241.
man
carried.
73;
offensive,
of,
90;
Ujjain (fortress), 269.
relative estimation
90.
of,
Umara
'Umdah
(nobles), 9.
9. 9.
Wielding the spear, mode
82.
Umara-i-kihar (great nobles),

(pillars of
Wings
of army,
Right,
226; Left,
the State),
226; of the centre, 227.
Unconditional pay, 13.
Wounded, no medical
Wrestling, 186.
aid for, 259.
Uniform, 183.
Ustak (shabracque), 72.
Utara (fighting on
foot), 237.
Ûzzam
(great nobles), 9.
Yad-dasht (memorandum), 18, 42.

Yak-ang-bazi (kind of sword-play),
185.
Vanguard, 225
226.
advanced post of the,

of mace), 81.
Yakaspah (having one

Yakkah-taz (riding
Yak's-tail standard, 34.
horse), 23.
alone), 43.
Venmuroo (kind
Verification,
roll,
53;
delay
in,
24, 54;
Yaltang-posh (part of horse trappings),

72.
26; and branding, 45; interafter
vals
which imperative, 54; department-officials and their du55.

of,
Yaltmish (part of battle array), 226.
Yasawals (armed messengers), 44,

81, 210.
ties,
Victory, proclamation
242.
Yurish
(onset), 241.
W.
Wadded
coats, 69.
Z.
Zafarabad
of,
(fortress),
269.
Wakankhera,
siege
289.
Zdghnol (kind of
axe), 80.
Wakll-i-mutlaq
(vice-gerent), 37.
Wala
Shahls, Bakhshi of the, 40,
Zalmun (an arrow), 99. Zamburak (camel-piece), 135

136.
size of,
43, 44; (High Imperial). 44.
Wall, temporary, 279.

Wall-piece, 109.
Zanjir-bandi (chaining cannon), 229.

Zanjir-i-fil (phrase of record or account), 179.
Waqiâh
254.
(official
diary), 18, 41, 42,
Zarb-zan (cannon), 113.

(diary-writer)
18.
Waqiâh navls
Zardposh
(class of cavalry). 183.

5.
'W'agfa/i-nigfar (diary-writer), 40,41
Zat (personal rank),
War
Organization of Moghul Empire,

of,
Zerband (martingale),
Zih (bow-string), 93.
72.
reasons for decay

27.""
296
300.
^^âris-namah (certificate of death),
Zihglr (thumstall), 93. 94.
Zlnah-pae (scaling-ladder), 281

Zirih (kind of armour), 66. 67.
Watching, 209.
Wâter-carriers, 53.
Zirihkidah (part of armour). 66.
RETURN
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What is the book about?

What is the book about?

What topics are covered in Chapter I?

What topics are covered in Chapter I?

THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN M0GHUL8:

ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.

GREAT RUSSELL STREET,

Eules connected with Pay and Allowances

Rates of Pay, 12.

Date from which pay drawn, 12.

Rewards and Distinctions

generally (silah, aslah) 62.

Khud, Dnhalgliah, Top,

C. Offensive Arms, 11. Missiles Charkh, Bows, 91 Ogc/i7, OpcAi, 91

Jazail, jazair, 109.

Gingall, janjal, 109.

Chapter X. Artillery. Heavy guns Top-khdnah and its meanings, 113.

and their pay, 173.

Chapter XIV. Elephants Chapter XV. Discipline, Drill,

Camps and Camp Equipage

Emperor's tents, 196.

Colour of tents, 198.

Lucky moment, 202.

Scouts and spies, 213.

Army marching, 21 Instances, 220.

Proclamation of victory, 242.

Pillars of heads, 242.

Night surprizes, 257,

Statistics of losses, 258.

and wounded, 259.

Chapter XXIII. Forts

General remarks, 260.

Bound hedges, 261.

Places of refuge, 263.

Walled towns, 263.

Various parts of a fortification, Technical words, hisar, qW^ah,

qal^ahchah, garhl, mahsilr shudan^

burj-o-harah, kungur, fasil,safil,chatah,goonga, kamrgah,

for other descriptions, 268.

Imperial fortresses, 268.

Chapter XXIV. Sieges

Agrah, 294. Bangarh, 291. 290. Chapter XXV. General Observations

branches, being impelled by the

more than sketch out

which deals with the

Sovereign, the Court Ceremonial, and the elaborate system

Dr. Horn's essay

and though indebted

ledged from time to time,

study covers, in the main,

quite different ground, forming a

the subject a good

deal farther in several directions. Dr.

read chiefly the authorities for the period before

"Das Heer- und Kriegswesen der Gross-Moghuls", by Dr. Paul Horn,

thus almost entirely

upon which we draw are independent of each other; and 1 hope

contribution to this rather obscure corner of Indian

not be thought inferior in interest to that of

seven chapters have already appeared