The army of the Indian moghuls: its organization and administration. By William Irvine ...

About this Item

Title
The army of the Indian moghuls: its organization and administration. By William Irvine ...
Author
Irvine, William, 1840-1911.
Publication
London,: Luzac & co.,
1903.
Rights/Permissions

These pages may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Please go to http://www.umdl.umich.edu/ for more information.

Subject terms
India -- History, Military.
Mogul Empire
India -- History, Military.
Mogul Empire
Link to this Item
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/AJS3804.0001.001
Cite this Item
"The army of the Indian moghuls: its organization and administration. By William Irvine ..." In the digital collection Digital General Collection. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/AJS3804.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 9, 2024.

Pages

Page [unnumbered] - Title Page

Scan of Page  [unnumbered]
View Page [unnumbered] - Title Page

THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS: ITS ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION. BY WILLIAM IRVINE, LATE BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE. LUZAC & CO., LONDON 46, GREAT RUSSELL STREET, 1903.

Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

Scan of Page  [unnumbered]
View Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page Preface........................... 1-2 Chapter I. Commissioned Rank and mode of recruiting. 3-11 Mansab, 3.- Grades of promotion, 5. - Zat and suwdr, 6.Table of Mansabs and pay, 8. - Suwar rank, 9. - TdbTnan, 9. - Pay of same, 11. - Chelds 11. Chapter II. Rules connected with Pay and Allowances. 12-27 Rates of Pay, 12. - Date from which pay drawn, 12. - Conditional and unconditional pay, 13. - Pay always in arrears, 13. - Pay in naqd and Jigzr, 14. - HaqIqat, 16. - Daul, 18. - Ydd-ddsht, 18. - Loans, advances and gifts, 18. - Deductions, 19. - Fines, 22. - Sakati and BartarafL, 24. - Absence, 25. - Illness, 25. - Leave, 25. - Desertion, 25.Discharge, 25. - Pension, 25. - Death, 25. Chapter III. Rewards and Distinctions............. 28-35 Titles, 28. - Robes of Honour, 29. - Gifts, 29. -Kettledrums, 30. - Flags and Ensigns, 31. - Panjah, 31. - -Alam, 32. - Mizan, 32.- Aftdb, 32.- Azhdaha-paikar, 32. - Miah, 32.Qumqumah, 32. - Mdhl-o-mardtib, 33. - Sher-mardtib, 34. - Aftabgiri, 34. - Tuman-togh, 34. - Summary, 35. Chapter IV. Procedure on Entering the Service.... 36-44 Bakhshis, 37. - Duties of Bakhshi-ul-mamdlik, 38. - The other great Bakhshis, 39. - Provincial and other Bakhshzs, 40. - First appointment of an officer, 40. - Haqiqat, 40. - Tasdiq 41. - Ydd-ddsht, 42. - Tadltqah, 43. - Ahadls, 43. Chapter V. - Branding and Verification...... 45-56 Chihrah-i-mansabddr, 48.- Chihrah-i-tdbindn, 48. - Chihrah-i-aspdn, 49. - Form of Imperial brands, 49. - Noble's brands, 50. - Classification of horses, 51.- Subordinate establishment, 52.- Tashihah, 53.- Officials and their duties, 55. Chapter VI. Different Branches of the Service... 57-61 Mansabddr, Tdbindn, Ahadis, Ahshdm, 57. - No regimental system, 57. - Total strength of army, 59. - Strength brought into the field, 60. Chapter VII. Equipment. - A. Defensive Armour... 62-72 Armour generally (silah, aslah) 62. - Fines for non-production

Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

Scan of Page  [unnumbered]
View Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

IV TABLE OF CONTENTS. PageZ~ of, 63. - Khk-d, Dabalghah, Top, 64. - Khotgh-1, 65. - Iliighfar, 65. -Bakctar, Bagtar, 66. - Chalidir-akinah, 66. - Zirih, 67. - Jaibah, 67. - Joshan, 68. - fihl1am, 68.Angarkhah, 68. - Daqhlah, Dagld, 68. -J~mah-i-fati hi, 68. - Chihilqad, 69. -- Sadiqi-, 69. - Kotldt, 69. - Bhcan0tt 69. - Kamal, 69. - Ghiighwah, 70. - Kant hd-sobha-, 70. - DastwPdnah, 70. - Ra-n'ak, 74. - Mozah-i-dhan-, 71. - Patkah, 71. - Horse armour, 71. - Kajim-, 74. - Artak-iko~ji-in,71.-Qashqah,71.-Gardanii,71. - Horse trappings,72. Chapter VIII. Equipment. - B. Offensive Arms: I, Weapons for close quarters.... 73-89 4. Swords, 74. - iMode of carrying, 74. - Names for, 75. - Names of parts of and belts, 75. - Shamsker, 75.Dhip, CAsa Sbamsher, 76. - Khanda-, 76. -Siroh-t, 76.Patta, 77. - Gupti, 77. - Shields, 77. - Clhirwah and Titwah shields, 78. - Fencing shields (phctri1), 78. 2. Maces, Guirz, 79. -- 5hashbiw, 79. - Piydzi, 79.-Dhara, 79. - Garguz, 79. - Khandli-Phii-nsil, 79. - Sdit (flail), 80. - Pusht-kha-r, 80. - Kh~ob-i-rn iihi, 80. - Gajbd~g, 80. 3. Battle Axes, Ta bar, 10. - Za-ghnol, 80. - Taba)r-zadghiiol, 80. -Thtrangatlah, 80. - Parusa, 81. - Vcnrniuioo, 81. -Basolah, 81. - Chamchdfiq, 81. 4. Spears, Sindn, 81. -Neczah, 82.- Bh/li, 82. -Bairchhah, 83. - Siink, Sdng, San gi, 83. - Sai nt hi, 84. - Selarah, 84. - Ballam, 84. -Pandi-Baltarn, 84. - Panjmulkh, 84. - La-nge, 85. - Gcohiyii, 85. - CAltam, 85.Kont, Ganddsii, 85. 5. Daggers, Katiir, Katdfrah, Katadri, 85. - famdhar, 86.Khanjar, 86. -fJailkhik, 87. -Jhambwah, 87. - Badk, 87. - Narsingh moth, 87. - Bichhwit, 87. - Khapwah, 88. - Peshqabz, 88. - Kard, 88. - Chat qchaqi, 89. - Sailitbah-i-qaaidqi, 89. Chapter IX. Equipment. - C. Offensive Arms, II. Missiles 90-112 General, 90. -I. Bows, 91. - Oqehi-, Opchi, 91. - Charkh, 92. - Kamdiin, 92. - Notch, 93. - String, 93. - Thumbstall, 93. - Takhish, Kamitn, 95. - Kamadn-i-gurohah, 95. - Gobhan, F tlihhan, 95. - Karnthah, 95. - Nitwak, 96. — Tufak-i-dahitn, 97. -Arrows, 97. - Tuhkah, 97.Names of arrows, 97. - Symbolical use of arrows, 98.Quiver, 99. - Leather guard, 400. -- Paikdtn-kash (arrow drawer), 404. - Target, 104. - Modes of Shooting, 101. 2. Matchlock, Tufang, Bandiiq, 403. - General, 103. - Tripod, 403. - Pitrah, 106. - Match, 107. - Powder horn ct cetera, 107. - Blank cartridge, 1 07. - Gcailletoque,

Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

Scan of Page  [unnumbered]
View Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS. V Page 107. - Jazail, jazdir, 109. - Gingall, janjal, 109. - Qidr, 111. 3. Pistols, Tamanchah, 111. - Sherbachah, 112. Chapter X. Artillery. - Heavy guns...... 11.3-132 Top-khinah and its meanings, 113. - Top-i- kaldn, Top-ikhurd, 114. - Under Babar, 114. - Top-i-zarbzan, 115. - Under Akbar, 115. - European opinions, 116. - Heavy guns, 118. - Had names, 118. - Inscriptions on, 119. - Number with CAlamgir, 119. - Examples of use, 119. - By AMzam Shah, 119. - At Lahor, 1125 H., 119. -AtThuin,1128H., 119. - At Wer, 1767, 120. - Jats use of at Agrah, 1767, 120. - How mounted, 121. - Descriptions of individual guns, 123.- Wooden guns ofSikhs, 128. - Ghabdrah, 129.Deg, 129. - Tr (bore of a gun), 129.-Miscellaneous, 129.Badalijah, 129.- Manjaniq, 130. - SangraCd, 130. - Sarkob, Muqdbil-kob, 130. - Top-i-hawde, 130. - Chddar, 131. - Huqqah-i-dtash, 131. Chapter XI. Light Artillery........ 133-151 Topkhdanah-i-rezah, 133. - Topkhanah-i-jinsi (jambishz), 133. - Topkhdnah-i-jilau, 133. -Artillery of the Stirrup, 134. - Names for light guns, 134. - Rahrau, 135. - Swivelguns or wallpieces, 135. - Gajndl, Hathndl, Narnal, 135. - Shutarndl, Zamburak, Shahin, 135. - Size of Shutarndl, 136. - Use of, 136. - Dhamdhah, 137. - Rdmjanaki, 137. - Arghun, 138. - Chalani, 138. - Fieldpieces, 138.- Rahkalah, 139. - Origin of name, 139. - CArddah-top, 140. - Qasdrah, 140. - Ardbah, 141. - Thrah, Tobrah, 142. - Muhrah-i-rahkalah, 146. - Rockets, 147. - Mahtdb, 151. - Powder Magazines, 151.Pal-i-siyah, 151. - Badar, 151. Chapter XII. Personnel of the Artillery....... 152-159 Turks and Europeans, 152. - Mir Atash, 154. - Hazari, 157. - Mink-bdshz 157.- Sadiwwl, Mirdahah, Sdir, 158.Golanddz,158.- Deg-anddz,158. —Ban-anddz, Ban-ddr,l 59. Chapter XII. Ahsham...................... 160-174 General remarks, 160. - Infantry in general, 161. - Ngas, 163. - cAlighol, 164.- Silah-posh, 164. - Najib, 164. - Pathahbdz, 165. - Dhalait, 165. - Amazons, 165. - Sihbandti 166.- Barqanddz, 166.- Pay of Matchlockmen, 167. - Baksariyah, 168. - Bundelahs, 169. - Arabs, 169.Bhilah, 170. - Mewdat, 170. - Karnitaki, 170. - Kala Piyddah, 171. - Rawat, 171. - BargZ, 171. - Mughal, 172. - Farangz, 172. - Pay of last four classes, 172. - Artificers and their pay, 173.

Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

Scan of Page  [unnumbered]
View Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page Chapter XIV. Elephants... 175-181 Chapter XV. Discipline, Drill, and Exercises..... 182-189 Discipline, 182. - Parades, 182. - Organization, 183. - Uniform, 183. - Punishments, 184. - Drill, Kasardt, 185. - Swordplay, 186. - Horsemanship, 187. - Mounting guard, 188. - Hunting, 189. Chapter XVI. Army in the Field......... 190-194 General remarks, 190. - Mfr Man;zil, 190. - Transport, Baggage (Bahir o Bacngh, Partal), 191. - Commissariat, 191. - Banjaras, 192. - Fodder, 192. - Foraging, 192. - Scarcity and sufferings, 193. - Flight of inhabitants, 194. Chapter XVII. Camps and Camp Equipage.....195-201 Tents, 195. - Peshkhd.nah, 195. - Camp, description of, 195. - Emperor's tents, 196. - Colour of tents, 198.Guldalbdr, 199. - Jal., 199. - Tandb-i-qUrilq, 200. - Rahk;alah-bMr, 200. - Harems, 200. Chapter XVIII. Army on the March........... 202-214 Lucky moment, 202.- Emperor taking field in person,202. - Order of march, 203. - Standards, 205. - Military music, Naubat, 207. - Patrolling and watching, 209. - Escort duty, 210. - Conveyances of Emperor, 210. - Salutation on Emperor's passing, 210. - Crossing rivers, 211. - Marching through passes, 212. - Scouts and spies, 213.Negociations, 214. Chapter XIX. Length of Marches.........215-222 Official day's march, 216. - Length of kos, instances, 217. - Forced marches, 218.-Army marching, 219.- Instances, 220. Chapter XX. Order of Battle...........223-228 Qarawal, 224. - Qaldwurl, 224. - Iftail, 225.- Vanguard (Hardawal), 225. - Muqaddanmah-li-jais, 225. - 3Martnqca, 225. - Juzah-i-hardwacl, 226. - Right wing, 226. - Left wing, 226. - Advanced guard of Centre (iltmish), 226. - The centre, 226. - Wings (Tcaah). of the centre, 227. - Rear guard, 227. - Sdqah, 227. - Nasaqch-, 227.Taulqamah, 227. Chapter XXI. Conduct of a Battle......... 229-243 Artillery fire, 229. - Zanjirah band, 230. - Battle cries, 232. - Charges, 232. - Chevaux de frise or caltrops, 233. — Loss of leader decisive, 235. - Untimely plundering, 236.Single combat, 236. - The Utdra, 237. - Other technical terms, 239. - Harakat-i-?mnc abuh1, 239. - Qaaqi, 240.Dar goshah-i-kamcni zadan, 240. - Taldql-i-fariqain, 241.Siyah namuadan, 241. - Hallah, 241. - Yirish, 241. - Hai,at-i-mCajmnuC^, 241. - Chapkunchi, Chapqalash, 241. -

Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

Scan of Page  [unnumbered]
View Page [unnumbered] - Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS. VII Page Sipdhi-i-f-dlez, 241. - Defeat, 241. - Juhar, 242. - Proclamation of victory, 242. - Pillars of heads, 242. Chapter XXII. Particular Battles, Stratagems, Losses. 244-259 Battle of Hasanpur, 1719, Telescopes, 245. - Reports of Battles, 254. - Stratagems of war, 255. - Fictitious desertion, 255. - Ambush, 255. - Personation of leader, 257. - Night surprizes, 257. - Statistics of losses, 258. - Treatment of slain and wounded, 259. Chapter XXIII. Forts and Strongholds............. 260-269 General remarks, 260. - Bound hedges, 261. - Hill forts, 262. - Places of refuge, 263. - Walled towns, 263. - Various parts of a fortification, Technical words, hisdr, qilCah, qalCahchah, garhl, mahsur shudan, mahdsarah kardan, bu)rj-o-bdrah, kungur, fasil, safil, chatah, goonga, kamrgah, rauni, sang-anddz, damdghah, 263. - Description of a small fort, 266. - References for other descriptions, 268.Imperial fortresses, 268. Chapter XXIV. Sieges............... 270-295 General remarks, 270. - Approach by sap and mine, 273. - Sdbat, 274. - Sandbags, 278. - Movable shields, 278. - Shitur, 278. - Malchdr, 278. - Temporary wall, 279.Sibad or Towers, 279. - Indian defence of forts, storming, 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 fortresses, 287. - Particular sieges, 288. - Jaitpur, 289. - Allahabad, 290. - Bangalrh, 291. - Agrah, 294. Chapter XXV. General Observations.............. 296-300

Page 1

Scan of Page  1
View Page 1

PREFACE. In 1894 I began the preparatory studies for an account of the later Indian Moghul system of government and administration in all its branches, being impelled by the belief that some information of the kind was a necessary introduction to a History of that period, which I had previously planned and commenced. Before I had done 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 my subject 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 incidentally, my paper is neither a translation nor a review of Dr. Horn's essay; and though indebted to him, as acknowledged from time to time, my study covers, in the main, quite different ground, forming a complement to what he has done, and, as I think, carrying the subject a good deal farther in several directions. Dr. Horn seems to have read chiefly the authorities for the period before Aurangzeb 'Ahmgir; while my reading has been confined in great measure to the reigns of Aurangzeb's successors in the 1 "Das Hleer- und Kriegswesen der Gross-Moghuls", by Dr. Paul Horn, Privat-Dozent an der Universitat Strassburg, 8vo, pp. 160. (E. J. Brill: Leiden, 1 894.) 1

Page 2

Scan of Page  2
View Page 2

2 PREFACE. period 1707-1803. The sources upon which we draw are thus almost entirely independent of each other; and I hope that my contribution to this rather obscure corner of Indian history may not be thought inferior in interest to that of my predecessor. The first seven chapters have already appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for July 1896.

Page 3

Scan of Page  3
View Page 3

CHAPTER I. COMMISSIONED RANK AND MODE OF RECRUITING. Few soldiers were entertained directly by the emperor himself; and for the most part the men entered first the service of 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 (iAn, i, 237). This mode of recruiting the army through the officers, renders it necessary to begin by a statement of the manner in which the officers themselves were appointed and graded. Mansab was not a term confined solely to the military service; every man in State employ above the position of a common soldier or messenger, whatever the nature of his duties, civil or military, obtained a mansab. In fact, there were for all grades, except the very lowest, only two modes of obtaining support from State funds: a man must either enter its active service, as the holder of a mansab, or he must petition for a madad-i-muCash (literally, "help to live"), on the ground of being a student of the holy books, an attendant on a mosque (mutawalli or khadim), a man of learning and religious life (darvesh), a local judge (qazi), or an expounder of the Mahomedan law (imufit). The word mansab is literally (Dastur-ul-Insha, p. 233) "the place where anything is put or erected" (nasb kardan, to place, fix, appoint); and then, as a secondary meaning, the state or condition of holding a place, dignity, or office. It seems to have been in use in Central Asia before the Moghuls descended into Hindustan; and Ross translates

Page 4

Scan of Page  4
View Page 4

4 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. it by the vaguer term "privileges". - Tarikh-i-Ras/hidi, 103. This word mansab I represent by the word rank, as its object 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 mansab that could be held by a subject, not of the royal house, was that of commander of 7000 men, though in the later and more degenerate times we find a few instances of promotion to 8000 or even 9000. The mansab of a prince ranged from 7000 up to 50,000, and even higher (Mirat-ul-idstilah, fol. 35). In the Ajzn-Z-Akbari (Blochmann, 248, 249) sixty-six grades are stated, beginning at commanders of 10,000, and ending at those set over ten men. Even at that earlier period there seem to have been only thirty-three of these grades in actual existence (Blochmann, 238). All the later authorities agree in holding that the lowest officer's mans'ab was that of twenty men; and these writers record, I find, no more than twenty-seven grades, beginning with that of 7000 and ending with that of twenty. In the earlier days of the dynasty, rank was granted with a niggard hand. In Akbar's time the highest rank was for long that of 5000, and it was only towards the end of his reign that a few men were promoted to 7000, while many officers exercised important commands although holding a comparatively low mrnansab. The great accession of territory in the Dakhin and the incessant wars connected with these acquisitions may account in part for the increase in the number and amount of wianqa68bs granted by Shahjahan and 'Alamgir. But the relative value of rank was thereby much depreciated; and the author of the Ma,asir-l-d1- Uara (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

Page 5

Scan of Page  5
View Page 5

COMMISSIONED RANK AND MODE OF RECRUITING. 5 being too numerous and too insignificant to call for detailed mention. The steps of promotion altered as the officer rose in grade. The usual gradation was as follows (Mirla, B.M. 1813, fol. 35; Dasltr-ul-CAml, B.M. 1641, fol. 446):From 20 to 100 each rise was by 20 100 to 400,,,, 50 400 to 1000,,,, 100 1000 to 4000,,,, 500 4000 to 7000,,,, 000 There is a slight discrepancy between this table and the facts as we find them in practice. It ought to be amended thus: From 20 to 60 a man rose by 10 each time 60 to 100,,,, 20 Otherwise we should exclude the rank of 50, which was common enough. Again, we find in many tables no ranks of 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 Bah/dur S/a/ndmah (fol. 416, 56a) we find men appointed to 1200 and 2900, grades which do not fit in with the scheme given above, nor do these grades appear in the pay-table, copied from the official manuals, which we give a little further on. As an additional distinction, it was the custom to tack on to a mansab a number of extra horsemen. To distinguish between the two kinds of rank, the original mansab, which governed the personal allowances, was known as the zat rank (zat - body, person, self), and the additional men were designated by the word suwdr (= horseman). Thus a man would be styled "2500 zat, 1000 suwar." It is said (MirAt, fol. 35) that men below 500 never had suwdr

Page 6

Scan of Page  6
View Page 6

fi THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. added to their rank; but this is not borne out by what we find in actual practice. For instance, Mirza Muhammad (Tazkirah, I.O.L. N~. 50, fol. 96a) was in Rab' II, 1119 H., made 400, 50 horse, and his younger brother 300, 30 horse. There are also instances in Danishmand Khan of 150, 50 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. On the distribution of rank into zal and suwar was founded a classification into first, second, and third class nansabs, by which the scale of zat pay was reduced proportionately. From this classification were exempted officers above 5000 zat; these were all of one class. From 5000 downwards, an officer was First Class, if his rank in zat and suwar were equal; Second Class, if his suwar was half his zdt rank; Third Class, if the suwar were less than half the zat, or there were no suwar at all (Dast8r-ul-JnsAi, 222). I think that here Blochmann (AJn, i, 238, lines 5 and foil.) obscures the subject by using "contingent" as the equivalent of suwar, instead of leaving the untranslated original word to express a technical meaning. Pay was reckoned in a money of account called a dam, of which forty went to the rupee. There were also coins called dam; but the dams of account, bearing a fixed ratio 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 I of a rupee, less to make a grand show with big figures than because the value of the rupee varied. On this head 1 am of exactly the opposite opinion, for I think that the principal, if not the only object, was to swell the totals and make the pay sound bigger than it really was. That spirit runs through everything done in the East, at any rate in the Indian portion of it, as could

Page 7

Scan of Page  7
View Page 7

COMMISSIONED RANK AND MODE OF RECRUITING. 7 easily be shown were it worth while to labour the point further. As for the second reason, I have considered it as well as I am able, not being a currency expert; and it seems to 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. The two units being tied together by the fixed ratio, and the disbursements being in fact made (as we know) in rupees, the payee suffered, or did not suffer, equally by either mode of calculation. In the following table, which shows all the mansabs with their pay according to class, I have reduced the dam to rupees, as being simpler and more readily intelligible. In the present day, this reckoning by dams has quite disappeared. When reading this table of pay, which shows the sanctioned allowances for a year of twelve months, it must be remembered that few of the officers received the whole twelve-months' pay, the number of month's pay sanctioned per annum ranging from four to twelve. Officers were also supposed te keep up an establishment of elephants and draught cattle. Apparently they were also liable to pay a fixed quota of their own allowances towards the expenses of the Emperor's elephants and cattle, an item known as kh1crak-i-dawdbb, feed of four-footed animals. There were other petty deductions..

Page 8

Scan of Page  8
View Page 8

8 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. TABLE OF MANSAB-I-ZAT WITH YEARLY PAY IN RUPEES. YEARLY PAY IN RUPEES. RtANK (Mansab-i-zat). - First Class. | Second Class. Third Class. II 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 7000 6000 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 150 100 80 60 50 40 30 20 350,000 300,000 250,000 225,000 200,000 175,000 150,000 125,000 100,000 75,000 50,000 37,500 31,250 27,500 23,750 20,000 12,500 10,000 7500 6250 5000 3500 2500 2125 1750 1375 1000 242,500 217,500 192,500 167,500 142,500 117,500 92,500 67,500 47,500 36,250 30.000 26,250 22,500 18,750 12,000 9500 7000 5750 4500 3250 2375 2000 1_625 1250 875 235,000 210,000 185,000 160,000 135,000 110,000 85,000 60,000 45,000 35,000 28,750 25,000 21,250 17,500 11,500 9000 6500 5250 4000 3000 2150 1875 1500 1125 750 (Dastir-ul-'Aml, B.M. N~. 1641, fol. 44b, id. BM. N I. 1690, fol. 173b, DaPstr-ul-lns/ a, p. 234.) The rates of pay in Akbar's reign, as given in the last column of Blochmann's table (Jzn, i, 248), were much higher than the above, which refers to CAlamgir's time and later. It will be noticed that the difference of pay between first, second, and third class is as follows: - From 20 to 60 5,000 Dam, or Rs. 125 yearly. For 80 10,000,, 250 From 100 to 400 20,000,,,, 500 For 1000 100,000,,,, 2500 From 1500 to 5000 300,000,,,, 7500 (B.M. 6599, fol. 1446).

Page 9

Scan of Page  9
View Page 9

COMMISSIONED RANK AND MODE OF RECRUITING. 9 In addition to the simple division by mansab alone, there was also a grouping of officers into three classes. From 20 to 400 they were merely "officers with rank" (mnansabdar); from 500 to 2500 they were Nobles-Blochmann, i, 535 (Amir, pl. Umara, origin of our form "Ornrah"); from 3000 to 7000 they were Great Nobles (Aminr-i-A'zam, pl. 'Uzzan, Umarai-kibdr (Blochmann, i, 529, note), or Pillars ('Umdah). All manasabdars were kept on one or other of two lists: (1) HaEir-i-rikab, present at Court; (2) TaCinat, on duty elsewhere. Suwar Rank. - The grant of suwar in addition to zat rank was an honour. Dr. Paul Horn, 15, supposes, however, that these horsemen were paid out of the zat allowances. In that case a man who had no suwar would be better paid than another who was honoured with the addition of suwar to his zat rank. Naturally Dr. Horn, 16, holds that this "eigentlich nicht recht glaublich ist." I'e is quite right in his conjecture. The explanation is, that the table of pay in Blochmann, i, 248, and that given above, are exclusively for the zad rank, from which money the officer had to maintain his transport, his household, and some horsemen. For the suwdr rank there was a separate table, pay for these horsemen being disbursed under the name of the Tabznan. As Orme says ("Hist. Frag.," 418), the officer raising the troops was responsible for the behaviour of his men; he therefore brought men of his own family or such as he could depend on. Another rule was, according to the jMirai-i-Ahmadi, ii, 118, that the Tibinan, if horsemen, must be one third Mughals, one third Afghans, and one iI third Rajputs; if infantry, two thirds archers, and onethird matchlockmen. Tdbznan. - Blochmann, i, 232, note 1, who, apparently, translates this word as well as suwar by "contingent," derives it from the Arabic fa6zn, one who follows. 1 The 1 Steingass, 272, a.j, A, following in the steps of another; but Pavet de Courteille, Dict. Turc. Oriental, 194, claims it as a Chaghatae word, with the meanings of "a troop of 50 men, the body-guard, the pages."

Page 10

Scan of Page  10
View Page 10

10 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHUIS. books (B.M. 1641, fol. 46b, B.M. 6599, 1446 and 1486) 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 same throughout, it is sufficient here to work out the pay for one horseman. For five horsemen, then 40,000 dCms8 a year were allowed. That would be 8000 dams for one man; and this sum in dams yields Rs. 200 a year (at the fixed rate of 40 dims to 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 man provided his own horse and armour, and paid for his own and his horse's keep. One Dastur-ul-'AiI, B.M. 6599, fol. 1446, tells us that the number of horses to men among the troopers (labzinn-i-6aradari) was according to the rule of dah-6ist (lit. "ten-twenty"), meaning apparently that the total number of horses was double that of the number of men. The scale was as follows: -- 3 three-horsed men -9 horses 4 two-horsed men 8 horses 3 one-horsed men- 3 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. 22 14a. Sp. per mensem). In some places we find other rates of pay recorded. For instance, Bahadur Shah enlisted Ahadis, men a little superior to common soldiers, at Rs. 40 a month (Danishmand Khan, second Safar of the second year, i. e. 1120 H.- 22nd April 1708). A 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

Page 11

Scan of Page  11
View Page 11

COMMISSIONED RANK AND MODE OF RECRUITING. 11 in the cavalry was socially an honourable profession; thus a common trooper was looked on as being, to some extent, a gentleman, and such men, even when illiterate, often rose to the highest positions. The pay of the Tabinan was drawn by the mansabddar, who was entitled to retain 5 per cent. of their pay for himself (zAn, i, 265). Pay was not always allowed for a whole year; often only for six, five, or four months. This fact renders it impossible to calculate the actual expenditure, for, although we generally can find out whether a mansabddr was first, second, or third class, we rarely know for what number of months in the year his pay was sanctioned. Chelas. - As a counterpoise to the mercenaries in their employ, over whom they had a very loose hold, commanders were in the habit of getting together, as the kernel of their force, a body of personal dependents or slaves, who had no one to look to except their master. 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 children taken in war or bought from their parents during times of famine. The great majority were of Hindu origin, but all were made Mahomedans when received into the body of chelas. These chelas were the only troops on which a man could place entire reliance as being ready to follow his fortunes in both foul and fair weather. Muhammad Khan Bangash's system of chelas is described by me in J.A.S. Bengal, part i, 1878, p. 340.

Page 12

Scan of Page  12
View Page 12

CHAPTER 1I. RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES. In the preceding paragraphs have been shown in general terms the rates of pay for the cavalry, and some of the rules by which pay was governed. When we comle to the actual working out in detail of this part of the army administration, our difficulties increase. The official manuals, which are our only guide, are couched in the briefest of language, and naturally presume a knowledge of many things of which we are i2norant. Nor can we be certain whether the rules that they lay down were of general application or were applicable to certain classes of troops only. Thus the data are insufficient for any complete exposition of this part of the general subject. The matters treated of in the next following paragraphs are, moreover, of a 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 to yield complete information, I have thought it better to deal with the greater part of them, as the native authors do, in their relation to the calculation of pay. Rales of Paq. - The rates of pay for officers and men of the cavalry, forming numerically far the most important part of the army, have been already stated when dealing with the maZNsal) system. The rates for Infantry and Artillery, so far as recorded, will be stated when we come to those branches of the service. Date fronm whic Pay Drawn. - On an officer being first appointed, if by his rank he was exempt from having his

Page 13

Scan of Page  13
View Page 13

RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES. 13 horses branded (dag1), his pay began from the date of confirmation ('arz-i-nzukarrar). If such branding were necessary, pay began from the date of branding (the day itself being excluded), and as soon as this condition had been complied with, a disbursement was made of one month's pay on account. In 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 (Dastlrul-CAml, B.M. 1641, fol. 37a, 58a; id. 6599, fol. 1466, Dasturul-lnsha, 233). Conditional (Mashrui) and Unconditional (Bila-shart) Pay. - Rank and pay 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 to the permanent, bila'-shart rank which a man already occupied. On ceasing to hold the office, such as that of governor (subaihdar) or military magistrate (faujdar), the mashrui rank and pay were taken away. Pay always in Arrears. - In later times pay due from the imperial treasury to the mansabdlars, as well as that due from the mansabdars 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. The reasons are obvious. 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 that country the normal condition of mankind. For example, even such a careful manager as Nizam-ul-Mulk, in his alleged testament, dated the 4th Jamadi II, 1161 H. (31st May, 1748), is credited with the boast that he "never withheld pay for more than three montls" ("Asiatick Miscellany," Calcutta, 1788, vol. iii, 160). Another reason for keeping the men in arrears may have been the feeling that they were thereby prevented from transferring their services to some other chief quite as readily as they might

Page 14

Scan of Page  14
View Page 14

14 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. have done if there were nothing owing. Disturbances raised by troops clamouring for their pay were among the unfailing sequels to the disgrace or 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 or thirty months of arrears being no rarity. The ministers, princes, and grandees always keep twice or thrice as many men as they have occasion for, and fancy that by withholding the pay they concern the men in the preservation of their lord's life." We can also quote Lord Clive as to the state of things in the Bengal subah in 1757 ("Minutes of Select Committee of 1772," reprint, 52) - "There were great arrears due to the 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 behave so" (badly?). Pay in Naqd and in Jagir. - Pay (tankhwlaha: literally, tan 'body,' khwah 'need') might be either NAaqd, that is, given in cash (naid); or Jagzr (literally, ja 'place,' gir, taking, from giriftan), that is an assignment (jagir) of the land revenue of a certain number of villages (mauac) or of a subdivision (parganah). A certain number of officers and soldiers, chiefly those of the infantry and artillery, who were, as a rule, on the pay list of the emperor himself, were paid in cash. This seems to have been the case in all reigns 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. It was glad to be relieved of the duty of collecting and bringing in the revenue from distant places.

Page 15

Scan of Page  15
View Page 15

RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES. 15 This task was left to the jagirdar, or holder of the jagir, and unless such a mansabdar were a great noble or high in imperial favour, the assignment was made on the most distant and most imperfectly subdued provinces. 1 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 jagzr 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 jaizrs was intensely keen. As cAbd-ul-Jalil of Bilgram writes to his son: "Service has its foundation on a jagzr; an employe without a jagir, 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 jagir given in 1775, says: "Cette apparition des jaguirs dans l'Empire Mogol a son declin est un fait sociologique du plus haut interet." The system of jigzr grants may be an interesting sociological fact- as to that I have nothing to say for or against; but it was not introduced into the Mogol Empire during its decline. Jigzrs existed in that empire's most flourishing days, having been granted as early as Akbar (Blochmann, A7n, i, 261), while under Shahjahan they existed on a most extensive scale. If the jaigr were a large one, the officer managed it I This may have been a development of Taimur's practice of granting the pay of his amirs from his frontier provinces. - Davy and White, "Institutes," 237.

Page 16

Scan of Page  16
View Page 16

16 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHUJLS. through his own agents, who exercised on his behalf most of the functions of government. Such jagrs were practically outside the control of the local governor or faujddr, and formed a sort of imperium. in impwerio. The disastrous effects of the system, in this aspect, need not be further dwelt on here. On the other hand, a small jdagir was more frequently left by the assignee in the hands of the faujdar, through whom the revenue demand was realized. Gradually, as tile bonds of authority were relaxed from the centre, the faujdirs and swbahddrs ignored more and more the claims of these assignees, and finally ceased to remit or make over to them any of the collections. I append here the first steps of official procedure followed in the grant of a jdyir. We are to suppose that one Khwajah Ralimatullah has been recalled from duty in some province, and that on appearing at court he has applied for a new jaqzr. Through the Diavsn-i-tan, a great officer at the head of one of the two revenue departments, a haczqat, or Statement of Facts, was drawn up, in the following form (B.M. NO. 6599, foil. 156a to 157b):Statement (JfaqZfqa). Khwajah Rahmatullah, son of Khwajah Ahmad, a native of Balkh, who was attached to the standards in Province So-and-so, having come to the Presence in pursuance of the exalted orders, and the jrqir which, up to such-and-such a harvest, was held by him in the said Province, having been granted to So-and-so, in this matter what is the order as to the lankh/cwdi jari of the above-named. Presentation (sI u/ldzcl at) Lon the margin] Presentation (d Day so-and-so, month so-and-so Offering (nazar) 9 Muhrs (gold coins) and 18 Rupees. This haqzqal was passed on by the Diwthn-i-tan to the

Page 17

Scan of Page  17
View Page 17

RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES. 17 Diwan-i-'ala (or wazir). The latter placed it before the Emperor. If an order were given for a jagzr to be granted, the wazir endorsed on the paper, "The pure and noble order issued to grant a jagzr in tankhivah from the commencement of such-and-such a harvest." This paper then became the voucher for the chief clerk to the Diwan-i-tan, who wrote out a siyaha daul, or Rough Estimate, as follows: Rough Estimate. Khwajah Rahmatullah, son of Khwajah Ahmad, of Balkh. Whereas he was on duty in Province So-and-so, and according to order has reached the Blessed Stirrup (i. e. the Court) - One thousand, Personal (zat) 200 men, Horse (suwar) Pay in dams 34 lakhs Personal Troopers (tidbndn) 18 lakhs 16 lakhs Total, 34 lakhs. Feed of Four-footed animals (Khurak-i-dawabb) remitted. Parganah So-and-so, Parganah So-and-so, situated in Province situated in Province So-and-so, So-and-so, 20 lakhs of Dams. 14 lakhs of Dams. It will be seen, on referring to a previous page, that as the man was 1000 zdt, but had only 200 suwar rank, he was a third class Hazari. By the table this gives him 18 lakhs, and then 200 horsemen at 8000 dams each comes to 16 lakhs, making the 34 lakhs which are sanctioned in the above. 2

Page 18

Scan of Page  18
View Page 18

18 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. The daul, or estimate, was made over to the diary-writer (wagiqah navis), who, after he had entered it in the a'qiCal (diary), prepared an extract called a memorandum (yad-daslR) for submission to the office of the confirmation of orders ('arzi-i-nmukarrar, lit. second petition). Thle yad-dlsh repeated the facts much in the same form as the haqiqat and the daul. On it the wazir wrote: "Let this be compared with the diary (wqfiCaf/) and then sent on to the confirmation office ('arz'i-ukarrar)." On the margin the diary-writer (icdvyiah nairs) then reported: "This.yad-dis/ht accords with the waqfi'/o." Next the superintendent (daror//a/h) of the confirimation office wrote: "On such-and-such a date of suchand-such a month of such-and-such a year this reached the confirmation office. The order given was - 'Approved.'" We need not follow here the further fate of the order after it left the Court and reached the governor of the province referred to. Loans, Advances, and Gifts. - The technical name for a loan or advance of pay was nlsa'Cad(. (Steingass, 12:25, A, helping, favour, assistance, aid), and the conditions as to interest and repayment are given in Book ii,, n 15, of the zjn-i-Ak/bar (Blochmann, i, 265). Historians frequently mention the advance of money under this name. In later times, especially from the reign of Muhammad Shah, no commander ever took the field without the grant of the most liberal cash advances to meet his expenses. Possibly these were never repaid, or were from the first intended as free gifts. When we meet with the phrase tank/w/wi-i-ina'iC, I presume that there can be no doubt of the payment being a gift. Here the word lanklhwiah seems to denote the order or cheque on the treasury, and the word indCm (gift, present), differentiates it from other tankhwvah, 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 mulalibah (Steingass, 1259, asking, claim, due). Another

Page 19

Scan of Page  19
View Page 19

RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES. 19 term of somewhat similar import, baz-yaft (Steingass, 146, the resumption of anything, a deduction, stoppage), seems to have been confined to the recovery of items put under objection in the revenue accounts by the mustaufts, or auditors. At one time the recovery of an advance was made from a man's pay in four instalments; but towards the end of 'Alamglr's reign, it was taken in eight instalments (B.M. N~. 1641, fol. 58b). Deductions. - Of these I have found the following: kasar-i-do-damn (fraction of the two dams), kh/areh-i-sikkah (expenses of minting), ayyamd-i-hilali (days of the moon's rise), iissah-i-ijnas (share in kind), kliurak-i-dawabb (feed of four-footed animals). Kasur-i-do-dami. - Kaser is, literally, fractions, deficiencies, faults. This item was a discount of five per cent., that is, of two dams in every forty, and therefore styled "do-dami" (B.M. 1641, fol. 37a). The origin of this is to be found possibly in Akbar's five per cent. deductions from the Aladi troopers on account of horses and other expenses (.dln, i, 250, line 14). The rate of deduction is differently stated in fol. 58b, 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. Kharch-i-sikkah was also deducted: in 'Alamgr's reign the rates were Rs. 1 12a. Op. per cent. on Shahjahan's coinage, and Rs. 1 8a. Op. per cent. on the coin of the reigning emperor. Under the rules then in force, the Shahjahani coins, not being those of the reigning emperor, were uncurrent, and therefore subject to a discount. Why a deduction was made on the coins of the reigning emperor, is harder to explain. It was not till Farrukhsiyar's reign, I 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. Ayyatn-i-hilal. - This was a deduction of one day's pay in every month except Ramazan. MIanabddrs, At.adis, and

Page 20

Scan of Page  20
View Page 20

20 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. barqandaz (matchlockmen) were all subject to it. But, towards the end of Alamgir's reign, it was remitted until the Narbada was crossed, that is, I presume, so long as a man served in the Dakhin (B.M. 1641, fol. 556, 626). 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 talafi (Steingass, 321, obtaining, making amends, compensation, reparation); but this variant, instead of throwing light on the subject, leaves it as obscure as before..tissah-i-ijns&. - Jins (goods) is used in opposition to naqd (cash), and this item (hissah i share, ijgns - goods) seems to mean the part of a man's pay delivered to him in kind. Apparently this item did not apply to the cavalry. In the case of the matchlockmen, artillerymen, and artificers, the deduction was -, if the man were mounted, and '2 if he were not. This represented the value of the rations supplied to him. There is another entry of rasad-i-jins (supplies of food?), the exact nature of which I cannot determine (B.M. 1641, fol. 626). Kh4rak-i-dawiabb. - This is, literally, khXrizrk, feed, dawabb, four-footed animals. It was a deduction from a rnansabdar's 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 (lrn, i, 126). "He (Akbar) therefore put several hallcahs (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, we can suppose, the charge was transferred to the officer's 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, the burden became a subject of great complaint. This is shown by a passage in Khafi Khan, ii, 602.

Page 21

Scan of Page  21
View Page 21

RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES. 21 "In the reign of 'Alamgir the mansabdars for a long period were reduced to wanting their evening meal, owing to the lowness of the assignments (paebaqi) granted by the emperor. His stinginess reminds one of the proverb 'one pomegranate for a hundred sick men,' yak anar, sau bhzmr. After many efforts and exertions, some small assignment (jagir) on the land revenue would be obtained. The lands were probably uncultivated, and the total income of the jagzr might not amount to a half or even a third of the money required for the expenses of the animals. If these were realized from the officer, whence could come the money to preserve his children and family from death by starvation? In spite of this, the Akhtah Begi (Master of the Horse) and other accursed clerks caused the cost of feeding the emperor's animals to be imposed on the mansabcars, and, imprisoning their agents at court, used force and oppression of all kinds to obtain the money. "When the agents (wakils) complained of this oppression to the emperor, the head of the elephant stables and the Akhtah Begi so impressed matters on the emperor's mind, that the complaints were not listened to, and all the men were reduced to such an extremity by this oppression, that the agents resigned their agency. In Bahadur Shah's reign, the K/in-i-K1hnan decided that when the mansabdars received a jagzr for 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 be assigned as the income. In this way, the obligation for meeting the cost of feeding the animals was entirely removed from the heads of the mansabdars 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. In the case of officers below a certain rank, the deduction of khiurk-i-dawabb was not made. The rule says that " where the pay (tankhwadl) did not come up to 15 lakhs

Page 22

Scan of Page  22
View Page 22

THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. of dams, the deduction was not made; but apparently no lower rank than that of 400 zdt, 200 sulcar, was liable. This rank would by the tables draw a pay of 20 lakhs of dams. As to the rate of deduction, the records are so obscure 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 daims 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 jargrs in Hindustan and those holding them in the Dakhin and Alhmadabad, the former paying slightly less than the latter. Fines. -- We come now to the subject of fines, which were of various sorts, such as tafdwal-i-asp (deficiency in horses), lafawat-i-silal (deficiency in equipment), tafawat-itabznan (deficiency in troopers), also called, it would seem, kamn-i-baradari, lawaqquf o Cadam-i-las/!.hah (non-verification), sagali (casualties), braraafi (rejections). Tafalvat-i-asp. - This is literally "difference of horses," and refers to a classification of horses by their breed and size, 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. Tafdwat-i-sildh. - This "difference 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. Tafadwal-i-ldabnan (difference of followers) or kamz-ibaradari (deficiency in relations) was a fine imposed on an officer for non-production of the number of men stipulated for by the sudar rank. The following rates are stated in BM. 1641, fol. 37a, and I presume that the deductions

Page 23

Scan of Page  23
View Page 23

RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES. 23 apply to mansabdars as well as to Ahadis, 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 OF MONTHS FOR WHICH PAY WAS DRAWN. Foua FIVE Six SEVEN EIGHT MONTHS. MONTHS. MONTHS. MONTHS. MONTHS. I I I, ~ Amount of fine in R.. P.. P. P. R. P. P.. A. R.. A. P. Rupees. 28 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 7 0 0 8 0 0 In another passage, fol. 41, the same authority explains the matter thus. In the twenty-first year of 'Alamgir, a report on this subject having been made, the emperor allowed a term of four turns of guard (chaukz) for a mansabdar to produce men of his own class or family (baradari), and for this period pay for the men was passed as if they had been present. But subsequently, on the first Rabic 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. A.shiam. - In the case of the Ahs/ham, or troops belonging to the infantry and artillery, we have a little more definite information under this head (B.M. 1641, fol. 64a). Officers of this class fell into three subdivisions, hazarz (of a thousand), sadiwal (hundred-man), and mirdahah (lord of ten). The first class was always mounted (suwar) and the second sometimes; these mounted officers might be two-horse (duaspah) or only one-horse yakaspah) men. Working on these distinctions, we get the following scheme of pay. Diia8pah Suwar: Where, inclusive of the officer's own retainers (khisah/), there were one hundred men present per 100 of rank, pay was drawn at dias8vah rates. But if the number were under fifty per 100 of rank, pay was passed to the hazar' as if he were a mounted sadiwal; subject to restoration to dfiaspah pay when his muster

Page 24

Scan of Page  24
View Page 24

24 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. again conformed to the standard. Yakasl)ah: If, including kA.sah men, there were fifty men present per 100 of rank, full pay was given; if only thirty-one or under, then the hiazdri was paid as a sadiwdl piyadah (unmounted), and certain other deductions were made. Piyidah (unmounted officer). - If a sadital produced under thirty-one men out of his hundred, he received nothing but his rations. When the numbers rose above thirty, he was paid as a mirdahah till his full quota was mustered. In the case of a mirdahah, the production of two men entitled him to his pay. If one man only was paraded for inspection, a deduction from the pay was made, varying, on conditions which I have not mastered, from one to three annas per man. Tawaqquf-i-1as{iihah (Delay in Verification). - The rules for Branding and Verification will be found further on. If the periods fixed were allowed to elapse without the verification having been made, a man was reported for delay; and then a inansabdar was cut the whole, and an al.adi the half, of his pay (B.M. 1641, fol. 586). Saqatz and Barlarafi. - The first word is from saqal shudan 'to die' (applied to animals, Steingass, 687), and may be translated casualties. The other word means setting aside or rejecting, in other words to cast a horse as unfit. We find the groundwork of the saqali system in the AJn-i-Akbari. Blochmann, i, 250. In later times there were the following rules for regulating pay in such cases. First it was seen whether the man was dtas8pah (paid for two horses) or yakaspoah (paid for one horse). In the first case, (1) if one horse died (saqal shavvad) or was cast (bar laraf shud), the man was paid at the yakaspah rate; (2) if both horses died or were turned out, the man obtained his personal pay for one month, and if after one month he had still no horse, his personal 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. 41a).

Page 25

Scan of Page  25
View Page 25

RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES. 25 If an ahadi's horse died while he was at headquarters, the clerk of the casualties, after having inspected the hide, wrote out his certificate (saqat-ndaahl), and pay was disbursed according to it. If the man were on detached duty when his horse died, the brand (daqF/), and the tail were sent in to headquarters (B.M. 1641, fol. 296). Ot/her incidents of military service considered as afecling pay. - Among these may be mentioned: (1) Ghair-hLaziri (absence without leave); (2) Bzmarz (illness); (3) Rukc/sat (leave and furlough); (4) Fazrari (desertion); (5) Bartarafi (discharge or resignation); (6) Pension; (7) Fautz (death). (1) Ghair-hazirZ. - If a man were absent from three consecutive turns of guard (chaucki), 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 guard or at roll-call (jazzah) involved the loss of a day's pay. If absent at the time of the emperor's public or private audience, or on a day of festival (id), half a day's pay was taken (B.M. 1641, fol. 39a, 626). (2) Bimari. - Absence on the ground of illness was overlooked for three turns of guard (chauki), but after that period all pay was stopped, and a medical certificate (bimdrzndmnai) from a physician was demanded (13.M. 1641, fol. 39a, 58a). The rule is somewhat differently stated in B.M. 6599, fol. 1636. (3) Rukhcsat. - Men who went on leave for their own business received no pay while doing no duty (B.M. 1641, fol. 41b). In another place in the same work, fol. 64b, we find a different statement. We are there told that for one month a man received half-pay; if he overstayed his leave it 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, fol. 39a). Again, on fol. 57b, a rule is stated, of which I am not able to understand the bearing. It

Page 26

Scan of Page  26
View Page 26

26 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. seems to be that not more than two months of arrears were to be paid to a man who took leave; but whether that means the arrears due to him when he left, or the pay accruing during his absence, I cannot say. (4) Farari. - If, among the A.sharn, an absconder who had been some time in the service, left after drawing his pay in full, the amount was shown on the margin (Ias/o) of the pay-bill (qabz) 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 (n-mi-ndma//). But, if it were found that the mirdahia/ or s(adciwl, to whom he had gone, had induced him to desert, such officer had to pay the fine himself (B.M. 1641, fol. 646). Pay of absconders was reckoned up to the date of the last verification, and three month's time was allowed (ideia, fol. 576). 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 interval of absence (idem, fol. 646). (5) Barlarafi. - If the discharged mansabddr produced a clear verification roll, he received half of the pay of his zat rank, and the full pay of his horsemen (tibDnan). Matchlockmen received their pay in full up to the date of discharge (B.M. 1641, fols. 57b, 62a). (6) Pension. - So far as I have ascertained, there was no pension list, under that express name. No retiring allowances could be claimed as of right. When a man retired from active service, we hear sometimes of his being granted a daily or yearly allowance. 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

Page 27

Scan of Page  27
View Page 27

RULES CONNECTED WITH PAY AND ALLOWANCES. 27 his death in undisturbed possession of his rank and jagir. (7) Paugi. - It seems that in the case of deaths a different rule prevailed, according to whether the death was a natural one or the man lost 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 (wdris-namah) attested by the qiazz.

Page 28

Scan of Page  28
View Page 28

CHAPTER III. REWARDS AND DISTiNCTIONS. The promise of honorary distinctions has been in all ages and 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 even more ingenious in converting things mostly worthless in themselves into objects to be ardently striven for and dearly prized. Among these were: (1) Titles; (2) Robes of Honour; (3) Gifts of Money and other articles; (4) Kettledrums; (5) Standards and Ensigns. 1. Titles. - The system of entitlature was most elaborate and based on strict rule. This subject belongs, however, to the general 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). After that, he might receive some name supposed to be appropriate to his qualities, coupled with the word K/an, such as Ikhlas Khan, Lord Sincerity; an artillery officer might be dubbed Ra'd-andaz Khan, Lord Thunder-thrower, or a skilful horseman, Yakah-Taz Khan, Lord Single Combat, and so on. Round such a title as a nucleus, accreted all the remaining titles with which a man might 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

Page 29

Scan of Page  29
View Page 29

REWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS. 29 quite at random, nor were they self-adopted, Yet I read quite recently in a history of India, by a well-known and esteemed author, that one governor of Bengal was "a Brahman convert calling himself Murshid Kuli Khan." Now Murshid Quli Khan no more called himself by that name than has Earl Roberts of Candahar called himself by the title he bears. Both titles were derived from the accepted fountain of honour, the sovereigns of the states which those bearing them respectively served. (2) Robes of Honour. - The kihilalt was not peculiar to the military department. These robes of honour were given to everyone presented at court. Distinction was, however, made according to the position of the receiver. There were five degrees of khila't, those of three, five, six, or seven pieces; or they might as a special mark of favour consist of clothes that the emperor had actually worn (malbus-i-khas). A three-piece khilact, given from the general wardrobe (khila't-khanah), consisted of a turban (dastar), a long coat with very full skirts (jama/), and a scarf for the waist (kamrband). A five-piece robe came from the toshah-khanah (storehouse for presents), the extra pieces being a turban ornament called a sarpech and a band for tying across the turban (bdlaband). For the next grade a tight-fitting jacket with short sleeves, called a Half-sleeve (nziah-astin), was added. A European writer, Tavernier (Ball, i, 163), thus details the seven-piece khila't: (1)a cap, (2) a long gown (kacbah), (3) a close-fitting coat (arkalon), which 1 take to be alklchliq, a tight coat, (4) two pairs of trousers, (5) two shirts, (6) two girdles, (7) a scarf for the head or neck. (3) Gifts, other than money. - These were naturally of considerable variety. I have drawn up the following list from Danisbmand Khan's history of the first two years of Bahadur Shah's reign (1708-1710): Jewelled ornaments, weapons, principally swords and daggers with jewelled hilts, palkis with fringes of gold lace and pearls, horses

Page 30

Scan of Page  30
View Page 30

30 THE ARMY OF 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) Kettledrurns. - As one of the attributes of sovereignty, kettledrums were beaten at the head of the army when the emperor was on the march; and in quarters they were beaten every three hours at the gate of his camp. The instruments in use, in addition to the drums, will be found in the JAn-i-Akbari (Blochmann, i, 51). As a mark of favour, kettledrums (naqqara,)1I and the right to play them (naubat) might be granted to a subject. But he must be a man of the rank of 2000 suear or upwards. As an 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 CAli Khan, Amir-ulUmara, notified defiance of constituted authority, when he returned from the Dakhin in 1719, preparatory to dethroning the Emperor Farrukhsiyar. The drums when granted were placed on the recipient's back, and, thus accoutred, he did homage for them in the public audience hall. In Lord Lake's case the investment was thus carried out: "Two small drums of silver, each about the size of a thirty-two pound shot, the apertures covered with parchments, are hung round the neck of the person on whom the 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 naubal, Alhmad Shah (1748-1754) gave such drums to Dain Khan, a favorite Khushhal Chand, Berlin ms. 495, fol. 4126b uses the word kirkah, (Steingass, 1060, T, "a big drum").

Page 31

Scan of Page  31
View Page 31

REWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS. 31 chela of Ahmad Khan, Bangash, of Farrukhabad. ("Bangash Nawabs," Journal A. S. B., 1879, p. 161.) (5) Flays and Ensiqns. - The flags and ensigns displayed, along with a supply of spare weapons, at the door of the audience hall and at the entrance to the emperor's encampment, or carried before him on elephants, were called collectively the Qir (Pavet de Courteille, "Dict.," 425, ceintare, arme, garde), and their charge was committed to a responsible officer called the Qdr-begq. An alternative general name sometimes employed was mihi-o-maralib (Fish and Dignities), or more rarely, the panjalh (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 men in red velvet coats embroidered with gold, with wide sleeves and pointed collars hanging down behind, who carried the imperial ensigns displayed at the end of pikes. The man in the middle carried a sun, the 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 JA,)n, i, 50, we are told of eight ensigns of 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 - (1) A4rang, the throne; (2) Chatr, the State umbrella; (3) Saiban or fltabqzr, a sunshade; (4) Kaukabah/ (plate ix, N~. 2); (5) C'lanm, or flag; (6) Chatr-lok, or yak-tails; (7) 7Tumnan-tok, another shape of yak-tails; (8) Jhaunda, or Indian flag. To these we must add (9) Mahi-o-maratib, or the fish and dignities.' The origin and meaning of the different ensigns displayed by the Moghul Emperors in India have been thus described, Mirat-ul-lslilah, fol. 5: - (1) Panjah, an open hand, is said to mean the hand of cAli. Taimu-r ordered it to be carried before him for

Page 32

Scan of Page  32
View Page 32

32 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. a charm and as a sacred relic. It was said that he captured it when he overcame the Siyahposh tribe. In 17o3 Gentil saw four different "pondjehs" (ie. panjals) carried on horseback in Salabat Jang's cavalcade; they were copper hands fixed on the end of a staff ("Memoires," 61). (2) cAlam, a flag or standard. - This was supposed to be the flag of HIusain, and obtained by Taimur at Karbalah. To it he attributed his victory over Bayazid, the Kaisar of Rum. (3) Mizan, a balance, was a reference to the equal scales of Justice, and was adopted as having been the emblem of Nishirwan the Just. There is a figure on a plate in Gentil's "Memoires," which is probably the Mizan. (4) Aflab, or Sun, was obtained from the fire-worshippers when they were conquered; it was an article used in their worship. (5, 6) Axzdacxa-paikar, Dragon-face. - From the time of Sikandar of the Two Horns, the rajahs of Hind had worshipped this emblem in their temples, and when Taimur made his irruption into India it was presented to him as an offering. It consisted of two pieces, one carried in front and the other behind the emperor. (7) Mlahi, or Fish, was said to have been an offering from the islands of the ocean, where it was worshipped. (8) Quiiqumah (Steingass, 989, a bowl, a jug, a round shade, a lantern).- This also was obtained from the Indian rajahs. The,rn-i-Akbari, i, 50, has kaukabah for apparently the same thing (see figure N'. 2 on plate ix). There is also what looks like the kaukabah in a plate in Gentil's "Memoires." The definition of kaulkabah in Steingass, 1063, corresponds with the figure in the AJn, viz. "a 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 "it was a royal ensign carried on an elephant when the army was on the march."

Page 33

Scan of Page  33
View Page 33

REWARDS 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. MAniz-o-maratib. - Some words must be added with special reference to this dignity, which was borne on elephants or camels in a man's retinue. It was one of the very highest honours, as it was not granted to nobles below the rank of 6000 zat, 6000 suwar (l1ira7t-ul-Istilah, fol. 3). Ma/hi (literally, a fish), was made in the figure of a fish, four feet in length, of copper gilt, and it was placed horizontally on the point of a spear (Seir, i, 218, note 150, and 743, note 51). Steingass, 1,147, defines mihz-mar2dib as "certain honours denoted by the figure of a fish with other insignia (two balls)." But in careful writers I have always found it as mani-o-maratib, "fish and dignities," and, as I take it, the first word refers to the fish emblem and the second to the balls or other adjuncts which went with it. maratib Thorn, "War," 356, describes as a ball of copper gilt encircled by a j/ alar or fringe about two feet in length, placed on a long pole, and, like the ma/it, carried on an elephant. Can this be Gernelli Careri's "golden ball"? Perhaps it was identical with the qumqumah or kaukabah already described above. The translator of the Seir-Mutlaqherin, 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 mahz, as conferred on Lord Lake on the 14th August, 1804 (Thorn, "War," 356), is described as "representing a fish with a head of gilt copper and the body and tail formed of silk, fixed to a long staff and carried on an elephant." James Skinner, who recovered Mahadaji-Sendhia's mahlz-o-maraiib in a fight with the Rajputs, speaks of it as "a brass fish with two chourees (horse-hair tails) hanging to it like moustachios" (Fraser, "Memoir," i, 152). Gentil, "Mmoires," 62, calls the mdahi simply "the head of a fish on the end of a pole." As a sign of the rarity of this dignity, he 3

Page 34

Scan of Page  34
View Page 34

34 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. adds that while in the Dakhin (1752-1761) he only saw four of them. S/er-maratib, or lion dignity. - ' his is a name only found, so far as I know, in Gentil, "Memoires," 62; 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-maralib. The flag bears a lion embroidered on it, and the head of the staff is adorned with the figure of a lion. /Alam. - The flags 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 Gentil's "Miemoires" shows four of these embroidered emblems --- 1st, a panjah, or open hand; 2nd, a man's face with rays; 3rd, a lion (saer); and 4th, a fish. A flag, or Calami, could be granted to no man under the rank of 1000 scawar. Af/actiri. - This sun screen (aifab, sun; qcfr, root of giriflan, to take), shaped like an open palm-leaf fan, was also called Suraj-imllthi (H1indi, literally, sun-face). By the Moghul rules it could only be granted to royal princes (Mlat-ul-/stli/a/, fol. 3). In the eighteenth century, however, the Mahrattas adopted it as one of their commonest ensigns, and even the smallest group of their cavalry was in the habit of carrying one. T'ma/)ln-tloq/. - This is one of the two toqh/ mentioned in Akbar's list, Ajn i, 50, and figured on plate ix of that volume. Pavet de Courteille, "Dict.," 236, has j' (tqog), "etendard se composant d'une queue de jll (qa/a-Y) ou boeuf de montagne (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

Page 35

Scan of Page  35
View Page 35

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, a 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 kettledrums and beat the naubat, (4) the right to display the fish 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 nuktah mahram (;^0) mujrim (of.) s8iavvad: By one spot "confidant" becomes "criminal."

Page 36

Scan of Page  36
View Page 36

CHAPTER IV. PROCEDURE ON ENTERING THE SERVICE. Single men who resorted to the Court in the hope of obtaining employment in the army, were obliged first to seek a patron. A man generally attached himself to a chief from his own country or of his own race: Mughals became the foll,wers of Mughals, Persians of Persians, Afghans of Afghans, and so forth. On this point there were certain customary rules, which are thus stated by Khushhal Chand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 107'2. A noble from Mawar-un-nahr recruited none but Mughals; if from Iran, he might have one third Mughals and the remainder Sayyads and Shekhs, or if he took Afghans and Rajputs, of the former he might entertain one sixth and of the latter, one seventh of his total number. Nobles who were Sayyads or Shekhs might 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 their whole force of Rajputs. At times men of high rank who 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 the reign of Muhammad Shah (1719-1748), Mulhammad Khan, Bangash, filled his ranks in this way with men from the Bangash country and with Afridi Pathans. According to a man's reputation or connections, or the number of his followers, would be the rank (mansab) assigned to him. As a rule, his followers brought their

Page 37

Scan of Page  37
View Page 37

PROCEDURE ON ENTERING THE SERVICE. 37 own horses and other equipment; but sometimes a man with a little 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 silahdar (literally, equipment-holder), and one riding somebody else's horse was a bargzr (burdentaker). The horses and equipment were as often as not procured by borrowed money; and not unfrequently the chief himself made the advances, which were afterwards recovered from the man's pay. The candidate for employment, having found a patron, next obtained through this man's influence an introduction to the Baklhs8l-ul-marnalik or Mir Baklshz, in whose hands lay the presentation of new men to the emperor, and on his verdict a great deal depended as to the rank (mansab) which might be accorded. The Bakhsh. - This officer's title is translated into English sometimes by Paymaster-General, at others by Adjutant-General or Commander-in-Chief. ' None of these titles gives an exact idea of his functions. He was not a Paymaster, except in the sense that he usually suggested the rank to which a man should be appointed or promoted, and perhaps countersigned the pay-bills. But the actual disbursement of pay belonged to other departments. Adjutant-General is 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 (wazzr) was present, the command fell to him. But the only true Commander-in-Chief was the emperor himself, replaced in his absence by the wakil or the wazir. The word Bakh/sh means 'the giver,' from bakhshzdan, P. 'to bestow,' that is, he was the giver of the gift of employment in camps and armies (Dast8r-ul-Jnsd, 232); or might it not better be connected with another meaning, "to divide into shares, to distribute," making Bakh.shi to equal "the 1 Blochmann, A,in, i, 161, has Paymaster and Adjutant-General.

Page 38

Scan of Page  38
View Page 38

38 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. distributor, the divider into shares?" In Persia the same official was styled 'The Petitioner' ('ariz). This name indicates that it was his special business to bring into the presence of the 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 'Arz in two places in the An-i-Akbari (Blochmann, i, 257, 259) are instances of the Persian name being applied to the officer afterwards called a BakhAsi. The first Bak/8shi (for there were four) seems to have received, almost as of right, the title of Anir-lul-umara (Noble of Nobles); and from the reign of CAlamgir 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 to have been the case (Azn, i, 240, Blochmann's note). Duties of the Bakhsh-ul-m-mam/lik. - These duties comprised the recruiting of the army; maintaining a list of mansabdars with their postings, showing (1) officers at Court, (2) officers in the provinces; keeping a roster of the guard-mounting at the palace; preparing the rules as to grants of pay (tankhwdlh/); keeping up a list of officers paid in cash, and an abstract of the total paybills; the superintendence of the mustering for branding and verifying the troopers' horses and the orders subsidiary thereto; the preparation of the register of absentees, with or without leave, of deaths, and dismissals, of cash advances, of demands due from officers (imula/ibah), of sureties produced by officers, and the issue of written orders (dastak) to officers sent on duty into the provinces. 1 One special duty belonging to the Bakh/szz was, in preparation for a great battle, to assign posts to the several commanders in the van, centre, wings, or rearguard. The Bak/cshi was also expected on the morning of a battle to lay before the emperor a present state or muster roll, giving the 1 Dastur-ul-Inshla, 232, Dastir-ul-'Aml, B.M. 6599, fol. 159a, and B.M. 1641, fols. 28, and 17b to 22a.

Page 39

Scan of Page  39
View Page 39

PROCEDURE ON ENTERING THE SERVICE. 39 exact number of men under each commander in each division of the fighting line. The other Bakhshis. - Besides the First Bakhs8h, ordinarily holding the title of An4r-ul-umara, and styled either Bakhshz-ul-mamalik (B. of the Realms) or Mir Bakhshi (Lord B.), there were three other Bakhls8hs at headquarters. It is a little difficult to fix upon the points which distinguished their duties from those of the First Bakhshi. The Second Bakhs/i, usually styled Bakhshiul-mulk (B. of the Kingdom), was also called the Bakhshii-tan. I As tan (literally, body) was a contraction for tankh/wah, pay (literally tan, body, khwdh, desire, need), it might be supposed that his duties were connected with the records of jagirs, or revenue assignments granted in lieu of pay, just as in the revenue department the accounts of these grants were under a special officer, the Diwan-i-lan. But on examining such details of the Second Bakhshi's duties as are forthcoming, I find that this supposition does not hold good. On the whole, the duties of the First, Second, and Third BakhskAs seem to have covered much the same ground. The main distinction, perhaps, was that the Second Bakhshi dealt more with the recruiting and promotion of the smaller men, while only those above a certain rank were brought forward by the Mir Blakhshi. The Second Bakhshi was, it would appear, solely responsible for the bonds taken from officers, a practice common to all branches and ranks of the imperial service. His office would seem also to have been used to some extent as a checking office on that of the First Bakhs/i, many documents requiring his seal in addition to that of the Mir Bakhs/l, and copies of many others being filed with him. The same remarks apply generally to the Third Bakhshi, the greatest difference 1 Danishmand Khan, 18th Shawwal 1119, Kh-af Khan, ii, 601, Yahya Khan, fol. 114a.

Page 40

Scan of Page  40
View Page 40

40 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. 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 Bakh/s8is. His duties were on altogether a smaller scale than those of the other two. From the details in one work, Dasltr-ul-'Aml, B.M. 1641, fols. 286, 29a, it might be inferred that the Second Bakhs/z's duties were connected with the haaidzs, or gentlemen troopers serving singly in the emperor's own service. The difficulty, however, at once arises that the Fourth Bakhshi had as his alternative title that of Bakhshz of the Ahadzs. The third B1ak/shi was also called occasionally Bakhs/h of the lF'd/i S&ha/is, that is of the household troops, men raised and paid by the emperor out of his privy purse. l Provincial and other Bakh/szs. - In addition to the Bakh8shis at headquarters there were officers with similar functions attached to the governor of every province. With the office of provincial Bakhs/i was usually combined that of Wafqi~ah-nigqr, or Writer of the Official Diary. And in imitation of the imperial establishments, each great noble had his own Bak/shi, who performed for him the same functions as those executed for the emperor by the imperial Bakhshis. Firs8 Appointnent of an Officer. - On one of the appointed days, the Bakh/sh laid before His Majesty a written statement, prepared in the office beforehand and called a Itaqfqat (statement, account, narration, explanation). The man's services having been accepted, the emperor's order was written across this paper directing the man to appear, and a few days afterwards the candidate presented himself in the audience-hall and made his obeisance. When his turn came the candidate was brought forward, and the final order was passed. The following is a specimen of a Haqiqat, with the orders upon it: - 1 Kamwar Khan, entry of 1st Jarnadi I, 1119.

Page 41

Scan of Page  41
View Page 41

PROCEDURE 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 (i. e. the Court). In respect of him what are the orders? [First Order.] The noble, pure, and exalted order issued that the above-named be brought before the luminous eye (i. e. of His Majesty), and he will be exalted 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 Bakkshi's 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 (nansab) of one Thousand, Two Hundred Horse (suwar). One Thousand, zat. Two Hundred, suwar. [Order thereon of the Bakshhi.] Let it be incorporated in the Record of Events (Waii'iah). On the arrival of the Certificate (Tasdiq) in the office of the Wqifa'/aniganr, or Diary Writer, he made an appropriate entry in his record and furnished an extract therefrom,

Page 42

Scan of Page  42
View Page 42

42 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. which bore the name of a Yad-dasht, or Memorandum. In form it was as follows: Memorandum (Yad-dasht). On such-and-such a date, such-and-such a day of the week, such-and-such a month, such-and-such a year, in the department (risala/i) of One endowed with Valour, a Shelter of the Courageous, the Object of various Imperial Condescensions, Submissive to the Equity of the world-governing favours, the Bakhshz of the Realms So-and-so, and during the term of duty as Event Writer of this lowliest of the slaves So-and-so, it was reduced to writing that So-and-so, son of So-and-so, having come to the place of prostration in the hope of service at the Imperial Court, on suchand-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 (mansab) of One Thousand Personal (za/) and Two Hundred Horsemen (suwdr) in the chain (silk) of rankholders (mansabdaran). -- On such-and-such a date, in accordance with the Certificate Tacsdiq), this Memorandum (Yad-dasht) was penned. One Thousand, z1t. Two Hundred, suzwr. I. [Order of the Wazir.] After comparing it with the Diary (Waqi'ah), let it be sent to the Office of Revision (C4rz-i-mukarrar). II. [Report of the Event Writer.] Agrees with the diary (WdVaqiah). III. [Order of the Superintendent of Revision, literally Renewed Petition (cArz-i-mukarrar).] On such-and-such a date, of such-and-such a month, of such-and-such a year, it was brought up for the second time.

Page 43

Scan of Page  43
View Page 43

PROCEDURE ON ENTERING THE SERVICE. 43 In the later notices of the system we find few mentions of the paper called in the Afn (Blochmann, i, 258) the taC/iqal, which was, it seems, an abridgment of the Yad-dasht. This paper the ta'liqah, formed at that time the executive order issued to the officer concerned (Ain, i, 255). I have found ta'liqah used once in this sense as late as 1127 H. (1716), by Sayyad 'Abd-ul-Jalil, Bilgrami, in his letters sent from Dihli to his son, "Oriental Miscellany," Calcutta, 1798, p. 247). The Ahadis. - Midway between the nobles or leaders (mansabdar8) with the horsemen under them (tabinan) on the one hand, and the AJ4sh/dm, or infantry, artillery, and artificers on the other, stood the Ahadi, or gentleman trooper. The word is literally 'single' or 'alone' (A. ahad, one). It is easy to see why this name was applied to them; they offered their services singly, they did not attach themselves to any chief, thus forming a class apart from the tabinan; but as they were horsemen, they stood equally apart from the specialized services included under the remaining head of Ahs/inm. The title of Ahadi was given, we are told (Seir, i, 262, note 201), to the men serving singly "because they 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 Atadis. Horn, 20, 56, looks on the A.adzs as a sort of body-guard or corps d'elile; 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 A4n 4 of Book ii (Blochmann, i, 219), and they are referred to in several other places (i, 20, 161, 231, 246, 536). In the strictest sense, the body-guard, or defenders of the imperial person, seem to have been the men known as the Wala S/hah (literally, of or belonging to the Exalted King), and, no doubt, these are the four thousand men referred to by

Page 44

Scan of Page  44
View Page 44

44 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Manucci ("Catrou," English ed. of 1826, p. 297) as 'the emperor's slaves.' Whether slaves or not, the liial Sh/ahz were the most trusted troops of the reigning sovereign. From various passages I find that they were chiefly, if not entirely, men who had been attached to his person from his youth and had served under him while he was still only a royal prince, and were thus marked out in a special manner as his personal adherents and household troops. The Yasawals or armed palace guards were something like the WaIla Shihzi so!far as they were charged with the safety of the sovereign; but they differed 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 later times. On the 2nd Safar of his second year (1120 H. = 22nd April, 1708), Bahadur Shah, as Danishmand Khan tells us, ordered the enlistment of 4,700 extra Aladis at Rs. 40 a month, the money to be paid from the Exchequer. Towards the end of the eighteenth century the household troops, we are told, Seir, i, 94, note 90, amounted to 40,000 men, all cavalry, but usually serving on foot in the citadel and in the palace. They consisted then of several corps besides the Alhadls, such as the Surkh-posh (wearers of red), the Sullani (Royal), the Wala Shahi (High Imperial), the Kamial-posh (Blanket Wearers). Haji Mustapha is not, however, quite consistent with himself, for elsewhere (Seir, i, 262, note 201), when naming still another corps, the 'lai Sldai (Exalted Imperial), he asserts that the Surakposh were all infantry, eight thousand in number. The curious title used above, Kamnal-posh, comes from the Hindi word kammal, a coarse blanket, having also the secondary meaning of a kind of cuirass (Seir, i, 143, note 105). The latter is no doubt the signification here. i The word meant may be Bandahhde, or, perhaps preferably, the Qul, the Chaghatae for 'slave.' - P. de Courteille, 433.

Page 45

Scan of Page  45
View Page 45

CHAPTER V. BRANDING AND VERIFICATION, False musters were an evil from which the Moghul army suffered even in its most palmy days. Nobles would lend each other the men to 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 Mulammad 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 subah of Ahmadabad, that clerks acquainted with the rules could not be found there (Mirati-A.hmadi, ii, 118). Mustapha, the translator of the Siyar-u/-mulak/iarin, gives us an instance of the length to which this cheating was carried (Seir, i, 609, note). In Bengal, in the year 1163 H. (1750), when 'Ali Wirdi Khan, Mahabat Jang, was nazim, an officer receiving pay for 1700 men could not muster more than seventy or eighty. Mustapha, who wrote in 1787 —8, adds from his own experience - "Such are, without exception, 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

Page 46

Scan of Page  46
View Page 46

46 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. muster, nor would it answer for Haidar 'All's armies." The admitted difference between recorded and actual numbers is emphazised by Khushhlal Chand's expression, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 1091a, JlaIjadi, nah k/dgazi, "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 evil practices that the emperor Akbar revived and enforced more strictly than before a system of descriptive rolls of men and horses, the latter being branded with a hot iron before they were passed for service. This branding, with the consequent periodical musters for the purpose of comparison and verification, formed a separate department under the Bakhisi with its own superintendent (daroqhah), and this was known as the ddql-o-lashizah, from ddqh, a brand, a mark, and tacshihah, verification. The usual phrase for enlisting was asp ba daqh rasdnidan, "bringing a horse to be branded." Branding was first introduced by 'Ala-ud-din Khilji in 712 H. - May, 1312-April, 1313, but on his death it was dropped (Das8ir-ul-Ins8a, 233). The emperor Sher Shah, Afghan, started it again in 948 H. - April, 1541 — April, 1542. Akbar (Aj/n, i, 233) re-established the practice in the eighteenth year of his reign (about 981 H., 1573-4), and it 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 (Dasf8r-ul-In8sh, 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 ordered, they were expected to parade their horsemen for inspection ()Dadur-ulcAml, B.M., N~. 6599, fol. 144b). The technical name for these parades was i~ mnaaallahl (Steingass, 1190), a word evidently connected with that used in Akbar's time for branding, viz. dgh/-o-maa//ll (ATn, i, 242; Buddone, ii, 190). The germ of the daih system may perhaps be found

Page 47

Scan of Page  47
View Page 47

BRANDING AND VERIFICATION. 47 in the practice in Transoxiana of annually branding the colts. This was done so far back as the twelfth century; see E. G. Browne on the Cha/ar Maqalah of 'Araud (composed about 1161 A.D.), Journal R. Asiatic Soc. (1899), pp. 771 and 776. As said before, the recruit was supposed, at any rate so far as the State was concerned, to furnish his own horse. Orme states the case thus: - "Every man brings his own horse and offers himself to be enlisted. The horse is carefully examined: and according to the size and value of the beast, the master receives his pay. A good horse will bring thirty or forty rupees a month. Sometimes an officer contracts for a whole troop. A horse in Indostan is of four times greater value than in Europe. If the horse is killed the man is ruined, a regulation that makes it the interest of the soldier to fight as little as possible." - "Historical Fragments," 4to edition, 418. Along with his horse the man 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 this was the case the leader drew the pay and paid the man whatever he thought fit. Such a man, who rode another's horse, was called a bargzr (loadtaker); while a man riding his own horse was in modern times called a si/adadr (weapon-holder). The latter word is the origin of the Anglo-Indian phrase of "Sillidar cavalry," applied to men who are paid a lump sum monthly for themselves, horse, uniform, and equipment. Descriptive Rolls. - When an officer entered the service (B.M. NO. 6599, fol. 160a) a Chihrah or descriptive rollI 1 Literally 'face,' 'countenance.' It must not be confounded with chirah, which means (1) a kind of turban, (2) a pay-roll, on which the recipients signed, (3) the pay itself. Chirah is used in the second sense in Ahwdl-ulkhawdaqn, fol. 230b; and also by Ghulam Hasan, Samin, when telling us of the taunt addressed in 1170 H. (1757) by Ahmad Khan, Bangash, to Najib Khan, Najib-ud-daulah, of having been once a private trooper in Farrukhabad, where his pay-rolls (chilrah-hde) were still in existence.

Page 48

Scan of Page  48
View Page 48

48 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. of the new mansabdar was first of all drawn up, showing his name, his father's name, his tribe or caste, his place of origin, followed by details of his personal appearance. His complexion might be "wheat-colour" (gandum-rang), "milky," i. e. white (shir-fadn), "red" (surkh-post), or "auburn" (mnaigun-rang). His forehead was always "open" (fardaq); his eyebrows either full (kushadahl) or in whole or in part mos8hah (?); his eyes were sheep-like (insil), deerlike (aia), ginger-coloured (adrak), or cat's eyes (yurbah). His nose might be "prominent" (buland) or "flat" (past). He might be "beardless" (arrad) or "slightly bearded" (rZsh o barwat dgqaz); his beard might be "black" (ri8s o barwal siyda), or "slightly red" (siyhl i maigun-nunma), "thin" (khall?), "shaven" (mutarash), "goat-shaped" (kosa/-ikhurd), or "twisted up" (shaqiqah). So with any moles he might have; the shape of his ears, whether projecting or not, whether the lobes were pierced or not, and whether he was pock-marked or not -all these things were noted. Ashob, Shahadal, fol. 84a, tells us that in the imperial service the chihrahs were written on red paper sprinkled with gold leaf. Roll for Troopers. - The troopers (labinai) were also described, but not quite so elaborately. A specimen is as follows (B.M. No. 6599, fol. 163a): - Troopers' Roll (Chi/rah-i-Tdbinin). Qamr 'Ali, son of Mir 'AlI, son of Kabir 'Ali, wheat complexion, broad forehead, separated eyebrows, sheep's eyes, prominent nose, beard and moustache black, right ear lost from a sword-cut. Total height, about 40 saidnah. Horse. - Colour kabud (iron-grey?). Mark on left of breast. Mark on thigh on mounting side. Laskcr(?) on thigh on whip side. Brand of four-pointed stamp +

Page 49

Scan of Page  49
View Page 49

BRANDING AND VERIFICATION. 49 Descriptive Roll of Horses (Chihrah-i-aspan). The next thing done was to make out an elaborate description of the horse or horses (B.M. N~. 6599, fol. 106b). There were twenty principal divisions according to colour, 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 iron was applied on the horse's thigh (Seir, i, 481, note 27). The signs used in Akbar's reign are given in the Ajn, i, 139, 255, 256; but in the end he adopted a system of numerals. In 'Alamgirs reign and about that time there were twenty different brands (tamgNfia), of which the shapes of fifteen have been preserved and are reproduced below (B.M. N~. 6599, fol. 161a). I am not certain of the spelling, and in most instanees I am utterly unable to suggest a meaning for the names. NAME. FORM OF BRAND. 1. Chahar parha (four feather?) 2. Chahar parha jomar-khaj - -- 3. Chahar parha dir khaj '1 4. Chahar parha sihsar khaj rJ 5. Chakush r 6. Istad (upright) I 7. Uftadah (recumbent) 8. Istadah o uftadah 4

Page 50

Scan of Page  50
View Page 50

THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. NAME. FORM OF BRAND. 9. Yak ba do (one with two) 10. Asaran a ' I 11. ToghJ (horse-tail standard) I l 12. Panjah-i-mnurgh (hen's foot) 13. Mizan (balance) X 14. Do darah taur.. 15. Chahar baraa makar khaj The Noble's Brand. It is obvious that in addition to the imperial brand, a second mark was required by each noble for the recognition of the horses ridden by his own men. Accordingly we find direct evidence of this second marking in Bernier, 216, and again 243, when he speaks of the horses "which bear the omrah's mark on the thigh." Towards the end of the period the great nobles often had the first or last letter of their name as their special brand (Seir, i, 481, note 27), as, for instance, the sin-dajh (s*) of Sa'dat 'Al1 Khan, nazim of Audh. The brand of Sayyad 'Abdullah Khan, was A. (cabd), according to Khushlal Chand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 1020a. Ghulam 'Ali Khan (B.M., Add. 24,028, fol. 63b) tells us that about 1153 H. (1740 —41) Muhammad Ishaq Khan used the last letter of his name, a qaf (j), as his brand. The way of selecting the brands is further illustrated by a passage in Kam Raj's ACzam-ul-harb. When A'zam Shah in 1119 H. (1707) was on his march from the Dakhin, some new brands were chosen. "As the brand of the Wala Shahi (personal troops) was 'Azma, that of Bedar Bakht, the eldest son, was mankab, and of Wala Jah, the second son, was khail, it was thought

Page 51

Scan of Page  51
View Page 51

BRANDING AND VERIFICATION. fit to fix on the word /hashm (() as that of 'Ala Tabar, the youngest son." It is to be niferred from this passage that in each instance the first letter of the word was used. Classification of Horses. According to the iJn, i, 233, there were seven classes of horses founded on their breed — (1) C,4rabi, (2) Persian, (3) Mujannas, resembling Persian, and mostly Turki or Persian geldings, (4) Turki, (5) YTab, (6) Tdaz, (7) Janylah. In 'Alamglr's reign we find (B.M. N~. 6599, fol. 163a) the following classification: (1) ClraFqi (2) Mujannas, (3) Turki, (4) YTbi, (5) Tdzi, (6) Jangli. This is practically the same as Akbar's, except that Arab horses are not mentioned. This must be an oversight, since we learn from many passages in the contemporary historians that Arab horses were still in use. The T7dz and Jan yli were Indian horses, what we now call countrybreds, the former being held of superior quality to the latter. The Yabii was, I suppose, what we call now the Kabuli, stout-built, slow, and of somewhat sluggish temperament. The Turki was an animal from Bukhara or the Oxus country; the cIrlqi came from Mesopotamia. In cAlamgir'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: - CLASS OF HORSE. RANK OF TOTAL. OFFICER. TOTAL. CIRAQI. MUJANNAS. TURKI. YABU. 400 3 1 1 0 5 300-350 2 1 1 0 4 100-150 0 0 3 0 3 80-90 0 0 2 0 2 50-70 0 0 1 1 2 40 0 0 1 0 1 1

Page 52

Scan of Page  52
View Page 52

52 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. These figures differ from those in the Azn, i, 248-9, where the number of horses is given for all mansabs, up to the very highest. Some figures are also given in Mirat-i-Aahmadi, ii, 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 was styled lafawal-iaspan (discrepancy of horses)- B.M. N~. 6599, fol. 163a. The extra allowances were as follows: - HORSE REQUIRED HORSE ADDITIONAL BY REGULATION. PRODUCED. ALLOWANCE. Rs. Tfrki ^IrTqi 12 Turki Mujannacs 6 Tdbz Turki 8 Vizb- Tarki 9 When an inferior horse was produced the following deduction was made: HORSE REQUIRED HoRSE BY REGULATION. PRODUCED.DEDUCTION. Turki Tdzi Jang i Jang l Jangli Rs. 12 10 8 Subordinate Establishment. An establishment of farriers, blacksmiths' forges, and surgeons had to be maintained by each mansabdar, according to the following scale (B.M. N". 1641, fol. 38b): -

Page 53

Scan of Page  53
View Page 53

BRANDING AND VERIFICATION. NUMBERS OF ESTABLISHMENT. RANK OF OFFICER. FARRIERS BLACKSMITHS' LEECHES OR (Nadlband). SHOPS (Ahangar). SURGEONS (Jar.a). 4000 8 2 2 3500 7 2 2 3000 6 2 2 2500 5 1 0 2000 4 1 2 1500 3 0 1 1000 2 0 1 Or, according to a more recent scale: - 1500-4000 6 3 0 The Mirad-i-Ahmadi, ii, 118, states that thirty men on foot were required to be entertained for every 1000 of mansab rank. These included water-carriers, farriers, pioneers, matchlockmen and bow-men. Verification (Tash.hah). Something on this subject will be found in the Ajn, i, 250, where the reference is confined to the ahadzs; Dr. Horn, so far as he goes into the matter at all, deals with it on p. 49 of his work. In later times, at all events, the rule of mustering and verification seems to have been of almost universal application. For example, in a work called the Guldastah1-i-Bahar, a collection of letters from Chhabilah Ram, Nagar, compiled in 1139 H. (1726 —7), of which I possess a fragment, I find on fol. 18a an instance of the verification rules being enforced against a mansabdar in the end of Bahadur Shah's reign (1118-24 H.). Chhabilah Ram, who was then faujdar of Karrah Manikpur (subah Allahabad), complains to his patron that the clerks had caused his jagzr, in parganah Jajmau, bringing in ten lakhs of dams, to be taken away from him, because he had not

Page 54

Scan of Page  54
View Page 54

54 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHUILS produced vouchers of dagh-o-tas/ilaiJ. He sends the papers by a special messenger, and prays his correspondent, some influential man at Court, to obtain the restoration of the jyagr in question. The intervals after which verification was imperative varied according to the nature of the man's pay. If he were paid in jaqzr, he had to muster his men for verification once a year, and, in addition, a period of six months' grace was allowed. If the officer were paid in naqd (cash), the time allowed depended upon whether he was - (1) present at Court (hIdsir-i-riqab), or (2) on duty elsewhere (ta'inat). In the first case he had to procure his certificate at sixmonth intervals, or within eight months at the outside. In the second case he was allowed fifteen days after he had reported himself at Court. An ahadz seems to have been allowed, in a similar case, no more than seven days. Where an officer drew his pay partly in jaigr (assignment) and partly in naqd (cash), if the former made more than half the total pay, the rule for jagzrdars was followed; if the jagzr were less than half, the naqdi rule was followed. (B.M. 1641, fols. 31a, 396). When the interval and the period of grace had elapsed, the man was reported for tawaqquf-i-lashzzhah/ (delay in verification). A mansabdar lost the whole of his pay for the period since the last verification; or, if he were important enough to have been presented to the emperor (ri-siinas, known by sight), he might succeed in obtaining his personal pay. An ahadi 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 (ltb7inn) that a mzansabdir must produce differed 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 second one-third, of his total number or as the case is stated in the Ma,dsir-ul-umard, ii, 444, "In the reign of Shahjahan it was decided that if an officer held a jaszr

Page 55

Scan of Page  55
View Page 55

BRANDING AND VERIFICATION. 55 within the subah to which he was attached, he should produce one third of his labzinn for Branding. Thus if he were 3000 zat, 3000 suwar, 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 to the great distance, one fifth was held to be sufficient." There were three seasons appointed for verification, from the 26th Shawwal to the 15th Zul Qa'dah (twenty days), the 19th Safar to the 15th Rabi' I (twenty-five days), and the 16th Jamadi II to the 15th Rajab (twenty-nine days). (B.M. 1641, fols. 31a, 39b, 586; B.M. 6599, fol. 148a). Oiccials and their duties. - At head quarters officers entitled Amin, daroghah, and mushrif were appointed by the emperor to the Verification department, which was under the supervision of the chief bakhshis. The Bakhshis made the appointments for the provinces. In addition to his personal rank (mansab), the Amin received a mansab of 10 horse while in office (Mirat-i-Ahmadi, ii, 118). The duties are thus described by Hidayatullah, BaharI, in his Hidayatul-'muzaid, fol. 13a. The daroghah should compare the marks and points (khat-o-khal) of the horses with the descriptive roll (chihrah), and inspect the horses to see whether they were fit for the service or not. If fit for branding, he should cause the brand to be imposed, signing the descriptive roll, adding the day, month and year, with the words "Two horses such-and-such branded." If it were a two-horse man, he should certify for two horses and send the original descriptive roll to the office 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 year, thus: "So-and-so with his horses and arms was inspected." If it was a one-horse man, the daroghah wrote:

Page 56

Scan of Page  56
View Page 56

56 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. "Man and 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 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 it on to the Bakhshl's office. In accordance therewith an order (barda) on the Treasury was prepared for each man. The daroghah ought to see that the horsemen and infantry are present on the march and on guard. He should enjoin on the guard-clerk to make an inspection at midnight of the men posted on guard, and write down the names of those present. According to the Mirdl-iAhmadiz, ii, 118, the officials after the mustering and verification made out certificates (dastak) bearing the seals of the daroghah, amin, and mushrif, which were delivered to the mansabdar concerned.

Page 57

Scan of Page  57
View Page 57

CHAPTER VI. THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE. Although in writing this essay I think it better to retain the divisions of the original authorities, who distribute the army into mansabddrs (with their tabinan), ahadis, and ah8ham, it is quite true that, as Dr. Horn says, p. 11, the Moghul army consisted of cavalry, infantry, and artillery. But the second and third branches held a very subordinate position towards the first. The army was essentially an army of horsemen. The Moghuls from beyond the Oxus were accustomed to fight on horseback only; the foot-soldier they - despised; 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. Under the Moghuls, as Orme justly says "Hist. Frag.," 4to, p. 418, the strain of all 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. 162a, that "to fight with artillery was a stripling's pastime, the only true 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,

Page 58

Scan of Page  58
View Page 58

58 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. by successive aggregations of groups, a great noble's division was gathered together. But from the highest to the lowest rank, the officer or soldier looked first to his immediate leader and followed his fortunes, studying his interests rather than those of the army as a whole. 1 It was not till quite the 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 equip at their own expense whole regiments without the intervention of petty chiefs. In Audh, Safdar Jang and Shuja'-ud-Daulah had such regiments, as, for instance, the Qizzilbash, the Sher-baclhai, and others, which were all clad alike, and apparently were mounted and equipped by the Nawab himself. When Akbar first introduced the mansa6 system, which ranked his officers according to the number of men supposed to be under the command of each, these figures had possibly some connection with the number of men present under those 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 end by the reign of Shahjahan (1627 —58). Indeed, if the totals of all the personal (zat) mansabs in existence at one time were added together, we should arrive at so 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 of the other branches of the government. The inference I wish to draw is, that fiom 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; I For remarks to the same general effect, see W. Erskine, "History," ii, 540.

Page 59

Scan of Page  59
View Page 59

THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE. 59 but there 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. Thus it seems to me a hopeless task to attempt, as Dr. Horn does, p. 39, following Blochmann (AJTn, i, 244-7), to build up the total strength of the army from the figures giving the personal (zaU) rank of the officers (mansabdars). The difficulty would still exist, even if we had sufficiently reliable accounts of the 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 of the provinces, either as its governor or in a subordinate position, an officer kept up a large force, generally as many as, if not more than, he could find pay for. On the other hand, while attached to the 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 take his turn in mounting guard at the palace. For duties of this sort a much smaller number of men would suffice. If we reckoned the number of men in the s8uwar rank, for whom allowances at so much per man were given by the State to the mansabdiar, we might obtain a safer estimate of the probable strength of the army. But for this also materials fail, and in spite of musterings and brandings, we may safely assume that very few mansabdars kept up at full strength even the quota of horsemen (abinan) 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, in his )idir-uz-zamani (B.M. Or. 1844, fol. I40a) says: Lutfullah Khan Sadiq, although he held the rank of 7,000, "never entertained even seven asses, much less horses or riders on horses." In Muhammad Shah's reign he lived

Page 60

Scan of Page  60
View Page 60

60 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. quietly at home at Panipat, 30 or 40 miles from Dihli, his attention engrossed by his efforts to get hold of all the land for many miles round that town, and passing his days, in spite of his great nominal rank, like a mere villager. It seems to me equally hopeless to attempt a reconstruction 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 I can see, there was little, if any, connection between the two matters. The truth is that, like all things in Oriental countries, there existed no rules which were not broken in practice. A man of high rank would, no doubt, be selected for the command of a division. But it was quite an accident whether that division had more or fewer men in it than the number in his nominal rank. The strength of a division depended upon the total number of men available, 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 matter of accident whether the number of men present corresponded or not to the rank of the commanders. Bernier, 43, has an excellent remark on the vague way that numbers were dealt with by historians: "Campfollowers and bazar-dealers.... I suspect, are often included in the number of combatants." Again, on p. 380, he seems to come to the conclusion that it would be a fair estimate to take the fighting men at about one-third of the total numbers in a Moghul camp. I have seen somewhere (I have lost the reference, but I think it was in Khafi Khan) an admission that the gross number of a so-called "fauj" (army) was always reckoned as including no more than one-third or one-fourth that number of fighting men. I give below, for what it is worth, a tabular summary of Dr. Horn's figures (pp. 39-45) -

Page 61

Scan of Page  61
View Page 61

THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE. ESTIMATED NUMBERS OF MOGHUL ARMY. 61 PRIOD AVARY MATCHIOCKMEN ARTILLERY- AUTHORITY PERIOD. CAVALRY. AND INFANTRY. MEN. AUTHORITY. A.EN. Akbar Do. Shahjahan Aurangzeb Do. Mhd. Shah 12,000 384,758 200,000 240,000 300,000 200,000 12,000 3,877,557 40,000 15,000 600,000 800,000 1000 Blochmann, i, 246. fA in-i-Akbari. 1 Badshahnamah, ii, 715; in, i, 244. Bernier. Catrou. Tarikh-i-Hindi of Rustam CAli. NUMBERS PRESENT ON PARTICULAR OCCASIONS. NUMBER OF IMPERIALISTS. NUMBER OF ENEMY. NAME OF BATTLE. | AUTHORITY. OR Je 4-D COMMANDER. e S - - Sarkhej... Under Khan 'Azim..... Under Khan Khanan... Sadiq Khan.. Qandahar (1061 H.)... Jahangir (1016 H.)... Ahmad Abdali (1174 H.)... 10,000 10,000 1200 3000 50,000 12,500 60,000 - 100 40,000 1100,000 30,000 5000 8000 - 80 Akbarnamah, iii, 424. Id. iii, 593. Id. iii, 608. Id. iii, 714. Elliot,vii, 99. Id. vi, 318. 10,000 2000 20,000 10 60 I These include all the militia levies and zamind-ar's retainers throughout the provinces, besides the army proper.

Page 62

Scan of Page  62
View Page 62

CHAPTER VII. EQUIPMENT. - (A) DEFENSIVE ARMOUR. The generic name for arms and armour was silah, plural aslai4 (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 the Nawab Wazir at Lakhnau, in 1785: - "But beyond 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 in Indostan, of the purest steel, damasked or highly polished, and ornamented in relief or intaglio with a variety of figures or foliage of the most delicate pattern. Many of the figures are wrought in gold and silver, or in marquetry, with small gems. The hilts of the swords, etc., are agate, chrysolite, lapus-lazuli, chalcedony, blood-stone, and enamel, or steel inlaid with gold, called tynashee ' or koft work. The armour is of two kinds, either of helmets and plates of steel to secure the head, back, breast, and arms, or of steel network, put on like a shirt, to which is attached a netted hood of the same metal to protect the head, neck, and face. Under the network are worn linen garments quilted thick enough to resist a sword. 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 Miscellany," i, 393. Calcutta, 1795. 4to.) 1 Probably for tah-nishmi, inlaid with gold or studded with jems. Koft (beating) is gold or silver wire beaten into iron or steel.

Page 63

Scan of Page  63
View Page 63

EQUIPMENT. - (A) DEFENSIVE ARMOUR. 63 The fines for not producing at inspection a man's own armour and that of his elephant (pakhar) were as follows (B.M. 6,599, fol. 162a): - AMOUNT OF FINE FOR NON-PRODUCTION OF RANK OF OFFICER. Headpiece Body Armour Elephant Greaves H ( (KhSd). (Baktar). (ak Har(Ryan ) ](Pskhlar). I, i!i. Rs. a. p. Us. a. p. Rs. a. p Rs. a. p. Rs. a. p. 400 2 0 0 5 0 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 350 2 0 0 4 0 0 31 1 0 2 0 0 15 0 300 1 12 0 4 0 0 3 8 0 1 8 0 0 14 0 250 1 8 0 3 8 0 3 4 0 1 4 0 013 0 200 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 012 0 Armour was worn by all horsemen who could afford it; nay, officers of a certain rank were required to produce it at the time of inspection, subject to a fine if it were not forthcoming. Its use was never discontinued; it was even worn by men of European descent when they entered the native service. For instance, James Skinner, writing of the year 1797, says, "as I was exercising my horse in full armour" (Fraser, "Memoirs," i, 125); and again, "I was only saved by my armour" (id. 127). George Thomas, the Irish adventurer, also wore armour (id. 229). Nor is the use of armour entirely discontinued even to this day, as those can testify who saw the troops of the Bundelkhand States paraded before the then Prince of Wales at Agrah in January, 1876. The armour was worn as follows (W. Egerton, 112, note to N~. 440): - Depending from the cuirass was generally a skirt, which was at times of velvet embroidered with gold. Underneath the body armour was worn a qabchah, 2 or jacket quilted and slightly ornamented. Silken trousers 1 Read sari-asp in B.M. 1641, fol. 37a, but to neither reading can I assign a meaning. 2 Apparently the diminutive of qaba, a close long gown or shirt (Steingass, 950).

Page 64

Scan of Page  64
View Page 64

64 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. and a pair of kashmir shawls round the waist completed the costume of a nobleman of high rank. As to these quilted coats, we are told elsewhere (Seir, i, 624, note) that "common soldiers wore an ample upper garment, quilted thick with cotton, coming down as far as the knee. These coats would 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," 143)1: - "The irregular cavalry throughout India are mostly dressed in quilted cotton jackets; though the best of these habiliments are not, as I supposed, stuffed with cotton, but are a number of cotton cloths quilted together. This serves as a defensive armour, and when their heads are swathed round, and under the chin, with linen to the thickness of several folds, it is almost hopeless with the sword to make an impression upon them. They also at times stuff their jackets with the refuse silk of the cocoons, which they say will even turn a ball." This habit of swathing the body in protective armour till little beyond a man's eyes could be seen, gives the point to the scoffing remark of Daud Khan, Panni, at the battle against Husain CAli Khan, fought on the 8th Sha'ban, 1127 H. (6th Sept., 1715), that his assailant, one Mir Mushrif, "came out to meet him like a bride or a woman, with his face hidden" (Ghulam CAll Khan, Muqaddamah-i-Shiah CAlam-namah,.fol. 226). I now proceed to describe each part of the armour, serialim, beginning with the helmet. Khkfd, Dabalqhah, or Top. - This was a steel headpiece with a vizor or nose-guard. There are several specimens in the Indian Museum; and in W. Egerton, "Handbook," 1 Lieut.-Col. Fitzclarence was created Earl of Munster in 1831, and he is the Lord 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.

Page 65

Scan of Page  65
View Page 65

EQUIPMENT. - (A) DEFENSIVE ARMOUR. 65 several of these are figured, Nos 703 and 704 on plate xiii, N~. 703 on p. 134, and another, N~. 591, on p. 125. KIlhd is the more usual name, but dabalghah is the word used in the An (Blochmann, I, iii, N~. 52, and plate xiii, N~. 43). The latter is Chaghatae for a helmet; and Pavet de Courteille gives four forms, olirIo, lJbio, &iLjo> (p. 317), and &zJeo (p. 322). I have only met with it once in an eighteenth-century writer (Ahwal-ul-Khawiiaqn, c. 1147 H., fol. 161b), and then under the form of ilL.o, dobalghah. Top, for a helmet, appears several times in Egerton; for instance, on p. 119 and p. 125. This is apparently an Indian word (Shakes., 73), s, which must be distinguished from the word top,..J, a cannon, to which a Turkish origin is assigned. A helmet seems to have been called a top by the Mahrattas and in Maisur; but the word is not used by writers in Northern India. If we disregard the difference between. and J, then we can derive top, 'a helmet,' and topi, 'a hat,' as does the compiler of the "Madras Manual of Administration," iii, 915, from the ordinary Hindi word topna, 'to cover up.' But I hardly think this is legitimate. Khoghz. -- The next name to the dabalqgah on the Ajn list, the kkoghz, N~. 53, must be something worn on the head; but there is no figure of it, and I fail to identify the word in that form. From the spelling it is evidently of Hindi origin; and a note in the Persian text has ghokhz as an alternative reading. Has it anything to do with ghoghl, a pocket, a pouch, a wallet (Shakespear, 1756), or ghhnqhi, cloths folded and put on the head as a defence against the rain (Shakes., 1758)? The latter may point to a solution: the kRoghi, or, better, the ghughi, may have been folds of cloth adjusted on the head to protect it from a sword blow. Mighfar is defined (Steingass, 1281) as mail, or a network of steel worn under the cap or hat, or worn in battle as a protection for the face, also a helmet. It is evidently 5

Page 66

Scan of Page  66
View Page 66

66 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. the long piece of mail hanging down from the helmet over the neck and back, as shown in No. 45, plate xii, of the Afn, vol. i, and called there and on p. 111, No. 54, the zirihkualah (cap of mail). It was through the miqh/far that, according to Ghulam CAll Khan's history, the arrow passed which wounded 'Abdullah Khan, Qutb.ul-Mulk, just before he was taken a prisoner at the battle of Hasanpur (13th Nov., 1720), and the following verse brings in the word, as also the joshan: - C/lah yare kunad miighfar o joshan-am, CAiun Bdrt na kard akhtar roshan-am. "WThat aid to me is vizor and coat of mail, "When God has not made my star to shine." Baktar or Baytar. -- This is the name for body armour in general, whether it were of the cuirass (chalhar-ranah) or chain-mail (zirih) description. Steingass, 195, defines it as a cuirass, a coat of mail. See also the Dast81r-ul-Insl8hd, 228. The bagtar is N~. 58 in the Jdn list (i, 112), and is shown as N~. 47 on plate xii. From the figure it may be inferred that, in a more specific sense, batkar was the name for fish-scale armour. Bargustuwdn, as Mr. H. Beveridge has pointed out to me, is a general name for armour used in the Tabaqat-i-Narsirz, text 119 (Raverty, 466 and note); but that work belongs to a period long before the accession of the Moghuls. Steingass, 178, restricts bargustuwcn to horse armour worn in battle: the AJ./2vl-ul-KhIawdaqn, fol. 2186, applies it to the armour worn by elep/hants, and I have found it in no other late writer. Cha/ihr-ainah. - This is literally 'four mirrors': it I Muqaddamah-i-Shdh CAlam-namah by Ghuldm cAli Khan, B.M. Add. 24,028, fol. 40a. The last line probably contains an allusion to Roshan Akhtar, the original name of Muhlamnad Shah, to whom CAbdullah Khan succumbed.

Page 67

Scan of Page  67
View Page 67

EQUIPMENT. - (A) DEFENSIVE ARMOUR. 67 consisted of four pieces, a breast plate and a back plate, with two smaller pieces for the 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 figure N~. 49 on plate xiii. It is also shown in Egerton, plate ix, 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 (Dast8r-ul-Ins8ha, 228). The coat reached to the knees (W. Egerton, 125, note to N'. 591). It is NO. 57 in the Ajn, i, 112, and NO. 46 on plate xiii of that volume. There are six examples in the Indian Museum-W.E. 361, 362 (p. 103), 453 (p. 112), 591, 591 T (p. 125), 706 (p. 135). Apparently, judging from the plate in the AJn, the baktar (fish scales) or the c/haar adnah (cuirass) was worn over the zirih. W. H. Tone, "Maratta People," 61, note, gives a word beuta as the Mahratta name for the chain-mail shirt that they wore. I cannot identify or trace this word. Jaibah. - Blochmann, AJyn, i, 111, N~. 56, and his note 4, says it was a general name for armour. He gives no figure of it. Erskine, "History," ii, 187, has jaba. Steingass, 356, says it is from the Arabic jdbbat, and spells it juba/, a coat of mail, a cuirass, any kind of iron armour. The word is used in the CAlamigrnamah, 245, 1. 7: - "Tan ba zeb-i-jabah ojoshan pairastah" - "body adorned with the decoration of jabah and joshan." It is also used in Ahwal-ul-Khawaqin (c. 1147 H.), fol. 164a, in the form jaibah. Some variety of the jaibah is 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 jaibah-i-hazar-mikhi. Apparently it was covered with small studs or knobs (mikh). Other items of body armour (Dastur-ul-lnshd, 228) were the joshlan, the jihilan, the angarkhah, the daghAlah. In

Page 68

Scan of Page  68
View Page 68

68 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. other authorities we also meet with the jazma/h-i-falaM, the chi/hilqad, sadikq, the koth/, the bhanjil, and the salhqaba. Of the last, the sl//qaba, AJn, No. 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 identifi. cation are harhai, as I read it (B.M. 6599, fol. 162a; B.M. 1641, fol. 37a), and three articles in the Dastu1r-ulInsha, p. 228, which I read sibzi, malk, and masari. We have also the kamal, the ghughwaht, the kantha-sobha. Finally, there were the dasl-wanah or arm-pieces, the ranak or greaves, and the mozah-i-dhani, a smaller pattern of leg-piece.,Joshan. -- This is NO. 59 of the Ayn, list, p. 112, and is figured as N~. 48 on plate xiii. It appears to be B steel breastplate extending to the region of the stomach and bowels. Blochmann, p. xi, calls it an armour for chest and body; Steingass translates more vaguely 'a coat of mail.' Jilaiam. -- According to the dictionary (Shakes., 825), this is the 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 chihaltah, a coat of mail. Kam Raj, 58b, has a passage -- "Mir Mushrif came quickly and lifted his jilaiam from his face." This makes the word equivalent to vizor. It is not in the iAyn. Angarkhah. - Hindi for a coat, possibly identical with that sometimes called an alkhaliq (a tight-fitting coat). Probably this coat was wadded so as to turn a sword-cut. It is N~. 63 of the Afn, i, 112, and figure N~. 52 of plate xiv, where we see it a long, loose, wide coat worn over the armour. Daghlah or Dald. - The second of these is the Hindi form of the word. It was a coat of quilted cloth. Jdmah-i-falahi. - This word is employed in the Akbarnamah (Lucknow edition), ii, 89, line 3. According to the editor's note it is "a robe which on the day of battle is

Page 69

Scan of Page  69
View Page 69

EQUIPMENT. - (A) DEFENSIVE ARMOUR. 69 put on beneath the coat of mail, and on it extracts from the Quran, such as Anna falah/na, are inscribed." Steingass, 351, defines it as "a fine silken robe." The coats worn by the Khalifah's men in the Sudan, and now at the United Service Institution, must be specimens, as they have words embroidered or sewn on to them. Chihilqad. - This is N~. 67 of the Ayn, 112, and is shown as figure N~. 54 on plate xiv. Muhammed Qasim, AJiwalul-Khawaqin, 161b, spells it caa, chalfat. It was a doublet worn over the armour, and possibly identical with the chilta or chihal-tah, literally forty-folds (Shakespear, 884; Steingass,398). Sadiqi. - Ayn, 112, N~. 62, and No. 51 on plate xiv, a coat of mail something like the joshan in shape, but with epaulettes. Kothz. - We have this in the Ayn, 112, No. 61, and it appears on plate xiv, N~. 50, as a long coat of mail worn under the breastplate and opening down the front. Bhanju. - This is N~. 64 of the ATn list, i, 112, but I have never seen the word anywhere else; it must be a Hindi word, but it is not in Shakespear's Dictionary. The only figure is the one reproduced from Langles by Egerton, N~. 9 on plate i, opposite p. 23. This might be almost anything; the nearest resemblance I can suggest is that of a sleeveless jacket. Kamal. - This word is literally 'a blanket,' and from it the corps known as the kamal-posh (blanket-wearers) derived its name. The word seems to have had the secondary meaning of a cuirass or wadded coat, possibly made of blanketing on the outside. There were wadded coats of quilted cotton, as well as of wool, which would stand the stroke 'of a sabre. Some stuffed with silk refuse were considered capable of withstanding a bullet (Seir, i, 143, note 105). This sort of protection was very common. "Almost every soldier in the service of a native power has his head secured by many folds of cotton cloth, which not only pass round but likewise over it and under the chin;

Page 70

Scan of Page  70
View Page 70

70 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. and a protection for the back of the neck is provided of similar materials. The jacket is composed of cotton thickly quilted between cloths, and so substantial as almost to retain the shape of the 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, "War," 302). Ghughwa,. - This must, from its position in the ATn list, N~. 55, be some kind of armour, but I cannot identify the word, which is of Hindi form. In plate xiii, N~. 44, the lhing is shown as a long coat and cowl of mail, all in one piece. In Egerton's plate (N~. i, figure 4) it is something quite different, of a shape which it is difficult to describe, and for which it is still more difficult to suggest a use. The word seems to have some affinity to khoghi or gyughz (see anle). It represents the Eastern Hindi form of ghog/ha, following the usual rule of vowel modification, thus: H. H., ghora; E. H., g~urwd, 'a horse.' There being also a slight indication of the diminutive in this form, ghughwa would be a small gh/oghd. There is a chain epaulette shown in one of the plates in R6ckstuhl and Gille, which suggests the shape of the ghug/hta figured by Egerton, and possibly that was its purpose. Kantha-8obha. - This is No. 70 in the list in the n, 11] 2, and, as we can see from figure 7 on plate i of W. Egerton's catalogue, it was a neck-piece or gorget. N~. 69 (rdnal/) and N~. 71 (mozah-i-Shani) are both worn by the man and not the horse; then why does Blochmann, in his note, suggest that N~. 70 (kantlh-sobha) was attached to the horses neck? The derivation is from kan/ha (Shakes., 1616) a necklace, and 8ob&h, id. 1338, ornament, dress, decoration. Dastwdnah. - This was a gauntlet, or mailed glove, with steel arm-piece. It is NO. 68 of the -JTn, 112, and is shown as No. 55 on plate xiv. The specimens in the Indian Museum are Nos. 452, 453, 454, 455 (Egerton,

Page 71

Scan of Page  71
View Page 71

EQUIPMENT. - (A) DEFENSIVE ARMOUR. 71 p. 112), 568, 570 (id. 119), 587, 590 (id. 124), 745 (id. 139). Three of these are shown, two on plate xii, opposite p. 122, and one on plate xiv, opposite p. 136. Ranak. - In the Afn list, 112, NO. 69, appears the word rak or rag, which is quite unmeaning. When we turn to N~. 56 on Blochmann's plate xiv, we see that the thing itself is an iron leg-piece or greave. Now, wherever there are lists of armour in the MS. Daslir-ul-'Aml, I find a word i3y, which is invariably shown with a fourth letter of some sort; it might be read ralak, ralak, ranak, but never rak. As ran means in Persian the 'thigh,' I propose to substitute for Blochmann's rak the reading ranak, the diminutive ending being used to denote relation or connection, a formation like dastak (little hand), a short written order, fit to be (as it were) carried in the hand. The word ranak is not in Steingass. Mozah-i-ahani. - This "iron-stocking" is N~. 71 on page 112 of the Ajn, and No. 56 on plate xiv. It is a smaller form of the ranak. Palkah. - I find in Ghulam CAli Khan, Muqaddamah, fol. 38b, an epithet L,;e. ^:^, patkah-poshan, applied to both Sayyads and horse-breakers (chabuk-suwaran). It appears to refer to some part of military equipment, but what it is I 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 I will leave till we come to the special heading devoted to those animals. Kajim. - This is in AJn, 112, N~. 72 (kajem), and is shown as figure N~. 57 on plate xiv. Erskine. "History," ii, 187, has the form kichaim. It was a piece of armour for the hind-quarters of a horse, and was put on over a quilted cloth called artak-i-kajim (Ajn, 112, N~. 73). The other pieces of armour for the horse were the frontlet (qashqah: Ajn, 1.12, N~. 74, and plate xiv, N~. 60) and the neck-piece (gardani: Jyn, 112, N~. 75). Blochmann's

Page 72

Scan of Page  72
View Page 72

732 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. description of the latter (p. 112, note 3) does not seem very appropriate, as he makes it a thing which hangs down in front of the horse's chest. Gardani, however, is the name still applied to the head and neck-piece, the hood, of a set of horse-clothing. It is the neck-shaped piece in figure N~. 58 of Blochmann's plate xiv, and is separately shown in Egerton's plate i, figure N~. 3. Qashqah is the word used in Persian for the Hindu sect-mark or lilak, applied on the centre of the forehead. R. B. Shaw, J. A. S. Bengal for 1378, p. 144, gives qas/hqa as the Eastern Turki for an animal's forehead. Horse trappings were often most richly adorned with silver or gold, embroidery or jewels. When so enriched they were styled saz-i-lilae, or saz-i-marassa'. The names of the various articles are as follows (W. Egerton, 155): paltah (headstall) and 'inad (reins), zerband (martingale), dumcnh (crupper), khogir (saddle), ustak (shabracque), b6ldtang (surcingle), rikab (stirrups), shikcIrband (ornamental tassels at corners of saddle). The bow or pommel of a saddle was either qarbus (Steingass, 963) or qash (id. 947). The former word is used by Shekh Ghulam iHasan, (Samin) Bilgrami, in his Tazkirah written in 1198 H. (1783); the second, by Rustam 'Ali, Bijnori, in his Urdu "History of the Rohelas," written about 1803, fol. 28a. Nizaam-uddin (cshrat, Siyalkuti) in his Nadir-namah, fol. 50a, speaks of yaltang-posh as some sort of horse equipment. 1 have not been able to find out what this was. The list of stable requisites can be seen in A/n, i, 136.

Page 73

Scan of Page  73
View Page 73

CHAPTER VIII. EQUIPMENT. - (B) OFFENSIVE ARMS; I, "SHORT" ARMS. The cavalry seem to have carried a great variety of arms. The most relied on were those they styled the kotah-yardq or short arms, that is, those used at close quarters, corresponding to the European "arme blanche." Probably the koital ila.h of Budaoni, i, 460, (Ranking, 593) has the same meaning, and not as Ranking suggests that of a deficiency or shortness of weapons. These short arms may be ranged into five classes (1) Swords and shields, (II) Maces, (III) Battle Axes, (IV) Spears, (V) Daggers. Weapons for more distant attack were (A) the bow (Kaman) and arrow (Tir) (B) the Matchlock (bandsq or tufang) and (C) the Pistol. Rockets were also used, but they were in charge of the artillery (topkhinah) and will come under that head. Out of the wealth of weapons, a description of which follows, it is not to be supposed that the whole were carried by any iman 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, 134). "Two very handsome horses with superb caparisons belong to this jamadar, who is himself dressed in a vest of green English broad cloth 1 laced with gold, and very rich embroidered belts. A shield of buffalo hide with gilt bosses 1 By Indian writers of the 18th century broad cloth of all colours is called sqarlat, SJw, i. e. scarlet.

Page 74

Scan of Page  74
View Page 74

74 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. is hung over his back. His arms are two swords and a dagger, a brace of English pistols, and he has his matchlock carried before him by a servant." The following satirical description 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 in 1791) "were in armour, and none of them deficient in weapons of war, both offensive and defensive. Two swords, a brace to half a dozen pistols, a spear, a crees, and matchlockcarbine constituted the moving arsenal of most of them. One man was mounted upon a tall, thin, skeleton of a horse, from 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 uncommonly long, dreadfully menaced the assailants in front. His flanks and rear were provided with a similar establishment of artillery of different sizes and calibres; one piece was suspended on each side of the crupper of the saddle, and a third centrically situated and levelled point blank at the poor animal's tail..... The rest of his armament consisted of a couple of sabres, a spear, a matchlock and shield.... He wore besides a rusty coat of mail from the lower part of which a large red quilted jacket made its appearance." The variety of weapons is again dwelt on with great effect in Wilks, iii, 135, "no national or private collection of ancient armour contains a weapon or article of equipment which might not be traced in this motley crowd" i.e. Nizam CAlI Khan's cavalry in 1791. 1. Swords. As to the mode of carrying the sword, Fitzclarence, Journal, 69, describing some irregular horse in the Company's service (1817), says "they have a sort of foppery with

Page 75

Scan of Page  75
View Page 75

EQUIPMENT. -- (B) OFFENSIVE ARMS; I, "SHORT" ARMS. 75 respect to their sword-belts, which are in general very broad and handsomely embroidered; and, though on horseback, they wear 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), Azam Shah carries his sword by three straps hanging from a waist-belt. The generic name of a sword was tegh (Arabic), shamsher (Persian) or talwar (Hindi). The Arabic word s8aif was also used occasionally. One kind of shortsword was called the nzmchah-8samsher (Steingass 1445). It was the weapon carried by Ibrahim Quli Khan in 1137 H. (1725), when he made his attack on Hamid Khan at the governor's palace in Ahmadabad (Gujarat), Mirat-i-Ahmadi, fol. 179a. It is also to be found in the Akbarndmah, Lucknow edition, ii, 225, second line. I have not seen in Indian works the word paldrak used for a sword in Maujmil-ut-tarikh bacd Nidiriyah, p. 110, line 3. Names of the various parts are (B.M. N~. 6599 fol. 84a), teqhah, blade, nabai, furrows on blade, qabzah, hilt, jaenarela(?), sarnal or muhnal and tahnal, metal mountings of scabbard, kamrsal (the belt?) 1, bandtr (?). The quality or temper of a blade was its ab (water) or jauhar (lustre). One name of the belt was haamd,il (Steingass, 430, plural of hirnalat); and Khair-ud-din, cIbratnama/h, i, 91, uses the word thus, in repeating the speech of one Daler Khan and another man to Shah cAlam (1173 H.), "fidwz az wafte kih sipar o shamsher ra hamd,il kardah-em, gde ba dushman-i-khud pushl na namadah": "Since we hung from our shoulders sword and shield never have we shown an enemy our back." Another word that I have seen used for a sword-belt is kamr-i-khanjar, see Steingass 1049; also Budaoni, text, 441, Ranking 566. Shamsher. This word when used with a more specific I This is described in Qanoone Islam, app. XXVIII, as a belt worn by women, consisting of square metal tablets hinged together. I find it named in native authors as part of men's equipment.

Page 76

Scan of Page  76
View Page 76

76 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. meaning, was applied to the curved weapon familiar to us as the oriental sword, or as it is frequently called, the scimitar. It is purely a cutting weapon, as its shape and the small size of the grip sufficiently demonstrate. D/hp, There was a straight sword, adopted from the Dakhin, of which the name was dlhip; it had a broad blade, four feet long, and a cross hilt. It was considered an emblem of sovreignty and high dignity, and was therefore displayed on state occasions, being carried in a gorgeous velvet covering by a man who held it upright before his master. It also lay 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; i, 551, note 55; ii, 95, note SO; iii, 172, note 39). The d/lp was also spoken of as 'asa-slhamsher, i.e. staff-sword (Danishmand Khan, 22nd Rajab, 1120 H.). Instances of its being conferred are found in the same historian (22nd Ramazan, 1119 H., twice, and 22nd Rajab 1120 H., once). Mr. Egerton, p. 117, N~. 527, note, quotes from the AJzn-i-Akbari, "Dhoup, straight blade, used by most of the Deccanees." I am unable to verify the reference; I cannot find the passage in Vol. I, (translation), and the word is not in Mr. Blochmann's index. KtKanda. This weapon is No. 2 of the list on p. 112, A-}n, Vol. I; and from figure 2 on plate xii it would seem to be idential with the dhvp. Siro/n. The Masir-ul- Umnaral, 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,

Page 77

Scan of Page  77
View Page 77

EQUIPMENT. - (B) OFFENSIVE ARMS; I, "SHORT" ARMS. 77 "Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition," 1883, Vol. II, plate xxix, No. 4, has a sword from the Alwar armoury, which he calls a S/hikiirga/g or Siroh gaj bail(?). The blade appears slightly lighter and narrower than that of the ordinary lalwar. Evidently the name is obtained from the place of manufacture, Sirohi in Rajputanah, of which "the sword blades are celebrated for their excellence now as formerly," Thornton, 874. The town is situated in Lat. 24~ 59', Long. 72~ 56', 360 miles S. W. of Agrah. Patla. This is a narrow-bladed, straight rapier, and is to be seen now chiefly when twirled about vigorously by the performers in a Muharram procession. It has a gauntlet hilt. The specimens in Egerton are N~. 402, 403, 404 (p. 110), 515 (p. 117) 643 (p. 131). There are figures of N~. 403 and 404 on p. 104 of his catalogue. Cuplz. In the An, i, 110, this is NO. 3, and was a straight sword having a walking stick as its sheath, the name being from H. gupl, concealed. See also figure 3 on plate xii of the same volume. Egerton's entries are N~. 516, 517, 518, 519 (p. 117), 641, 642 (p. 131). The head or 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 of these crutches played a conspicuous part in the battle of Jajau in June 1707, ACzam Shah, one of the contenders for the throne, whirling his crutch frantically, as he stood up on his elephant to urge on his troops. Jonathan Scott, II, part IV, 34, note 4, calls it "a short crooked staff, about three feet in length, not unlike a crozier, used by fakeers to lean on when they sit, and often 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 and the bow. A shield (A. sipar, H. C.Ilal) was inseparable

Page 78

Scan of Page  78
View Page 78

78 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. from the sword as part of the swordsman's equipment. It 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 JAjn, i, 111, and is shown on plate xiii as Nos 40 and 41. They were of steel or hide, generally from 17 to 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 No. 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 the most highly prized. Brahmans who objected to leather had shields made of forty or fifty folds of silk painted red and ornamented (Egerton, 111, note to NO. 434). More about shields can be seen in the samework, pp. 47, 48, 49. The specimens in the Indian Museum are numerous, see Egerton pp. 111, 118, 134, 139. The curious snake-skin (nagphan) shield, N~. 365 (p. 103), is not a Moghul weapon. C/hirwah and Tilwah. - According to the Ajn, Blochmann, i, 252, these were the shields carried by the S/amsh/erbaz, or gladiators, groups of whom always surrounded Akbar on the march, Akbarnamah, (Lucknow edition), ii, 225, second line. Fencing Shields. Following the dhal or shield the JAn, i, 1ll, has N~. 49, the k1/eraht, as^, but there is no figure of it. I presume that this is the same word as s%, girwah (Shaks., 1695) or ' 9garwah (Steingass, 1081), both meaning a shield. I can find no word kherah in the dictionaries, but it might be ghera, 4'TT, a round, a circle (Shakes. 1759), with allusion to the form of a shield. Again N~. 50 Pahrl, (zn, i, 111) is described by Blochmann, p. xi, as a plain cane shield. It is shown as N~. 42 on plate xiii. This must evidently be Plari, mft, Hindi for a small shield of cane or bambu

Page 79

Scan of Page  79
View Page 79

EQUJIPMENT. - (B) OFFENSIVE ARMS; I, "SHORT" ARMS. 79 (Shakes. 580). The quaint implement mrars or singauta, made of a pair of antelope horns tipped with steel and united at the butt-ends, Egerton, p. 111 and p. 133, also the sainli (id. 118 and plate x), may be classed as parrying shields. II. The Mace. This formidable-looking weapon, the mace (gurz), usually formed part of the panoply of a Moghul warrior, at any rate if he were of any considerable rank. It appears as No. 25 in the xAn list, i, 111, and varieties of it are entered under N~. 26 (s8ashbur) and No. 29 (piyazz). Blochmann gives no figure of the latter, N0. 29, and from his remarks on p. x he seems a little doubtful as to what it was. The gulrz is shown in figure 23, plate xii, of the Jfn as a short-handled club with three large round balls at the end. Another kind, the shashbur, or lung-tearer ', figure 21, has a single head, of a round shape; and from Egerton, 23, plate i, N~. 35, I should suppose that it was made up of semi-circular, cutting blades arranged round a centre. Of the gurz, or mace proper, there are three examples in the Indian M/useum. N0. 466 (p. 115 and plate x) is 2 feet 7 inches long, with a many bladed double-head, that is one head above the other; NO. 574 (p. 123 and plate x) has a globular head of 3 inches in diameter and a shaft of steel gilt, length 2 feet 2 inches; N~. 616 (p. 130) is 2 feet 2 inches long 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 Khandli-Phansz. The Dhara, N~. 468 (p. 115), has a six bladed head and octagonal steel shaft; it is 2 feet long, and came from Kolhapar. 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 '1 Egerton, 21, says this weapon is mentioned by Babar, but I have been unable to find the passage in P. de Courteille's translation of the "Memoirs."

Page 80

Scan of Page  80
View Page 80

so THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. and the other 2 feet 8 inches long; No. 467 (p. 115) is 7-bladed with basket hilt, length 2 feet 4 inches; N". 469 (p. 115) is eight-bladed with a similar hilt, length 2 feet 10 inches. The Khundli Phansz, N~. 470 (p. 115 and plate x), is 19 inches long, has a head of open scroll work, and is probably one of the Bairagi crutches already referred to. Phdnsz means a noose in Hindi, but I do not see the appropriateness of the name here, nor do I know what Khundli can mean. The Flail (H. sant) is another weapon that may be classed with the Mace. These are two specimens in the Indian Museum, Egerton Nos 62, 63 (p. 78), and one is shown as N~. 24 on plate i opposite p. 23. 1 should also class among maces the Pusht-klhr or back-scratcher, APn, i, 111, NO. 41, made of steel in the shape of a hand. It is shown as N~. 35 on plate xiii of Blochmann's volume. The same is the case with the KhIr-i-mcnhi, or fishbackbone, of steel spikes projecting from each side of a straight handle, IAfn, i, 111, N~. 41, and N~. 37, plate xiii. The Gajbag put among weapons in the Azn, i, 111, N'. 46, and N~. 39, plate xiii, is only the common elephant goad or ankus. lII. The Battle Axe. The battle-axe (tabar) will be found at N~. 28 of the Ailn, i, 111 and on plate xii, 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 Zqzhnol, or crow's beak (id. N~. 30, and plate xii, fig. 24). A double headed axe, with a broad blade on one side and a pointed one on the other side of the handle, was styled a Tabar zdghnol (id. NO. 32, and plate xii, fig. 26). An axe with a longer handle, called Taranoalah, was also in use (id. N0. 33 and plate xii, fig. 27, see also Egerton plate i, N~. 22).

Page 81

Scan of Page  81
View Page 81

EQUIPMENT. - (B) OFFENSIVE ARMS; I, "SHORT" ARMS. 81 Of the Tabar there are seven entries 375, 376, 377 (p. 108), 71], 712, 713 (p. 137) and 746 (p. 144). There is a figure of N~. 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 of the heads are crescent shaped, and one of the shafts is hollowed and contains daggers. I omit Egerton's Parusa (p. 7) 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 as if it were derived from the Hindi basuZl, a carpenter's adze, but the figure, NO. 25, plate xii, looks more like a chisel than any other tool. Silver axes highly ornamented were carried for display by the attendants in the hall of audience (Egerton, note to N~. 375, p. 108). These attendants were the Yasawal, and Anand Ram calls the axes they carried Chamchaq (Mirat-ul-1isilah, fol, 1936). Besides this form of the word, we find also Chanmkhai, Chakhmaiq, Chakhmagh, 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, pl. asnan, Steingass, 60, 698. The head or point was called sunain, Mirat-i-Ahmadi 176a, Steingass, 704; and the butt was the bunain, 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 (nezah), and the other kinds were used by foot soldiers and the guards surrounding the emperor's audience hall. There 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, XLVIII, 1879, p. 101). The kinds of spear mentioned in the Ajn-i-Akbari, i, 112, are five the Nezah, NO. 20, Barchhah, N~. 21, Sank, N~. 22, Sainlth, N~. 23, and Selarah, N~. 24. 6

Page 82

Scan of Page  82
View Page 82

82 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOG-IULS. Nezah. This is the cavalry lance, a small steel head with a long bambu shaft. Steingass, 1442, has Nezah "a short spear, demi-lance, javelin, dart, pike." But this is not borne out by the usage of Indian writers, who by this word intend a long-shafted spear. It appears in the A-n, i, 111, as NO, 20, and is shown at No. 16 of plate xii. Bhala I take to be only the Hindi equivalent for Nezah. Shakespear, 386, says Bhala is from Sanskrit e~, a spear about 7 cubits or 101/2 feet long, a lance with a narrow head. Including Nezah, Bhala and spears (unclassed), I find nine entries in W. Egerton, vizt. 463 (p. 115) 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612 two (p. 130). Of these one has a small head and long bambu shaft; another a palmwood shaft and small triangular head; four have bambu shafts 12 to 15 feet in length, with heavy bossed butts and small heads; N~. 611, length 8 feet, head 16 inches; N~. 612 (two), length 9 feet and 9 feet 3 inches, head 21 inches. The nezah or lance was so prominent a part of the Mahratta equipment that one writer Mhd Qasim, Aurangabadi, (Ahwal-ul-Khawaqin, fol. 201 a and elsewhere) instead of the usual "accursed enemy" (gqanam-i-lac^m) calls them nezah-bazan, "lance-wielders." He thus describes, fol. 205b, their mode of using the lance: "They so use it that no cavalry can cope with them. Some 20,000 to 30,000 lances are held up against their enemy, so close together as not to leave a span between their heads. If horsemen try to ride them down, the points of the spears are levelled at the assailants and they are unhorsed. While the cavalry are charging them, they strike their lances against each other, 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. 14b and fol. 15a of B.M., Or: 3610 (Rieu, Supp. p. 54, N~. 79) showing an attack on the elephant of Rafi-ush-shan, that the man on horseback (CAbd-us-samad Khan) who is attacking the prince,

Page 83

Scan of Page  83
View Page 83

EQUIPMENT. - (B) OFFENSIVE ARMS; 1, "SHORT" ARMS. 83 held his spear 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 is a Hindi word, also spelt Barchha and BarchAz. W. Egerton, note to N~. 461, p. 115, quoting Tod's "Rajasthan," says "the Mahratta lance is called "Birchha." This statement taken literally may be true; it is false, if taken as suggesting that the.Barchhal is an exclusively Mahratta arm. We find the Barchhah in the A-n list of Moghul arms, drawn up long before the Mahrattas had been heard of as a military power. It is a well known word and weapon all over Northern India, hundreds of miles from the Mahratta country. We have it figured as N~. 17 of plate xii of the Ajn (vol. I). Its distinctive feature is its being made wholly of iron or steel, shaft as well as head. See also Egerton's description, p. 123, note preceding N~. 574, of two specimens in the Codrington collection. This heavy spear could hardly have been wielded by a man on horse-back, and was no doubt confined to the infantry. Sank. This form of the word is Blochmann's transliteration, Ajn, i, 110, N~. 22. According to present day pronunciation it would be Sang. The second mark over the letter kaf is very often omitted by scribes, and thus S might easily stand for J. Sang, (Shakes. 1239) is from the Sanskrit q- or r f, s8anku, shakli. It was entirely of iron, but according to the figure in the A-n, i, plate xii, fig. 18, it was much shorter than the Barchhah. On the other hand, those in the Indian Museum are 7 feet 11 inches in total length, of which the head occupies 2 feet 6 inches. They have long, slender, four-sided or three-sided heads, steel shafts, 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 sangin. This may probably mean a little sang; and is possibly formed from sang by a shortening of the vowel and the

Page 84

Scan of Page  84
View Page 84

84 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. addition of the diminutive termination 5 nasalized. The long, slender, three sided or four sided head of the sang presents a resemblance to the shape of a bayonet; and in Hindi it is not uncommon, in the case of inanimate objects, to employ the feminine termination "i" as a diminutive, thus gola, a ball, goli, a bullet, an.nda a cauldron, dandi, a small pot, chakkca a wheel, chakki, a hand-mill. Sainthi. This is a Hindi word, also spelt sainhl. Shakespear, 1370, defines it as a dart, javelin, short spear, bolt. It is NO. 23 in the A4n, i, 111, and appears as NO. 19 on plate xii. The shaft is still shorter than that of the Sang. It is not given in Egerton. Has the name any connection with sent z, Hindi for a kind of reed? Selarah. This is N~. 24 of the A4n list, i, 111, and it is figured on plate xii (N~. 20) as a spear with a head and shaft longer than those of the sainhlt but not so long as those of the sang. There is no mention of it in Egerton, and outside the ATn I have never either seen the weapon or come across the word. Possibly the word has some connection with the Hindi sel, a spear, said to be (Shakes. 1368) from Sanskrit tr. Other kinds of spears. Four names, Ballam, Pandi-ballam, Panjmnukh, and Lange occur in Egerton as kinds of spears, though omitted from the A4n. The Ballam is well-known in moderm Hindi, and is defined, Shakes. 354, as a spear, pike, lance. Egerton has two specimens, Nos 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. Pandi-ballam (Egerton N~. 29, p. 78) is a 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,

Page 85

Scan of Page  85
View Page 85

EQUIPMENT. - (B) OFFENSIVE ARMS; I, "SHORT" ARMS. 85 on the authority of the Codrington catalogue, as a "fiveheaded spear used by the people of Guzerat." The derivation is, of course, panj, five, mukci, head. Ldnge is mentioned on p. 123 in a quotation from the Codrington catalogue, and it is suggested that the word is a corruption of "lance." It has a four-cornered iron head with a hollow shaft. Other designations for a spear are also to be found in Shakespear, vizt.: Gar/iya, (col. 1705), Pike, javelin, spear; CAlam, (1458), Spear (properly a standard or banner); Kont, (1637) spear from Sans. F:r. 'A/am I have heard used, but I never met with the two other words. To complete the long list I may as well add the sort of bill-hook or pole-axe, ganddsd, a steel chopper attached to a long pole, which is the weapon of the modern c/aukiddr or village watchman. V. Daggers and Knives. These were of various shapes and kinds, for each of which there was a separate name. Katlar, ka.tarah, ka.tar. This is a Hindi word, kattar (Shak., 1556), probably from the same root as the verb katna, to cut. The translator of the Seir (i, 549, note 53) thus describes it, "A poignard peculiar to India made with a hilt, whose two branches extend along the arm, so as to shelter the hand and part of the arm. The blade is very thick with two cutting edges, having a breadth of three inches at the hilt and a solid point of about one inch in breadth. The blade cannot be bent and is so stiff that nothing will stop it but a cuirass. The total length is 2 to 21- feet, one half of this being the blade." The hilt has at right angles to the blade a cross-bar by which the weapon is grasped, and it is thus only available for a forward thrust. It is named in the,In, i, 112, being N~. 10, and it is fig. 9 on plate xii. There the blade is slightly

Page 86

Scan of Page  86
View Page 86

86 THE ABMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. curved; Mustapha's description corresponds perhaps more nearly to fig. 4 of the same plate, the jamdhar. There are about twenty five specimens entered in Egerton (pp. 102, 109, 116, 131) and five of these are shown on plates ix, x (two) and xiii (two). The blades are of various patterns, and the length varies from 9 to 17- inches. One N~. 340 is forked or 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, N~. 335, p. 102, the B. kalrta, but the figure on plate ix shows it as' being like a knife and without the handle characteristic of the katar. Stavorinus, quoted by Yule, "Glossary," 816, speaks of a dagger, the name of which he translates as belly piercer. No one seems to know what Indian word was intended unless it were the katldr, which may be translated the "cutter" (quasi, "piercer"). Jamdhar. This is N~. 4 in the An, i, 112, and figure N~. 4 in plate xii. This figure has the same handle as a katt(r; but the blade is very broad and straight, while the kattar is given a curved blade. On the contrary Mr. Egerton, p. 102, and plate ix, Nos 344 and 345, shows the jamdhar katarz with a straight blade and a handle to be held like one holds a table-knife or a sword. The etymology of the word as given by J. Shakespear, 1790, is jam, from the Sanskrit q, death, and dhar, from rT, a sharp edge. But see also Yule, "Glossary", 358, under "Jumdud" (jamdad). Khanjar. We are told by Steingass, 476, that this is A., for dagger, poinard. There are eight specimens in the Indian Museum, Egerton, 502 to 506 (p. 116), 626, 627a, 627 (p. 131): two are shown on plate x (opp. p. 114). Most of these have doubly-curved blades, and are about 12 inches long. The Khanjar is N~. 5 in the Ayn, i, 110; and on plate xii, NO. 5, it is shown as a bent dagger with a double curve in the blade and a hilt like a sword.

Page 87

Scan of Page  87
View Page 87

EQUIPMENT. - (B) OFFENSIVE ARMS; I, "SHORT" ARMS. 87 Figures Nos 5 and 7 on W. Egerton's plate vi (opp. p. 53) appear to be Khanjar. Mustapha, Seir, i, 152, note 114, says that "the Khanjar is a poinard, with a bent blade, peculiar to the Turks, who carry it upright and on the right side; but 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 (Yule and Burnell 312). Then we have the Jamkhak, Brn, i, 110, N~. 7, plate xii, NO. 7. If it were not for the middle letter kaf d, I would have suggested that this word was a misreading for chamkhakh.gl:>., a battle axe (Steingass, 389), see ante, under iii, Battle Axes. The figure in the Ayn shows a dagger and not an axe. - Could it be intended for ChUqchaq, a kind of knife? Jhambwah, Afn, i, 110, N~. 9, plate xii N~. 9 and Egerton 106 (p. 82), 486-9 (p. 116), 798-9 (p. 145). He also gives figures on plate i, N~. 29 (p. 23) and fig. 17 on p. 79. The Jambwah is also mentioned by him on p. 124 in a note to N~. 581. Steingass, 373, only gives janmbzya, "a kind of arms or armour." Shakespear, 789, has "a dagger." There are also some interesting remarks by Yule, "Glossary", 357, under "Jumbeea." He inclines to a derivation from janb, A., the side. Bank, Ajn, i, 110, N~. 8, and figure N~. 7, plate xii; Egerton, Nos 480-1 (p. 115), and note to N~. 581 (p. 124), figure 31 on his plate i, (opp. p. 23). The name evidently comes from its curved shape (rit, a curvature, a bend, Shakes. 275a). Narsingh moth, Ayn i, 110, N~. 11 and figure 11, plate xii; Egerton, fig. N~. 30 on plate i (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 Bichhwi and the Khapwah. Bichhwa, literally "scorpion", had a wavy blade. It is mentioned by Egerton, 27, and there are specimens in the India Museum, Nos 490-8

Page 88

Scan of Page  88
View Page 88

88 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. (p. 116), 628 (p. 131), and plate x (opp. p. 114). The Khapwah, N~. 6 in the Aj4n, i, 110, must have been some sort of dagger; there is no figure of it on plate xii, but Egerton's plate i, N~. 28, shows it as almost identical with the janmb6wa/. May it not mean "the finisher, the giver of the coup de grace," from the H. verb kiapna, to fill up, to complete, as in the phrase, den khap-gya "the debt has been liquidated?" The Persian word is dashnah (Steingass, 527). In some manuscripts of the Akbarnrnaah (near the end of the 17th year), it is said, as Mr. H. Beveridge has pointed out to me, that Akbar when drunk ran after Shahbaz Khan of Malwah, and tried to strike him "with a dashnah, called in Hindi a khapwai", because he refused to sing. Peshqabz. The word is from P. pesh, front, qab6, grip. It was a pointed one-edged dagger, having generally a thick straight 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 AiJn i, 110-112, so I presume that it was included under one of the other kinds of dagger, perhaps under kard, a knife, N~. 34 and fig. 28, Plate xii. In Egerton I find twenty three examples: 346 (p. 102), 381 (p. 108), 382 (p. 109), 484-5 (p. 116), 617-625 (p. 130), 717-724 (p. 138), 760 (p. 144). Of these there are 7 straight, 4 curved, and 2 double-curved blades; the shape of the rest is not stated. On plate xiv (opp. p. 136) he shows four, and on plate xv (opp. p. 140) one of these specimens. Some of the hilts have guards to them, others have none. N~. 624 is like the lkanjar in the 2An, fig. 6, plate xii; N~. 721 something like the jamnbhwah, fig. 8, same plate, and the others, Nos 712, 720, 760, more like the kard, or knife, 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. For an example, see Egerton No 750 (p. 144) and the figure on plate xv, where the total length is 2 feet 6 inches, and that of the blade alone 2 feet. This was the sort of

Page 89

Scan of Page  89
View Page 89

EQUIPMENT. - (B) OFFENSIVE ARMS; I, "SHORT" ARMS. 89 weapon with which, on the 8th October 1720, Mir Haidar Beg, Dughlat, assassinated Sayyad Husain 'All Khan, Mir Bakhshi, in the emperor's camp between Fathpur Sikri and Amber (Jaipur), Mhd Qasim, Lahori, 'Jbralhamah, I.O.L. N~. 252, fol. 348. The author of the Jauhar-i-Samsamm, fol. 138a, calls the weapon then used a chaqchaqz-i-wilayata. This word is related to LS.-, a knife, (Steingass, 386, from Turkish). We have also in the Azn, i, 111, the gupti-kard, or knife concealed in a stick (N~. 35, and plate xiii, N~. 29), the whip-shaped knife, qamchi-kard (N~. 36 and plate xiii, N~. 30), and the clasp-knife or chaqi (N0. 37 and plate xiii, N~. 31). Sailabah-i-Qalm&aq was the name for the knife used by the men from Kashghar; it was as long as a sword, had a handle made of a fish-bone called sher-mahi (lion-fish), and was worn slung from a shoulder belt, Ashob, fol. 172b, 178b.

Page 90

Scan of Page  90
View Page 90

CHAPTER IX. EQUIPMENT. - (c) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. I exclude from this heading what is generally classed as artillery, 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 given to Adam by the archangel Gabriel. Weapons were estimated in the following order. The sword was better than the dagger, the spear better than the sword, the bow and arrow better than the spear, (Risalah-i-itzr o kaman). The use of the bow persisted throughout the 18th century, in spite of fire-arms having become more common, better made, and their handling better understood. Nay, somewhat to our astonishment, we read in W. Forbes Mitchell's "Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny," p. 76, that he saw the bow used by the rebels at the second relief of Lakhnau in Nov. 1857. "In the force defending the Shah Najaf, in addition to the regular army, 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 93rd raising his head above a wall, an arrow was shot right through his feather bonnet. One man raising his head for an instant above the wall got an arrow right through his brain, the shaft projecting more than a foot

Page 91

Scan of Page  91
View Page 91

EQUIPMENT. - (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 91 out at the back of his head. In revenge the men gave a volley. One unfortunate man exposed himself a little too long and before he could get down into shelter again, an arrow was sent right through his heart, passing clean through his body and falling on the ground a few yards behind him. He leaped about six feet into the air, and fell 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. 1st 1894), speaks of meeting large numbers of carts "loaded with new bows and arrows, with which to equip the Banner men of the capital (Pekin)." And this in the days of Krupp and Maxim guns! The Matchlock, a cumbrous and probably ineffective weapon, was left mainly for the infantry. Pistols seem to have been rareties. I. Bows. The Moghul bowmen were considered to be especially expert with their weapon; as Bernier says, 48, "a horseman shooting six times before a musketeer can fire twice." The word oqchi quoted by Horn, 108, from the Akbarnamah, is hardly to be found in the later writers, those of the 18th century; an archer is styled by them a Tir-andaz (literally, arrow-thrower), not oqchi 1. But that word is used by Anand Ram once in reference to Ahmad Abdali's first invasion in 1161 n. (I.O.L. N~. 1612, fol. 70b), though there the scribe has spelt it auncal. Shakespear, 219, has what he classes as a Hindi word, opchi, 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 by Shridhar Murlidhar in his poem on Farrukhsiyar, line 594, (Journal A.S.B. (1900) Vol. LXIX, i, 14, 39): 1 Pavet de Courteille, Dict., 68,.j., an arrow.

Page 92

Scan of Page  92
View Page 92

92 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Pile opc/i topci toopo ghanere. "Gathered archers, gunners, guns, without end." Of course, this may be simply the reduplication so common in Indian vernaculars, such as k/ana-wana, food, pani-wani, water. Mhd Qasim, Aurangabadi, Ahiwal-ul-khawadqn, 288a, and a rather later writer, Khair-ud-din (c. 1203 H.), Clbratnamah, 105, have karnmndar (bow-holder) for archer. Charkh. In the Jahan kushae Nadiri of Mirza Mahdi, p. 233, (year 1151 H.) we have a reference to the Charkhchibashz, or head of the charkh men. W. Jones, "Nader Chah", ii, 66, renders this by "maitre de l'artillerie", and is followed by the German translator, 293. Steingass has neither charkhchi nor charkhchi-bashz. Charkh has many meanings: among them being "a wheel," "a cart," "a crossbow." Here I suppose we ought to render charkh by "cross-bow", and not by "artillery." Charkhchi is to be found in the Mujmil-ut-tarzkh bald Naddiriyah, p. 95, line 13. Kamdn. The Moghul bow (kaamdn) 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 NO. 80). Two of these steel bows, in the Emperor of Russia's collection at Zarkoe Selo, belonged to the emperor, Bahadur Shah (1708-1712); they bear verses in his honour and are covered with rich gold damascened work (Egerton, 114, note to N~. 457). The grip was generally covered with velvet. Mr. Egerton, 144, describes the Persian bow in detail, and the same description applies, there can be 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 convex when strung) was lined with several strings of thick catgut to give it elasticity and force. The belly is made of buffalo or wild goats' horn, jet black and of a

Page 93

Scan of Page  93
View Page 93

EQUIPMENT. - (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 93 fine polish; glued to this is 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 bows kept for show or 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 fastened to a strong piece of wood that served as a centre and was gripped by the left hand. After being neatly fitted, they were covered with a size made of animal fibres, after 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 was fixed were called goshah (Steingass, 1104), literally "ccorner," also sufar (Dashur ul Insfa, 228, Steingass 709). The latter word is used in A4hwal-ul-khawaqin (c. 1147 H.), fol. 12a. The string. This was called either zih or chillah. Hindi names are roda, Shak., 1195, catgut, a sinew used as a bow-string, and panach or panchak (id. 552, 553). Bow strings were made of strong threads of white silk laid together until of the thickness of a goose quill. Whipping of the same material was then bound firmly round for a length of three or four inches at the centre, and to this middle piece large loops of scarlet or other colour were attached by a curious knot. These gaudy loops formed a striking contrast to the white silk (Egerton, 144). Captain Williamson, on the contrary, says, p. 87, that the string was composed of numerous thin catguts laid together without twirling, then lapped with silk in the middle and at the ends. The finger 81stall. This was called zihgir (Steingass 631), 1 Rodd, a bow string, is in Steingass, 592. Is it Persian or Hindi or both?

Page 94

Scan of Page  94
View Page 94

94 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. bow-string holder, or shast (id. 743). It was also styled Shst-a2wez (Anand Ram, Mirat-ul-Istila/h, fol, 1556, 182a). Of this last the etymology would be s8ast, the thumb, awez, attached or fastened to, that is, a thumb-stall. Blochmann, Ajn, i, 111, N~. 42, and note 3, says the shastawez was a weapon resembling the girih-kushid, N~. 43, that is, a kind of spear. He has no figure of it. May he not have been mistaken, and is not Anand Ram's direct assertion to be preferred? The bowman drew with his thumb only, the bent forefinger being merely pressed on one side of the arrow nock to secure it from falling, or as Dr. Weissenberg (quoting v. Luschau) says, p. 52, the forefinger was pressed on the nail of the thumb to strengthen the pull without increasing the exertion. To prevent the flesh being torn by the bow string the zihlgir had been invented (Egerton, 114). It was a broad ring, and according to a man's rank and means was of precious stone, crystal, jade, ivory, horn, fishbone, gold or iron. A very valuable zihZgzr, part of the Lahor booty, one that had belonged to Lord Dalhousie, is described in the "Daily Telegraph" of the 10th November 1898. It was formed of a single emerald and was 2 — inches across at the widest part and 1- inches in depth. It bore an inscription which is thus translated: "For a bow ring for the King of Kings, Nadir, Lord of the Conjunction, from the Jewel House it was selected, 1152" (= A.D. 1739). From the date and the wording of this inscription it is to be inferred that it was part of the spoil carried off from Dihli. How it found its way back to Lahor we do not know. Sometimes two thimbles were worn instead of a zihzgr, on the first and second fingers of the right hand. Upon the inside of this ring (the ziihgr), which projected half an inch, the string rested when the bow was 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, quoting the Book of Archery,

Page 95

Scan of Page  95
View Page 95

EQUIPMENT. - (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 95 136). By the use of the ring the distance to which an arrow could be shot was increased. But its use required skill and practice; the Hindus used instead a thumbstall of leather (JMirat-ul-Istilah, fol. 155b). 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 Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien, Band XXV (1895) pp. 50-56, where he gives figures of eight of them. He divides them into two classes 1) cylindrical, 2) with tongue-like projection. Those described by him are of bone or stone, and six out of thirteen 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) figured on the plate at p. 887 of A. Demmin, "Die Kriegswaffen", 4th ed., 1893. I'akhsh kaman. rThis is N~. 13 of the An i, 110, and it is described by Blochmann, p. v, as a small bow. It is shown in figure N~. 12 of plate xii. Steingass, 288, defines takhsh as a cross-bow, an arrow, a rocket. Kaman-i-gurohah. This was a pellet-bow, identical, I presume, with the modern gulel, with which boys scare birds from the ripening crops. It is N~. 38 in the AJn i, 111 and appears as N~. 32 of plate xiii. Steingass, 1085, has for guroha, a ball or spherical figure. Gobhan. The sling, ATn i, 111, N~. 45 and plate xiii, N~. 38, may as well be included here. The form in Shakespear 1727, is gophan. Khafi Khan, ii, 656, uses the word sang-i-falikhan for the slings brought by the villagers who assembled in 1710 to aid in the defence of Jalalabad town against the Sikhs led by Bandah. Steingass, 936, has rlls, ouL.li, WARS, falakhan, falakhcn, faldsang, a sling. Kamthah, kamanth. This is the long bow of the Bhils. We find it named in the Ayn list, i, 111, as N~. 39 under the first form; the second is that used by Anand Ram, Mukhlis, Mirat-ul-Istilah, fol. 184b. Blochmann, p. x, in

Page 96

Scan of Page  96
View Page 96

96 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. describing fig. 33 of his plate xiii confounds the kamnha with the Kaman-i-guroia or pellet bow. 1 think this must be wrong. Steingass, 1051, has a word kamnait, an archer, which he thinks might be from P. kaman, bow, plus Sanskrit, neta, owner. The word might, with more probability, be connected with the above words kanmtha or kamant/i, just as dhalait, a man with a shield, comes from dIlal, a shield; or gorait, a watchman, from agorna, to watch. According to Shakespear, 2258, kamtha is Hindi for a bow ofbambu. The Bhils held the bow by the foot, drawing the string (chillah) with the hand, and shooting so strongly that their arrows could penetrate an elephants' hide. W. Egerton, 75, quoting Tod's "Rajpoot Tribes" (a reference which I have failed in verifying) says the principal weapon of the Bhils was the kampti or bambu bow, with a string made of a thin strip of the elastic bark of the bambu. In their quiver were sixty barbed arrows each a yard long, those intended for striking fish having heads which came off the shaft on striking the fish. A long line connected this head and the shaft, so that the shaft remained on the water by way of a float. Nawak. This was a pipe through which an arrow was shot. 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 Malays for their poisoned arrows, as mentioned by Egerton, 97, 98, Nos 263-268. Those specimens of the pipe are 6 feet 6 inches to 7 feet 6 inches long, and the arrows used with them 12 inches long. The nawak is N~. 14 of the Ain list, i, 110, but there is no figure of it. The weapon was known at Farrukhabad in the 18th century (Journal A. S. B., XLVII, 331). Steingass 1382, has nao, a trough, a pipe, and ndwak, dim. of nao, a small arrow, an arrow for shooting birds, with notch on side; a tube through which an arrow is projected; a cross-bow; a reed or anything hollow.

Page 97

Scan of Page  97
View Page 97

EQUIPMENT. ---- (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 97 Tufak-i-ddhan. The Azn has also a blow-pipe, which it calls tufak-i-dahan (lit. mouth-tube), N~. 40, i, iii and N~. 34, plate xiii. Steingass, 314, defines this as a tube for shooting clay balls through by force of the breath. Arrows. The arrow (tir) is given at N0. 15 of the list in the Xn i, 110, and it is shown as fig. 14a on plate xii. Another name, sihiam is found in the Mirla-i-A/,hnadi, fol. 178a; it is the plural of sahrn, an arrow, Steingass, 710; see also Lane, "Lexicon," 1454, sahamahu, 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 shaft1 P. kilk, lit. reed, Hindi, sari (Shakes. 1285, also the name of a kind of reed); for the head, P. paikan, H. bha/l; for the feathers, P. par'. The feathers were frequently black and white mixed (ablaq). Ordinarily the head was of steel, but the Bhils used arrowheads of bone. Tukah, Tukkah. - This was the name of an arrow without a head. One was said to have been fired in anger by A'zam Shah at his principal general, Zu'lfiqar Khan, at Jajau on the 18th June 1707, - Yalhya Khan, fol. 1136. Steingass, 819, explains the word as "an arrow without a point, but with a knot at the end." In the 18th century the kinds of arrows in use among the I In Budaoni (Printed Text, i, 418, 1. 3) there is an expression, kattbahi-bash, which Blochmann marked as doubtful in his copy (now in my possession), without suggesting any alternative; Ranking, 537, substitutes katth-i-ba-s, and translates "bamboo shaft." I cannot find hatah. in the dictionaries, Persian or Urdu, unless it be a form of tid kath, "wooden." If so, "wooden-bambu" seems an odd combination.

Page 98

Scan of Page  98
View Page 98

9S THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Pathans of Farrukhabad (Journal A. S. B., XLVI1, 332) were 1) Lais, Shakes., 1809, twig, practising arrow, 2) qalandara, 3) kohar-tarash, 4) ghera, broad-headed, 5) nukifa, or perhaps na-katta, headless arrow, lit. non-cutting; compare Egerton, 137, note preceding No. 710, as to the blunt, heavy arrow used in Sind, 6) thutth, or perhaps better, ftonth, Shakes. 743, H. for beak, bill, 7) ankri-ddr, with a bent head, shaped like a saddle-maker's needle (anckri, a hook), i. e. barbed. In his time (1780-1807) Captain Williamson, 87, found some very broad arrow heads in use in the west of Bengal, towards Bahar. There was one of crescent shape more than four inches across at the barbs. Though they did not penetrate easily, yet 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 Dastlr-ul-Inshd, 228, 1) gherah, broad-headed, 2) do muhdnah, two pointed or barbed, 3) larah-i-mdh, fullmoon or circular head, 4) tarah-i-haldl, crescent shaped head, 5) tarah-i-bddam, almond-shaped head, 6) tara.h-i-toko?, 7) sih-6bila/, threespear headed, i. e. trident-shaped, 8) tarah.-i-khorni, 9) tarah.-i-khdr, thorn-shaped, 10) tarah-i-khlaki, Shakes. 974, epithet of a kind of arrow, what kind he does not say. James Fraser, Nadir Shah, 143, note, thus describes the arrow used for practising at the earthen target described a little 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, where they are somewhat thicker, from which part they taper gradually to a sharp point. The length from the thickest part to the point is from a quarter to one inch." Synmbolical use of arrows. - The pagan Arabs used arrows in a game of chance, Hughes, "Dict. of Islam," p. 309, under Al maisir,;^t. Divining by arrows was forbidden by Mulhammad, see Sale's "Preliminary Discourse", section v, and the Quran, v, where the wcrd used is

Page 99

Scan of Page  99
View Page 99

EQUIPMENT. - (c) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 99 zalmun (singular) azldma (plural), an unfeathered, unpointed arrow. The mode of procedure is set out in E. W. Lane's Lexicon, p. 1247, under zalamiun, "he cut off", section viii. 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 arrow into the air is said by Portuguese writers to have been a recognized mode of declaring war in the Vijyanagar state and Malabar. The particular instance is of 1537 at Diu, where Bahadur of Gujarat ordered an arrow to be shot into the air as a declaration of warWhiteway, "Portuguese in India", 249, note 1, on the authority of Castanheda, ii, 16 (reprint of 1833) and Correa, iv, 708, "Lendas da India", 4 vols., 1858-61. I have not met with mention of this practice in any native author, and Major J. S. King informs me that he knows of none. Perhaps it 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. The King's quiver was also used as a symbol of authority (Whiteway, loc. cit.). The instance given is from the Mirali-Sikandarz, 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 Tarzkh-us-Sind of Muhammad Ma'sum, under the year 924 H. (1518), where Shah Beg, Arghun, gave an arrow to the qazz of Tattah (Malet, p. 80). Quiver. The Persian name is tarkash: but I have found the Arabic word ja'bah used once on fol. 59b of the Farrukhnamah of Shekh Muhammad Mun'lm, JaCfarabadi (4th year of Farrukhsiyar). It was generally a flat case, broad at the mouth, one side straight and the other sloping to a **-:*:

Page 100

Scan of Page  100
View Page 100

100 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. point, provided with a strap for carrying over the shoulder. This broad shape is due apparently to the fact that the quiver was used to hold the bow as well as the arrows, see plate xvii in B. M. Addl. 5254 (Rieu, 780), and the plate in Valentyn, opposite iv, 504. There must have been, however, separate bow-cases, qirban, for they are named as well as the tlrkash, or quiver, in Kamwar Khan's entry of the 21st Zu,l QaCdah 1134 H. In the India Museum are five specimens, Egerton, Nos 367, 369 (p. 108), 460 (p. 115), 601, 602 (p. 130). Of these one is of an unusual shape, namely, cylindrical. Common quivers were covered with leather, more costly ones with blue or red velvet, 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. Iumayvun would thus have been forced to sit on the bare ground, when one of his followers took off the ornamented cover of his quiver, tore it open and spread it as a seat for his master, Erskine, "Baber and Humayun", ii, 294. The quiver is N0. 16 of the AJn list, i, 110, and it appears as figure N~. 15 on plate xii. One of a slightly different shape from the usual pattern is given in Egerton's plate i (p. 24), copied 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 crescent-like curves. The Leather Guard (Godhl). This is mentioned in Egerton, 1 4, and 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 Archery", 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 god/hu I have not been able to trace. Two Central Asian arm-guards, one of bone and one of iron, are figured

Page 101

Scan of Page  101
View Page 101

EQUIPMENT. - (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 101 by Weissenberg, 1. c. p. 54. They are now in the Ethnographical Museum at St. Petersburg. Paikan-kash. This word is from paikan, arrowhead, kash, root of kashzdan, to 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 N0. 19 of the AJn list, i, 110, and figure NO. 146 on plate xii. The tzrbardar, N~. 18, (if the reading be correct) was another instrument for the same purpose. Target. This was the oi', literally, heap, Steingass, 334, todah, Shakes., 700, t1dah. The latter is the present Indian pronunciation of the word. To secure a more perfect use of the 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. For instance, we find this target in use by Nadir Shah, who shot five arrows into one every afternoon. It is thus described by James Fraser, History of Nadir Shah, 143, note, "Khak Towda is a heap of fine mould well sifted and beat strongly in between two stone walls. 'Tis five foot high, three feet thick, and from three to four feet broad. The front of it is very smooth and even, beat hard with a heavy trowel. One who is well skilled can shoot his arrow into to it quite to the head; whereas one that shoots ill (be he never so strong) can't put a third part in". In a general sense the word for a butt or target, or the object aimed at, was hadaf (Steingass, 1492). Modes of Shooting. We are told in the Risolah-i-tir 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) 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

Page 102

Scan of Page  102
View Page 102

102 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. fingers. Three things required straightness (1) the body should be erect (2) the forehead held up (3) the elbow straight. Other three things were single: (1) use one side, (2) use one eye, (3) keep both hands in one direction. An arrow could have seven faults: (1) too wide a notch, (2) the shaft to be karnm?, (3) the head imperfect, (4) the head too heavy, (5) the top end and butt of the shaft hollow, (6) the shaft not straight, (7) the bow too stiff. In shooting at a horseman 200 yards off, you should aim at his cap, if 100 paces off, at his mouth, if 50 paces, at his saddle. By so doing you will hit him in the chest. A good archer needs to practise constantly with the Lezam, a bow with an iron chain instead of a string. There are three ways of gripping the bow, Ch/angal-i-baz (literally, "Hawk's claw"), muharraf (diagonally, on the slant), marabbac (square), according to the length of the shooter's fingers. The arrow should be held without moving, and the advanced foot kept flat on the ground. As you let fly at the mark, you ejaculate, "In the name of God". Shekh Allahyar Sani,.Iadiqa1-ul-aqdalim (ms. additions in my copy), under Bilgram, speaks of one 'Abd-us-Samad, a perfect bowman, who taught the author to shoot in three ways, 1) in the style of the master Tahiri, 2) qab6aAgar, 3) mush(. Until that time Allahyar had shot only in the mode of Bahram. Captain Williamson, "Oriental Field Sports", 87, says the 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

Page 103

Scan of Page  103
View Page 103

EQUIPMENT. - (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 103 near the forefinger of the left hand. The bow was always held perpendicularly. Native archers rarely missed an object the size of a tea cup at sixty or seventy yards, and Captain Williamson at Lucknow repeatedly saw a man lodge an arrow in a common walking stick at that distance. The hill people of Bengal were also very expert with the bow. They would lie on their back, steadying the bow with their feet horizontally, and at a distance of two or three hundred yards send the arrow through a common water pot, not more than a foot in diameter. They could shoot kites flying, and indeed rarely missed their object. II. Matchlock. This was the tufang (Steingass, 314) or bandiq (id. 202)1. Great credit is claimed for Akbar in the yzn, i, 113, for the improvements introduced by him in the manufacture of the matchlock. In spite of these, that weapon up to the middle of the 18th century was looked on with less favour than the bow and arrow, which still held their ground. The matchlock was left chiefly to the infantry, who occupied a much inferior position to that of the cavalry in the opinion of Moghul commanders. It was not until the middle of the 18th century, when the way had been shewn by the French and the English, that efforts were made to improve the arms and discipline of the foot soldier. The barrels of Akbar's matchlocks were of two lengths, 66 inches and 41 inches. They were made of rolled strips of steel with the two edges welded together. Both the barrels, (nal, literally, pipe, tube, Steingass, 1378) and the 1 The Madras Manual of Ad., iii, 915, has a word tupak, a small cannon, a musket, which I have seen only once elsewhere, namely, in verse 60, line 2, of a Hindi poem on Nadir Shah by one Tilok Das (Journal As. S. B. (1897) Vol. LXVI, Part i, p. 10). Of course, in the above form the word would represent the diminutive of top, a cannon. But may it not rather be the Indian pronunciation of tufak (St. 314, another form of tufang, a matchlock)?

Page 104

Scan of Page  104
View Page 104

104 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. stocks (qundaq, T. id. 970) were profusely decorated with the surface ornament for which India, like the rest of the East, is so justly celebrated. The longer of the two weapons could only have been used, I should say, by a man on foot. Part of the matchlockman's equipment was a prong or tripod, called sakh/.-i-lufanq, on which the gun was placed when about to be fired (Mirat-ul-Istilah, fol. 178a). Ashob, fol. 186b, calls them 8si-payah, i. e. three footed or tripods. Seaton says, i, 207, that the prong was sometimes attached to the weapon. According to Bernier, 217, the prongs were of wood. I find in W. Egerton, pp. 83, 110, 11i, 118, 124, 132, 133, 139, 145, about sixty specimens of the musket and the matchlock. The latter he calls loredar (Shakes., 702, H. a matchlock, from lora, a piece of rope, a gun-match). Thirteen of these guns are figured on plates iv (p. 51) and x (p. 114), and among the figures on p. 79. One matchlock is a miniature weapon, one a revolver with four chambers, one has a rifled barrel, five have flint, and four percussion locks, these latter obvious modern imitations of European models. The other forty-eight are types of the ordinary matchlocks. Of these the shortest is 4 feet 7 inches and the longest 7 feet in length. One, N". 671, length 6 feet 5 inches is called a wall-piece; if so, Nos 551, 584, 585, which are longer, must be the same. Two of the specimens have octagonal barrels, a third has a barrel not only square outside but having also a square bore. Guns of European make (tufang-i-farang) were much prized, but were only found in the possession of the greatest nobles. It was with one of these, as Mhd Qasim, Lahori, tells us, 'Ihralnamah, 352, that a slave seated behind his master, Haidar Quli Khan, Mir Atash, shot Sayyad Ghairat Khan on the 8th Oct. 1720, in the onset made upon Muhlammad Shah's tents immediately after the assassination of the Sayyad's uncle, Husain 'Ali Khan, Barhah.

Page 105

Scan of Page  105
View Page 105

EQUIPMENT. - (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 105 To the end of the Moghul period the fire arm in ordinary use was the matchlock. The flint lock was little known to them, and, of course, the percussion weapon was never seen, not having been introduced even into European armies until the 19th century (H. Wilkinson, Engines of War, 67). The flint lock itself does not seem to have been generally adopted in Europe until the end of the 17th century (id. 67 1), 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 sixty fire-arms catalogued by W. Egerton, fifty are matchlocks, and only five fitted with the flint lock. A passage in M. Wilks, "South India", i, 278, note, also shows that in 1751 the flint lock was an absolute novelty to the native armies of Southern India. Fitzelarence, 256, writing so late as 1818 confirms this opinion. He says "The flintlock, an introduction of the Europeans, is far from being general, 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 Lahor". It is true that Khair-ud-din, 'Ibratnamah, 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 true, and even then it 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 Voyle and Stevenson, Mil. Diet. (1876), 142, say it was invented about 1635, but not employed in England till 1677.

Page 106

Scan of Page  106
View Page 106

106 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. the condition of things in places farther from the seaboard. In the Dakhin the introduction of the flint-lock weapon, owing to intercourse with the French and English, may have been somewhat earlier. At any rate, it is said that the 12 battalions of Gardi, orinfantry drilled and armed in imitation of the French sepoys, and commanded by Ibrahim Khan, Gardi, at the battle of Panipat in Jannary 1761, carried flint-lock muskets (Husain Shaai, fol. 34b). And, if we may trust Ashob's memory, writing 58 years after the event, the artillery soldiers taking part in the riot of 1141 H. (1729) at the Jami' Masjid in Dihli, were armed with flint-lock (chaqiaqi) muskets. The matchlock barrels were covered with elaborate damascened (koft-ari) 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 CAll, Bijnorl, in his "History of the Rohelas" (in Urdu), fol. 22a, in speaking of the fight between Donde Khan and Qutb-ud-din Khan, grandson of 'Azmatullah Khan, near Kiratpur in Rohilkhand, says; banduq ke parah charle tle. Although this meaning is not in the dictionaries, I take parah to be here the hammer of the matchlock. Platts 258, and Steingass 230, 246, among other meanings give those of "bolt of a lock or door" and "iron mace", either of which

Page 107

Scan of Page  107
View Page 107

EQUIPMENT. - (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; I], MISSILES. 107 could be easily enough extended into "hammer of a gun". The match. The name of this was in Persian either jamnag (Steingass, 351), or falitah (id. 938), in Hindi tora (Shak. 702). According to Ashob, fol. 261b, to have the match ready and lighted was falitah shahsuwar namudan. Powder horn et cetera. These accoutrements were called collectively kamr (Egerton 83, No. 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. 226b, gives shakh as the word for powder horn. Steingass, 720, does not include this specific signification in the numerous meanings he 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 as they never make use of cartridges for their pieces, they are a long time in loading. Some of them have at least twenty yards of match about their person, similar in appearance to a large ball of pack-thread". Modern words, adopted from Europeans, were tozdan (pouch) and kartus (cartridge). They are used by Khair-ud-din, 'Ibratnamah, i, 422, when recounting Rene Madec's defeat in 1191 H. (1777) by Mulla Ralhm Dad Khan. The book itself was written after 1203 H. (1788). Blank Cartridge. I find the expression khall-gohl used for blank cartridge by Rustam 'Ali, Bijnori, "History of the Rohelas" (in Urdu), fol. 17a: Bataur jang-i-zargarz khali goli se apus men chalen; "As in a goldsmith's quarrel (a collusive dispute), they fired blank cartridge at each other". Cailletoque. This strange word is used by Anquetil Duperron, Zend-Avesta, I, xliv, when speaking of Sirajud-Daulah's escort at Murshidabad (1757), and this word

Page 108

Scan of Page  108
View Page 108

108 THE ARMY OF THE TNDIAN MOGHULS. he defines in his index "fusil a meche, tres long, que l'on tire ordinairement en le posant sur un pie fait en espece de fourche". The etymology of the word baffled me for a long time, it being impossible, from his spelling, to reconstitute its original form. It is not French, as the variations in spelling sufficiently show. For instance, De la Flotte, i, 258, referring to the Coromandel coast, (where Anquetil also may have picked up the word), speaks of a very long and heavy matchlock, which he calls a kaitoke (evidently another phonetic rendering of "cailletoque"). Gentil also, 59, in describing the entry of Salabat Jang's troops into Aurangabad on the 11th June 1753, mentions "fusils a meche, qu'on appelle kailok, couverts de drap rouge". Rene Madec (c. 1774) spells it kayeloc (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 any such use of that word. Or it might be a vulgar error for banduq, the ordinary word for a gun. Mr. H. Beveridge suggested to me milteq, a gun, as a probable derivation of the word (R. B. Shaw "Sketch of the Turki Language" J.A.S.B., 1878, p. 184). P. de Courteille, Diet. 506, fancies that this word mzlleq is itself a corruption of banduq. In the absence of anything more satisfactory, an explanation of cailletoque might he found in qultuq, 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. I found this word qaidaiq in my copy of the Ahmad-namah of 'Abd-ul-latif, a rhyming chronicle of Ahmad Shah's reign written at Lakhnau in 1 184 H. (1770). The two passages are on if. ]5a and 15b, the first in the rubric and the second in the text; and they read as follows:

Page 109

Scan of Page  109
View Page 109

EQUIPMENT. - (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 109 Rubric. Didstan dar bayan kih roze suwari-i- Wazir dar rah mi-raft, o yake az mu'dnd dar kamin.gdh nishislah, qaiduq, LX A, bar u randah, az in ma'ni Wazir khiyal-i-fasid badil az Shah rasandah, o derah-i-khud az Dihli berin burdah, binyan-i-fasad ra tacmir dad. Text. Miyan-i-rah kase qdbu giriftah, Zadah qaiduq [,j^s] barue ui nihuftah, Ba qasd-ash garchah u ddi'ah zad, Wa-le Ezad khiyal-ash sakhtah radd, Giriftand-ash kasan az zormandi, Kashdn burdand ira hamrn ch/ bandi. I cannot find the word in any of the dictionaries, of which I have consulted a good many. Jazail or Jazair. This was the wall-piece or swivel gun, and it is doubtful whether it should come here, under fire arms carried by the combatant, or under artillery. In some respects it partook of the character of both. Steingass, 362, defines jazail as a large musket, wall-piece, swivel, a rifle used with a prong or rest. Egerton, 124, note to N~. 585 refers to jazails in the Codrington collection which are 7 feet and 8 feet long; this would appear to be the usual length. Ashob, fol. 1826, describing the entrenchments of Muhammad Shah outside Karnal (1151 H., Feb. 1739), twice speaks of something he calls a pushtah, which was put up (andikhtah) by the jazailmen. This is not the tripod, which is separately mentioned; probably it was a field shelter or slight entrenchment. In connection with this weapon we come togingall, a word used by European writers. Shakespear, 796, says it is H. a swivel &ca, either a corruption of jazdil, or from janjal, trouble, difficulty; and Steingass, 373, has a word janjal,

Page 110

Scan of Page  110
View Page 110

110 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. crowd, multitude. Yule and Burnell, 285, say that janjal is "of uncertain origin". Their examples are Elphinstone (1818) and Shipp (1803-15). Fitzclarence (1818) also uses the word. Janjal is used in a Hindi poem composed in Bundelkhand in the first half of the 18th century (Journal A. S. B., vol. XLVII, 1878, p. 369). I think that jazail must be the origin of jinjal (gingall). Substitute, as an uneducated Indian would do, a "j" for the "z", and you have "jajaiil"; then insert a nasal, far from an infrequent occurrence, and at once you have "janjail", or quickly pronounced, "janjal". Q. E. D. But whether gingall is derived from jazail or not, these can be little doubt that both words are used in respect of one and the same kind of weapon, as witness Sir Hope Grant's description of the Chinese gingall (Life, ii, 92). "This weapon is a species of long heavy duck-gun carrying a ball weighing about two pounds; its range is at least 1000 yards. It is placed upon a tripod, 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 or jazail. "Long matchlocks, of various calibres, used as wall-pieces by the natives of India, which are commonly fixed like swivels, and carry iron balls not exceeding a pound in weight. In the field, they are sometimes carried on the backs of camels". Fitzclarence, 245, says the ball of the Indian jazail weighed two or more ounces. Jinjalls, or heavy matchlocks were, as writes captain Thomas Williamson, "Oriental Field Sports", 45, commonly appropriated to the defence of forts. 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 prong of about a foot in length, fixed on a pivot not far from the nozzle: and this placed on a wall, a bush, or the ground, served as a support. In the defence of mud forts, especially in Bundelkhand, the besieged exhibited extraordinary dexterity, rarely failing to hit their object either

Page 111

Scan of Page  111
View Page 111

EQUIPMENT. - (C) OFFENSIVE WEAPONS; II, MISSILES. 11 in the head or near the heart, even at great distances. All fire arms used by Indians having small cylindrical chambers, and being mostly of a small bore, a wonderful impetus was imparted to the ball. The juzzail used by the Afghans in 1842 is described by Colonel Thomas Seaton, "From Cadet to Colonel"; i, 207. Ghor-ddahan was a kind of jazil, of which one thousand were made at Lahor for Muc'n-ul-mulk between 1161 and 1167 H. (1748- 1754), see the Tarmai8 naimah of Miskin, composed in 1196 H., fol. 36a. The allusion in the name seems to be to the everted or widened mouth of the barrel. Qidr. The Miral-i-Ahmadi, fol. 199a, in describing the battle outside Ahmadabad in 1143 H. (1730), between Abhai Singh, Rahtor, and Sarbuland Khan, speaks of the horsemen with qidr, AXl, and matchlocks advancing to give battle. I cannot find what weapon this was. The nearest word I have found is oxf, qidr, a cauldron, pot, kettle, Steingass, 957; but this does not suggest an explanation. According to Erskine "'History", ii, 294 (note), Osmanli troops lay great store by a kettle, which they carry into the field as other troops do their colours. But at Ahmadabad neither side were Osmanlis. II. Pistols. This weapon was the tamanchah or tamanchah (Steingass, 819, a sharp blow, a pistol). It does not appear in the list in the Ajn, an omission not to be wondered at when we remember that the Ajyn was composed in 1596 —7, while the pistol does not seem to have been known even in Europe much before 1544 (H. Wilkinson, Engines of War, 58). The pistol was in use in India, to some extent at any rate, early in the 18th century. For instance, it was with a shot from a pistol that in October 1720 a young Sayyad, related to Husain 'Ali Khan, killed that nobleman's assassin (Mhd QAsim, Lahori, VCbratnamah).

Page 112

Scan of Page  112
View Page 112

112 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Dowson (Ell., vii, 573) must here have read nimchah and translates a "short sword", but all the copies of the text that I have seen read tamanchah, i. 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 Museum. Egerton's "Handbook" has only three entries, and one of these refers to a pair of English pattern, which must be quite modern. But Ashob, fol. 61a, writing in 1196 H. about the shoe-sellers' riot at the great mosque in Dihli in the year 1141 H. (11th March 1729), speaks of the soldiers taking part in it as having European pistol and tabanchah. S/lerbacLhah. This musketoon or blunderbuss (literally "tiger-cub") seems to have been of a still later introduction than the pistol. Egerton catalogues three examples only NO. 410 (p. 110), Nos 761-2 (p. 144). One is twenty inches long. Probably the weapon came into India with Nadir Shah's army (1738) or that of Alhmad Shah, Abdali, (1748 —1761). In the last quarter of the 18th century there was a regiment of Persian horse in the Lakhnau service known as the Sler-bachah. Possibly they took their name from this weapon, with which they may have been armed. Or the name may have been due to their supposed ferocity and thirst for their enemies' blood. Dowson in Elliot, viii, 398, note 2, quoting from the Akhbari-ul-Muhlabat, speaks of ten thousand dismounted men in Ahmad Shah, Abdali's army in 1760 "having sher-6achas (pistols) of Kabul".

Page 113

Scan of Page  113
View Page 113

CHAPTER X. ARTILLERY. - HEAVY GUNS. The general name for this branch was Top-khanah (top, cannon, kh/dnah, house, division). Every department connected with the artillery was included under the one name; it comprized, 1) a manufacturing department; 2) a magazine or ordnance department, in both of which the imperial Khansaman, or Lord Steward, had the superior control over the Daroghah or Mir Atash; 3) the field artillery in actual use; and 4) the guns in use in the fortresses. In these last 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 Persian dictionaries to be of Turkish origin, but apparently Babar used the word zarb-zan (literally, blowstriker). For this see Horn, 27, and his references, Pavet de Courteille, "Memoires", ii, 168, 'arabah ustidaki zarbzanlar, "les couleuvres qui etaient sur des chariots", id. ii, 336, zarbzan-lik carabah-ldr, "des couleuvres toutes montees sur leurs affits", and Budauni, ii, 194, line 6, Id zarbzanha o zamburnakha kih badle cardbahhae bad, "to the cannon and swivel-pieces which were upon carts" 1. I 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 i I have found zarbzan used by so late a writer as Kam Raj (c. 1119 H.), see ACzam-ul-harb, fol. 120b, but then he has top and rahkalah in the same sentence. 8

Page 114

Scan of Page  114
View Page 114

114 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGIULIS. is often restricted to the large cannon or siege guns; sometimes we find it used for all classes of cannon, with the distinction into large and small, top-i-kalan and top-ikuird. Babar seems to have had in use pieces of considerable size (Horn, 26). In his memoirs (P. de C., ii, 253) he describes the founding of a cannon at Agrah under the direction of his head of the artillery, Ustad Quli Khan. "Around the mould they had erected eight furnaces for melting the metal. From the foot of each started a channel which ended in the mould. As soon as I had arrived, the holes to allow the flow of metal were opened. The fused metal rushed into the mould like boiling water. After a time, before the mould was full, the fused metal from the furnaces began to flow very slowly, either because their size or the amount of material had been wrongly calculated, Ustad Qul! Khan, in a state that cannot be described; wished to fling himself into the very midst of the melted copper. I made much of him, 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 QulI Khan, overwhelmed with joy, sent me word that the bore (dine) of the piece had no fault and that a chamber could easily be made in it. The body of the cannon was then uncovered and a certain number of artificers were set to finish it, while he busied himself with the preparation of the chamber". From ii, 269, it seems that this chamber was cast separately, and the gun was then tried, 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 could not have greatly advanced, for we find that De la 1 The passage in ii, 336, does not necessarily refer to large guns, and Mustafa, the other artillery officer, is spoken of as using small field pieces (culverines).

Page 115

Scan of Page  115
View Page 115

ARTILLERY. -- HEAVY GUNS. 115 Flotte, i, 258, speaking of the 18th century and the Dakhin, asserts that Indian cannon were not founded, but built up of iron bars bound together, and held in place 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 Siraj-ud-daulah's officers, says "l'artillerie consista en gros "canons faits de bandes de fer battu". Writing much later, in 1818, Fitzclarence, 255, says "The artillery in use among the natives is generally an iron cylinder with molten brass cast round it". Elsewhere, 251, he remarks that in their first attempts to make cannon the Indians employed bars of iron hooped together. In one instance he saw an improvement on this. It was at Dihli that he found a piece made of iron wedges placed as radii, and then hooped together so as to form the gun. Horn, 28, quoting from Mirzai Haidar (Elliot v, 131, 132) says that at the battle of Kanauj in 1540 Humayun had 700 pieces (zarbzan) drawn each by four pairs of bullocks (these guns fired balls of 4 lb., 304 gr. each). In addition to these were twenty-one heavy guns requiring each eight pairs of oxen, and firing leaden balls ten times as heavy as the others. Erskine, "History", ii, 186, using the same passage from Mirza Haidar, reads "sixty-one (A-s.) heavy guns, each drawn by sixty (Go) pairs of bullocks". Ross, "Tarikh-i-Rashidli", 474, has "twenty one (ad An.) carriages each drawn by eight (G.u) pairs of bullocks". Looking to the state of things then existing, I think the number of twenty one is preferable to Erskine's sixty-one heavy guns; but on the other hand the larger number of bullocks (sixty and not eight pairs) is the more probably correct; the ball 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 many bullocks to drag it. Dr. Horn, 29', holds that under Akbar the artillery

Page 116

Scan of Page  116
View Page 116

116 THE AMRY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. reached the highest point of efficiency which it ever attained during the existence of the Moghul empire. But judging from the brief account of cannon in the An-iAkbari, one would surmise that this arm was little, if at all, developed. A great deal is said about matchlocks, but comparatively little about other boucees& a feu. It would be, I think, a safer opinion to hold that the artillery was much more perfect and numerous in cAlamglr'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, must have brought the uses of artillery into much greater prominence. And during the 18th century something, if 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, I may quote the suggestion of Mr. D. Mac Ritchie, "Gypsies of India", p. 207, that the gipsies (whom he identifies with the Jgts) brought the use of artillery into Europe. The history of the arm in India seems to prove on the contrary, that it was introduced there from Europe. European observers in the 18th century do not, as a rule, speak favourably of the Moghul artillery. For instance, with reference to the Nawab of the Karnatak's army in 1746, Orme, "Mil. Trans." i, 74, says "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 think they do well if they fire once in a quarter of an hour". Even seventy years later, in 1815, the Nizam's artillery were still content to fire once every fifteen minutes; and on one occasion they were indebted for final success to the freak of some European soldiers, who came at night

Page 117

Scan of Page  117
View Page 117

ARTILLERY. - HEAVY GUNS. 117 from their own camp, and fired the guns so fast as to frighten the besieged into evacuating the place before the morning (Lake, 15, note). Cambridge, who wrote about 1760, "War", Introduction, ix, is more general in his condemnation. "Nothing is so ruinous to their military affairs as the false notion 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 it causes no small delay to free the rest from any one that shall happen to be unruly or slain". Again, take what Mustapha says, Seir, i, 443, note 19, "Expressions about a well-served artillery are misleading, for it is certain that all their artillery was as cumbrous, ill-mounted and ill-served as was the artillery of Europe three hundred years ago. It is only since the year 1760 that some Indians have put themselves upon the footing of having an artillery 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 l'adresse de la plupart des Indiens dans le metier de la guerre apres qu'ils ont requ tant de legons des Europeens, dont ils auraient dui 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

Page 118

Scan of Page  118
View Page 118

118 THE ARMY OF THE iNDIAN MOGHULS. battery sit down, talk and smoke for half an hour, when it is fired, and if it knocks up a great dust, it is thought sufficient: it is re-loaded 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 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. "There is hardly a ship that comes to India that does not sell them cannon and small arms; the most of the gunpowder they make themselves. They cast shot in abundance, but there is no black prince that casts cannon but the king of Travelcore (Travancore). The cannon and military stores are smuggled into the country" (Carraccioli, "Life of Clive" iii, 276, and "Minutes of Select Committee, H. C.", sitting of 14th May 1772. Heavy Guns. The Moghuls were very fond of large ordnance, but such pieces were really more for show than use; and as Fitzclarence truly says, 243, the oriental idea seems to have been "to render this destructive engine from its size more powerful than those of the 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 Ghazzi Kian "Lord Champion", Sher Dahdn "Tiger-mouth", Dlumddlmi "The Noisy", (Shiu Das, 29a) Kislwar /:usha "Worldopener", Gah-b6hanjan "Fort Demolisher", lFagl-i-Lashkar "Army Conqueror", (Elliot, vii, 100) Alralnbir 'Strength

Page 119

Scan of Page  119
View Page 119

ARTILLERY. --- HEAVY GUNS. 119 of the Throne", Burj 8hikan "Bastion Breaker", (Catrou, 256) Jahan kus8h "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), Alash-dahan (Fire mouth), Khushlhal Chand, Berlin Ms. N~. 495, fol. 1015a. In addition to a name they were also usually provided with an inscription, sometimes in verse, stating the name of the founder, the place and the year of manufacture. From Bernier, 217, 21S, 352, we learn that early in CAlamgir'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 in 1707 from Allmadnagar to Dholpur, left all his heavy guns behind at various stages of his march, and had none left when he reached the battle field at Jajau (Kamraj, Azzam-ul-harb, fol. 19). Then in Safar 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. 157b). In 1128 H. (1715-6) when Rajah Jai Singh was besieging Churaman Jat in his fort of Thun, one of these

Page 120

Scan of Page  120
View Page 120

120 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. cannon was sent from Dihli. It was escorted with ceremony fiom Palwal to Hodal and there made over to the deputygovernor of Agrah for conveyance to its destination. The shot is threw was, we are told, one maund (Shahjahani) in weight (Shii Das, fol. 13a). 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 Dahan, Dhumdham, and others. These guns took shot of from 60 to 100 lbs, (30 sers to 1- man Shjahjahani). Attached to each gun were from one to four elephants and from 600 to 1700 draught oxen (Shiu Das, fol. 29a). Mulhammad Mullsin 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 (Horn, 34, quoting Elliot, viii, 74). When the Jat rajah of Bhartpur besieged his relation in 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 Suraj Mall had taken from the Mahrattas, and they had carried away from Dihli. 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 brought out two 24-pounders from the fortress of Agrah, each drawn by fifty pair of bullocks and helped by an elephant. Yet at this moment they are not outside the town of Agrah, 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

Page 121

Scan of Page  121
View Page 121

ARTILLERY. - HEAVY GUNS. 121 guns built up something in the style of our present Armstrongs, with this difference that over the inner core of longitudinal bars forming the bore, iron hoops and not coils, were shrunk on; over which came a layer of longitudinal bars, and outside these another layer of hoops shrunk on. The diameter of these guns at the muzzle was enormous, something like three feet, but the bore was small. I should suppose they were about 40-pounders. I don't think any amount of powder would have burst them". Mode of Mountinq Heavy 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 were 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. Otherwise the length of time occupied in going a mile seems hardly credible. Most probably throughout the 18th 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, 216, says the generality of the artillery in the forts was so badly mounted that they would be dismounted at the first discharge. The clearest account of the way in which they mounted their heavy artillery in the field is to be found in Orme, "Mil. Trans.", ii, 173, when describing Siraj-ud-daulah's guns at the battle of Palasi (Plassey) in 1757: "The cannon were mostly of the largest calibres, 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, of the largest size, bred in the country of Purnea; and behind each cannon walked an elephant, trained to assist

Page 122

Scan of Page  122
View Page 122

THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. at difficult tugs, by shoving with his forehead against the hinder part of the carriage". Sir Eyre Coote, "Minutes of Select Committee H. C.", 30th 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 at Baksar (23rd Oct. 1764) were all on carriages and most of them on.English carriages. The Mahratta artillery in the Dakhin, so late as 1791, was still mounted on the old plan, copied from that of the Moghuls. "His (Paras Ram Bhao's) largest guns were brass 32 and 42 pounders cast at 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 heavy road do not perhaps turn once in the distance of a hundred yards. The gun is so heaped with baggage of every description that it could not be cleared ready to fire under at least half an hour; nor could any one from its appearance iu its travelling state, were it not for the number of bullocks dragging it, conceive it to be a gun: fifty, sixty 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 (Blaeker, "War", 283). One observer, De la Flotte, who was in the south of

Page 123

Scan of Page  123
View Page 123

ARTILLERY. - HEAVY GUNS. 123 India, from April 1758 to May 1760, declares that Indian cannon, when used in fortresses, were not mounted on carriages: -"they are put on the very embrasure, or they are supported by two great movable timbers (poutres). The balls are of stone, they make many ricochets and then roll a great distance". M. de la Flotte saw at Jinji, the well-known fortress 82 miles s.w. of Madras, one of these pieces, 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 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 feet. Deph of Bore... 15 Diameter at Muzzle.. 1 Diameter of Bore... 6 inches. This cannon, Jahan Kusha, the world conqueror, bore a poetical inscription of eight distiches, to which were added the facts that it was made at Dhakah in Jamadi ii of the eleventh year of Shahjahan (Oct. Nov. 1637), and that it took a charge of 28 sirs of powder. It had been made by the method of welding. When Dara Shukoh was sent against Qandahar in Shahjahan's reign, he cast two great guns at Lhaor, which threw a ball of 1 man 5 sirs (about 90 lbs. English). Their names were Fatl Mubarik (Blessed Victory) and Kishwar Kushae (World Overcomer). He had with him two other

Page 124

Scan of Page  124
View Page 124

124 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. heavy guns, the Qila'h-ktushe (Fort Overcomer) from Dihll and Maryam (Mary?) from Shal (Raverty, "Notes on Afghanistan", 22, relying on the Lataif-ul-Akhbar of Rashid Khan). One of these large guns was to be found at Ahmadnagar in the Dakhin. Fitzclarence, 243, says it was about 25 feet long, 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 "Architecture of Beejeepore", which is declared by those writers to be the largest piece of ordnance in the world. The metal is an alloy of 80.427 parts of copper to 19.573 parts of tin. The dimensions are Diameter at the Breech.. 4 feet, 10 inches. Diameter at the Muzzle. 5,, 5,, Diameter of Bore. 2,, 4,, Length.......14,, 3,, In the "Life and Correspondence of the Right Honble Sir Bartle Frere", i, 56, these is a drawing by him of two large guns that he saw at Bijapur in 1848. One was on the Upari-burj (upper bastion?); the other he calls Mulak Juft. Neither of them was mounted on a carriage. The gun Malik-i-maiddn was cast at Ahmadnagar in 1548, during the reign of Burhan Nizam Shah i, by a Turk named Muhammad, son of Hasan. It was first described by E. Moor, "Narrative", 322, who believed it to have been cast by 'Alamglr in 1097 H. (1685), but the copy of the inscription as given by him, does not bear this out, for it commemorates the capture of Bijapur in that year, 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 Lalm

Page 125

Scan of Page  125
View Page 125

ARTILLERY. - HEAVY GUNS. 125 chkarri, which Moor translates "the far-flyer" (perhaps from lamchhar (Shak. 1795), a long musket, lamchhara, adj. tall). There were also two guns twenty five feet long at Nagpur (Fitzclarence, 108, 244), called by the English Gog and Magog, which were "finer pieces and better proportioned than the one at Ahmadnagar". Fitzclarence also saw, 216, a heavy brass gun mounted on a sort of tower at Daulatabad, and though he did not measure it, he supposed it equal to throwing a ball of sixty pounds. There was also a 24-pounder (id. 218) on a peak at the top, said to have been raised to that position by a European in CAlamgir's reign. At Dihl~, opposite the Lahor gate, he also saw in 1817 a gun of a very large bore. 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, 22} inches in the bore, into which persons can get: the following is a table of its dimensions". TABLE OF DIMENSIONS. DIAMETER OF THE LENGTH OF THE WEIGHT WEIGHT NTURE. WEIGT. OF THE OF THE R. WEIGT. SHOT OF SHOT OF.., IRON. MARBLE. EO lb cP r, P 1500 lbs. cwt. grs. lbs. In. In. In. In. In. In. In. In. lbs. lbs. Brass 1049 1 4 22.5 10.8 46.5 11.3 48.6 51 159 169.5 1497.39 567 Weight in maunds, 1469. Value of the gun, as old brass, in sonaut (sanwat) rupees 53,400; but if serviceable it may be estimated at one lac and sixty thousand. "'This gun was once supposed to contain much gold; and

Page 126

Scan of Page  126
View Page 126

126 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MG)tHIJS_ even as old brass it is valued at ~ 7000; but if serviceable, it may be estimated at about ~ 18,000. It at present (1818) lies near the bank of the Jumnah, outside the wall of the fort. An attempt was made to transport it down to Calcutta". Both 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 Jamnab, 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 I (Major Thorn) last saw it". At Agrah in 1803 Lord Lake also obtained a fine 72 -pouuder 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 geueral of the same manufacture and construction as those taken at Dihl; 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 Lahor. There is the Zamzamah (The Thunderer), one of two cast by a man named Shah Nazir, by order of Shah Wall Khan, prime minister of Ahmad Shah, Abdali, (1747 —1773). It is of brass and was used, so Muhammad Latif says, at the battle of Panipat in 1761, though this is inconsistent with the tarikh it bears (1179 H. or 1765/6). The fellow gun was lost in the Chin.b river; and this one was removed by the Sikh leader, Har Singh, Bhangi, from the village of Khwajah Sa'id, two miles from Lahor, where the Abdali had his arsenal. It bears an inscription of twenty-two lines, of which the last two are:

Page 127

Scan of Page  127
View Page 127

ARTIILLERY. - HEAVY GUMS. 127 Bacd taslim ba gufat: "Top Paikar-i-azhdahde, afas1-baz". (1179 i.e. 1765/6). "After obeisance he exclaimed 'The dragon shaped, firevomiting, cannon'." Its length is 14 feet 41- inches and the diameter of the bore is 91 inches. These is also at Lahor another large gun made in 1182 H. (1768 —9) by Shuja'at Khan, Safdar Jang, a governor of Multan; it bears the name of Kolshikan (The Mountain Destroyer) and weighs 110 maunds (Syad Muhammad Latif, "Lahor", p. 386). Moor, "Narrative", 420, 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 of the 18th century, it 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 for Malik-i-maiddn to be 2646J70 pounds. Sixty eight guns were taken by Lord Lake outside Dihli on the 16th Sept. 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 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 general were those of the French, and the workmanship highly finished. 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 Europeans in the native service. A somewhat later account (1809) of Sendhiah's artillery is found in Broughton, 109. Sendhiah then had 66 guns,

Page 128

Scan of Page  128
View Page 128

128 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. twenty-seven in his own park, ten of large calibre, the rest of various sizes and descriptions. Thirty one guns were attached to his regular brigade; these were all of different sizes, but few were so large as an English six-pounder. Besides these he had eight curricle guns, each drawn by a pair of bullocks: they were very small and were called the "orderly" guns from their following in the Maharajah's retinue. Wooden CGuns. 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" (Kamrwar Khan, entry of 19th Shawwal 1122 H.). Another writer, Ghulam Muhi-ud-din Khan, fol. 37b), tells us that when they were besieged in Gurdaspur in 1715, the Sikhs, though they had the light artillery that they had taken from Wazir Khan, faujdar of Sihrind, Bayazild 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. From these they threw balls of stone and iron. The Mahomedans estimated these make-shift cannon to he about half as effective as the usual kind. A. Demmin "Die Kriegswaffen", 108, speaks of wooden mortars used in Europe 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 1525 the rebellions peasants who besieged their Archbishop in Strasburg were in possession of wooden cannon. They also had leather cannon, such as at a later time were used by the Swedes! Demmin, p. 929, N~. 24bis, has a figure of a wooden cannon from 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.

Page 129

Scan of Page  129
View Page 129

ARTILLERY. - HEAVY GUNS. 129 Ghabarah. According to Steingass, 880, this is a bomb, a mortar for throwing shells. I have only once come across it; Rustam cAll, Bijnori, uses it on fol. 30a of his "History of the Rohelas" (written about 1780): Top, rahkalah, qhiabare, dhamdkah, gajnal, shutarnal, jazdir, sherbache, qainc/h bi6non ke, lekar. Deg (JMortars). We find in the official manuals a class of men among the Ahskhm, styled Deg-andaz, literally "potthrowers". In present usage deg denotes a mortar, and it may have meant the same at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century, when the manuals referred to were drawn up. But it seems to me more probable that these men carried some sort of fire-pot or handgrenade, which they threw when two armies were coming to close quarters. Tzr. This word, literally "arrow", after 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 letters of Chhabilah Ram, Nagar, 'Ajiib-ul-afif, fol. 34b, we have, Hlamrahi-Jidwiyat-irlisdm sih top-i-kamlir, "with this loyal servant are three guns of small calibre"; and again a little farther, upon the same folio, Wa yak zarbi-top-i-kaldn-tir, "and one cannon of large calibre". With its meaning of "cannon ball" we find tir in the expression ltrah-band for "loaded", used by Rustam cAli, Bijnori, in his "History of the Rohelahs", fol. 43b. Miscellaneous. We come now to various instruments, mostly of obscure application and use, which are mentioned here and there by the historians. These are Badalijah, Manjaniq, Sang-racd, Sarkob, Top-i-hawae, fuqiabil-kob, Chadar, Hufqah-i-atash. Most of these are named by Horn, 28, 29, 35. Badalzjah. Steingass, 140, defines it as a sort of cannon. Mhd Kazim uses the form Bdda/ij ('Alamgzr ndmah 98, line 3, ba.arb-i-badalij az pde dar imad). Once Ghulam 9

Page 130

Scan of Page  130
View Page 130

130 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. cAli Khan, Muqaddamah-i-Shah CAlam-namah, fol. 79b) uses this word badalij 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. Manjaniq. This seems to have been in the nature of a catapult. Steingass 1324, defines it, a warlike engine, catapulta, balista, sling a pulley, machine for raising great weights, a crane. Horn, 35, quotes from Elliot, vi, 139, a reference to the use of a manjanzq at the siege of Asirgarh. It is also used in the TarikZ-i-Alfi (Horn 29, Elliot, v, 170). This word was applied to the scaffold raised by some French explorers when examining the upper part of the Naqsh-i-Rustam tombs in Persia, (E. G. Browne, "A year in Persia", 250). angraCd. Steingass, 702, calls this a stone ball for a cross-bow, a stone roller for smoothing flat roofs. Is it not more probably another name for a catapult throwing large stones? Sarkob. Horn, 132, referring to the Akbarnanah, iii, 622, 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, any eminence which commanded a fortress or houses, a citadel". Several of these definitions seem to make it the same thing as siba, which we shall speak of a little further on. The word sarkob for a battering ram is used by Jauhar, Aftabchi, fol. 166, when describing the siege of Chunar in 942 H. (1535). Nizamud-din, Tabaqdat-i-Akbar Sthh, fol. 1516, in his account of the same events calls the ram a muqabil-kob. Yop-i-hawae. Horn, 28, calls attention to a passage in Khafi Khan, ii, 226, where this expression is used. He is writing of Sidi Ya'qut in the Dakhin during cAlamgir's reign (year 1079 H.-1668-9), and he says o tophae /hawie ba-ham rasandah, bar darakht-hae bastah, waqt-i-shab taraf-iDanda Rajpuri atash midad. "Having provided some top

Page 131

Scan of Page  131
View Page 131

ARTILLERY. - HEAVY GUNS. 131 i-hawaae (air guns?) and having fixed them on trees, at night time fired them in the direction of Danda Rajpuri". This is all we know of this mysterious weapon. Chadar. In the Ma,asir-i-'Allamgzr 295, line 13, year 1098 H. (1686), when the army was before Gulkandah, I find this passage, o yak fassuj pes8 qadam na shudan-imardum az barish-i-tufang o ban o chddar o huqqa gqhair az kushtah shudan o zakhmz gardidan maqsad surat nagirifl. "From the rain of matchlocks and rockets and 'chadar' and 'huzqah', the men could not advance a single inch, and no purpose was effected but to be slain or wounded". The context shows that chadar is here something that was fired off, but I do not know what. Elsewhere, as the context shows, the word denotes some kind of tent. As for instance in Ashob, fol. 265a, ha pal wa chadar wa tamba, where chadar cannot possibly mean anything but a kind of tent. I have also seen the word cRadar employed in a way that made it mean a sort of mantlet used as a field protection to gunners. I have mislaid my reference to the passage..Huqqah-i-atash. Horn, 29, refers to Budaoni, i, 376, line 7 from bottom, but I think it must be, i, 371, 372. (Ranking, 482). It 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 chance one of these struck the wall and coming back with force broke in pieces, and the fragments falling on the other huqqahs, set fire to 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.huqqah used in smoking. Steingass, 426, has hufqah-i-ltash, a kind of rocket used in war. Huqqah were used in 1044 H. (1634-5) by the defenders of Dhamoni in Bundelkhand,

Page 132

Scan of Page  132
View Page 132

132 THE ARMY OFE THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Bads8huhnmah, i, part 2, p. 108. The Central Asian word for the same thing seems to have been qarorah, see Mujmilut-tdrikh bacd.Nddirzyah, p. 78, line 13. We meet with another mention of these /huqqah in an account of an assault on Dig by Najaf Khan's troops in 1191 H. (1777), see Khair-ud-din Mhld, CIbratnmah,z, i, p. 425. The Rohelahs scaled the wall by digging their knives into it and helping each other up, then hisairydn, hair'n-i-nairang-irozgar, sabuichahd o haqqah-fihde barl bar sar-i-shan mi andakhtand. "The garrison, harrassed by the instability of fortune, threw on their heads small pots (sabuclhah) and 4.uqqahs of gunpowder". This goes to show they were hand-grenades. The same author, i, 75, speaks on an earlier occasion of the garrison of Patnah in 1173 H. (1759) resisting an assault by sabuchah-i-bariti. There are some farther remarks on the /uqqah under the head of Sieges.

Page 133

Scan of Page  133
View Page 133

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". Another general name sometimes applied to the light field guns is lopkihanah-i-rezah or "small artillery" (Ahwal-ul-khawdqin, 190a). We also find it styled lopkhanah-i-jambishi, "moveable artillery", by Khushhal Chand, Berlin ms. 495, fol. 1144a and elsewhere. But more frequently the reading is lop-khdnah-i-jinsi. We find this in Khafi Khan, ii, 953, where the meaning seems to be "miscellaneous artillery" and in Tarzkh-i-Ahmad Shlih, fol. 124b, under date the 18th JamadI ii, 1167 H., 11th April 1754. In the latter passage the sentence reads - "the jinst artillery, large and small, was ordered to be collected under the Jharokah" (balconied window of the palace). Here it is made to include cannon of all sizes, and is used probably as equivalent to "the artillery attached to the emperor's person". Top-khdnah-i-jilaui, we are told by Colonel Colombari, 36, is the word used by Mirza Mahdi in Jalian kushae Nadiri for "moveable artillery". I have not been able to find the passage intended. But the word is used in Mujmil-ut-ltrzkh bacd Nddiriyah, p. 86, line 9. This division into heavy and light artillery endured up to the end of the Moghul period, but I should describe the Artillery of the Stirrup rather as a subdivision of the Light artillery than as an identical term for it. For instance, distinct from the Artillery of the Stirrup proper, Bernier

Page 134

Scan of Page  134
View Page 134

134 THE ARMY OPF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. tells us that Aurangzib 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". Artillery of the Stirrup. The Stirrup (rikab) was a figurative expression for the emperor's immediate entourage. To be at Court was to be ha/zir-i-rikc6b, "present with the Stirrup". The artillery called by this name consisted in Bernier's time (Travels, 218, 363) of "fifty or sixty small field-pieces, all of brass; each piece mounted on a wellmade and handsomely painted 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 the artillery of the stirrup. When he resumes his journey in the morning and is disposed to shoot or hunt in game preserves, the avenues to which are guarded, it moves straight forward 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 CAlamglr's reign and until European ideas were introduced towards the end of the 18th century, I do not find mention anywhere else that cannon were dragged by horses. Either oxen or elephants were used, to the exclusion of horses. Narnes for Light Cannon. For the lighter guns we come across many names, several of which are probably different words for practically the same thing. The names that I

Page 135

Scan of Page  135
View Page 135

LIGHT ARTILLERY. 135 have collected are 1) Gajndl, 2) Hathinal, 3) Shularnal, 4) Zamburak, 5) Shldin, 6) Dhamnkah, 7) RdmjanakZ and 8) Rahkalah. There is also a word rahrau (literally, "mover, traveller") used on fol. 100b of the Tarizkh-i-Alam#ngr Sanz. 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 (jinsz) artillery". In reality there seem to have been only two classes of light artillery, which may be designated respectively, (I) Swivel-guns or Wall-pieces, (II) Field pieces. The distinction lies in the fact that the first class, the smaller pieces, were carried on the backs of animals, while the second were transported on some sort of wheeled carriage. The Rahkalah (N~. 8) represents the second of these classes, and the other seven belong to the first category. 1) Gajnil, 2) Hathndl. The words mean literally "elephant barrel" from H. gaj and H. hathz, elephant, and P. ndl, a tube or gun-barrel; for the former Steingass, 1017, has the alternative form kajnal. They are mentioned in the AJn, i, 113, and were thus called because they were carried on elephants backs. From the Jauhar-i-samsam (Fuller's translation, fol. 50) it would seem that each elephant carried two gajnal 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 purpose soon ceased to be common, as we seldom find any trace of it in the later reigns. The word narnal, literally "male-barrel", quoted by Horn, 28, from the AJn, i, 113, I have never met with in any of the later writers. It was Akbar's name for matchlocks which one man could carry. 3) Shutarnml, 4) Zamburak, 5) Sdhin. These words seem

Page 136

Scan of Page  136
View Page 136

THE ARMY OF THE iNDIAN MOGHULS. all three to refer to the same weapon, what we should call a swivel-gun or wall-piece. Shutarnal is literally "camel-gun barrel", and denotes the fact that they were sometimes carried on and fired from camels' backs. Zamb6rak is derived from zambdr, 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. Shadin, literally "falcon", seems a later name for the same thing; a name which was brought into India by Nadir Shah (1738-9) or Ahmad Shah, Abdali (c. 1760). Horn, 28, refers to it, quoting from Dowson's Elliot, viii, 398, a passage in Nigarnanma/-i-Hind of Sayyad Ghulam cAll. See also W. Egerton, 29. An anonymous Indian writer (laqain-i-diyar-i-maghrib) describing the Durrani empire in 1212 H. (1797-8), writes of "the shahzn-khanah, which are also called zamb6rak". The name shhizin may have been a translation of the European "falconet". Colonel F. Colombari "Les Zemboureks", Paris, 1853, p. 28, says it was the Afghans of Qandahar who first fixed the zamburark 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 shularndl, 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 later observer gives a different account of their use (Seir, i, 250, note 34). "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 ground; but to prevent his rising, each leg is fastened, bent

Page 137

Scan of Page  137
View Page 137

LIGHT ARTILLERY. 137 at it is, with cord, and the animal remains immoveable". According to Jonas Hanway, "Revolutions of Persia", 3d ed. 1762, ii, 153, this method was also adopted by the Persians for their "harquebuses". "Each of these pieces, with its stock, was mounted on a camel, which lay down at command; and from the backs of these animals, trained to this exercise, they charged and fired these arms". Mundy, 215, states the way of using the camel-gun differently: "the gun revolves on a swivel fixed on the pummel of the saddle, and the bombardier, sitting astride behind it, loads and fires with wonderful quickness". This refers to Sendiah's army in 1828. 6) Dhamakah. In one or two places I find Dhamakah mentioned along with rahkalah, as for instance in Jauhari-samsam, fol. 155a and Kamwar Khan, 227 (year 1132 H.). The word is used in the JAn, i, 115, N~. 39, for some kind of matchlock. But it was probably applied in later times to a small field piece of the same kind as the rahkalah, although I am unable to tell in what particulars they differed. The word is, of course, the Hindi dhamakah, the sound made by any heavy body falling on to the ground. I recollect, in a case of murder brought before me, that this word was applied to the thud made by a dead body falling into a well. Shakespear does 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 field piece. 7) Ramjanaki. Another unusual word for some sort of light field-piece is ramjakz or ramjanakz (Jauhar-i-samnsam, fol. 155a). I also find the word used during the period 1134 —1147 H. in the Ahwal-i-khawaqin, fol. 2166, where I read it Ramchangi. It is given as Rdmjangz on fol. 8a

Page 138

Scan of Page  138
View Page 138

138 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. of the Hidayal-ul-quwazd of Htidayat-ullah, Bahari, composed in 1128 H. I cannot suggest even a derivation for the name. Organ (Arghlun). "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 II. Compton's "Military adventurers", p. 61. Steingass, 38, has, Greek, 0sij an organ, or o:~. Mr. Compton suggests the comparison with a mitrailleuse. Chalanz. This is a word used by Rustam 'Ali, Bijnori, in his "History of the Rohelahs", fol. 17a: hukm tai yari saz caraq, rahkalah, chalanz, gajnal, shularnal ka. Evidently from the collocation of words it is some sort of offensive weapon. But as to what it is the dictionaries give no help; and I have not met the word elsewhere. Field Pieces. We come now to the second class of light artillery, that of field pieces mounted on wheeled carriages. Of the further subdivision of this branch into ordinary field artillery and artillery of the stirrup we have already spoken. I have not come across any description of the pieces in purely Moghul times, but Fitzclarence, 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 six-pounders, but they are so thick that till I looked at the bore I thought they were six and nine. Six tumbrils with their bullocks fell into our hands, with much ammunition and great stores of balls, grape and chain-shot. They appeared to be very careless with their powder, as large quantities of it lay loose near the guns... The carriages of the guns and tumbrils have hands painted on them in red, and the only explanation I could get of the emblem, used here as well as on the colours, is that it is meant for pujah (worship)" 1 ' On the significance of the open hand as an emblem much light is thrown in a learned article by the late Mr. O'Neill in the "Pall Mall Magazine" for June 1895, pp. 59-72.

Page 139

Scan of Page  139
View Page 139

LIGHT ARTILLERY. 139 Thirteen of the four-pounders taken from the Mahrattas outside DihlM in September 1803 were of a similar make, namely, they were iron cylinders or bores over which it would seem the metal was run in casting the piece, "the adherence being so close that no chasm appeared, and nothing but the different colours of the two metals discovered the junction. The iron cylinder or bore was composed of four longitudinal pieces of hammered iron, remarkably close and neatly fitted throughout the bore" (Thorn, "War", 117). Here again we have to remember that these guns were most probably produced in workshops superintended by the Frenchmen in the Mahratta service. Rahkalah. In all histories of the later Moghul period we find a word rahkalah used in connection with artillery. Literally it means a cart (Shakes. 1203, Hindi). The word rahkalah may be heard to this day in the Upper Duab applied to the smallest size of bullock-cart, one having a platform or body and wheels, but no sides. This cart, also called a larri, 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 Bombay for a country cart 1. But in historical works it means a field piece or small gun, including of course the vehicle for its transport. These guns were drawn by bullocks. No doubt, as a passage in the Akhbar-i-muhabbat, p. 277, would show, rahkalah was strictly speaking the name of the gun-carriage only: lHar do dast dar zer-i-rahkalah burdah, top ra ba rahkalah la s&nah barddsht, "Bringing both hands beneath the rahkalah, he lifted both gun (top) and carriage (rahkalah) as high as his chest". In ordinary I 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 reklas (small bullock carts)". Apparently these reklas 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).

Page 140

Scan of Page  140
View Page 140

140 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. circumstances no such distinction was made, and when we read of the number of top and rahkalah in an army, we understand thereby so many siege-guns and field pieces. The word arabah is distinctly used for a field piece in line 1317 of the Hindi poem by Shridhar Murlidhar of Prag on the battle between Farrukhsiyar and Jahandar Shah, composed c. 1712; Ws aiT chMT W3 ET tToT TF HE q7if-;TQ EFiT "ka-ka-kr-kad-kar" son arabe chhuten, tat pakani (tpki But more frequently he uses the word rahkala. Another 1 Sth century poet, Lal, in his Chhatar-prakash (p. 267, dorha 15, line 2) also uses arabe as the name of a swivel-gun: STO rrT 7T f ITR Goli-gold chhutat arabe. Calling the whole thing a cart (rahkalah or Cardbah) is only equivalent to our saying a "gun", when we mean the gun with its carriage, or the Indians saying chakra, a wheel, when they mean a cart. In all three cases the name of a part is used to express the whole of a thing. '4rdah/-top. This is the name used in Khurasan for what must have been a field-piece, that is, in other words, a rahkalah. It is used by Mahmud-ul-Munshi in his Tdrikh-i-Almad ShlaTi, fol. 196 and elsewhere. Qasarah. This weapon, evidently meaning some sort of field piece, is mentioned by the author of the Husain S/ihi, fol. 716 and elsewhere, as forming part of the equipment of the Durrani armies. Remarks on use of the words "'arbah" and "rahkalah". I have not traced back the first adoption, in the secondary sense of a field piece, of a word originally meaning a cart. Either the usage was of Indian origin and of a date anterior to Babar's time; or it might have begun with the translation of a Turkish or Arabic word already in use in the Chaghatae army. The former is, I think, the preferable opinion.

Page 141

Scan of Page  141
View Page 141

LIGHT ARTILLERY. 141 Thus Babar in his "Memoirs" uses a word which also means originally a cart, the Arabic word 'arabah. 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 garden (lit. wheel) for the same thing? See Tarikh-i-Rashzdi, ed. Elias and Ross, 474. 'Arabah. Does Babar by this word mean nothing but a cart, or does he include in it the field piece also? The question is an interesting one. When recounting his preparations for the battle of Panipat in April 1526, Babar, "Memoires", P. de C., ii, 161, tells us that he ordered his men to bring as many Carabalh as they could, and they collected seven-hundred. These were bound together with strips of hide, and in the intervals palisades of some sort (turah) were erected, the whole forming a kind of stockade or field protection. How, then, should we translate here the word 'arabah? Literally it is, of course, cart; 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 PSnipat". Pavet de Courteille admits that a cart ('arabah), being used to transport a field piece, could also be described as a "gun-carriage". 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 is, 'arabah (P. de Courteille, "Memoires", ii, 161, 376). Elphinstone, "History", 363, following W. Erskine in his later work on Babar and Humayun, i, 433, writes, "linked his guns together by ropes of twisted leather". Looking to the small size of these Rahkalahs, throwing

Page 142

Scan of Page  142
View Page 142

142 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. 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 that of Leyden, Erskine, Elphinstone and H. M. Elliot is more likely to be correct. We may safely believe, I think, that by 'ardbah Babar meant not only a cart, but a cart with the small gun carried on it. The only difficulty is that in other passages Babar combines with the word 'arabah (cart) the word zarb-zan (lit. "blowstriker") to designate the gun itself ("Memoires", P. de C., ii, 168, 336), and therefore, it may be argued, he would mean by 'arabah, used by itself, a cart and nothing more. But these very passages, where zarb-zan occurs, may be turned round to strengthen the argument in favour of Carabah 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 Panipat? 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 Carabah, with which he formed his first line of field defences in preparation for the battle. This operation of entrenching the artillery and chaining the guns together, was a common device in the battles of later times. And we may infer that what his successors did so often afterwards, was what Babar did at Panipat, that is, he placed his artillery in front of his force in a long line, and there partially entrenched it 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 1trahi, t', or tobrah, a '. First of all, which is correct, tirah or lobrah? The latter form is that used

Page 143

Scan of Page  143
View Page 143

LIGHT ARTILLERY. 143 by Nizam-ud-din, Tabalqt-i-Akbar S/,ni, fol. 141a, followed by his friend, cAbdul-qadir, Budaoni, (Bibl, Ind. i, 334, line 4). It does not seem to be a scribe's error, for in that case it would not have been adopted by a contemporary, Budaoni, without any question. It is strange that Nizamn-ud-din Bakhshi, a soldier, a man highly placed at Akbar's court, and living barely two generations from Babar's time, should have misread Babar's "Memoirs", from which, as is quite evident, he derived his information about the battle of Panipat. Yet all 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 Turki Babarnamah owned by Mr. Sayyad All BilgramT, fol. 2646, line 6, has turn twice in the same line; Ilminsky's Turkish text, p. 341, four lines from foot, has 1tri twice; the Bombay lithographed edition of the Persian text, p. 173, has turah. In the Akbarnnmah (Lucknow edition i, 74, line 2), Abul 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", i, 433, Erskine practically adheres to this version. To sum up, there can be little doubt, I think, that the word Babar used was turah and not tobrah. 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 obvious term, tobrah, a nose-bag. Although he thus obtained a word more definite in meaning than the other, one asks in astonishment how leather nose-bags could be converted into breast-works or palisades or shields? Here the ingenuity of 'Abd-ul-qadir, Budaoni, comes to the rescue. In his Muntakhab-ut-tawdrzkh, Bib. Ind., i, 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

Page 144

Scan of Page  144
View Page 144

144 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. carts (arabah), six or seven nose-bags (tobrah) full of earth (pur-i-khad) were arranged". Being furnished by Nizamud-din with the word lobrah, a nose-bag, he at once invented the earth with which he filled them, in order to make the use of such an unsuitable article somewhat more plausible. Of nose-bags there must have been plenty in an army consisting nearly entirely of cavalry, but even four thousand nine hundred of them (700 X 7) would furnish a very sorry protection to the soldiers, and if filled with earth could not be carried "raised in the air" as the tiural occasionally was. Sir H. M. Elliot, "Mahomedan Historians", vi, 469, accepts Budaoni's version as quite satisfactory, and as affording a gratifying explanation of the use to which the nose-bags were put: see Dr. Horn, 74, 75, who gives the references just quoted, which I have verified. Colonel Ranking, i, 439, I am glad to see, takes the view that I do, namely, that tobrah is a wrong reading for tlrah. The difficulty about carrying in the air also throws doubt on D. Price's ("Retrospect", iv, 678) and H. Beveridge's (Akkbarnamah i, 242) rendering of "gabion"; although in fairness, one is bound to admit that this word fits better than any other the description of the tirah as used by Babar at the battle of Panipat. At times the leather nose-bags (tobral) were, however, put to strange uses, as can be seen in the Tarikh-i-EHusain Shali, fol. 39a. At the end of 1760, during one of the encounters which preceded the crowning victory of Panipat, Shah Pasand Khan, generalissimo of Ahlmad Shah, Durrani, was seated on the edge of a well, cleaning the blood from his sword, when Shujac-ud-daulah's retinue passed by. On the Nawab congratulating him, the general asked, "How many infidels thinkest thou we have slain?" "At the least five thousand", replied the Nawab. The Afghan said jokingly, "Give me one rupee each for them, and I will make over to thee twenty thousand heads". Then he shouted to his troopers, and each man as he rode up emptied the heads out of

Page 145

Scan of Page  145
View Page 145

LIGHT ARTILLERY. 145 his nose-bag at the feet of the Nawab. There were from two to four in each bag. Turah, the meaning of the word. W. Erskine, "Memoirs of Baber", 304, in the passage we have just been discussing, translates "breastworks", and adds in a note that "the meaning assigned to Turah is merely conjectural". In addition to its use as a term of military art, tsrah has several other meanings, some of which are better known. Steingass, 334, has torah, Turkish, "law, regulation, custom, rite, a law institnted by Changiz Khan". The meaning under discussion he gives on the same page under the form of turd. But he does not seem to have the not unusual one of "scion of a royal house", (especially when set up as a claimant to the throne), see Pavet de Courteille, "Dict." 224. In this last sense Indian writers use the word whenever the occasion arises. For one instance among many, Muhammad Qasim, Aurangabadi, applies it in his Ahwal-i-khaiwaqn, 1726, to the pretender, Prince Nekusiyar. The above three meanings can easily be derived from the Arabic word t, "Anything behind which shelter can be taken" (Kazmirski, ii, 1516). The same word, with quite a different meaning, turns up in the Bads8dhnamah, ii, 208, year 1051 H. (1641-2). It is used there for a gift made to the widows of Yamln-ud-daulah, and is explained as being "nine pieces of unsewn clothing". According to Platts, "Dictionary", 342, this 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 Tarikh-i-'Alamgir Sani, year 1171 H., folios 1736, 175a and 176b. As a military term, what then was a turah or tura? In the passage having reference to the battle of Panipat, Pavet de Courteille, "Memoires", ii, 161, translates "sorte de palissades". In his "Dictionnaire Turc-Oriental", 225, the same author defines the turah 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

Page 146

Scan of Page  146
View Page 146

146 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. memoirs. For instance, "the infantry marched in front, their turah raised in the air" (P. de C., i, 150, Ilminsky, p. 86, six lines from foot, Erskine, 74), and "orders were given to prepare turat and ladders, and also all that is necessary for the turah, without which a town cannot be taken by assault" (id. ii, 328). The exact kind of thing intended is thus left extremely vague, as is shown by Pavet de Courteille's alternatives ("Memoires", ii, 328) "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 it was usually what European military writers would call a mantlet (see Lake, "Sieges", 216, note). Apparently the same sort of thing was used by the Mahrattahs at the siege of Karnala in 1670, where "they advanced by throwing up..... boards which they carry before them", Grant Dnff, 110, quoting the Bombay Records. Quatremere, "Histoire des Mongoles de la Perse", i, 337, note, also holds that the turah was "une sorte de mantelet", relying on three passages in the Zafarnamnah, two in the Habzb-us-siyar, and one respectively in the Matla'-us-sdadain and the AkbarnamaLh. Muhrah-i-rahkalah. This is an expression used by Mhd Qasim, Aurangabadi A4hwal-i-khawadqn, 210a, for which I can find no meaning in the Persian dictionary. Describing his preparations for resisting an expected night attack of the Mahrattahs, he says, Ba bar janib kih dar-rasand jam'-i mubdrizdn fardhamn daida, muhrah-i-rahkalah ba muqibilat-i-ain nd-pakan bayad kard. From this I infer that it means the nozzle' or mouth of the gun. The same 1 I am indebted to Mr. H. Beveridge for calling my attention to the passage in Quatremere. The work referred to is "Collection Orientale, Manuscrits inedits de la Bibliotheque Royale - Histoire des Mongoles de la Perse, ecrite en Persan par Raschid eldin, publiee, traduite en frangais, accompagnee de notes et d'un memoire sur la vie et les oeuvres de l'auteur", par [Etienne Marc] Quatremere, Vol. i, folio, Paris, 1836. The Persian title is Jimi'-ut-tawdarkh.

Page 147

Scan of Page  147
View Page 147

LIGHT ARTILLERY. 147 word is used, id. 1266, where it evidently means "chessman". J. Shakespear, 2003, gives muhrz (which he derives from munh, face) as the bore of a gun. This must be Mhd 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? Khushlhl Chand, Berlin Ms. 1004b, uses the expression az?muhrah-i-bandiq mnajruh gas8/tah: and again id. 1015b (twice) and 1019a. In the second of these four cases the word seems to refer to the mouth of the cannon; in the first, third, and fourth, to the ball or bullet itself. Ashob, fol. 262b, uses Muhrahl quite plainly for the muzzle of a gun. He tells us that in 1739, during Nadir Shah's general slaughter in Dihli, having no weapons to defend their warehouses, some merchants resolved on frightening the Persians into leaving them unmolested. They removed the poles and bambus from their thatched roof, laid them on the walls and the top of the gate, with their ends toward the street, so that they looked like the barrels of matchlocks or wallpieces, with their muzzles (nuhrah) showing. Ban (Rockets). Dr. Horn speaks of these on p. 39 of his treatise. Some form of rocket or fire-arrow was in use among Hindus from very early times. The word ban is said by Steingass, 152, to be from vdna, Sanskrit for an arrow. But takhsh used for a rocket in Elliot, "M. Hist.", iii, 439, (zalfuzat-iTaimiur), as quoted by Egerton, 17, is not found in any modern work. In the,Jn, i, 110, N~. 13, we have tak/sh karnar, but that is explained as a small bow, while rockets appear as ban, NO. 77, p. 112..fuqqah-i-dtash, defined by Steingass, 426, as a kind of rocket, has been placed by me under mortars, which see, ante p. 129. The stick of a rocket was apparently called chhari (H. a stick), see Khafi Khan, ii, 304, line 15, year 1095 H., sadmah-i-chobc/iharzi-ban ba dahan-i-i raszdah b6d: "He had received a blow on the mouth from the stick (chob-c/thari) of a rocket". In Tdrikhz-i-'Alamgzr Sani, fol. 152a, we have a word

Page 148

Scan of Page  148
View Page 148

148 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. descriptive of some portion of a rocket, which reads ~L., pilak, but must be intended, I think, for lKs, pnyqa, "a hollow tube", Platts, "Dictionary", 281. A thing called qainchi-i-ban is mentioned twice in the Ahiwal-i-khawadql (209b, 219b) and Khushhal Chand speaks of Mahabat Jang, governor of Bengal, having with him in 1155 H. (1742) two thousand qaichi-i-ban [addir-uz-zamdinm, Berlin Ms. N". 495, fol. 1128a]. See also Ashob, fol. 110a, and again 122a, who uses the word qaichz when writing in 1198 -1199 H. of the events of 1150 H. I am not able to say what this was; but I guess it to have been a tripod or support from which the rocket was fired. Steingass, 997, gives qainchi, scissors. Perhaps, however, it is only one of the descriptive words so often used, like zanjir with elephants or ras with horses; in that case it adds nothing to the meaning. Another obscure name, in connection with rockets, ka/ak-banuda, is found in the Akbarndama (Lucknow edition, iii, 19, line 9). The only suggestion I can offer is, that it refers to the screaming noise made by some special kind of rocket, and that the word is, H., kuhuk, the cry of the koil, or scream of the peacock. Rockets were an invariable part of the equipment of a Moghul army. Bernier, 48, speaks of their being used by Dara Shukoh at the battle of Sam-ugarh in 1658, and references to them might be multiplied almost indefinitely. Ashob, fol. 241a, speaks of the great number of rockets which fell into Nadir Shah's hands with the rest of Muhammad Shah's artillery in 1152 (1739). The rocket, according to this writer, was invented and first used in the Dakhin. 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 carts drawn by two or four bullocks, each cart carrying fifteen rockets, besides the necessary attendants. 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

Page 149

Scan of Page  149
View Page 149

LIGHT ARTILLERY. 149 patam 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 No. 77 of the list of weapons in the AJn, i, 112, 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 K6telar, in his procession into Lhaor in 1712 (Valentyn, iv, 283). We possess several descriptions of the rocket. Moor, 509, quoting Major Dirom, says "the rocket consisted of an iron tube of about a foot long and an inch in diameter, fixed to a bambi rod of ten or twelve feet long. The tube being filled with 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, who move in great bodies; but are easily avoided or seldom take effect against our troops, who are formed in lines of great extent and no great depth". They are thus spoken of by an anonymous European, writing in French about 1767, Orme Mss. 4307, "Fouquets (ban), a species of rocket or pipe of iron filled with fine powder well rammed, and tied to long sticks. They make a great noise in the air. They are used to throw at crowds and to embarrass cavalry, but it is 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

Page 150

Scan of Page  150
View Page 150

150 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. by Captain Thomas Williamson, 62, "Bans are not very safe engines, being apt to turn back on those who use them. They are much employed among the native powers. The contrivance is very simple, being nothing more than a hollow cylinder of iron, about ten inches or a foot long, and from two to three inches in diameter, closed at the fore end, and the other having a small aperture for filling. These cylinders are tied strongly to ladhies, or bamboo staves, six or seven feet long, parallel to the thickest end of the bamboo. The fuze at the vent is lighted, the direction is 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 cavalry is wonderful! When it does fall where intended its effect is inconceivable; all fly 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 delicate, indeed, is the management of this tremendons weapon, that without great precaution, those who discharge them are not safe, and it requires much practice, not only to give them due elevation, by which their distance is proportioned, but to ensure that they shall not, in the very act of discharging, receive any improper bias, which would infallibly produce mischief among the party". M. Wilks, "Hist. Sketches", ii, 27, note, says "The Indian rocket derives its projectile force from the same composition which is used in the rockets of ordinary fire works; the cylinder which contains it is of iron; and sometimes gunpowder at its extremity causes it to explode when it has reached its object: a straight sword blade is also not unfrequently affixed to the rocket; an attached bambu or reed steadies its flight; the rocket men are all trained to give them an elevation proportioned to the varying dimensions of the cylinder and the distance of the object to be struck: as those projected to any distance describe

Page 151

Scan of Page  151
View Page 151

LIGHT ARTILLERY. 151 a parabola of considerable height, a single rocket is easily avoided, but when the flight is numerous, the attempt would be useless and their momentum is always sufficient to destroy a man or a horse. Such was the ancient Indian instrument, so inferior to the Congreve rocket of modern European warfare". Lastly, Fitzclarence, "Journey", 255, holds that "Rockets were early brought into use and are far from being an ineffectual weapon. 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. Mahtab. On Husain 'Ali Khan's being despatched in 1714 against Ajit Singh of Jodhpur, part of his equipment was 100 Maltab. I am not sure what these were; but as they are named along with rockets, I presume they were some kind of missile. Steingass, 1352, says mahtab is a kind of firework; and J. Shakespear, 2000, has "a kind of fireworks, blue lights", he refers to Qanoone Islam, where mahtab and naqti mahtab appear in the Appendix, p. Ixiv, under fireworks. Powder Magazines. These were called Barut-khanah, see Ghulam 'Ali Khan, Muqaddamah-i- Shah CAamn-ndmah, fol. 38b. Pal-i-siyai. I find this expression twice at least in the Ahwal-i-khawaqin (fols. 2096 and 227a); "The rahkalahs were filled with pal-i-siykh", and it is thus either an explosive or a projectile. In another passage in the same work, 62b, the same word is used, where from the context it ought to mean a copper coin: kharmuhrah, o pal-i-siymah, o zar-i-sufed o zar-i-surkh, i. e. a cowrie, a copper, silver coin, and gold coin. Steingass, 254, has pul, a small coin. Badar. I find this word used in the second of the above passages, badarhle-pal-i-siyah. It was thus something in which the pal-i-siyah was contained. Is it badrah, a bag? (Steingass, 162).

Page 152

Scan of Page  152
View Page 152

CHAPTER XII. PERSONNEL OF THE ARTILLERY. 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 16th century. In the earlier Moghul period, at any rate, the emperors were dependent for their artillery on the help and instruction of Rumis, that is, Mahomedans from Constantinople, or of Farangis, principally run-away sailors from Surat, or Portuguese halfcastes (Horn, 29). Rumi Khan was a well known officer of the first of these classes. Of either the real 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 18th century, can be learnt from the statements in a letter written about that time by the celebrated Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau (R. 0. Cambridge, "War", Introduction, xxix, xxx). Similarly, Haji Mustapha, a very acute observer, remarks about our early successes in Bengal, "But hear a Moghul, or read any of their relations, it seems that the whole revolution hangs on

Page 153

Scan of Page  153
View Page 153

PERSONNEL OF THE ARTILLERY. 153 the Moghols themselves only, and if any mention at all is 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 trader, should kiss his foot, C. R. Wilson, "Early Annals", i, 8. In spite of the almost complete silence of native authors, there is still evidence that up to the middle of the 18th century considerable bodies of Portuguese continued to be enlisted. For instance, we learn that Juliana d'Acosta, a Portuguese lady who held the office of matron of the harem, imported from Goa three hundred Portuguese, for most of whom she obtained employment (Gentil, "Memoires", p. 375). From the Tarzkh-i-Muhammadi (year 1147 H.) we learn that "Julya, a Farangi woman, a doctor and favourite of the deceased Shah CAlam (i. e. Bahadur Shah) and of the reigning emperor, Mhd Shah, died at Dihli in Rablc i, 1147 (August 1734)". Again, Father Tieffenthaler, a Jesuit priest from the Tyrol, spent about sixteen years between 1747 and 1764 as priest in charge of a community of Christians in the imperial service, who had settled down in the obscure town of Narwar, 108 miles south of Agrah, (Bernouilli, "Recherches sur l'Inde", i, 175, and pp. 4, 5 of author's preface). There are other scattered notices about Europeans employed in the artillery. Bernier, 217, (Horn, 32) says "But the artillerymen receive great pay, particularly all the Farangis or Christians; Portugueze, English, Dutch, German, and French, fugitives from Goa and from the Dutch and English companies. Formerly, when the Mogols were little skilled in the management of artillery, the pay of the Europeans was more liberal, and there are still (1658) some remaining, who receive two hundred rupees a mouth, but now the king ('Alamgir) admits them with difficulty

Page 154

Scan of Page  154
View Page 154

154 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. into the service and limits their pay to thirty two rupees" 1 Bernier also mentions, 73, 93, that the garrison of Bakkar in Sind had, in 165S, artillerymen who were Portuguese, English, French and German. They had been entertained by Dara Shukoh. And in describing the battle of Hasanpur in 1133 H. (1721) Khushlhal Chand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 1015a, speaks of the "skilful Europeans" (Farangiyan-i-chlbzuk-dast) who worked the guns. Later again, in 1750, the principal artillery officer of Nazir Jang, s6bahdar of the Dakhin, was an Irishman (Cambridge, "War", 67); We learn also from the.Husain Sh/iii, fol. 34b, that in 1760-1 most of Sendhiah's gunners were Europeans (Nasar-i-Flarang); and Gentil, "Memoires", 285, asserts that at the battle of Katrah in 1774, Hafiz Ralhmat Khan's artillery was commanded by a Spaniard. So late as 1815 the Nizam had some Portuguese artillerymen in his service. "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 a dust, the air resounded with acclamations in praise of the old Portuguese, who seemed in no small degree flattered thereby" (Lake, "Sieges", 16, note). Mfir Atash. At the head of the artillery was one of the great officers of state, the Mir Atash (Lord of Fire), or Darogqah-i-topk/_anah (Superintendent of the Cannon department). 8ometimes, as in Jahandar Shah's reign (1712), we read of two such officers, one at the head of all the artillery, and the other in special command of the light artillery attached to the emperor's person. These men were mansabdars, graded in the usual way according to their services or the favour in which they stood. But the rest 1 See further on under Ahsham for much lower rates, Rs. 8, 6}, down to 51 a month. G. Careri, 244, copies the above passage, except that he interpolates a statement that the heavy artillery especially was in the hands of Frank or Christian gunners, and that the Europeans entered through Goa or absconded from warships.

Page 155

Scan of Page  155
View Page 155

PERSONNEL4 OF THE ARTILLERY 155 of the men on the establishment of the imperial artillery were paid direct from imperial funds, and in this respect were treated differently from the main body of the army, which consisted almost entirely of cavalry, men dependent upon and paid by the chief under whose banner they enlisted. There were, as we know, some bodies of cavalry in direct pay of the emperor, such as the Ahadis, the Wala Shahi and so forth. But all the rest of the men so paid, matchlockmen, artillery-men and artificers, including such an unmilitary class as cotton-carders and such like, seem to have been lumped together under one head as Ahslham. One point that these men had in common appears to have led to this incongruous classification. 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 whom their pay could be disbursed. The Mir Atash had grown into a most important officer; this is borne ont by Khushhal Chand's remark, Berlin Ms., fol. 11336, when Safdar Jang was appointed on the 21st March 1744, that "contrary to former days, the artillery has become the most trusted and favoured corps in the army". Involving as it did the command of the imperial artillery, which was always parked round the fortress or palace or the tents occupied by the emperor, this office carried with it the custody of the emperor's person and the guarding of the palace gates and walls. (Seir ii, 373, note 170, and Maclmat-ul-afdq, fol. 796). 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 by a Mus/irif, or executive officer. The Mir Atash laid before the emperor all demands made on his department; all orders to it passed through him. He checked the pay bills and inspected the diaries of the Arsenal before sending them on to the Khansaman

Page 156

Scan of Page  156
View Page 156

]56 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHUILS. or Lord Steward. He saw to the postings of the artillery force, 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 passed through his hands, all new appointments and promotions were made on his initiative (Das8tr-ul-CAmnl, B.M. 1641, fols. 23b-27b). In dealing with artillery, the subject falls naturally under three heads, 1) Manufacture, 2) Artillery in use, 3) Arsenals or 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 karkhanaja&, belonging to the Imperial Household, which were in charge of the imperial Khansaidn, or Lord Steward; and as Daroghah of the Topkhanah, used in this sense, the 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 of the artillery in use he must have been wholly independent of that official. In earlier days, judging from passages in Babar's memoirs, a Mir Atash was supposed to supervise the casting of cannon. Ustad Quli 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 the cannon-foundry and ordnance store department fell more completely into the hands of the Kl/ansamdan and his officers, while the Mzr Atash confined himself more exclusively to his purely military duties. As for arsenals, magazines, or store-houses of cannon and the other requisites pertaining thereto, these were under neither the IKhansaman nor the Mir Atash. All reserve artillery and stores were kept in certain great fortresses, such as Agrah, Dihli and Lahor, in the charge of the special commandant

Page 157

Scan of Page  157
View Page 157

PERSONNEL OP THE ARTILLERY. 157 (qila'hddr), who was an officer appointed direct from court and in no way connected with or subordinate to the provincial governor (nazim or subahdar). Iazarz. The word hazidr often appears in histories, and from the context I have found that it means an officer of artillery, generally of garrison artillery. The equivalent may be taken to be our rank of captain. Hazarz 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 things intended by the one word could not have been the same. A mansabdar of 1000 was a officer of high, or at any rate of considerable, rank; while Hazards are spoken of in the plural in a way to show that they were numerous and of no great consideration. Some writers, Mirza Muhammad, for instance, in his Tarikh-i-Muhammadz, invariably use for an artillery officer the word mink-bashi where others use Hazari. Ghulam 'Ali Khan, Muqaddamah-i-Slhah 'jlam-nnmah, fol. 64a, also uses that word. Kam Raj, A'zam-ul-harb, fol. 120b, uses both Mink-bashi and Hazdri in the same sentence. The two are equivalent in meaning, for mink-bashi is the Turkish for "Commander of 1000" (mink, 1000, bash, head), See Horn, 14, 136, (Taimar's Ordinances, Davy and White, 231). 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 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 JSn-iAkbari (at least, judging from Blochmann's translation) makes no use of the word Mink-basfi. 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

Page 158

Scan of Page  158
View Page 158

158 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. much prized, they may have been accorded at first the rank of commander of 1000 (i. e. Iink-bas/i or hazdri), and although, as the Indians themselves grew more familiar with the working of artillery, the estimation and market value of an artillery officer diminished, the original name of Hazari or Mink-bads/ may have stuck to the office, after the rank denoted thereby had ceased to belong to it. This designation of Hazari explains the epithet in Blacker, "War", 340, applied to the Mahratta qilachdar or commandant of Mandlak (Central India), viz. Siahib Rae Hazari, or as Blacker spells it, Hazeree. Possibly also Pogson's "Lulloo Hoozooree", commandant of Ajaigarh in Bundelkhand, ought to be Hazarz ("Hist. of the Boondelas", 135). Sadiwdl, Mlirdahah, Sair. These names follow those of the Hlazarz in all the official manuals, and may be taken as equivalent to lieutenant, sergeant, and privates. The etymologies are P. sadi, group of 100, wal H. affix for man, person, possessor; mir contraction of P. mir, lord, master, dahah, a group of 10; sa,ir P. the rest, remainder, the others, i. e. the common gunners, (Davy and White, "Institutes", 232). Kam Raj, z'zan-ul-harb, fol. 120b, has the form sadiddr. Golandaz. When gunners are specifically named this is the designation they receive, and in the Manuals they appear among the Azhshanm. Golandiz literally "ball-thrower", is derived from P. gol, ball, and anddz, the root of P. andakhtan, to throw. We do not know how many men were attached to each gun and it must have varied a good deal, but Horn, 27, suggests sixteen as the average number, by inference from a passage in the Tuzuk-i-Jahlangzr (Lowe, 18, line 9). Ahmad Abdali had two men to each shahin or falconet (Horn, 28, Elliot viii, 398). From Mirza Haidar's account of Humayun's artillery in 1540, it is inferred by Horn, 29, that there was then an average of seven men to a gun (Elias and Ross, 375?). Deg-andaz. These were the men who had charge of and

Page 159

Scan of Page  159
View Page 159

PERSONNEL OF THE ARTILLERY. 159 used the des, which I have mentioned under the head of Heavy Artillery. The name is literally "Pot-thrower", P. deg, a pot, and anddz, throwing. I am not certain whether this means that they had charge of mortars, called degq, or whether they used hand-grenades. The latter would be more near the literal meaning, and I do not think that mortars were at all common in India until introduced by Europeans after the middle of the 18th century. A passage in Fitzclarence, 246, seems to bear out my interpretation of Deg and Deganddz. He says "at times they have recourse to thick earthen-ware pots with fuses and full of powder, the pieces of which wounded dreadfully". Ban-aanddz, Bdn-dar. As these "Rocket-throwers" or "Rocket-holders" are rated separately in the official books, it must be inferred that they existed as a separate body.

Page 160

Scan of Page  160
View Page 160

CHAPTER XIII. AHSHAM. The Ah/shadm is the heading under which the later native writers place all connected with the army, who were neither mans.abddrs, idbzndn, nor ahadis. I retain the heading, with one change only; I place the artillery by themselves, as of sufficient importance for separate treatment. In the yJn, i, 251-254, there is a chapter headed Piyidagan which corresponds generally to the A/.sham 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 and so forth. In the JAn, i, 254, there is a class of troops called Dakhili (extra, additional) which seems no longer to have existed in cAlamgir's reign, at least the name has dropped out of the official manuals. The vague word A8shaim (Steingass, 21, A, pl. of.Hasiam) is defined in the dictionary as servants, domestics, followers, attendants, retainers, a kind of militia or armed police. In the official manuals (Dastur-ul-C'Aml) it comprehends the infantry, the personnel of the artillery, the artificers, and the attendants on the court. The incident of service which was common to all these men, and caused their inclusion under one head, was the fact that they were all borne direct 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

Page 161

Scan of Page  161
View Page 161

AHSHAM. 161 anomalous classification of the artillery as part of the Household in Book i of the 4)-n, instead of with the rest of the army in Book ii, 4An 1 to 10. I have also found Ahsham used with three more restricted meanings: 1) The light artillery which attended the emperor's person wherever he went were called the Ah4hsnam (iMirai-ul-Istila.h, fol. 5b). This artillery is described by Gemelli Carreri, French ed., iii, 244, and by Bernier, 217, 363, who calls it "artillery of the stirrup" (i. e. rikab); 2) the word Ahsham is used constantly in the 18th century for the gunners of the garrison artillery; and 3) we find Ahsham used as a general term for petty zamindars serving in any campaign, and the half-armed militia or levies which they brought in their train. Khafi Khan, ii, 953, names the daroqgha-i-a8hsadm separately, between the mir atash and the darogqhah-i-topkhanah-i-jinsi, which would make the Ah4ham something distinct from both the artillery generally and the light artillery. Infantry. As already stated, this arm of the service held a very inferior position and was of little or no consideration (Bernier, 219). Writing about 1760, and referring more particularly to the south, De la Flotte, 258, says that the less numerous body gave way at the first meeting, especially infantry before cavalry; "nay, seldom would 50,000 infantry stand before 20,000 cavalry". Another observer, Orme, "Hist. Frag.", 417, says the infantry consisted in a multitude of people assembled together without regard to rank or file: some with swords and targets, who could never stand the shock of a body of horse; some bearing matchlocks, which in the best of order can produce but a very uncertain fire: some armed with lances, too long or too weak to be of any service, even 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 perquisite to their commanders, who received a fixed sum 11

Page 162

Scan of Page  162
View Page 162

162 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. for every man, and hired every man at a different and less price. In short, the infantry were more a rabble of half-armed men than anything else, being chiefly levies brought into the field by petty zamindars, or men belonging to the jungle tribes. Any Mahomedan or Rajput, who respected himself, 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 4jn-i-Akbari, can only be accepted under considerable reservation. These numbers can only represent the men called on to render strictly local duty, and they must have consisted almost entirely of villagers armed with long pikes, or swords and shields, perhaps even with only an iron-bound bambu staff (Ilat/). Bernier tells us, 217, that the foot soldiers received the smallest pay: "and to be sure, the musketeers cut a sorry figure at the best of times, which may be said to be when squatting on the ground and resting their muskets on a kind of 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. Some have twenty rupees a month, some fifteen, some ten". And again, 219, (a passage copied almost word for word by Gemelli Careri, iii, 244); "I have said that the infantry was inconsiderable. I do not think that in the army immediately about the king the infantry can exceed 15,000, including musketeers, foot-artillery, and generally every person connected with that artillery. From this an estimate may be formed of the number of infantry in the provinces. I 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

Page 163

Scan of Page  163
View Page 163

AHSHAM. 163 the troops. Including these followers, I can well conceive that the army immediately about the king's person, particularly when it is known that he intends to absent himself some time from his capital, may amount to two or even three hundred thousand infantry. This will not be an extravagant computation, if we bear in mind the immense quantity of tents, kitchens, baggage, furniture, and even women, usually attendant on the army". Nagas. These bodies of so-called Hindu devotees were common in the armies of the 18th century, and I believe that to this day the Rajah of Jaipur entertains a large number of them. There was a corps of them in the Audh service from about 1752 to the end of the century. The last leader of these was Rajah Himmat Bahadur, whose 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, lxxv, 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 SUgar; "they are all of them tall, stout, well-limbed men, in general stark naked, but very well armed" (Dalrymple's "Oriental Repertory", ii, 239). A description of a corps of these Nagas commanded by a disciple (chela) of Himmat Bahadur, and then in the employ of Daulat Rao, Sendhiah, well be found in Broughton, "Letters", 96, 104, 106, 123. Blacker, "War", 22, says the "Gossyes" i.e. Gusains or Nagas, "have always been considered good troops".

Page 164

Scan of Page  164
View Page 164

164 THE AMRY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. 'Algqhol. In the later years we find a class of troops known as Alzghlol, who from one passage (Fraser, "Skinner", ii, 75, 76) would seem to have been the equivalent of the g.qazis, as we now style them, so frequently heard of on our Afghan frontier. Fraser defines them as "a sort of chosen light infantry of the Rohilla Patans: sometimes the term appears to be applied to other troops supposed to be used generally for desperate service". They are also mentioned in V. Blacker, "War", 23. W. H. Tone, 50, makes out the 'Alighol to be one of the divisions of the Nezib (iVNajzb). Silah-posh. In 1799 the Jaipur Rajah had a body-guard of sixteen hundred men, armed with matchlocks and sabres, who were called the silahtposh, no doubt from their being clad in armour (Francklin, "George Thomas", 165). Najib. The word means literally "noble", and Blacker, "WVar", 22, tells us they were irregular infantry, who disdained uniform and carrying a musket, their arms being a matchlock, or blunderbuss, and a sword. They disdained to stand sentry or 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 carried farther and infinitely truer than the firelock of those days. The Najibs was also excellent swordsmen. With regard to the Najibs in the Nawab of Oudh's service in 1780, Captain Thomas Williamson, 124, tells us that they were clothed in blue vests and drawers, furnishing their own arms and ammunition (matchlock, sword, shield, bow and arrows). Their discipline was very contemptible; they answered very well for garrison duty, but could not stand the charge of cavalry, having no bayonets, while their arms were totally unfit for prompt execution. As for the Nawab's troops organized in imitation of the E. I. Company's battalions, they were, even on actual service,

Page 165

Scan of Page  165
View Page 165

AHSHAM. 165 nothing but "food for powder". Such as had bayonets had no locks: those that had hammers to their locks, had no cock, or at any rate the flints were wanting. 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 off, leaving the powder and ball a fixture. A battalion of Najibs could with ease cut to atoms half a dozen of those mock regiments. Pathabaz. The author of the.Husain Shiahi (written in 1212 H., 1797-8) mentions, fol. 34b, that in 1760-1 Sendhiah had several thousand Pathahbiz, "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 patta or straight rapier (see ante p. 77). J)halait. This Hindi word (Platts, 572), meaning literally "shield bearer", I have met with in three writers. Ashob applies it to one of the three foot soldiers who followed SaCd-ud-din Khan, the Mir Atash, when forced in 1151 H. (1738), much against his will, to accompany Nadir Shah's general of artillery into the streets of Dihli, to put the inhabitants to the sword. This ]2halait was sent as a messenger to carry a note to the Wazir, Qamr-ud-din Khan, (Ashob, fol. 256b). The word is also found in Tarzkh-i-'Alazamgr Sani, fol. 136a, referring to the year 1170 H. (1756-7); and in the TahAms-ndmah of Miskin, fol. 49a. Amazons. At the end of the 18th century the Nizam at Haidarabad had two battalions of female sepoys, of one thousand each, which mounted guard in the interior of the palace, and accompanied the ladies of his family whenever 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-pallan or victorious battalion, and the..

Page 166

Scan of Page  166
View Page 166

166 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. women gardanz, a corruption of the word "guard" 1. The pay was five rupees a month (Blacker, 213, note). This Nizam seems to have had a penchant for female warriors. Moor, "Narrative", 117, tells us of an Italian lady, a dancer, who so entranced him, that he conferred on her a title 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 a pas de deux. Full of her new dignity, she objected; and as the Nizam insisted, she resigned her command and retired to Poona. Sihbandi. This was the name for the armed men entertained by local officers when engaged in collecting the land revenue (Dastur-ul-'4Aml, B.M. 6598, fol. 48b). Colonel Sir R. C. Temple ("Calcutta Review", Oct. 1896, p. 406) in an article on the Andaman Sibandi Corps, suggests that this word found its way into Anglo-Indian use from Madras, and that originally it was unknown in Northern India. This opinion seems untenable in the face of the authority above quoted, which belongs to Northern India and is not later than CAlamgir (1658-1707). The word is also used for local levies by 1)anishmand Khan, Bahadur Shah-ndmah (entry of the 12th Shaban 1120 H. -26th October 1708). Or we may go still farther back, to the year 932 H. (1526), when we find it applied by Babar to the Indian levies of Ibrahim Lodi. See the Babarnamah, lithographed text, 174; the bedhindi of Pavet de Courteille, ii, 163, is an obvious misreading. Barqanddz. This name (literally barq, lightening, andaz, thrower), which came to be the commonest name for a foot soldier using a musket, appears rarely, if at all, in earlier writings, unless as a mere metaphor. An early use of it as a name for a matchlock man is found in Ahwal-ikhawain, 209b, (c. 1147 H.). 1 Or perhaps better, "guard" plus the feminine termination ani.

Page 167

Scan of Page  167
View Page 167

AHSHAM. 167 Matchlockmen, Rates of pay. The following table shows the rates of pay for the various classes of the matchlockmen; it may be presumed, perhaps, that the mounted men were in the position of officers, or were perhaps what we should call mounted infantry. First we have the pay of the regular matchlockmen (Bandiqchi-i-jangi or Tufang-chz) who were either Baksariyahs or Bundelahs. Of these some drew rates of pay specially fixed, and entered in the official diary at the time when they were entertained (huknm). The usual rates, which every one else got, were as follows: ASS RANKQadimi Jadidi (OLD). (NEW).,..I Suwiar, (mounted). Piyadah, (foot). Hazari Duaspah (two horsed). Id. Yakaspah (one horsed). Sadi-wal. Mirdahah. Sair (the rest). Rs. 45, 40, 32 Rs. 22, 20, 17 Rs. 9 Rs. 8 Rs. 6, 5I, 5 Rs. 40, 35 Rs. 20, 17. Rs. 8 Rs. 7 Rs. 6 Cash Rs. 6, and conditional jaigr, 8 annas. Akbar's rates for these men, JAn, i, 116, work out as follows: C,ASS. 1st GRADE. 2nd GRADE. 3rd GRADE. 4th GRADE. 5th GRADE. III Mirdahahs Others Rs. Rs. 7) 1st 2nd 3rd 6 6 53 2F Rs. 7 1st 2nd 3rd 51 51 5 T T Rs. 613 1st 2nd 3rd 43 41 41 Rs. 61 1st 2nd 3rd 4 33 31 I 1st 2nd 3rd 3t 3 23 I The later rates for the Mirdahahs would thus appear to have been a little higher than those first fixed; those for the common soldiers, on the whole, much higher.

Page 168

Scan of Page  168
View Page 168

168 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. There are some words which occur in the above which call for some explanation: Baksariyah is a curious word, and suggests to us at its origin the town of Baksar on the Ganges in the Bhojpur country. The region is one which still supplies from its Rajput and Bhuinhar clans the stalwart clubmen of the zamindars in Bengal proper, the door-keepers of private houses in Calcutta, and many of the finest sepoys in our Hindustani regiments. Bhojpur shared with Audh the supply of men to our native army in Bengal from its earliest to its latest days, that is, from the middle of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century. That these men crowded to our standards, as soon as the Company began to raise an army, was due, no doubt, to their having already been accustomed, for generations, to serve as matchlockmen and gunners in the army of our predecessors, the Moghuls. When in 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 to the Proprietors of East India Stock (J. Z. Holwell's India Tracts, 3d ed. 1774), -- "Buckserrias- 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. 1276), 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" (ausl watn-i-Baksariyah-ha). It is strange that they should have been known by the name of the town rather than by that of the subdivision of the country, that is, parganah Bhojpur, sirkar Ruhtas, Subah Bahar (4Zn, ii, 157). We call them nowadays Bhojpuris and not Baksariyah. In the historians belonging to the 18th

Page 169

Scan of Page  169
View Page 169

AHSHAM. 169 century, I find that the men of the garrison artillery are usually designated Baksariyah. Bundelahs. Bundelahs are, of course, the Rajput clan whose home is in the country south of the Jamnah and east of the Betwah river (J. Rennell, "Memoir of a Map...", p. 234, but for the northern limit read Jamnah instead of Ganges). Their appearance in this list shows that originally they were held to be an inferior class of troops, and 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 18th century they played an extremely prominent part, fighting first on the side of the Moghuls and subsequently against them. Arabs. In later times, in the Dakhin at any rate, the best infantry were held to be the Arabs, who received higher 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 Ah.sham were Bhilah, Mewati, Karnataki, Mughal (B.M. 1641, fol. 59b, 60a). For a mention of Bhilah and Karnataki in 1133 H. (1721), see Khushhal Chand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 1013b. The golandaz (golah, ball, andaz, thrower) or artilleryman, the Degandaz (de g, pot, andaz, thrower) and the Bandar (ban, rocket, dar, holder) are included in this section, but 1 have classed them under the head of Artillery. In one battle, that against 'Abdullah Khan, Khushhal Chand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 1013b, speaks of certain men immediately around 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

Page 170

Scan of Page  170
View Page 170

170 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Steingass as "a gamekeeper, a sentinel over the women's apartments". B/ilah. These were men of the wild tribe whose home is in the rugged country between Ajmer and Gujarat. They are described by an 18th century writer, (Anand Ram, Mukhlis, MAiral-ul-Isliah,, fol. 184b) as being in their own country nothing but highway robbers and skilful hunters, wearing clothes mostly of leaves. Their principal weapon, whieh no doubt they brought with them when in the emperor's service, was the long bow of bambu called kamanth, which has been already described (p. 95). Mewdti. These men are further designated Tir-anddz (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 its name from the tribe inhabiting it, the Meos. In the Ijn, i, 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 Mewatis in the 18th 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 Dihii, via Mathura, at all times unsafe; and it was necessary to travel in large parties, or to hire armed men, who were probably themselves Mewatis, on the principle of setting a thief to catch a thief. A good description of the state of things about 1710 will be seen in Yar Muhammad's Dastr'-ul-lnsha, p. 130, 131. The E. I. Company's envoy, Mr. John Surman, who travelled this 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 8th). Karnatakz. These must have been men from the south

Page 171

Scan of Page  171
View Page 171

AHSHAM. 171 of India, the 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 Clive's force sent for the relief of Calcutta, they were known as Talingahs, that is, men of the Talagu country; and Talingah is still the common village word in 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 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 No. 97) when speaking of the army led against Nizam-ul-Mulk by Mubariz Khan, subahdar of Haidarabad, says there were in it 30,000 matchlockmen of the Dakhin known as Kal/a piyadah, (lit. "black foot-soldiers"). These if not identical with, must have been very similar to the Karnitaki. Rawat. This is a name which in Northern India indicates generally any respectable Hindu landholder who is not of very high caste. Mahomedan writers not infrequently apply it to the general body of Mahrattah soldiery, most of whom were of the kumbi caste, for which such an epithet would be appropriate. It is applied in this sense by the author of the zHusain-8hahi to 12,000 men, who served in Sendhiah (Scindiah) Patel's army during the campaign ending in the battle of Panlpat (1760-1761). Bargi. Another general name used by some writers, when speaking of the Mahrattah soldiery, is Bargz. See Ma,&sirul-urnara, iii, 740, line 17, and J. Shakespear "Dict." 319;

Page 172

Scan of Page  172
View Page 172

172 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHUlIS. its use is also referred to in Grant Duff, 37. I do not know the etymology of this word. Mughal. As to these men I can suggest no reason for their appearance in this list of men serving in the infantry, but it is curious to find that there were any Mughals, who would deign to serve in this inferior branch of the service. Farangi. These must have been Europeans serving in the capacity of common soldiers. They were probably for the most part native Christians, or so-called Portuguese, either from Goa, or from the colonies of that nation settled about the mouth of the Ganges and Brahmputra. There may have been among them some fugitive sailors from ships lying at Surat or Cambay. More usually, however, such men entered the artillery. Ashob, fol. 266a, informs us that in 1739 there were still Franks in the Mughal service. They were all Frenchmen, either attached to the artillery or practising as surgeons, bone-setters (shikastahband), or physicians. The chief of them, Farangi Khan and Farashish Khan, were accounted nobles and drew nobles' pay. These 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 (nasaqchi) and in retaliation the colony was wiped out. Pay. The pay of the classes above enumerated is given as follows (B.M. 1641, fol. 596, 60a). The word sair, which I would render "private soldier", will be found used in that sense in the Institutes of Taimur, Davy and White, 232, L,*-j.Lm, "common soldiers".

Page 173

Scan of Page  173
View Page 173

AHSHAM. 173 MOUNTED (Suwar). FOOT (Piyadah). NAME. - REMARKS. HAzaI SADIWAL SADWAL. MIRDAHAH1. iS R. I)UASPAH. YAKASPAH., I Rs. Rs. Rs. R. a. p. R. a. p. Bhilah 52 26 10 8 12 0 6 4 0 Formerly they received rations, but no pay in cash. Mewati 50 25 4 8 0 4 0 0 Receiving rations. / - - 8 6 0 0 5 0 0 Without rations. Karnataki 50 25 8 7 0 0 5 0 0 6 0 0 4 8 0 Mughul - - 8 007 0 0 Farang according 8 6 4 0 6 0 0 to order 5 12 0 Bernier, 217, gives the pay of foot soldiers at Rs. 20, 15, and 10 a month, and the pay of Farangls as Rs. 22 a month. Rations, when issued to the above men, were as follows: Flour (arad), 1- sir, Split peas (dal) X sir, Salt (namak) - of a dam, ghi (roqqan-i-zard), 2 damns. Artificers, or other men classed under Infantry. Of these there were a number, artisans and labourers, who can scarcely be designated soldiers at all; they were really camp-followers, though they may possibly have carried some sort of weapons for their own protection, just as we furnish litter-bearers with swords when on active service. The Beldars were used to make difficult roads passable (Horn, 24, cAlamggr-namah, 653); they also threw up the fieldworks usually made to protect the guns. One duty of the carpenters and axemen was to cut a road through the thorny jungle with which most petty strongholds were surrounded. The use of some of the others, as bearing on the service of the army, are obvious enough; others, less so. Dr. Horn, 24, seems to translate beldar by "beiltrager", a word meaning, I believe, an axeman. But bel is a spade,

Page 174

Scan of Page  174
View Page 174

174 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. hoe, or mattock, and a beldar is a digger up of earth, an excavator, not an axeman. The following table gives the names and pay of some of these artificers (B.M., 1641, fol. 60b). Many of the words I am unable to make out. NAME. CLASS. REMARKS. PERSIAN. ENGLISH. SUWAR. PIYADAH. YAKASPAH. Kahardah Turan H Hindustana Najjar Basali Ahangar Dhunah Badaha Sahalki Khor bahliyah Sang-laraish * Mochi Atashbaz Kharati Arah-kash Beldiar Naqb-kan Tabrdar Salotri - ( Carpenters ( Blacksmiths Cotton-carders Stone masons Leather workers Firework makers Turners Sawyers Diggers Miners Axemen Farriers Rs. 40 as ordered) as ordered) as ordered) Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. 14, 11, 7 8, 7, 6, 5! 15 8, 7, 5 10 I Rs. 20, Rs. 15 Rs. 6, 61, 6 Rs. 6 Rs. 6, 5 Rs. 8, 7 Qadim, Rs. 9 Usual, Rs. 8, 7 Rs. 8, 7, 6 Rs. 8 Rs. 7, 6, 5 Rs. 7 Rs. 6 (blank) Rs. 4, 4 4 Mirdahah, Rs. 5 [ Private, Rs. 41 An armourer'? Steing. l87, Basal, an iron helmet, Ifusufi (double?) Rs. 9: Baheliyah, a bird snarer? 17

Page 175

Scan of Page  175
View Page 175

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 CAll Khan, when he re-entered Dih1 on his return from the Dakhin, had forty gaynal elephants, which each carried two soldiers and two pieces, Jauhar-i-Samnin, Fuller's translation, fol. 50. Again, when 'Abdullah Khan, Qutb-ul-Mulk, was made prisoner at the battle of Hasanpur, a gajnal elephant was ordered up, and seated on it the prisoner was carried before Muhammad Shah (Jauhar-i-Samsrm, fol. 158a, and Fuller's trans., fol. 76). To the last some elephants protected by armour were brought into the battle-field. But their use was confined almost entirely 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.

Page 176

Scan of Page  176
View Page 176

176 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. In the day of battle elephants were provided with armour, called pkhAar, Jyn, i, 129, N~. 21. This was made of steel and consisted of separate pieces for the head and trunk. In one place, A.wdal-i-khawagqn, 2186, I find the epithet bargustluwan-posh applied to armour-clad elephants. Again Ghulam 'All Khan, Muqaddamnah, 346, applies the word kdjini to elephant armour in general, and defines bargustuwan, as a protective covering adjusted on the trunk of an elephant when going into battle. The rest of the complicated gear used in connection with elephants is set out in detail in the JTn, i, 125-130. Besides their own armour, the riding elephants carried on the day of battle an armour-plated, canopied seat, called an 'imri, of which the sides were some three feet high. The prince or noble took his seat in this, and was thus protected with the exception of his head and shoulders from all distant attack (Mirat-ul-Lstilah, 207b). We are told by Haji Mustapha, Seir, ii, 301, note 140, that the Cimari and the haudah (or Haudaj) "are different, the former has a canopy and is used for travelling or for purposes of state, the latter has no cover and is employed in war". Or again, in other places, i, 33, note 41, and i, 337, note 283, he says the haudah is made of boards strengthened with iron, having the shape of an octagonal platform, with sides eighteen inches high. In war time the sides were raised to two feet, and were then covered with iron or brass plates. It was divided into two unequal parts; in the forepart, about three fourths of it, a 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 amnari and is not used in the field". This last statement cannot be accepted, as all the historians speak of the seat used in war as an 'imnari, JL+=. 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

Page 177

Scan of Page  177
View Page 177

ELEPHANTS. 177 canopy) is generally made of Europe scarlet cloth and embroidered, and sometimes has a golden or silver urn or some such ornament on the top. Mahomedans prefer a crescent". The object of 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 general on an elephant: "What strange practice is this that the rulers of Hind have adopted? In the day of battle they ride on an elephant, and make themselves into a target for everybody! (Mal.at —i-maqal of Rao Dalpat Singh, fol. 54b). The criticism seems to have been taken to heart. For Miskin, fol. 43a, tells us that MuCn-ul-mulk, governor of Lahor (1748-1754), declared that a general on an elephant was like a prisoner in the midst of his guards, and a mere target for the enemy. The next time that he fought Ahmad, Durrani, he meant to ride a horse. In other ways, too, the elephants were sometimes of more harm than benefit. If wounded, they were liable to get beyond control and escape at the top of their speed. In one instance, in a battle near Lahor in 1124 H. (March 1712), a wounded elephant rushed off with 'Azim-ush-shan, son of Bahadur Shah, and jumping off the high bank into the river Ravi drowned himself, and the wounded prince along with him. Elephants were also used to batter in the gates of fortified 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 its turn, provided with a frontlet of steel. 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

Page 178

Scan of Page  178
View Page 178

178 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. down: but the elephants, wounded by the musquetry, soon turned and trampled on those who escorted them" (Orine, Mil. Trans., i, 194). Under Akbar the elephants ridden by the emperor were called k/asah (special), and all others were arranged in groups of ten, twenty or thirty, called halqah (ring, circle). In later reigns, (B.M. 1690, fol. 176a) the same classification was employed, with a rather more extended meaning, khasah then including all riding, and halqa/ 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 man.sabdar for use. The origin of this practice can, I fancy, be detected in a passage in the Ajn, i, 126 (see also i, 130), where Abu,l Fazl says that Akbar "put several 1alfqas" (groups of ten, twenty, or thirty elephants) "in charge of every grandee, and required him to look after them". In Akbar's time apparently the fodder was supplied by the State. I have already referred to this matter of Khurak-i-dawdibb under the heading of Pay (p. 20). Armandi's work on the military history of the elephant is 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 work 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

Page 179

Scan of Page  179
View Page 179

ELEPHANTS. 179 perhaps the description of the elephant (pp. 440-450). In spite of his "upwards of twenty years in Hindustan", Ranking seems to have found some difficulty with the word zanjir, a chain, as applied to an elephant. On p. 12 of his Introduction, he says "very frequent mention is made in Asiatic histories of chain elephants; which always means elephants trained for war; but it is not very clear why they are so denominated". The explanation is fairly easy. The word zanjir (chain) is here one of the fanciful catchwords attached to every being or thing in the Oriental art of Siyaq, that is, of accounting and official recording. Some fancied appropriateness was discerned in the epithet so used. Pearls were counted by danah, seed, horses by rds, head, shields by dast, hand, bricks by. gfaib, mould, and so forth. For elephants the word is zazjir, chain, which is no doubt a reference to the iron chain by which an elephant is hobbled when not in use. Having to speak of 100 elephants, a Persian or Indian scribe writes 100 zanjir-i-fil, or in an account he would enter them thus; Pal, zanyfr, 100. All elephants had names, as they have still. Horn, 79, gives several names from the Akbarndmah; and again, p. 124, (Von Noer, Fr. trans., i, 171), he refers to Akbar's own elephant Asman Shukoh (Heaven Dignity). Catrou, 255, has Dalsingar (Ornament of the Army) and Aurang-gaj (Throne-elephant). Danishmand Khan; entry of 26th Ramazan 1120 H., refers to Fa.h-gaj (Victory Elephant), and we find in Elliot, viii, 95, Mahdsundar (Queen of Beauty) ridden by Nadir Shah. After the introduction of fire-arms and the gradual extension of their use, elephants ceased, even in the East, to be of much value in the fighting line of battle. As I have said above, the chief men still rode them and displayed their standards on them. But this was more for the

Page 180

Scan of Page  180
View Page 180

1t( THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULIS. purpose of being seen and of acting as a centre and rallying point, than for any advantage derived from the elephants themselves, either 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 on a campaign to the north of his dominions, in the direction of the Tapti, he had with him 1026 elephants, of which 225 were provided with armour, and presumably were used in battle (Ahwal-i-khawayin, 2186). On this occasion he made a curious trial of their staunchness or otherwise. In an open space near the river he ranged his guns in a line, (there were 44 top and 1225 rahkalah), and drew up his elephants opposite them. As the elephants advanced, the cannon were fired, supported by musketry. A few of the elephants stood fast, but the greater number fled for miles, the only result being that 306 foot-soldiers were trodden under foot. 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 furnished with a thick leather pad, covering the forehead, to prevent their being injured. The same work has also one of the best early accounts of the Indian elephant, wild and domesticated. In time of peace, as a means of display, for riding on, for shooting from, they have continued to be largely used. Ranking, 13, tells us that Asaf-ud-Daulah, Nawab of Audh (1775-1797), kept considerably above 1000 elephants merely for pleasure. Still the gradual decline of the elephant, even for purposes of state and show, is proved unmistakeahly by a recent paragraph in the Indian papers ("Pioneer Mail", Sept. 27th 1894, p. 2). The Government "howdah-khanah" has been broken up, there being only two to three hundred elephants on the roils all over

Page 181

Scan of Page  181
View Page 181

ELEPHANTS. 181 India, nearly all of which are maintained for heavy batteries; the equipment at Agrah has been sold off, only the vice-regal howdah of silver being kept. We have thus travelled far from the days when one of our early commanders-in-chief, Colonel Richard Smith, "reviewed his troops from the houdar (sic) of his elephant" (Carraccioli, "Clive", i, 133).

Page 182

Scan of Page  182
View Page 182

CHAPTER XV. DISCIPLINE, DRILL, AND EXERCISES. According to our European notions discipline was extremely lax, if not entirely absent. Bernier, 55, tells us that 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; and Europeans generally held the true cause of their dread of fire-arms, and particularly of artillery, to lie in the inexperience of their leading men, who never understood the advantage of discipline or the use of infantry (Cambridge, "War", Introduction, viii). Nobles while at headquarters were bound to appear twice a day, morning and evening, at the emperor's audience, and on this point they were strictly supervised. But there seems to have been no regular drill and no manceuvres. From time to time they paraded their troops in the outer court during the time of public audience, and the state of the horses and elephants was then observed. Occasionally, but very rarely, there were special parades in the open '; these generally 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. For instance, Daud Khan, Panni, thus paraded his troops before Bahadur Shah on the 26th Ramazan 1120 H. (8th Dec. 1708), Danishmand Khan, entry of that date. 1 These were the Mahallah already referred to, see ante, p. 46. The phrase in Khurasan was San dlWdat,, see Mujmil ut-tdrklzh baCd Nddiriygah, p. 81, line 5.

Page 183

Scan of Page  183
View Page 183

DISCIPLINE, DRIIL, AND EXERCISES. 183 Organization. There was no regimental organization; the only divisions known were those created by reason of each chief or noble having his own following of troops. Such words as tumdan or ltmdanddr have no strict or definite meaning. The first meant any body of soldiers, and the second the leader or head of such a body. Janma'hdar is a word of the same signification and equally vague, though it may be taken as denoting a smaller man than a timdndar. Qashun is a word employed in the second half of the 18th century, having been borrowed from the Durrani system, but I do not think it had a much more definite sense than the above words. In the dictionary, Steingass 971, c)~ is defined as T., body, company, troop, army, soldier, military station. As for uniform, the only sign of it originally 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 troops dressed in a similar style, Persians in one way, Mughals in another, Hindustani Mahomedans could be 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 if we knew sufficiently what they were. One Sabit Khan, at one time faujdar of cAligarh, was famed as the introducer of a kind of attire for soldiers, which was called after him the sabit-khani dress. There were, however, some few regiments clothed in uniform. For example, as early as Farrukhsiyar's reign the "Surkhposhan" (the Red Regiment) is spoken of. (Ijad's F]arrulkhsh/dh namah, fol. 27, line 3). And it would seem from a passage in the Shardif-i-'usmanz, p. 207, line 4, that in Muhammad Shah's time there were some regiments of body-guards clad alike, and known as the surkhposh, zardpos/h and siyah/posh, from the colour of their coats, red, yellow or black. These men carried gold or silver clubs (galhak).

Page 184

Scan of Page  184
View Page 184

184 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. 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 that up to the time he wrote (c. 1785), the word atldn (Be mounted) was "carried round to the horse guards when the emperor is going to mount his elephant". (P. de C., 5, from 'ja'l, atlanmaq, to ride on horseback). Another instance of familiarity with Eastern Turkish is found in 1739, when Aghar Khan of the Aghar tribe, whose family had been settled in India over a hundred years, talked to Nadir Shah in that language, and even composed some verses in it, Ashob, fol. 258a. Punishments. For desertion to the 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 cAli Khan, when on the march from Dihll to Ajmer. Again Haidar Quli Khan, when commanding at the siege of Agrah in 1131 H. (1719), hall recourse to this punishment with good effect, Siwani.i-i-k/izrz (my copy). In the year 1174 H. (1760) the Mahrattahs blew away from guns two Mal.omedan leaders taken prisoners by them at Kunjpurah, "History of the Rohelas" by Rustam CAli, Bijnorl, fol. 51a. And in 1175 H. (30th May 1762) the Mahrattah commander, Naru Pandit, blew two men from guns at Burhanpur, Mirdt-us-.Saffd, 116a. In the "Abrege Historique" prepared by Colonel (entil 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. Horn deals with the subject of desertion on pp. 49 and 51, but both of his references to Babar's memoirs, viz., P. de C. ii, (should be i) 325, and ii, 352, 353, seem to be cases of surrender. That to the Baddsu8/ha aha i, 334,

Page 185

Scan of Page  185
View Page 185

DISCIPLINE, DRILL, AND EXERCISES. 185 is not a case of desertion at all. The garrison of Mansurgarh in Orissa (1049 H.) asked for quarter by holding blades of grass between their teeth. This is the well-known Indian custom of indicating submissiveness, see Elliot, "Supp. Gloss.", 252, s. v. Dant-ltinka (teeth-straw), which is practised by villagers to this day. It is also said to have been resorted to by the Mahrattah horsemen at Dihli (Feb. 1719), when they were overpowered in a street riot, Mhd Qasim, Lahori, CIbratnamah 244, my copy. Another instance is found in a book written c. 1147 H., gahy dar dandin girifah 4(A4wvl-i-khawaqin, fol. 217a). Drill. There seems to have been no drill for soldiers, as such, and no training in combined movements of any sort. The individual, on the- other hand, paid the minutest attention to the training of his body, and exercising himself with all his weapons. For this there were the series of movements practised daily, known as kasarat. In 1791 an English visitor to the Nizam's camp near Kadapah (Cuddapah) writes to the following effect, Ouseley, "Or. Coll", 1795, i, 21-32, "the traces of order, discipline, and science are so faint as to be scarcely discernible, except in the outward appearance of the men, the management of their horses, and their dexterity in the use of the spear and sabre, which individually gives a martial air". He adds that the men exercise at home with dumb bells or heavy pieces of wood; and he also describes the kasardi movements. There were in addition the clubs called nmugdar, the chain bow or lezam, Egerton 147, 150-1, N~. 808, and single-stick play. In this last, a stick covered with a loose sheath of leather was held in one hand and a small round buckler in the other, Egerton, 148, quoting from Mundy (3rd ed. 1858, p. 165, 191, 310, 322). The stick is called gudka, gadka or gadga, a little club, from gada, a club (Shakes. 1689). An account will be found in Briggs, "Ferishta", iii, 207, of yak-ang-b6dz, play with one singlestick or sword, and do-ang-badz, with sword and shield,

Page 186

Scan of Page  186
View Page 186

186 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHUIS. or two swords, one held in each hand. There were also wrestling 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 at an earthen mound or target. Swordplay. The swordsmen were exceedingly skilful and active; their attack and defence being accompanied by the wildest gestures, the most extraordinary leaps, and elaborate feints of every sort. Something of this may still be seen at any Mulharram festival, where the most complicated evolutions and sweeping circular cuts are made with the straight gauntlet sword or paltd. Burton, writing of Sindh in 1844, gives us a good picture of Indian single-stick and sword-play. The usual style of sword exercise in India is, he says, "Life", i, 119, with a kind of single-stick, ribbonded with list cloth up to the top, 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 distinguish a Spanish espada. Then, with the fiercest countenance, he begins to spring in the air, to jump from side to side, to crouch, and to rush forwards and backwards, with all the action of an excited baboon. They never thought of giving "point": throughout India the thrust is confined to the dagger. The cuts as a rule were only two, one on the shoulder and the other, in the vernacular called qalam 1, at the lower legs. Nothing was easier than to guard these cuts and to administer a thrust that would have been fatal with steel. Colonel Blacker on the other hand, "War", 302, thought more highly of the native cutting stroke, it being the only one capable of penetrating the quilted jackets, or the 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 "point". He adds "the native practice not only requires a l Probably from qalam n kardan, to lop or prune.

Page 187

Scan of Page  187
View Page 187

DISCIPLINE, DRIIAL, AND EXERCISES. 187 stiff wrist, but a stiff though not a straight elbow, for a cut that shall disable". Fitzclarence, 102, thus describes the charge made on the Sitabaldi hill by the Nagpur Rajah's Arabs on the 26th Nov. 1817. "Their manner of advancing was exceedingly imposing. Being perfectly undisciplined, they advanced in a 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! Mulammad!" This sounds at a distance like 'ding, ding', which is 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. IIorsemanship. The cavalry had their horses trained to a sort of cmanee, where the horse was made to stand on its hind legs and then advance by bounds for a considerable distance. This manoeuvre was resorted to in Bundelkhand whenever a man on horse-back attacked any one on an elephant. Once, when Muhammad Khan, Bangash, invaded Bundelkhand in 1727, he was thus attacked. As he writes in his report to the emperor: "I drove my elephant straight into the thick of the enemy, where my men seemed to be struggling hopelessly against them. At this moment two of the enemy's horsemen, one after the other, rode their horses with the greatest boldness at my elephant, so that their forefeet were on the elephant. By God's aid they were, one after the other, dispatched by our arrows" (see the official report in Shakir Khan's Gulshlran-i-.ddiq, my copy). This caracolling is still adhered to by the 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 V~ LIII L\I_ VLL~CL~IL) J 0 " L-bb.,U-;

Page 188

Scan of Page  188
View Page 188

]Ss THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. of an anon-ymous memoir written about the middle of the 18th century. "As a rule the people of India do not know how to ride, and horsemanship is unknown in Hindustan. In addition, 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". (Tarikh-i-Farah Bakhsh, trans. W. Hoey, i, App. p. 7). In this connection the following passage, although written in 1844, is quite as applicable to the Indian Moghuls as if it had been written a century or two earlier. "All nations seem to despise one another's riding, and none seem to know how much they have to learn. The Indian style has the merit of holding the horse well in hand, making him bound off at a touch of the heel, stopping him dead at a hand gallop, and wheeling him round on a pivot. The Hindu (Indian?) will canter over a figure-of-eight, gradually diminishing the 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. When doctors disagree, who shall decide? MoJanting Guard. In time of peace the nobles took it in turn to mount guard with their troops at the palace gate. This was called chauki and the guard-house was the

Page 189

Scan of Page  189
View Page 189

, DISCIPLINE, DRILL, AND EXERCISES. 189 chauki-khana/ 1. The rules will be found in the AJn, i, 257. The duty lasted for twenty-four hours and recurred once a week. The relief took place every evening. There was also another division of the army into twelve parts, each of which mounted guard for one month. But I do not see 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 manceuvres was when the army or a division was ordered out to take part in a royal hunt. This subject is touched on by Horn, 69. One branch of the army combined two functions; in peace they were huntsmen, in war, skirmishers. These were the Qarawal, with the Qarawal Begt, or Chief Huntsman, at their head. Horn, 69, refers to two descriptions of a royal hunt, namely, Budauni, iii, 92, and Erskine, "History", ii, 286. I add another from Anand Ram, Mir-at-ul-stilah, fol. 184a. Shikar-i-qamrqhlah (or qamrgah), also shizkr-ijargalh, is called in Hindi hata-jorn 3. For this hunt a king gives orders, through his huntsmen (farawal), 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 (quruq) of kings, no one else, not even a great noble, was allowed to practise it. This method was also followed in Iran; in India it was given up after the middle of CAlamglr's reign. 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. 3 Kamrghah, Steingass, 988, the hunting ring formed to enclose the game 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-jori, a drive of game.

Page 190

Scan of Page  190
View Page 190

CHAPTER XVI. ARMY IN THE FIELD. Having sprung from a Central Asian nomad horde, the early chiefs of Taimur's race were perpetually on the move, accompanied by their army. This traditional habit was maintained in India by the earlier 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 to be2, and as a consequence, the whole apparatus of government was carried wherever the emperor went. All 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 executive. It is thus easy to account for the immense size to which their camps gradually extended. Mzr 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 (yasawal), at whose 1 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 in 1137 H. by Nizam-ul-Mulk to Muhammad Shah ("Asiatic Misc." i, 490). 2 Or as the Romans said, "Ubi Imperator, ibi Roma".

Page 191

Scan of Page  191
View Page 191

ARMY IN THE FIELD. 191 head were several officers styled Mir Tuzak (literally, Lords of Arrangement). The first of these officials was one of the great officers of State, and it 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 Tuzak 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 establishments; every one else was left to make his own arrangements. Each soldier did his best for himself. The baggage was known as bahzr o bangah orparal. In Ashob, fol. 265a, we find Partal used for the means of transporting, instead of for the baggage itself: Partdl-i-aksare-i-esh8 n shularani-Bakhti-i-asil wa khalirhae, yamni ushiturhde katai'-i-khashjins-i- - ilyalf. Bakhlt is the large, two-humped or Bactrian camel. Commissariat. In an Indian army the commissariat was left very much to take care of itself. The imperial kitchen fed a certain number of palace servants and some armed guards, matchlockmen, and artificers. There was also a charitable kitchen kept up, at the emperor's expense, and called the Langarkhanah. In the same way, a chief distributed cooked food to the men more especially attached to his person. Outside these limited circles, every man was left to provide for himself, buying from day to day enough for his daily wants from the numerous dealers, or banyas, who followed the army. These men's huts or shops were 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 artificers of every sort and kind.

Page 192

Scan of Page  192
View Page 192

192 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGILULS. Banjara or Birinjara. The supplies of grain were brought in on the backs of bullocks by the wandering dealers known as Banjarahs or Brinjarahs. There are two derivations alleged for this word, 1) H. banij, trade, plus the affix arah, denoting a doer or agent (Steingass, 201), and 2) P. birinj, rice, ar, ara, the root of awardan, to bring (Steingass, 179). Fitzclarence, 93, says "It is by these people that the Indian armies in the field are fed, and they are never injured by either army. The grain is taken from them, but invariably paid for. They encamp for safety every evening in a regular square formed of the bags of grain, of which they construct a breastwork. They and their families are in the centre 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 the cattle are allowed to graze as they proceed on the march". On these men, see also Thorn, 85, E. Mioor, 131, and M. Wilks, iii, 209. 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. vi). These men were either engaged as servants by the troopers or worked on their own account, (Bernier, 381). With an active enemy about, these followers were often cut off, or even frightened 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

Page 193

Scan of Page  193
View Page 193

ARMY IN THE FIELD. 193 army passed through a fairly cultivated country. Compensation under the name of paemnal, "foot-treading", was 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 for the loss of the crop. 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 we then passed through" (Ahwal-i-khawaiqn, fol. l a). Again in Bahadur Shah's operations against the Sikh leader, Bandah, in December 1710, he was much hampered by the heavy rain and the intense cold, many of the transport animals being lost. A graphic picture of campaigning difficulties, even in the case of a force which was finally victorious, is given by Khafi Khan, ii, 888. Nizam-ul-mulk on his way in July 1720 to attack cAlim cAi Khan, governor of Aurangabad, passed several days in extreme discomfort, exposed to incessant rain and in the middle of deep black mud. The constant rain and the swollen streams stopped all supplies, the Mahrattas plundered close round the camp, not an animal could be sent out or brought in. For many days the only food of the cattle was the pounded leaves and young shoots of trees; "the smell even of grass or corn did not reach the fourfooted animals", and many of them, standing up to their shoulders in mud, starved to death. One rupee would only buy 2 to 4 lbs. of flour. Referring to a century earlier, Sir Thomas Roe, as quoted by Cambridge, "War", Introd. 13

Page 194

Scan of Page  194
View Page 194

194 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. vii, gives a very lifelike description of the sufferings of a march through woods and over mountains. Fliqht of Inhabitants. Colonel Wilks, i, 308, note, speaking of the south of India, says the inhabitants of a country deserted their homes for the hills and woods upon the approach of an invader, taking with them whatever food they could carry, and often perishing of want. Such an exodus was not unknown in Northern India, as for instance, when the Sikhs first rose in 1710, 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?

Page 195

Scan of Page  195
View Page 195

CHAPTER XVII. CAMPS AND CAMP EQUIPAGE. Each soldier seems to have had the shelter of a tent, even if it consisted only of a cotton cloth raised on two sticks. The kinds of tents were numerous, from the rauti, a mere low awning, up to the huge imperial tents. The AzIn, i, 54, names twelve different kinds of tents. I have just spoken of one of these, the Raui, and of another, the Gulalbar, not a tent but an enclosure, I shall speak further on. The sardpardah N~. 11 also- is a screen and not a tent. From a perusal of the passage referred to, coupled with plates x and xi, it is fairly easy to understand what each of these tents was like. The Shamiyinah, 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 shmnah (Steingass, 725), a veil. The khargah, NO. 8, (Steingass, 456) are spoken of by Bernier, 359, note 4, and 362, where he says they are folding tents with one or two doors, and made in various ways; he calls them "cabinets", and leads us to infer that they were set up inside the large tents. The emperor and the great nobles were provided with tents in duplicate, one set being sent on to the next camping ground while the other set was in use (Bernier, 359). The tents thus sent on were known 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 Ayn, i, 47, and is shown with more detail in plate iv. In the centre was the imperial enclosure of canvas screens A

Page 196

Scan of Page  196
View Page 196

196 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. 1530 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 march, 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 karkhianahs, or departments of the household and arsenal, about ten tents on each side. Still further 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 of artillery, and the hunting leopards on the other. A description of Jahangir's camp will be found in Cambridge, "War", Introd. v, who quotes it from Sir Thomas Roe's journal, the chief impression produced on the ambassador's mind being that of immense size. A 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 (qanda), 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 1. In front of the entrance was a clear space, at the end of which stood the naqar khknah, or station for the drums, trumpets and cymbals. Close to it was the chaukz-khanah, or tent of the officer on guard for the day. 1 This is, no doubt, what we read of so often under the name of thejilau.

Page 197

Scan of Page  197
View Page 197

CAMPS AND CAMP EQUIPAGE. 197 Round the enclosure were the imperial bazars, through which a street led from the gate in the direction of the next day's march, marked out by long poles, which were surmounted by yak tails and placed at 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 Audience-hall (Bernier, 366). Bernier estimates, 367, that where there was ample space for spreading, 'Alamgir's whole camp would have measured about six miles in circumference. The bazars were marked out (Bernier, 365) by long poles surmounted, as already said, by the tails of the great Tibet cow "which have the appearance of so many periwigs". The camp is thus described by Catrou, French ed., 4to, p. 128, 12mo, iv, 40, 57, possibly borrowing from Bernier, although he professes to have the Venetian, Manucci, as his authority: "The camp where this numerous army rested was laid out daily in the same manner, so far as the nature of the ground permitted. A great enclosure was roped off of square shape, and this was surrounded by a deep ditch. The heavy artillery was ranged from distance to distance and defended the approaches. The emperor's palace 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". 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

Page 198

Scan of Page  198
View Page 198

198 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. 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, 218b). Kamwar Khan, entry of 4th Sha'ban 1123 H. (16th Sept. 1711), says this tent cost 50,000 rupees. A later writer, Seir, i, 25, note 32, says the emperor's camp was about one and a quarter miles in circuit, it 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 qanal, 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 the guards. Further off, there is another paling, and here, too, in the intermediate space reside guards and people attached to the imperial household, such as chairmen, watermen, or taper-bearers. See also Cambridge, "War", Introd. v, for an account of Nasir Jang's camp in 1750, over twenty miles in circumference. There is also a good description of a native camp in Wilks, i, 292, referring to the year 1752, where he tells us of the motley collection of cover, from superb tents down to ragged blankets; tents and animals all intermixed; the only mark of order being the flags set up by each chief, the only regularly laid out lines 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, dyed red with the root of the al plant. Round the emperor's tents was the enclosure called the guldlbar. Some of the great nobles such as the vicegerent (wakil-i-mutlaq) or the chief minister, (Jamdal-ulmulk) were allowed patapali or striped tents, one red stripe and one white stripe alternately. Pati is H. for a strip of anything, (Mirdat-ul-Istilah, fol. 27b 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

Page 199

Scan of Page  199
View Page 199

CAMPS AND CAMP EQUIPAGE. 199 namented with stripes", perhaps the two statements are not absolutely conflicting. Gulalbar. The name of the screen which Bernier speaks of as being put up round the emperor's tents was the Gulalbdr. It is mentioned in the Ajn, i, 45, 54, but a fuller description will not 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 entrance or passage through it". Thus the whole word is equivalent to "Red Wall". Before Akbar's time the tents of the Gurgani kings were surrounded by a rope called the tanab-i-qkruq (lit. "the rope of hindrance"). In Akbar's reign the gulalbar was devised. It was formed out of bambus coloured red and held together by leather straps like a net-work (jali), and so made that it 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 ditch was dug, and red flags, an attribute of sovereignty, were displayed on poles (Miratul-Islildh, fol. 203a). Ja/i. The word jail is similarly met with in reference to the precincts of the emperor's tent. The derivation is from H. jal, a net, and it means lattice, grating, network. From the passage quoted in the last paragraph and another in the same book, we see that this network (jal) was the gulalbar under another name. But a 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 one place, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 1010a, uses salabat-bar "majestic-enclosure": and Ashob, fol. 196b, claims it as

Page 200

Scan of Page  200
View Page 200

200 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. the invention of Salabat Khan 1, Mir Atash to 'Alamgir, guldl-barah being nothing more than a popular name. Ashob gives a minute description of its construction; this differs in details from that of Anand Ram given above. The tents of princes continued to be protected by the old device of a rope, which still bore the name of tanab-i-qdruq, or rope of prohibition (Mirdt-ul-I.). Rahkalah-bar. This word is literally rahkalah, field-piece, plus bar, enclosure. It was the park of artillery arranged at the entrance of the imperial quarters, or round them, as a protection against attack. The quarters of the Mir Atash were at the imperial gateway (Danishmand Khan, entry of 4th Zu,l Hijjah 1119 H., and Bernier, 363). Harem women with armies (Horn, 57). On all campaigns a 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 posted at 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 Ghazi-ud-din Khan, Imad-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 Mulhammad Shah's wazir, was then on his way to Malwah on an expedition against the 1 According to the Ma,asir-ul-umarad ii, 742, Khwajah M'i, Khwafi, (Salabat Khan) was made Mir Atash in the 23rd year of CAlamgir, then removed, but reappointed in the 25th year; he died in 1103 H. (the 36th year). The Tarlkh-i-Muhammadi says he died in 1104 H. Neither the Ma,dsir-ul-umard nor the Ma,asair-i-cAlaamgslr makes any mention of his having invented the guldlbar.

Page 201

Scan of Page  201
View Page 201

CAMPS AND CAMP EQUIPAGE. 201 Mahrattas. Wilks, ii, 38, writes as if it were a peculiar weakness of the particular noble, that the Nizam of Haidarabad was in 1768 "accompanied in the field by his favourite wives". But in so doing Nizam 'All was only following the usual practice of Moghul commanders.

Page 202

Scan of Page  202
View Page 202

CHAPTER XV1IT. ON THE MARCH. When an army or the emperor first took the field, there were generally great difficulties 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 petition to urge or objection to make before he could be persuaded to start. Then there were the astrologers to be consulted. No march began until the lucky moment (saCati-sa'zd) had been fixed 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 made in the hope of cheating the Fates (Seir, i, 309, note 248). In all cases, however, the first 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 not supposed to take the personal command unless the army was large and the campaign important (Horn, 46 relying on the Tuzuk-i-Taimurz). 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 repute in order to obtain their blessing; and the shrines of any noted saints situated near the line of march were

Page 203

Scan of Page  203
View Page 203

ON THE MARCH. 203 perambulated and the saint's help implored. Thus Shah 'Alam Bahadur Shah when on his way to fight his brother, offered up prayers at the tombs of Qutb-ud-din and Nizam-ud-din Auliya at Dihli. In the same way Farrukhsiyar, marching up from Patnah to Agrah, prayed at the tombs of Takiud-din ut Jhaus, of Badfud-din at Korah, and of Shah Madar at Makhanpur. Another curious practice is described by Yahya Khan, 1296. 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 accordance with an old custom, to Qutb-ud-din's shrine, to have his turban wound round his head there, and a sword attached to his waist. Then a bow with its string loosened ought to have been placed near the tomb. If the string of itself resumed its place, this 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, 12mo ed. 1715, iv, 49-57, or 4to edition p. 126, gives us the following picture of a march of the emperor Aurangzeb. The heavy artillery 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 t This must surely be a mistake; perhaps leopards (chZtah) are meant or buffaloes for fighting with tigers. But the original Portuguese text of Manucci, Berlin Ms., Phillipps 1945, p. 47, says nothing about bulls. The sentence reads: "One hundred and fifty camels loaded with nets (redes)for hunting tigers, of which sport I have already spoken". For the use of these nets, see Constable's Bernier, p. 378.

Page 204

Scan of Page  204
View Page 204

204 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. and twenty carts. immediately behind these came fifty camels carrying water for the court and the princes. This is a necessary precaution in Indian travelling, you are often in a waterless country or the water, speaking generally, is stagnant and unwholesome. Behind these camels came the imperial kitchen and fifty camels with the provisions for the day. There were fifty cows to give milk, as Aurangzeb chiefly lived on milk. One hundred kitchen servants riding on horses followed. Each man prepared one particular sort of stew...... Next was the wardrobe of the emperor and the harem, and 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 by the camels or elephants. The army came after the baggage. It was composed almost entirely of cavalry. As for the infantry it is 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 camne the emperor, followed by his seraglio. Ordinarily he rode an elephant. On the back of this great animal, they had built a room with glass windows, in which was a couch and a bed. By the side of the elephant were palankins all ready for use should the emperor wish to change his mode of conveyance. 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. Some camels preceded the 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

Page 205

Scan of Page  205
View Page 205

ON THE MARCH. 205 the 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. The flag of the noble or sovereign was carried on an elephant during the march (De la Flotte, i, 258 Fitzclarence, 138). These was a special officer entrusted with the insignia and standards. Of these some account has been given under the head of Mansabdars. Collectively they were called the qur, an Indian usage of the Turkish word which is not given among the definitions in P. de Courteille, "Dict." 425. The officer's title was QurbegZ, lord of the Quir; and the men under him carried a supply of weapons for the emperor's use. The details, as they stood under Akbar, will be seen in the Axn, i, 109, 110. Bernier, 371, speaks of the qgr (or as he spells it, cours) preceding the emperor on the march: these standards and emblems were surrounded by a large number of players on cymbals and trumpets. The following graphic description of an emperor on the march with music playing and standards displayed is found in a Hindi poem by Shridhar Murlidhar of Allahabad, lines 355-376:

Page 206

Scan of Page  206
View Page 206

206 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Phajir Shahanshah sajeu, Sakal brind gayand gajeu, Baji naubate gahgahi tab, Bhai naubat rawarz ab, Ghor dhaunsa dhuni dhakdrat, "Phateh, phateh", manu pukdrat, "Ho-hu-ho" karanai bajat, Shahanshah-hi sagun sajat, Sagun sow surandi baji, Siddhi ram kariju sadj, "Jharu.-jhdrun" jahnjl jhankat, Khanan layi-hi ghazt "khanakh-kat", Phil war nishan jhaharat, Man-hu adq phatuh phaharat, At pair anup rajat, Indr syon prabhu tabi rijat, Jhilari muku tisu lachhak, Man-hu tard chhatr rachhak, Jphtab bihas ken kar, Man-hu rakhshak sang dini ar, Tog sundar mnaha mihi, Sagun ki manu det gwahz. 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 the sages joined the throng. 'Clash, clash' clanged the cymbals, Jingling bells began their 'tinkle, tinkle', The elephant riders displayed their standards, In front ran men shouting 'Victory!'

Page 207

Scan of Page  207
View Page 207

ON THE MARCH. 207 Everywhere incomparable brightness reigns, The splendour is that of Indra's heaven, Fringes hang over their faces. Guardians of stars and umbrellas, Sun screens waving in their hands, Hearts full of joy, they shout for the Faith, 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 naqqdr khainah, the latter name coming from naqqarah, one kind of drum used. Details will be seen in the AJn, i, 51. As I read that passage, there would seem to have been nine naubat in the twenty four hours, but generally they are 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 naubat. Fitzclarence, 192, writes "the continual beating of the naubat, or great drums, is 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 a native army. 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 ima

Page 208

Scan of Page  208
View Page 208

208 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. ginable". As to the beating of kettle drums on the march there is a passage to the same effect in Captain J. Williamson "Oriental Field Sports", p. 79. In addition to the fixed periods at which the imperial drums were beaten and the music played, it would seem that 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., Tdrikh_-i-'Alamgzr Sani, fol. 155b. Or as Manucci asserts, ii, 68, a trumpet was sounded for the same purpose. If the emperor were not present, the commander, if entitled to this high honour, caused his own drums to be beaten, and as Horn, 17, remarks, the sound of these drums was a sign that some great noble was in command and that probably the army under him was a large one. The drums were also beaten at the opening of a battle. We are told by one writer of the year 1169 H. (1756), Tarikh-i-iClagwnzr Sani, fol. 49a, that a horn was blown at night in the emperor's camp to indicate a halt for the next day. We read of one noble who kept in his service one hundred horn-blowers (karranai), so that when a fight was trembling in the balance, they should all blow together and inspire the other side with dread. (Ma,asir-ul-umara, i, 514). After a battle the drums and trumpets were also employed by the victors to announce their victory; and even on ordinary occasions a noble was preceded by music. In 1757 Anquetil Duperron, Zend Avestd, i, xliv, after being presented to Siraj-ud-daulah, speaks of the Nawab coming out to visit the mint, and "nous entendimes un bruit affreux de tymbales, de trompettes, entremele de coups de fusils et de cailletoques". This picture taken on the spot must represent, as I take it, the usual practice. The kettle drums (naqqarah) 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

Page 209

Scan of Page  209
View Page 209

ON THE MARCH. 209 called puankah, a small wooden drum, no doubt identical with -cr, Shak. 1129, a bass kettledrum, in size between the naqqarah and the lakora, or as Qanoone 8slam, App. p. lv, has it, the bass end of the small kettle-drum. De la Flotte, 211, compares the sound of their trumpets (trompetles), ten or twelve feet long, to that of a French cowherd's goathorn, only louder; and G. Careri iii, 182, speaks of seeing a man walking in front of the camp Provost Marshal (kotiwl), blowing a copper horn 8 "palmes" in length, the sound of which made him laugh, "il ressemble tout a fait a celui que les porchers font en Italie lorsqu'ils veulent rassembler leurs cochons egares". Patrolling and Watching. At night time some troops were sent out to march round the camp and protect it. The name of these detachments was tilayah (1Mirat-ul-Istilah, fol. 2026, 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. 182b calls them shab-gard, which seems the correct technical name, Steingass 732. He uses talfah, fol. 182a, for advanced posts or pickets, which seems the more exact meaning of that word, Steingass 819. The same form, tali'ah, is used c. 1169 H. (1755-6) by Muhammad Ali, Burhanpuri, in his Mirdt-us-safd, fol. 99a. As for the care of the interior of the camp, Bernier, 369, describes the system of watch and ward then prevailing. His, watchmen with their cries of khabardar (Take care), the 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 entering the camp than to act as military precautions against surprize. In later times even these imperfect precautions seem to have been abandoned. In the 18th century 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.

Page 210

Scan of Page  210
View Page 210

210 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. When they acted as allies of the English, the most earnest entreaty could never prevail upon them to be upon their guard, or quit their ground in the morning to take part in a surprize. The men 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", Introd. xiii). In the police of the camp the provost-marshal, or kotwal, was aided by a censor, or muliasib, whose special duty (usually very imperfectly performed) was to suppress gambling, drinking, and other breaches of the Mahomedan law. Escort. The name used for this duty was badraqah (Steingass, 163). Emperor's conveyance and usages on his passing by. Shah 'Alam Bahadur Shah (1707-1712) generally travelled his stages on a moving throne (takhl-i-rawan). It is described by Bernier, 370. Another account, Seir, ii, 171, note 95, tells 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 (Ma'lumat-ul-a1faq, fol. 79b). 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, 382, also speaks of it. The custom was observed by Herr K6telar, the Dutch envoy, when he was io Bahadur Shah's camp at Lahor in 1712. The practice spoken of by Bernier of entering the camp sometimes on one side, sometimes on another, was the taghaiyur-i-rah dadan (Mirat-ul-Istila/h,

Page 211

Scan of Page  211
View Page 211

ON THE MARCH. 211 fol. 80), a custom either founded on superstition or devised as a precaution against assassination. Crossing Rivers. On this subject Horn, 25, quotes P. de Courteille, "Memoires", ii, 336, the occasion being Babar's boat bridge across the Ganges near Kanauj. The practice 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. A special officer, dignified with the name of Mir Bahr, Lord of the Sea, was charged with the construction of these bridges and the provision of boats. The description of one of these bridges in Bernier, 380, can hardly be improved upon. "The army crossed by means of 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 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; but the king generally fixes his camp about half a league from the bridges of boats and suffers a day or two to elapse ere he passes to the opposite side of the river; when, pitching his tents within half a league from the bank, he again delays his departure so as to allow the army three days and nights at least to effect 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 (1707-1712).

Page 212

Scan of Page  212
View Page 212

212 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. It seems that there was one defect in the purely native system of making a boat-bridge. They did not make use of grapnels. Instead of these, they followed the tedions mode of driving stakes into the river bed. The result 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 Sha/lhdat-i-Farruk/hhsyar, fol. 112b, I have come across a curious device by the Mahrattas to mark the fordable part of a river. In 1148 H. (1735) Pilaji Jadon crossed the Jamna to attack SaCadat 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 no avail; they were badly beaten, fled in haste, and missed the ford, those that were not 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 Fardapur pass between Aurangabad and Burhanpur on the 23rd Shawwal 1121 H. (25th Dec. 1709), he sent ahead his eldest son, Jahandar Shah, with orders on reaching the other end to occupy in force a position in the open plain beyond (Kamwar Khan, entry of above date). Shortly

Page 213

Scan of Page  213
View Page 213

ON THE MARCH. 213 afterwards he came with his army to the Mukand darrah, or pass, and the three great Rajput chieftains of Udipur, Jodhpur, and Jaipur being in open revolt, there was every reason to take precaution against a sudden onfall. 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", 358-363, Wellesley "Despatches", iv, 178 1). Bahadur Shah took very great precautions. A plan of the pass was prepared a week before they came to it: the road was reported to be only 4- dirach wide (about 121 feet). Accordingly on the 25th Muharram 1122 H. (25th March 1710), the eldest prince, Jahandar Shah, was again deputed to march through in advance of the main army, and occupy the exit from the narrow valley. It seems to have taken the main body eight days to get clear, as it was not until the 6th Safar (5th April) that the emperor quitted his camp on the hill side, at the top of the pass, a position which had been occupied by him since the 29th March (Kamwar Khan, entry of above date). Scouts and Spies. The intelligence department was always in active operation, both in peace and war. Reports of all sorts, descending even to idle gossip and scandal, were always welcome. Danishmand Khan, entry of 11th Ramazan 1120 H., tells us that there were in all four thousand spies (harkarah) in the imperial service scattered throughout the kingdom. There was a head spy (daroghah-i-harkarah, 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 Daroqhah-i-dak, or superintendent of the Post. When in the field, these spies were sent out in all directions. Their name, harkarah (literally "for every work"), arose in the Dakhin but was adopted I The best account of this retreat is perhaps that in Frazer's "Skinner", ii, 7-15, 31-35.

Page 214

Scan of Page  214
View Page 214

214 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. by the Moghuls (Danishmand Khan, 1. c.). In modern usage it has been transferred to the runners carrying the mail bags. Despatches and orders were either sent through the ordinary post, manned by foot runners, or by special messengers on camels. If the recipient was to be specially honoured or the matter was very important, one of the imperial mace-bearers carried the message or letter to its destination. Negociations. These were carried on as a rule through holy men (darvesh) or through eunuchs, the sacred character of the one and the peculiar position of the other class making their persons more likely to be respected. Connected with this subject is the case in Erskine "History", ii, 248, quoted by Horn, 51, where during Humayun's flight through Sind in 1542, Mal 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. 2566b. He tells us that during the general slaughter of 1739 in Dihli, the Shah's men were opposed in superior force by the Wazir's troops stationed round the latter's mansion. It became necessary to communicate with the Wazir and send him 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".

Page 215

Scan of Page  215
View Page 215

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 may be reckoned at 30 or 33 miles; and on occasions of emergency they could travel even more, and that for a continuance of fifteen or twenty days. But these figures must not be taken as any standard for army marching. These was an official rate of progress laid down for 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 army was very much less than the official rate of marching, for "slowness of motion and the smallness of the stages are in the idea of the Indians a part of the state that must attend a great man" (Seir, i, 187, note 131). Bernier, 358, alludes to this when he writes, "this is indeed slow and solemn marching, what we here call a la mogole". In detailed histories where events are recorded day by day, such as Danishmand Khan's Bahadur Shah ndmah and Kamwar Khan's Tazkirah-i-salitin-i-chaqhataiyah, the length of each day's march is stated with great precision in jaribi or measured kos. This precision is accounted for, no doubt, by a statement found in Firishtah, Mafalah ii, p. 212, line 1. He tells us that a tanab-i-paimaish followed the army, and by it the distance traversed was measured. The introduction of the practice into India was

Page 216

Scan of Page  216
View Page 216

216 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. attributed to Babar. One hundred lanab made one tanab (the word is kos, in the quotation of the passage to be found on fol. 38a of B.M. Or. 2005, Tarlkh-i-'Ahmad Shahi c. 1167 H.). Each tanab was of 40 yards (,yaz) and each gaz was of nine average fists (musht). 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 (An (Jarrett) ii, 414). Niccalao Manucci saw these measurements actually being made when 'Alamgir left Dihli in 1663, Berlin Ms. Phillipps 1945, fol. 48, and he gives a detailed account of the process. "Other men on foot march with a rope to measure the road, as follows. 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 king ask how far he has gone, they calculate the number of ropes making up a league, 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, I hope to he able to throw some further light upon the subject. The official day's march. If a man was summoned to court, the time for his arrival was calculated in the following way (B.M. 1641, fol. 406): I) For the order to reach him by the postrunners, 30 measured (jaribi) 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 jarzbs of 25 dira'h each, that is, 5000 dirac' (B.M. 1641, fol. 51a). The following doggrel lines afford a memoria technica of this fact:

Page 217

Scan of Page  217
View Page 217

LENGTH OF MARCHES. 217 Panj alaf amad zi gaz miqdir-i-mzl, In manabazat bar in bashad dalil. "Five thousand will yield in yards the mile's length, This specification affords the proof thereof". (Khushhal Chand, dadir-uz-Zamani, B.M. Or. 1844, fol. 1596). The dirach may be safely assumed to be the same as the gaz-i-ildhi, which has been found to be, as nearly as could be ascertained, 33 inches in length (Elliot, "Supp. Gloss." 480, under "Ilahi Guz", and 229, under "Coss", see also Prinsep, "Useful Tables", Calcutta, 1834, p. 88, 89). Thus the length of one jaribi kos would be 45833 yards or 2.6 miles; and 7 kos equals 18.2 miles. The reputed (rasami) kos was shorter, one jaribi equalled 1.71 rasam.z kos, and the rasami kos was thus 1.52 miles in length. But this latter kos varies greatly in different parts of the country. We can prove the ordinary rate of a day's journey from other sources. For instance, Khushhal Chand Nadir-uz-Zamani, B.M. 24,027, fol. 247b, tells us that from Dihli to within twelve kos of Kabul the distance was 306 jaribi kos, or 535- rasamz 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 jaribi and 11i rasami kos travelled each day, or almost exactly the same as the distance fixed in the official manual. Then Mirza Muhammad, Harisi, gives in his Memoirs details of several journeys that he made. After Bahadur Shah's death he came from Lahor to Dihli in twenty three marches, via Nakodar, Phalar, Ambalah, and Karnal. The reputed distance 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 the time he travelled in the company of Bahadur Shah's

Page 218

Scan of Page  218
View Page 218

218 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. widows, who were bringing that emperor's body for burial at Dihli. Under these circumstances they may be supposed to have travelled less quickly than was usual. Again in 1130 H. (1718) the same Mirza Muhammad went from Dihll to Jalalbad in the Muzaffarnagar district in five 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 to Dihli in five marches. The next year, 1131 H. (1719) the same man went as an 'Amil to parganah Rahin in the Jalandhar duabah. He reached the place in twelve marches. Measured on the map the distance is roughly about 200 miles, which gives an average of 163 miles as his daily march. Again in 1126 H. it took CAbd-ul-jalil, Bilgrami, four months to march from Bhakkar to Dihli, a distance of about 850 miles (Oriental Miscellany, pp. 133-295, Letter N~. 6) by the usual route via Lahor. This yields an average of a little over seven miles a day; but then we do not know what halts he made. Forced marches. The ilgir, or forced march, is mentioned by Horn, 21. Some remarkable feats of this nature were performed by Akbar; notably his advance on Gujarat in 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 Maisur troops are on record, but these can hardly be taken as applicable to the Moghul organization. HIaidar and Tipu Sultan kept their troops in exceptional 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 Tipi's entire army marched sixty three miles in two days. In our early days in India our own troops performed feats quite as wonderful. In 1805 General Smith's cavalry followed Amir Khan 700 miles in 43 days (Blacker, 281). Lord Lake also made some wonderful marches in 1803 and 1804.

Page 219

Scan of Page  219
View Page 219

LENGTH OF MARCHES. 219 Army marching. We possess several detailed accounts of long marches undertaken by the later emperors at the head of large armies. When 'Alamgir died two of his sons fought together for the crown. But at the time of their father's death, one was at Jamrud, a little west of Peshawar, and the other was in the imperial camp at Ahmadnagar in the Dakhin. There were thus about 1200 miles between them; they at once commenced to march towards each other, and finally met in battle in June 1707 between Agrah and Dholpur. The eldest son, Prince Mu'azzam, Shah 'Alam, reached Agrah in sixty-two days. The route was covered thus: Jamrud to the Indus, 8 days, the Indus to Lahor, 19 days, Lahor to Dihli, 25 days, Dihli to Agrah, 10 days. The distance measured on the map, with an addition of one eighth for the windings of the road 1, is about 690 miles. The average distance covered is thus about 11.1 miles (including halts). Starting 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 to Dholpur, 6 days. The total number of days being ninety two and the distance on the map about 505 miles, the average rate of progress was about 5.48 miles (including halts). Some farther details may be noted. Aurangabad to Burhanpur was, we are told, 561 kos done in 18 marches and 4 halts; the actual marching thus averaged here 31 kos (8.16 miles) a day. Burhanpur to Sironj, given as over 114 kos (296.8 miles), was done in 17 actual marches, or a daily average of 6.7 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", 7, is "Break the horizontal distance into portions of 100 or 150 miles, and add one eighth to get the road distance".

Page 220

Scan of Page  220
View Page 220

220 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. strongest possible pressure of haste, and must represent the utmost that a Moghul army was able to do in the 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 1., 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 3i 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 of the fast. Some of the facts may be tabulated as follows: NAME OF PLACE. NUMBER TOTAI TOTAL AVERAGE F NUMBER NUMBR DISTANCE DAILY MARCIt OF HALTS. MARCHED (EXCLUDING FROM To MARCHES. OF DAYS. (APPROXIMATE). DAYS HALTED). Agrah Jaipur Mairtha Ajmer Burhanpur Haidarabad Aurangabac Burhanpur Narbada ba Ajmer Sonpat Thanesar Sadhaurah Jaipur Mairtha Ajmer Burhanpur Haidarabad A urangabad I Burhanpur Narbada bank nk Ajmer Sonpat Thanesar Beyond Sadhaurah Lahor Total 20 16 14 40 61 44 15 11 50 21 7 33 340 50 12 17 39 144 87 38 17 130 97 11 8 200 850 70 28 31 79 205 131 53 28 miles 155 140 45 427 360 315 135 72 355 318 68 48 220 2658 miles 7.75 8.75 3.21 10.67 5.9 7.15 9.0 6.54 7.1 15.14 8.5 6.85 6.66 7.81 180 118 19 15 233 1190 The whole period 1707 to the 11th which 1190 days occupied, namely from the 12th Nov. Aug. 1711, comprises 1369 days, of are shown above. The remaining 179 days were spent at some of the principal places named in the first column. Another instance is when Dara Shukoh was sent to recover Qandahar. He reached that place in thirty three marches from Multan (Raverty, "Notes", 22). Assuming that his

Page 221

Scan of Page  221
View Page 221

LENGTH OF MARCHES. 221 route was by the Bolan pass, the distance may be estimated as 608 miles. This gives an average daily march of 18.4 miles. We have also some other accounts, which are sufficiently specific to afford us information of the usual rate at which an army marched. For example, we have the advance of Farrukhsliyar from Patnah to encounter his uncle, Jahandar Shah, in the neighbourhood of Agrah. The prince left Patnah on the 22rd Sept. 1712 and reached Sarae Begam, opposite Samugarh, east of Agrah, on the 4th January 1713. The distance from Patnah to Agrah was commonly reckoned as 300 kos (780 miles), Khushhal Chand, B.M. Addl. 24,027, fol. 220a. I make it no more, however, than 585 miles on the map (allowing Ith for the windings of the road); and as Farrukhsiyar did not keep to the usual route, but deviated a good deal to the right, in order to visit the shrine of Shah Madar at Makhanpur, I should estimate the distance actually travelled at about 610 miles. The stages (including the final advance to Dihli) were: STAGES. NUMBER NUMBER TOTAL APPROXIMATE AVERAGE O______ HALTS. OF NUMBER TOTAL DISTANCE DAILYMARCH FRM T MARCHES. A LTSOF DAYS. MARCHED. YS (EXCLUDING FROM TODASALD) miles miles Patnah Banaras 19 23 42 180 9.47 Banaras Allahabad 5 6 11 90 18.0 Allahabad Makhanpur 17 11 28 180 10.58 Makhanpur Agrah 17 8 25 157 9.23 Agrah Khizrabad (outside Dihli) 12 8 20 130 10.83 Total 70 56 126 737 10.51 We have the record of two long marches of Jahandar Shah, first from Lahor to Dihli shortly after his accession, secondly, from Dihli to Agrah to oppose Farrukhsiyar.

Page 222

Scan of Page  222
View Page 222

222 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. STAGES. NUMBER UE TOTAL APPROXIATE AVERAGE NUM6BER AVERAGE OF A NUMBER TOTAL DISTANCE ARCH OF HALTS. DAYS. MARCH. Fom T MARCHES. OF DAYS. MARCHED. I miles miles Lahor DihlU (not known) 44 288 6.54 (with halts) Dihli Agrah 16 5 22 135 8.43 (without halts) Again the march of Sayyad Husain 'Ali Khan from the Dakhin, a march undertaken under circumstances of extreme urgency, should afford an excellent test of the rate at which a Moghul army could march. He left Aurangabad about the 11th Nov. 1718, and reached a suburb of DihlT on the 16th Feb. 1719. His march thus occupied 98 days, and his route by way of Burhanpur, Ujjain, and Agrah, measures about 695 miles on the map, allowing -th for the windings of the road. His average daily rate of marching (including any days on which he halted) was thus 7.1 miles. The last instance I shall refer to is the march of Muhammad Shah in 1719 from Agrah past Fatlhpur Sikri to Todah Bhim in the direction of Jaipur. I make out the distance to be about 90 miles; it took the army twenty seven days to reach Todah Bhim; but they marched on twelve days only and halted on fifteen days. The average daily march made was thus about 71 miles.

Page 223

Scan of Page  223
View Page 223

CHAPTER XX. ORDER OF BATTLE. The ranging of an army in order of battle was known as saff riistan, from saff, a row, rank, or file; another phrase for the same thing is parrah basfan (Ashob, fol. 134b). Dr. Horn, 59-70, has worked out this section so fully, that what I have to say must be in a great measure a reproduction of his remarks. He shows that the Moghul tactics were founded on the rules laid down in Taimur's ordinances (Davy and White, 228 and foll., Horn, 136-151). When a great battle was imminent, it was the duty of the first Bakhshi, the Bakhshi-ul-mamalik, to draw up a scheme of attack, dividing the force into divisions, assigning to each its position 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 also caused musters to be made, and an abstract of this present-state was laid before the emperor. For instance, we read in Danishmand Khan, entry of the 28th Shawwal 1120 H., that Zu,lfiqar Khan, the first Bakhshi, drew up a plan for the battle against prince Kam Bakhsh, and presented it to the emperor for approval. The order of battle 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 little behind it were the right and left wings. Then, at some distance, was the centre, where stood the emperor on

Page 224

Scan of Page  224
View Page 224

224 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. his elephant, having a little way in front of him an advanced guard (illmish) and on each side of it two bodies, thrown a little way ahead, called the tarah. Behind the centre was the rear-guard (chandawul), having in its charge the 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. 164a, has the following disposition: Jiz-i-harawal Jaranghadr (Left Wing) Al-altar (?) Dastchap-i-ghol (Left wing of Centre). Qarawal (skirmishers) Harawal or Muqaddamahul-Jais (Vanguard) Ghol (Centre) (where the commander was stationed) Iltmish Bairanghdr-iHarawal (Right wing of advance guard) Iltmish Dast-i-rdst-i-ghol (Right wing of centre) Chandawul I (Rear guard) As the names for these different parts of an army in battle array differ a good deal, it will be as well to set them out somewhat at length. The words sol-yan and 8olqul for the left, and ong-qul for the right wing of the centre, as introduced by Babar (P. de Courteille, "Mrnoires", ii, 17, Horn, 60), seem to have dropped out of use. We hear nothing of them in the later histories. Qaldwuri. This word is employed in the Mirdt-i-Ahtmadi,

Page 225

Scan of Page  225
View Page 225

ORDER OF BATTLE. 225 fol. 186a, in the sense of men guiding or showing the way to an army. Steingass, 983, defines it as "road-guides, horsemen who guard the flank, spies, scouts". Iftali. From a passage in John Surman's Diary, C. R. Wilson, "Early Annals", ii, 2nd part, 26, this word seems to have been used for an advanced force or vanguard: "Meer Jumlah has arrived att Attayah (Itawah) and his Aftally consisting of 12,000 horse att Shasadpore (Shahzadpur)". Steingass, 80, has, ]ftal: "dispersed, scattered, rent, torn". Skirmishers. Qarawal is defined by Steingass, 962, as T. a sentinel, watchman, spy, guard, the vanguard, a gamekeeper, a hunter. In peace these men were the imperial huntsmen; in war, they were sent ahead as scouts and skirmishers. Vanguard. This was called either Harawal or muqaddamaAul-jais. The former word harawal, harol, or arawal is defined by P. de Courteille, 10, 515, as "troupe qui marche en avant de l'armee pour l'eclairer, troupe envoy6e en avant pour soutenir l'avant garde". Steingass, 1494, has "vanguard, running footmen". Muqaddamah-ul-jais is the Arabic phrase, meaning "front-part of the army (jais)", and is often used instead of hariwal. Horn, 60, speaks of certain families among the Moghuls having hereditary claims to certain positions. In India the right to fight in the vanguard was conceded, from the time of Akbar, to the Barhah sayyads, and the fact is often referred to in later times as one of their best titles to honour. In the BadsAhh-nnamah, i, 214, line 8, I find 'Abd-ul-hamid speaks of troops sent ahead of an army by the name of manqalah. The expression is not very common; I have met with it once spelt manfale in Khishhal Chand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 1127b, and several times in the Ma,isir-ul-umarz (written c. 1155 H., 1742), as for instance on p. 543 of vol. i. It is used in 1Trzkh-i-4Alamgir Sani, on fol. 105b. It is said to have also the form manghalie, the latter a Moghul word meaning "forehead, front" (Steingass, 1331, 1333). 15

Page 226

Scan of Page  226
View Page 226

226 THE AMRY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Advanced post of the Vanguard. This body was named jazah-i-harawal, literally "chicken of the vanguard", Horn, 61, who refers to Budaoni, ii, 231, line 4. Right 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-maimanah, (Dastur-ul-Insha, 233), (3) baranghar, (4) dast-i-rast, (5) taraf-i-yamtn (Khafi Khan, ii, 876). Left Wing. In the same way the left wing is referred to by five different names, the maisarah, A. ansar-i-maisarah(D)asturul-Insha, 233) jaranqhar, Ch., dast-i-chap, P., and janib-iyasar (Khafi Khan, ii, 876). Jaranghar, the form used in India, should be more correctly juwanghar (Horn, 39, P. de C., 157, 289), but jaranghar does not seem to be merely a mistake of the press, as Dr. Horn suggests, for we have it in the dictionaries (Steingass, 359). Advance guard of the Centre. This bore the Chaghatae name for the 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. Khafi Khan, ii, 876 spells, yaltmish. The Centre. This division was known either by the Chaghatae word qil (P. de C. 433) or the Arabic words qalb, literally "heart", and ghol, "troop", "assemblage" For example, Khafi Khan, ii, 876 uses qui and the Risalahi-Mhd. Shah, fol. 113b, uses ghol. Qui also means slave in Chaghatae. Perhaps the centre was called by this name, because it was formed out of the personal retainers or slaves of the leader or sovereign. Another name for the centre is qamaryah, Mirat-i-Ahmadi (circa 1170 H.) fol. 1776. 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.

Page 227

Scan of Page  227
View Page 227

ORDER OF BATTLE. 227 Wings of the Centre. These were called larat. P. de Courteille, "Diet." 382, translates this word as used in Babar's "Memoirs", ii, 167, Text 344, by the word "reserve". Horn assigns to the tarah, which he also calls the reserve, a position on each side, but somewhat in advance, of the centre itself. In this position these troops would seem rather to be the advanced guard than the reserve of the centre. Khafi Khan, ii, 876, distinguishes into tarah-i-da8s-i-chap and tarah-i-dasl-i-rast. Rear guard. The name of this was chandawul (P. de C. 288) literally, water-carriers, people belonging to the rear guard (Steingass, 400). In its charge was the baggage of the army (bahzr-o-bangah). Horn, 61, says the correct form is chaghdaul, referring to Babar 131, line 1, and 184, line 10. This form is not used by Indian writers of later date, nor is it in P. de Courteille, "Dictionnaire". It is found on p. 395 of Steingass. Safah. The rear of any division of the army or of any camp was called its sadah, Ashob, fol. 182a, Steingass, 642. Nasaqchi. From the time of Nadir Shah's invasion, we hear a good deal of the nasaqchi. 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 rear of the army and to cut down every one who dared to flee. Their arms were a battle-axe, a sabre, and a dagger (khanjar), Seir, i, 340, note 286. Their signs of office, Ashob says, fol. 263a, were a staff or baton carried in the hand, and on the head a tabal, }^., of moulded brass, three sided, in shape like the deeply ribbed or winged fruit of the kamrakh (Averrhoa carambola). Taulqamah (a*li.') or Taulghamah (ai/'). This is a Chaghatae word used to denote the troops posted in ambush to turn the enemy, or the action of turning the flank of

Page 228

Scan of Page  228
View Page 228

228 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. the enemy (P. de C. "Dict.", 243). Horn refers to it in several places (22, 23, 60, 73, 75). It was a manceuvre executed by Babar (P. de C. "Memoires", i, 194) and is described by him as a sudden onslaught accompanied by a discharge of arrows, and followed by as sudden a retreat. From this passage Horn holds laulqamah to be the name of a manoeuvre rather than of a particular part of the army. But in his diagram on p. 73, showing the position taken by Babar before the battle of Panipat, he places a taulqamah on both the right and the left of the two wings. Thus the word must be accepted in both senses, namely as a manceuvre and as a section of the battle array. Khafi Khan, ii, 876, when setting forth the divisions of Nizamul-mulk's army before the fight with Sayyad Dilawar 'Ali Khan, 19th June 1720, says "Fathullah Khan, Khosti, and Rao Raghuba, Binalkar, with a force of 500 horse were appointed the /aulqamah". This bears out the use of the word as one of the divisions of an army when in battle array. The manceuvre was one employed by Ahlmad Shah, Abdali, without giving it this name, see p. 233. Qazaqi (p. 240) was also a movement of much the same sort.

Page 229

Scan of Page  229
View Page 229

CHAPTER XXI. CONDUCT OF A BATTLE. An open country was one of the first necessities for a successful action by a Moghul army, for without this their cavalry could not deploy freely (Horn, 21). Even ground covered with thick scrub was unfavourable, while hills and ravines still more hampered their movements. In a mountainous region they were at a terrible disadvantage; and their mail-clad 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 Mahratta. Usually one, if not both, the armies made ready for battle 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 Rabic i, 1161 H. (21st March 1748) with Ahmad Shah, Abdali, between Machhiwarah and Sihrind, the imperialists "joined their cannon together by chains after the fashion of Rum" (Anand Ram, India Office Ms. 1612, fol. 58a). Again, outside Lahor, on Ahmad Shah's second invasion in 1165 H. (1751-2), the subahdar, Muin-ul-mulk, resorted to zanjzr-bandi of his cannon (Ghulam CAl Khan, MZuqaddamah-i-S. nA. mah, fol. 79a). Nay, the practice survived to the very last, for we find it put in force by

Page 230

Scan of Page  230
View Page 230

230 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. the Mahrattas at Laswari in November 1803 (Thorn, "War", 214). A good description of the zanjirah-band (as he calls it) is given by Ashob, fol. 182b, with reference to Muhammad Shah's camp at Karnal in the year 1151 H. (1739). "The zanjirah band 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) on their rounds (8hab-gard). The swivel-guns (rah;kalah) were planted four yards apart, with iron chains strongly attached to the wheels (4alqah) of their carriages (arabah). Between every two swivel-pieces were stationed five men with wall-pieces (jazdir), having pustlahs (breastworks) thrown up (anddkAhtah), and their pieces ready, side by side, on their tripods". If the guns were not too numerous, it was often the practice to post them behind the clay walls of the houses in some village; or to take up a commanding position on the top of an old brick-kiln; or a temporary entrenchment might be formed out of the earthen bank and ditch which usually surround a grove of mango trees 1. 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. Trans.", i, 74, referring to as late as the middle of the 18th century, speaks of their firing once in a quarter of an hour. Khushhal Chand's remarks, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 10166, show that in 1721 the usual rate of fire of the heavy guns was one shot every three hours (one pas). He praises Haidar Quli Khan's men for the energy with which they cooled their guns, loaded them, and fired them at intervals of three-quarters of an hour (do-ghari -- 44 minutes). In Babar's time the rate of firing must have been very slow. In his battle near Kanauj, he says (P. de C., ii, 337) "Ustad Quli Khan" (his mzr Vaash) "made very good use 1 Clive found one of these last very useful at the battle of Palasi (Plassey), Orme, "Mil. Trans.", ii, 172.

Page 231

Scan of Page  231
View Page 231

CONDUCT OF A BATTLE. 231 of his artillery. The first day he discharged eight projectiles, the second he shot sixteen, and so continued for three or four days". He used for this the piece called "the Cannon of the Conqueror", the same that he had used in the battle against Sanka (i. e. the Rana of Chitor), and to this it owed its name of Ghazi. He had also mounted in a battery a still larger piece; but it burst at the first discharge. Owing to the slowness of the draught oxen, who were unable to keep up with an advancing line, the artillery seldom took any further part in the battle, once the cavalry advance had passed beyond the entrenched position which had been taken up at the outset. From the same cause, it seldom happened that in case of a retreat or defeat the guns could be saved; they had to be spiked 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 of the batteries is to fire as long as possible previously to 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 beating, and horns blowing. "As the army took up its position for battle, the long brass horns (karranai) sounded and heralds l made proclamation" (Sair-ul-Mutlkharn text, 59, Seir, i, 208). Since, as Isaiah says, "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 prac1 Heralds, that is naqib, Steingass 1421, a servant whose business it is to proclaim the titles of his master, and to introduce those who pay their respects to him. In 1870, on the day of the Duke of Edinburgh's arrival at Benares, such a herald preceded the late Rajah Deo Narayan Singh as he walked from the railway station to the river bank, and I heard the man shouting out the Rajah's titles.

Page 232

Scan of Page  232
View Page 232

232 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. tice in later times. But shouts and battle cries, coupled with abusive or taunting language, were copiously resorted to. Such cries were Allaiu akbar! (God is great) and Din! Din! (The faith! The faith!). Akbar used the cry of Yd Mucan! (O Helper!), Horn 109, quoting Budaoni, ii, 167, Lowe 170. The passage in Budaoni is: Xaman-i-kiyani dar imad ba-zih, Yake guft "Ba-silan", yake guft "Dih". "The royal bow was drawn to the full, One called 'Seize', and another 'Strike'". In another place, Budaoni, i, 335, line 3 from end, speaks of awdz-i-"Dih" o "Sitan" o "Ba-kas/h" o "Ba-zan", ghostly cries of "Strike", "Seize" "Slay", "Smite", still supposed to be heard after night-fall from the battle-field of Panipat. Steingass, 547, has dill, strike thou, inf. dadan, and 548, dihadih zadan, to raise a battle cry. Khafi Khan ii, 58, speaks of sadde "Ba-kash!" "Ba-kash" buland sakhtah, "having raised loud cries of 'Kill! Kill!"' We are reminded of Michael Drayton's "Battaile of Agincourt": "Whilst scalps about like broken potsherds fly And 'kill', 'kill', 'kill', the Conquering English cry". The most common cry in later times was Din! Din! Muhammad! 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!" (Ahwdl-ul-khawaqin, 207a); this is one of the names of Krishn. Another, according to Grant Duff, 109, was "Har, Har, Mahadeo"; these are also the names of Hindu gods. Cavalry charges. When the guns were supposed to have done their work and had sufficiently demoralized the opposing army, successive charges were delivered from first

Page 233

Scan of Page  233
View Page 233

CONDUCT OF 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 CyjyL., P. de C. 271, a combat. Ahmad Shah, Abdali, seems in 1165 H. (1752) to have brought in a mode of attack, resembling the taulqamah, (ante, p. 228) in which the matchlock played a conspicuous part. He divided his horse into several bodies of one thousand each, all with matches ready lighted. The first body (daslah) 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 CAli Khan, Muqaddamah, fol. 79b). At the battle of Panipat, fought on the 7th Jamadi ii, 1174 H. (13th January 1761), he repeated this manceuvre at a critical moment with conspicuous success, thereby throwing the Mahrattah centre into confusion, (Tarikh-i-Husain Shahz, fol. 44b, 45a). In the Ma,asir-ul-umara, ii, 671, we are told that in the south of India it was the practice to make the first attack against the rear of an army. Chevaux de frise or Caltrops. According to the dictionary, Steingass, 460, khasak is the word for a caltrop thrown down to impede the movements of cavalry. I have seen only one mention of their employment, namely, in the Akbarnamah (Lucknow edition, i, 75, five lines from foot) where Taimur is said to have used them. But I have come across the word in Sacdi's lines quoted by Muhammad Mun'im, Ja'farabadi, in his Farrukh-namah, fol. 27b, (1128 H.) and by c'shrat, Siyalkoti, in his NVadirnamah, fol. 56a (1151 H.): 'Ada ra ba jde khasak zar ba rez, Kih bakhshish kund kunad dandan-i-tez. "Before an enemy scatter gold, not spikes, For gifts will blunt the sharpest teeth". As to the distinctive difference between Moghul cavalry and that of European armies in their methods of fighting,

Page 234

Scan of Page  234
View Page 234

234 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Colonel Blacker has some judicious remarks ("War", 189). First of all, to show how formidable such solid but irregular bodies of cavalry seemed, he quotes Orme - "whosoever has seen a body of ten thousand horse advancing on the full gallop 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 assistance of another. Owing to its size, an army of Moghul horse could, for the moment, meet the attack of a small compact body by a portion only of its total strength, and since as 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, but the parts not menaced did not combine to fall on the rear of the pursuers. On the other hand, the disciplined troops divided, reassembled, charged and halted on a single trumpet-call, and threatened each single part in turn. But if the drilled cavalry tried skirmishing, it was soon found that the Moghul horse, apparently so despicable, were most formidable in detail. Wilks, iii, 392, is also of opinion that in single combat a 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

Page 235

Scan of Page  235
View Page 235

CONDUCT OF A BATTLE. 235 invariably gave way before the larger force. This view may have some truth in it, but cannot be laid down as an axiom. Accident as frequently as not was decisive, while treacherous desertion or half-hearted support was a frequent occurrence. The most decisive point of a battle was, however, the death or disappearance of the leader. If he was known to have been killed, or could not be seen on his elephant, the troops desisted at once, and the greater part forthwith sought their own safety in flight (To this effect, see De la Flotte, i, 258, Orme, "Hist. Frag.", 419, Cambridge, "War", Introd. ix). In order to be conspicuous, the leader rode on an elephant, preceded by others bearing displayed standards. "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 to have an artillery well served" (Seir, i, 10, note 20). The troops were very subject to panic and sudden flight; so much so that the fact was summed up in the proverb "one soldier makes off, and a whole army is done for" '. Many battles were lost by the event above referred to, the death or disappearance of the leader. One instance is the loss of the battle of Samugarh in 1658, because Dara Shukoh descended from his elephant to mount a horse, at the entreaty of Khalilullah Khan, with the object of pursuing the flying enemy (Bernier, 54). The loss or flight or capture of the leader also determined the great battles of Jajau (18th June 1707), HIaidarabad (13th January 1709), Lahor, (15th-18th March 1712), Agrah, (10th Dec. 1712) Hasanpur (13th Nov. 1720). In the first Prince A'zam Shah 1 Lashkari garezad, o lashkare sar shavvad, Horn, 111, quoting Budaoni, ii, 196, line 4.

Page 236

Scan of Page  236
View Page 236

236 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. and two sons were killed; in the seconds Prince Kam Bakhsh 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, 'Abdullah Khan, both became the prisoners of Muhammad Shah. On this head see also Horn, 46, and the cases there referred to, Badslfiahnamah, i, 512, last line, Akbarnamah, iii, 54, line 12 and following. Once more, Sir Eyre Coote, "Minutes of Sel. Corn", 30th 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 of our cannon balls killed his elephant and then its rider was killed by a fall from it; this, and the death of the oxen dragging the guns, threw the enemy into the greatest confusion. Untimely plundering. There was also an undisciplined eagerness to break off and begin plundering before the day was really decided; and this habit often ended disastrously for those who had too easily assumed themselves to be the victors. Single combat. Horn, 46, quotes instances (Akbarnamah, iii, 97, 98 and Khafi Khan, ii, 304, 305), 1st where Akbar challenged his opponent, Daud Lodi, to a fight in single combat; and 2ndly, in 1095 H., when M. Ibrahim, a general of the Haidarabad rulers, made a similar offer to Prince Mu'azzam, eldest son of cAlamgir. We may add to these the proposal sent in 1119 H. (1707) by the same Prince Mu'azzam (afterwards Shah 'Alam Bahadur Shah) to his next brother, M. Aczam Shah, when they were both claimants for the throne, then vacant through the death of 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

Page 237

Scan of Page  237
View Page 237

CONDUCT OF A BATTLE. 237 in Khafi Khan, ii, 633, line 14, where he says that Sarwa, a robber associate of Papra, the toddy-seller, 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-yakyangz), "as is the custom in the Dakhin" (see ante, p. 185). Later on the practice showed itself in 1782, when the English under Sir Eyre Coote were opposed to the Mysore army under Haidar 'Al. Individual horsemen would ride up within speaking distance and, with contemptuous 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 by Lieut. Dallas, a man six foot high, who rode a coalblack horse, and formed a striking exception to the general inferiority of European to native swordsmen (Wilks, ii, 392). The Utara. 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 affected among Indian Mahomedans by the Barhah Sayyads. H. M. Elliot, "M. Hist.", i, Appendix, 537, speaks of this practice, and the allied 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 was an old-established custom amongst their tribes that both parties should alight 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 infantry. His reference in the c'laqmgzr-namah, 67, line 8, is undoubtedly a case of the utara. It took place at the battle with Jaswant Singh, Rathor, and it is specially said to be "the custom of the valorous reputation-seekers of Hindustan". Anand Ram, writing in 1161 H. (1748), I. O. L. No. 1612, fol. 87b, refers to it as a special feature of Rajput tactics. An instance of the practice by Rajputs

Page 238

Scan of Page  238
View Page 238

238 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. will be found in Budaoni's account, text i, 368, Ranking, 478, of the battle fought in 1562 near Ajmer between Sher Shah and Mal Deo, Rathor. Again, we find it in use in 1151 H. (1739) at the battle near Karnal, where Khan Dauran, Samsam-ud-daulah, was wounded and Muzaffar Khan killed. Ashob, fol. 227a, tells us that "they found the dead bodies of Mirza 'Aqil Beg, Kamalposh, and of 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 many references to this mode of fighting in the descriptions of battles in the early part of the 18th century. The Persians in the Indian service scoffed at this habit, and attributed it not to valour but to defective horsemanship. An anonymous writer of that nation remarks, "So when Hindustani cavalry go to battle, it is impossible for them to make a stand without suffering physically. If they are caught involved in a fight they have no resource left but to alight and let their horses go. Though they may be killed in either case, yet the chances are greater in favour of life when they alight. If they remain in the saddle, it is impossible for them to escape, for the horse, as likely as not,.kills the rider before the enemy touches him. Anyhow, this manceuvre of utara has the appearance of bravery and they boast of it. ("Memoirs of Dihli", trans. of Tarikh-iBarah Bakhsh, by W. Hoey, M. A., D. Lit., i, App. 8). Allied to what Elliot refers to as "colligation", or men binding themselves together when fighting, is an incident which I have only met with once. 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 captain, Bhikari Khan, put each one foot in the other's stirrup, and thus, knee to knee, fought their way back to shelter in the fort of Lahor (Ghulam 'Ali Khan, Muqaddanmah, fol. 796).

Page 239

Scan of Page  239
View Page 239

CONDUCT OF A BATTLE. 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..Iarakat-i-mazbuhl. 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 fidaiyan-i-Rana, kih mahal-i-u-ra mluhafazat mi-kardand, o sare chand-i-dzgar, suknah-i-muaCbad, kih majmui bist kas bashand, binabar-i-rasm i-qadim-i-Hindustan, kih waqt i-khalt sakhtan-i-shahr, ba jihat-i-radayat-i-namus, kashtah mi shavvand, az andarin-i-khanahha o butkhdnahha bar dmdah, harakat-i-mazbiahi kardah, ba zakhm-i-shamsher-i-jan-sitan jan ba malikan-i-dozakh sipurdand. Lowe, 240, renders it thus: "And certain of the devoted servants of the Rana, who were the guardians of his palace, and some inhabitants of the temple, in all amounting to twenty persons, in accordance with an ancient custom 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 their life-taking swords committed their souls to the keepers of hell". See also Lowe's note. I take this passage as meaning, on the contrary, that the men made a feeble purposeless onslaught (harakat-i-mazbihz), and were slain not by their own swords, but by those of their Moslem opponents. Again in the Ma,isir-i-'Alamgiri, 299, at the taking of Gulkandah, 24th Zul Qa'dah 1098 H., 9th Sept. 1687, we have the expression used in its literal sense of a feeble useless effort. When the besiegers entered that fort, their leader seized the king be an kih a o hamrahan-ash harakati-mazbuihz namdyand, "before he and his companions could make any fruitless effort". As the prisoners thus made were

Page 240

Scan of Page  240
View Page 240

240 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Mahomedans, it can hardly be supposed that the writer means they were about to perform a "sacrificial rite", that is, in other words, the Hindu jihar, or immolation of themselves and family. In the Ma,asir-ul-umara, i, 844, the words are used to describe the opposition offered in 1153 H. (1740) by Sarfaraz Khan, nazim of Bengal, to the invasion of the usurper, CAli Wirdi Khan, Mahabat Jang. Wilks, ii, 552, attributes to Tipu Sultan's personal malignity the use of this phrase for describing the "movements of the enemy". No doubt, contempt is included in the meaning, but it is a regular stock expression, used by all writers when describing the movements of troops. KhushlMal Chand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 10106 uses it in its strictly literal signification with reference to the execution of Rajah Ratn Chand (1133 H.). Once more he uses it, rather indefinitely, on fol. 1015b. Qazqap. The word comes, of course, from qazaq, Steingass, 968, a partisan, a light armed soldier, a highway robber, a Cossack. Qazaqi he defines as a military incursion, 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 us any definition to replace the one rejected. I fancy that Dr. Oskar Mann's reading of faraqi si, on p. 95, line 6, of Mujmil-ut-ltarkh might be better,3, qazagi. Dar goshah-i-kaman zadan. This is in the literal sense of 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.

Page 241

Scan of Page  241
View Page 241

CONDUCT OF A BATTLE. 241 Talaqi-i-fariqain, "Meeting of the two parties", denotes the fact that the two armies are in touch and within striking distance of each other. Siyah namudan, lit. "to show black", is the phrase for the first faint signs of an enemy's appearance in the distance. Hallah, said by Steingass 1506 to be from hamlah, a fight, was the general word for an on-rush or charge. Ykris/h, Steingass, T., 1537, P.de C., 545 u~?.,marche, expedition, was also used in the same sense as hallah. Hai,at-i-majm'iCz was also a word for some sort of combined advance. Literally it means haiat, form, mode, majmzi, collective, aggregate. I think this had a technical use, but I have failed to satisfy myself as to its exact meaning. Chapkunchi, a reconnaisance, Horn 21, 1 have never seen. Chapqalash I have already referred to (ante, p. 233); Turktazz (Turk-galloping) was an expression for hard or expeditious riding. The words Uimaq or Aimaq, Horn, 21, Blochmann Ajn, i, 371, note, were not in use in the later period. Sipah.-i-falez. This phrase, literally "soldiers of the melon bed", has often puzzled me. It is used as a description of a defeated, non-resisting 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 words 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 (paibz)". 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 cAlamgir, Khafi Khan, ii, 355, last line, mzkh zadah niabd sakhtand. Generally, on the retreat of an Indian army, so great was the dispersion that some days elapsed before the direction 16

Page 242

Scan of Page  242
View Page 242

242 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. of flight taken 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 advance, lay an ambuscade, or mislead a pursuer. All impediments to flight were successively abandoned, and a retreat became a sauve qui peut. 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). Jaiar. 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), when surrounded hy an overwhelming body of Mahrattahs (Awhwal-i-k/awadqn, fol. 194a). Proclamation of Victory, Horn, 109. When the day was won, the victor ordered his drums to strike up and his horns to blow, both to announce the victory to his own side and to produce further disheartenment among his opponents. Sometimes, to re-animate the drooping energies of his men, a general would order his drums to beat as for a victory, in the 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 success with as many heads of the slain as could be collected. This was 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 Ahmadabad, he did the same. There are also several instances of heads being sent in during the reigns of cAlamglr and Bahadur Shah. For example, Danishmand Khan tells us, entry of 18th Ramazan 1119 H., 12th Dec. 1707, that an

Page 243

Scan of Page  243
View Page 243

CONDUCT OF A BATTLE. 243 imperial officer, after taking the Jat fort of Sansani, near Mathura, sent in one thousand heads in ten carts, along with the weapons taken. Nicolao Manucci also speaks, Phillipps 1945, Part i, p. 85, of having seen piles of heads, once as many as ten thousand heads; and in his many journeys between Agrah and Dihli (1656-1680), he always saw fresh heads in the niches made for them on the pillars. In 1122 H. (1711) Mhd Amin Khan, when announcing the capture of Sihrind, sent in six cart-loads of heads, and reported that the rest had been built into a pillar (mindr), Kam Raj, 'lbrat-namah, fol. 43b. 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 Akhbar-i-Muhabbat, fol. 279, pillars of heads were constructed by JaCfar Khan in 1124 H. (1712) on the edge of the high road to Hindustan, just outside Murshidabad, after he had defeated Rashid Khan. Ashob, fol. 111b, speaks of Sacadat Khan Burhan-ul-mulk sending to Court the heads of the slain after his defeat of Bhagwant Singh, Khichar, in 1148 H. (Oct. 1735). Abdullah Khan, Firuz Jang, who died in 1054 H., 1644-5, boasted, according to the Maasir-ul-umara ii, 788, that he had cut off 200,000 heads, and all the way from Agrah to Patnah had built pillars with them.

Page 244

Scan of Page  244
View Page 244

CHAPTER XXII. PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES. Dr. Horn devotes many pages (71-105) to reproducing detailed battle pieces. These comprise Babar's first battle at Panipat, 21st April 1526, Babar's battle against Rana Sanga, 16th March 1527, Akbar's battle at Panipat, 5th Nov. 1556, the battle at Korah between Shah Shujac and "Alamgir, 3rd Jan. 1659, and the taking of a mountain pass near 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 deplorably 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 down than the first year of 'Alamgir's reign. There was much fighting in the rest of that reign and in the following reigns, and from the later historians it would be possible to put together accounts of many other battles. I may instance those of Jajau (1707), Agrah (1712), Hasanpur (1720). For the first of these recourse might be had to Nicamat Khan (afterwards Danishmand Khan), poetically Aclh. This well known poet and literary man, who died 30th Rabi' i, 1122 H., 28th May 1710, was appointed historiographer

Page 245

Scan of Page  245
View Page 245

PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES. 245 by Bahadur Shah, and has left two descriptions of the battle at Jajau, in which his patron defeated a brother, ACzam Shah, and obtained the throne. That in the Bahadur Shahnamah is the simpler; the other, a separate work known as the Janrg-nimah, is written in the florid, full-blown manner which was considered requisite for such show pieces. It is a very 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 space. Following Dr. Horn's example, 1 will give a description of the battle of Hasanpur, fought on the 13th Nov. 1720. On the 28th Sept. 1719, Muhammad Shah had been raised to the throne at Agrah by the two Sayyad brothers, 'Abdullah Khan and Husain 'All Khan. Shortly afterwards (8th Oct. 1720), with Muhammad Shah's tacit approval, the younger brother was assassinated. 'Abdullah Khan thereupon raised another scion of the royal house, Prince Ibrahim, to the throne, and marched from Dihli against Muhammad Shah, who was coming from the south-east. Just before the decisive battle, the emperor's head-quarters were at Hasanpur, those of cAbdullah Khan about six miles further north, at Biluchpur. Both places are between Mathura and Dihl!, 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) Mhd Qasim, Lahori, 5) Mhd Shafl', Warid, 6) Khwajah cAbd-ul-Karim, Kashmirl, and 7) Mhd cUmr, son of Khizr Khan. The Battle of Hasanpur. Early in the morning of Wednesday the 13th Muharram 1133 H. (13th Nov. 1720), before the sun rose, Muhlammad Shah mounted his elephant, Padshah Pasand, and took his place in the centre. Haidar Quli Khan was sent on ahead with the strong artillery

Page 246

Scan of Page  246
View Page 246

246 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. force under his command '; while Khan Dauran and Sabit Khan were ordered to follow and support him with the left wing. Muhammad Khan, Bangash, and Sa'dat Khan were sent towards the river and the rear. Round his Majesty's person were the new wazir, Mulammad Amin Khan, and his son, Qamr-ud-din Khan, Dil Daler Khan, Sher Afkan Khan, Hizbar Khan and others. Zafar Khan, Fakhr-ud-din Khan, his brother, Rajah Bahadur of Kishngarh, Nusrat Yar Khan, Jag Ram (Jai Singh's diwdn) cAziz Khan, Mir Mushrif, and Rajah Gopal Singh, Bhadauriyah, 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 CAbdullah Khan, was now sent for. He was brought before the emperor on an elephant; he was there made to dismount, and was at once executed. The severed head was thrown before the emperor's elephant and trodden under foot. I If we are to interpret Khushhal Chand literally, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 1014b, HJaidar Quli Khan used a telescope to make out the enemy's position. Hle says II. Q. K. at a distance of one fcarsakh (3 miles) saw the enemy's army by the eye of a dur-bin (telescope). Or is it only his "farseeing eye" (chasihm-i-durbn)? A late writer (c. 1790) Rustam cAll, Bijnorl, in his "History of the Rohelahs", fol. 52b, states that at the battle of Panlpat in January 1761, Almad Shah, Durrani, used a telescope (dur-bin) to watch the movements of the Mahrattahs. As he was writing thirty years after the event, I do not know whether he is to be relied on for such a detail. Also in the Husain Shahi of Imam-ud-dln Chisti, fol. 65b, 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 for some of the commanders: they received a severe beating from the sticks 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 seated under the shade of their horses, while the men of their regiments were exposed to the full heat of the sun. Tomorrow I will give them robes of honour to console them".

Page 247

Scan of Page  247
View Page 247

PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES. 247 Chura Jut, who was hovering near the army on the west, cut off 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 Muhiammad Khan, Bangash, once more repelled them. They then made a further attempt on the east side. Here Mir Mushrif and 'Alwi Khan, Tarin, 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 three o'clock the baggage camp was moved to a safer place, and the confusion continuing, it was again moved still farther off. When Najm-ud-din 'All Khan at the head of the Sayyad vanguard, appeared in the distance from the direction of the river, Haidar Quli Khan, the imperial Mir Atash, moved out his heavy cannon into the open, and encountered the advancing enemy with a storm of balls from them and his field-pieces. The fire was so continuous and heavy that the artillery of the other side was silenced. After every volley Haidar Quli Khan urged on his men by lavish gifts of gold and silver. As the artillery advanced, the rest of the army followed and occupied the ground. Stimulated by their commander's liberality, the gunners worked zealously, 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 cAll Khan, in command of that noble's guns, particularly distinguishing themselves. The latter was wounded in the foot. Sayyad Nusrat Yar Khan and Sabit Khan also took a leading part, while Sa~'dat Khan and Muhammad Khan, Bangash, created a diversion on the left. During the day a rocket fell on Sayyad cAbdullah Khan's powder-magazine, exploding it and causing much loss of life.

Page 248

Scan of Page  248
View Page 248

248 THE AMRY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Throughout the day of the 13th, the battle was chiefly one of artillery. The brunt of the fighting on 'Abdullah Khan's side was borne by his brother, Najm-ud-din cAll Khan, who commanded his vanguard. Originally the Sayyads had intended to rely on a general onset. But Rajah Mulikam Singh, who had deserted from the imperialists, dissuaded them, pointing out that to charge down on such a powerful artillery as the other side possessed, would be to expose themselves to destruction. Their own small supply of guns ought, he said, to be entrenched in a good position on the edge of some ravine, and there they could await the favour of events. Although Mulkam Singh had acquired in the 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 village, and it tried to reply to the other side's fire to the extent of its ability. In the field, the usual scattered fighting, charging and counter-charging, went on all day, and at one time it looked as if the imperialists would give way. But Khan Dauran, Sayyad Nusrat Yar Khan, Sabit Khan, Dost 'All Khan, Sayyad 1Hamid Khan and Asad 'Ali 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 position among the trees. Najm-ud-din CAll Khan was wounded by an arrow near the eye 1, and a ball from a swivel-gun struck him on the knee. Among the chiefs who lost their lives were Shekh Sibghatullah of Lakhnau, three sons, and seventy-five of his men, cAbd-ul-Qadir Khan, Thathawi, (nephew of Qazl Mir, Bahadur Shahi), Abd-ulGhani Khan (son of 'Abd-ur-Rahim Khan, cAlamgiri), Ghulam Muhl-ud-din Khan, and the son of Shuja' Khan, Palwali. Many soldiers also were slain. He lost his eye from this wound, and the glass ball by which he replaced it was a subject of wonder to the common people for the rest of his life, (Ma,asir-ul-umara, ii, 508).

Page 249

Scan of Page  249
View Page 249

PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES. 249 'Abdullah Khan had decided to single out for attack the force under Sayyad Nusrat Yar Khan, who had command of the advanced guard near the emperor. Against this man the 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, cAbdullah Khan hoped to be able to push on to Muhammad Shah's centre (gqalb). First of all, he tried to make his way to his objective from his own left, but found the river such an obstacle, that he changed his direction and moved across his front to the right of his own army. As soon as the movement was detected, reinforcements were sent for by Muhammad Shah, the centre having been left very weak. The generals who were thus summoned objected to quit their posts. The imperial artillery present with the emperor's division, was then despatched towards the river to bar the way, and part of the vanguard was also transferred to the same point. 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 CAbdullah 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 river, only to find their opponents in possession of the banks. Group after group, on the pretext of getting water, left the standard. These desertions continued until the night fell; and all night long, from the camp to Barahpulah just outside Dihli, the road was encumbered with fugitives. At night-fall there were not more than a few thousands left of the huge host that had set out from Dihli a few days before. At first 'Abdullah Khan had ordered a small tent to be put up for the night where he stood, but countermanded

Page 250

Scan of Page  250
View Page 250

250 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. it, when he reflected that it would be a target for the enemy's fire. The night was a moonlight one, and the imperial artillery never ceased its fire. If any man stirred in the 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 of, as usual, to the breach end of the gun. Among the guns in use were those named Ghazi Khan and Shah Pasand. These heavy guns were fired oftener than had ever been done before in the recollection of the oldest man. Haidar Quli Khan kept up the energy of his men by continual gifts; 'Abdullah Khan's continued to make off in small parties. Mul.hammad Shah passed the night seated on his elephant so near the vanguard as to be under fire. When day dawned on the 14th Muharram (14th Nov. 1720), 'Abdullah 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 the fight to the best of his power. Najm-ud-din 'All Khan and Saif-ud-din 'All Khan, the wazir's younger brothers, Sayyad Afzal Khan, High Almoner (Sadar-ussadltr), Rae Tek Chand, a Bali Khatrl, his chief officer, Ghazi-ud-din Khan (Alimad Beg), Nawab Allahyar Khan, Shahjahani, and Rulhullah Khan were found among these faithful few, who had passed a sleepless night on their elephants, having seen neither food nor water for many hours. Access to the river-side was blocked by the Jats, who plundered impartially friend 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 he was alive or dead. Early in the morning, returning to his plan of the previous day, cAbdullah Khan, joined by Najm-ud-din cAll Khan and many Barhah chiefs, again delivered an attack,

Page 251

Scan of Page  251
View Page 251

PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES. 251 in the hope of reaching the emperor's centre. The imperial left 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, Fath Muhammad Khan, Tahavvar CAll Khan (better known as Bahadur CAli Khan), and many others on the Sayyads' side were slain. Darvesh 'Ali Khan, head of Khan Dauran's artillery, was killed; Dost CAl Khan and Nusrat Yar Khan were severely wounded. Sacadat Khan and Sher Afkan Khan were also prominent in this encounter. '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 lost their lives on the imperial side. After a time the men of Khan Dauran, Haidar Quli Khan, Sacadat Khan and Muhammad Khan, Bangash, surrounded the ex-wazir, and an arrow struck him on the forehead, inflicting a skin wound. The soldiers then tried to make him a prisoner. But, clad although he was in chainmail, he leapt to the ground sword in hand, with the intention of fighting to the death. In spite of their knowing his practice of fighting on foot at the crisis of a battle, the ex-wazir's troops, when they saw his elephant without a rider, imagined that their leader must have fled, and each man began to think of his own safety. Then Tali cYar Khan charged at the head of his men, and cut down Shekh Nathu, commanding 'Abdullah Khan's artillery; the Rajputs, coming up, took possession of the Shekh's body, and carried it to the imperial camp. Najm-ud-din CAll Khan and Ghazi-ud-din Khan did their best to rally their men, but no one paid them any heed. ShujaCat-ullah Khan, Zulfiqar 'Ali Khan, and cAbdullah Khan, Tarin, fled. Even Saif-ud-din cAll Khan, the ex-wazlr's brother, thought the day was lost, and left the field along with two or three hundred men, taking with him Prince lbrahim, who abandoned his elephant and mounted a horse. His elephant

Page 252

Scan of Page  252
View Page 252

252 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. and imperial umbrella were afterwards found, and taken by Mulhammad 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 'Ali Khan, a drawn sword in his hand, rode on to enquire after and search for his brother. He found 'Abdullah Khan standing on the ground quite alone, and although wounded in the hand, still fighting like a lion, while on every side the crowd of assailants grew greater every minute. Still not one of them had the courage to lay hands upon him; one of Khan Dauran's men had wounded him on a finger of the right hand, but the Nawab returned the blow by a cut, which struck the man's leg and his horse's shoulder. Najm-ud-din (Ali Khan dismounted from his elephant and joined his brother. 'Abdullah Khan called out to him "Behold the inconstancy of Fortune, and the end of all earthly greatness!", adding a verse of Sa'di, Shirazi, fitting to the occasion 1. Haidar Quli Khan, who had noticed that the howdah of Abdullah Khan's elephant was empty, made enquiries, and was informed by one of his soldiers that the Nawab was on foot and wounded. Coming up at once with a led elephant, Haidar Qull Khan addressed the Sayyad, in the humblest manner, with words of praise and flattery. "Was he not a well-wisher, and was not his life one with his? Except to set forth for the presence of the emperor, what course was there left?" Najm-ud-dln 'Ali Khan made a movement to cut the speaker down, but Abdullah Khan held his 1 Khizr Khan, who took part in the battle as one of the Sayyad army, was near enough to know that cAbdullah Khan called out, but from the uproar could not hear his words. Some years afterwards (1138 H.) he met at Mathur a, Najm-ud-din CAli Khan, then on his way to Ahmadabad, and obtained from him the details in the text. Khafi Khan, ii, 933, on the contrary, makes out that A. K. claimed ama (safety for life) by announcing himself as a Sayyad.

Page 253

Scan of Page  253
View Page 253

PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, IOSSES. Z 00 brother back. Then, with a haughty and dignified air, he took Najm-ud-din CAli Khan's hand and mounted the elephant. HIaidar Quli Khan followed on his own elephant, and conducted his prisoners to the emperor, Mul.ammad Shah. His hands bound together by Haidar Quli Khan's shawl, 'Abdullah Khan was brought before Muhammad Shah. Saluting him with a "Peace be upon you", the emperor said "Sayyad! you have yourself brought your affairs to this extremity". Overcome with the disgrace, Abdullah Khan answered only "It is God's will". Muhammad Amin Khan, unable to contain himself, leapt from the ground with joy, and exclaimed "Let this traitor to his salt be confided to this ancient servitor". But Khan Dauran, in respectful terms, intervened. "Never! never! Make not the Sayyad over to Muhammad Amin Khan, for he will at once slay him in an ignominious manner, and such a deed is inadvisable. What did Farrukhsiyar gain by the murder of Zu,lfiqar 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, Turani, was also taken a prisoner and brought, bare-headed and bare-footed, before his cousin, Muhalmmad Amin Khan, and Khan Dauran. The wazir calmed his fears and assured him of being tenderly dealt with. There were many other prisoners, among them the chief being Sayyad CAli Khan, (brother of Abu,l Mul.sin Khan, Bakhshi) and 'Abd-un-nabi Khan. On the Sayyads' side the entrenchments were held and the fight maintained by Ghazi-ud-din Khan and others for nearly an hour after the capture of 'Abdullah Khan. When at length they were satisfied that the day was lost, they desisted. Ghazi-ud-din Khan with such baggage as

Page 254

Scan of Page  254
View Page 254

254 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. could be saved, followed by Allahyar Khan and many others, moved off and marched straight for Dihli; while the Barhah Sayyads endeavoured to cross the Jamnah, in order to make their way to their homes. Saif-ud-din 'Ali Khan had brought Prince Ibrahim off the field of battle, but owing to the entire absence of carriage, was obliged to leave him in the orchard of Qutb-ud-din Khan close to the village of Nekpur. Saif-ud-din 'Ai Khan went home to Jansath, sending IBiqir 'Ali Khan and Khizr Khan to Dihli to bring away the Sayyad women and dependents. These messengers reached 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, as their 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 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, several camel-loads of goods 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 ('arzah-dashl) 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 tumar, or roll, (a word which had another technical signification in the finance department). If the emperor was especially satisfied with any general, he gave orders that the victory should be recorded in the imperial diary of proceedings (the waiqica/), equivalent to our gazette. Many specimens of battle reports sent in from Bundelkhand by Muhammad Khan, Bangash, will be found in Sahib Rae's Khujistah Kalam; and the same work contains a tldaur

Page 255

Scan of Page  255
View Page 255

PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES. 255 circulated by Nizam-ul-mulk after his victory over Sayyad Dilawar 'All Khan, Rajah Bhim Singh, Hada, and others. Stratagems of War. Dr. Iorn, 70, states that deceit and stratagem did not play a leading part in Moghul warfare. This may be so, still they were not unknown. Of a character similar to the pretended desertion, in order to obtain information of the enemy's plans and strength, which was employed by Rumi Khan at Chunar in 1538 (Horn, 71, quoting Erskine, ii, 140, note), is a plot put into execution once by Nizam-ul-mulk. In the middle of 1720, when about to fight for supremacy in the Dakhin against Sayyad 'Alim 'Ali Khan, governor of Aurangabad, he arranged with one of his principal officers that a fictitious dispute about pay should be raised, that the officer should behave disrespectfully, and after receiving his money, should desert to 'Alim 'All Khan's camp. So said, so done. After an altercation, Nizam-ul-mulk paid the man and let him go. When he reached the Sayyad's camp, this officer 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 C'lim CAl Khan's rear, and bringing him under two fires contributed materially to his defeat (Sh'iu Das, fol. 42b). Ambush (ba kamna-gaht nis/istan) was not an uncommon stratagem. Matchlockmen 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 Farrukhabad, and many of his chief officers lost their lives on the 12th Zu,l Hijjah, 1162 H. (22nd Nov. 1749), see J. 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 'AlI Khan in Barair on the 19th June 1720.

Page 256

Scan of Page  256
View Page 256

256 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. 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. His advanced guard was concealed in the hollows on each side. Then two or three men, closely resembling the Nawab 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 cAli Khan's men came straight at their foe, and were drawn on and on by a simulated retreat. 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 length brought his elephant close to that of Iwaz Khan, the Moghul by a sign caused his elephant to kneel, and by this trick, escaped with his life. When the ravine was reached, the guns did their work; and their leaders being killed, the rest of Dilawar CAli Khan's army dispersed (Shiu Das, 37b, M. Qasim Lahori, 314, Tarikh-i-muzaffarz, fol. 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 Dakhin (R. O. Cambridge, "War", Introd. xi). It was also resorted to earlier in the century by Sa'adat Khan, Burhan-ul-mulk, founder of the Audh family. The Khichar zamindars of parganah Ghazipur in sirkar Korah, subah 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. (27th Oct. 1735) that noble while on his way from Audh to DihlI, undertook to eject the then zamindar, Bhagwant Singh, son of Udara. When the contending parties came face to face, a servant, clad in

Page 257

Scan of Page  257
View Page 257

PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES. 257 rich robes belonging to the Nawab, was placed upon the Nawab's elephant. Burhan-ul-mulk took his seat upon another. 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, made his way to the centre of the Mahomedan army, which he reached at the head of only forty to fifty men. Then, with not more than seven or 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 a rescue, he pulled the supposed leader out of his high-sided seat (timnarz) and slew him, with rejoicings at having successfully carried out his enterprize. But Burhan-ul-mulk, who had stood aloof, now ordered 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 sent to Dihli; where in Sha'ban of the same year Rustam Ali, Shahabadi, saw them hanging in the main street, near the chief police office (Nadir-uz-zamnan, B.M. Or. 1844, fol. 152a, 152b, and Rustam 'All, fol. 268b). When a leader took to flight on his elephant, it was not unusual for him to change places with the driver in order to escape molestation in case of pursuit and capture (Fitzclarence, 133). Night surprizes (shab-kun, night-blood, or shab-gzr, nightseizing) were also a form of stratagem not unfrequently employed. It was in this way that Ahmad Khan, Bangash, on the 1st August 1750, attacked and overcame the superior force of Naval Rae on the bank of the Kali-nadi river near Khudaganj (13 miles east of Farrukhabad). The Pathans started during heavy rain at three hours after sunset, and avoiding by a long detour the front of Naval Rae's position, they got round to his rear near the river. 17

Page 258

Scan of Page  258
View Page 258

258 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. An hour and a half before sunrise, when it was so dark that 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. Statistics of Losses. Dr. Horn devotes one section of his work (xiii, pp. 113 —115) to the subject of losses in battle. Here again, as in the question of the total number present, or the strength of particular divisions, I agree with him that to obtain any idea of the numbers of killed or wounded is exceedingly difficult, historians either omitting to mention them, or if they do so, contradicting each other irreconcilably. After a battle no attempts were made to ascertain the losses or count the slain. Any statements that we may meet with are thus mere guesses, and we may be quite certain that they are much exaggerated for the defeated, and much diminished for the victorious army. From these causes such statements are quite worthless, and can form no basis for the calculation of percentages, or suchlike strict arithmetical treatment. Incidentally, we learn from passing allusions the severity of the losses in a battle, or the number of the slain in some special group of those who were present. Thus, after the battle of Jajau, fought on the 18th June 1707, we are told that the defeated fugitives made off towards Gwaliyar "and so many lost their lives 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 Khan). Another writer, Khushhal Chand, fol. 373a, tells us that the loss on both sides in this battle is said to have amounted to ten thousand men. As to losses among a particular group, or of men from one town, we have an instance in the Tabstrat-un-nazirin of Sayyad Muhammad, Bilgrami, who informs us, under the year 1163 H., that thirty seven men from Bilgram lost their lives on Naval Rae's side, when he was attacked by A[lmad Khan, Bangash, near Khudaganj. Scattered notices of this sort might be

Page 259

Scan of Page  259
View Page 259

PARTICULAR BATTLES, STRATAGEMS, LOSSES. 259 collected. But of what value would they be? They might enable us to say whether the fighting had been severe or not. But as we do not know the total strength and have only vague accounts of the losses, how can any minute calculations be made? The figures, such as they are, for nine battles in the time of Babar and Akbar will be found collected in a table on p. 115 of Dr. Horn's essay. De la Flotte, i, 258, who knew something of the south of India between 1758 and 1760, is of opinion that battles were much less bloody than in Europe. Slain and wounded. Plundering of the slain and wounded seems to have been universal; the camp followers were those chiefly concerned, but the fighting men were not above lending a hand. In reading the memoir of Colonel Skinner's life, a man half Indian by blood and wholly so by education, one is 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 we are told of their being collected in great pits, which were styled ganj-i-shahzd, or martyr store-houses. For an instance, see Rustam 'All, Tarikh-i-Hindt, fol. 217b. The wounded seem to have been left mostly to their fate; there was no organization for their succour, nor any attempt to heal their wounds; this was left to their relations or friends.

Page 260

Scan of Page  260
View Page 260

CHAPTER XXIII. FORTS AND STRONGHOLDS. As early as Alexander's time the Indians possessed walled and fortified towns (Me Crindle, Invasion of India, 119). The practice of building such strong places was never abandoned, and by the sixteenth century, when the Moghul rule began, petty forts held by chiefs of Hindu clans or by grantees from Mahomedan sovereigns, were scattered thickly over the country. Speaking of the Mahratta territory at the end of the 18th century, Colonel Blacker, 305, believed that no province of the same extent in India, or perhaps in any part of the world, possessed so many fortressess. In the plains of the Ganges and Indus, these forts were usually placed on an artificial mound, the earth for 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 high walls, enclosing a 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 interior 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 very thick: they were loop-holed for musketry, round

Page 261

Scan of Page  261
View Page 261

FORTS AND STRONGHOLDS. 261 earthen-ware pipes being inserted in the walls for this purpose (Fitzclarence, 245, Orme, "Mil. Trans." ii, 203, 255). If the owner were lucky enough to have any wallpieces, they would be mounted on the flat roofs of the houses built against the inside of the wall. These outer walls 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 regular approaches necessary (E. Lake, "Sieges", 11). In hilly country and in the Dakhin the fortresses were of much more elaborate construction. Of these I shall speak in a subsequent paragraph. Bound Hedge. As an additional protection, such places were often surrounded by a thick plantation of thorny trees or 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 to penetrate. This was no new thing. For instance, Khushhal Chand, fol. 177a, tells us that when Muhammad Shah came in 1158 H. (1745) to besiege 'Ali Muhammad Khan, 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 H. (1728) Muhammad Khan, Bangash, when reporting to Dihli his campaign there, speaks of these jungles as retarding his operations considerably. Going to an entirely different part of India, we find that the town adjoining the fortress of Ahmadnagar in

Page 262

Scan of Page  262
View Page 262

262 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. the Dakhin had inside a low wall an immense prickly-pear hedge about twenty feet high. No human being could pass it without cutting it down, a work of the utmost difficulty, 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 adoption of these protective belts of jungle in the case of Bobili, 140 miles N. E. of Vizagapatnam, which was attacked 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, three or four miles in breadth, around this centre. Few of these forts admit more than one path through the wood..... The path admits only three men abreast, winds continually, is everywhere commanded by breast-works in the thicket, and has in its course several redoubts, similar 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 styled a "bound-hedge", of which definitions will be found in the glossaries of Major Dirom's and Lieut. Moor's works. "Bound-hedge" = quasi "Boundary hedge"? Hill Forts. In the parts of India where detached eminences, often of great extent, are found, these were commonly selected for the sites of fortresses. The most celebrated of these in Northern India were the two forts of Ruhtas, one in the Panjab, the other in Bahar, Kalinjar in Bundelkhand, Chitor in Mewar. Further south there were Asirgarh in Khandesh, Daulatabad near Aurangabad, and many others equally celebrated. Forts on the tops of 1 There is a good view of this fortress as the frontispiece to Fitzclarence's "Journal".

Page 263

Scan of Page  263
View Page 263

FORTS AND STRONGHOLDS. 263 hills were extremely numerous in the Dakhin. In that part of the country there was generally a walled town (or pelali) at the foot of the hill, and the fort itself was provided with two or more enceintes. In the Dakhin stone 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 Refuae. 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 some distance from their capital. Here their reserves of treasure and munitions of war were stored and carefully guarded. Ranthambhur used to furnish such a store-house for the rajahs of Jaipur; and as will be recollected, the rajahs of Banaras provided such places at Latifpur and Bijigarh, in the hills south-east of Mirzapur. Walled Towns. In the western half of Northern India, walled towns were frequent; all 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. At these places the fortress 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 a considerable extent of ground. Other towns, such as Agrah and Allahabad, although they possessed first-class fortresses, had no wall round the town itself. In their case, the fortress stood apart from the rest of the town. Technical words. I insert here such technical terms connected with fortification as I have come across in my reading. The names for a fort were hisar (Steingass 421),

Page 264

Scan of Page  264
View Page 264

264 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. hasin (id. 422), qal'ah, qilcah (id. 984), and H. gaAh. A small fort or redoubt was a qal'a/ichah (Steingass, 985) or garli. To be invested was ma.hsr or nmah/sn s8udan: to invest was mahasarah kardan. The walls were collectively bnrj o barah, 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 Mujmil-ut-tarkik ba'd Nddirzyah, p. 79, line 13. The battlements were kungur, kungurah, (St. 1056); the ditch was khandaq. Fasil in the dictionary (St. 931) is defined as breastwork inside a fortification, an entrenchment, wall, rampart; but I believe that strictly speaking it meant the platform running round the inside of the wall, on which the guns were mounted, or from which the defenders fired. (J. Shak. 1494). It is apparently what Europeans call the lerre-plein (Lake, 113, Voyle, 428). Safil (Shak. 1292) was a vulgar form of the same word. Ashob, fol. 284a, speaks of the Chh/atahi-i-qilaCA at Shahjahanabad. I cannot find any meaning for this. Is it only c/aat, the Hindi for roof? The word k/iakrez in Mujmil-ut-tarikh ba'd Nadiriyah, p. 78, line 12, meaning "foot of the wall", "the glacis", does not seem to have been in use in India. Goonga. I cannot restore the true form of this word, as I have not found it except in books by Europeans. Can it be intended for kungur, battlements? In the "Military Memoir of Col. Skinner", i, 230, we have at the taking of Hansi 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 gooj}us for a full hour, under one of the heaviest fires of musketry and great guns I have seen", (this was at the siege of 'Aligarh by Lake in 1803). Kummurgah (Kamrgah). I find this word used for the second line of defence at Asirgarh in the Dakhin (Blacker,

Page 265

Scan of Page  265
View Page 265

FORTS AND STRONGHOLDS. 265 "War", 420). This is a metaphorical use of kamrqgah, the place where the belt is placed, the waist (Steingass, 1049). As Lake explains, 156, "it has been aptly styled kunmmurga11 (or the belt)". Raunee, Rainee, Renny. Fitzclarence, 110, saw at Nagpur "a fine piece of masoury" in front of and covering the bottom of the wall "which I suppose to be what is in this country called a rainee, similar to a fausse-braye" 1. And again, id. 245: "though they do not understand the construction 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 cAligarh district, N. W. P.) says "a renny wall, with a deep, dry, broad ditch behind it, surrounds the fort". James Skinner, "Mil. Mem.", i, 172, spells it rounee, and Fraser erroneously translates "counterscarp", being as Yule says "nonsense as well as incorrect". Blacker, "War", 299, writes "Sholapur had a fausse-braye of substantial masonry". I suppose this was a rauni or rainee. Such a wall is shown in his plan and sections of 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 roanee is a puzzle: Yule, 583, says it is the Hindi word raoni, but suggests no etymology and admits that it is not in either Shakespear or Wilson. Can it have any connection with a word in J. Shakespear, 1189, rundhna, to surround or enclose as with a hedge? Fallon evidently did not know it, and in his "Eng. Hind. Dictionary", 264 renders "fausse-braye" by Dhus, Maltt ka pushtah, equivalents which also show fairly well that he had no clear idea of what a fausse-braye was. 1 Moor, "Narrative", (Glossary, 504) "Fausse-braye, a work between the ditch and curtain: not much adopted by modern engineers". See also E. Lake, "Sieges", 219, and note.

Page 266

Scan of Page  266
View Page 266

266 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Sang-andaz. Budaoni, ii, 146, uses this word when describing the fort of Sarat. This is here evidently "embrasure", and so translated by Lowe, 150. Steingass, 703, has sangafkan and sang-andaz, a loophole in a fortress. But a passage in the Mia,asir-ul-umara, i, 76, referring to the siege of Dharwar in the Dakhin in Shahjahan's reign, would lead one to infer that sang-andaz was a pathway or tunnel, down which stones were literally thrown. Damqagah. When Sindh was taken by us, we found "Karachi surrounded by a tall wall, tipped with fancy crenelles and perpendicularly striped with what the Persians call Danmagkeh, or nostril holes, down which the besieged could pour hot oil or boiling water" ("Life of Capt. Sir R. F. Burton", i, 126). Possibly the derivation might be from damqagqah (Steingass, 534), the crest of a falcon or similar bird. We have an instance of the use of boiling oil at Akbar's siege of Asirgarh (Von Noer, French trans., ii, 336, Horn, 128). Descriptlions 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 as applicable to an earlier time. "The low bank of earth was the outer parapet of the fort of Amethi (in south-east Audh), with a very deep ditch of irregular profile separating it from the level of the field. It was some time ere 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 description of the ordinary native fort (Fitzclarence, 59). "These forts are in general of mud, but from six to twelve

Page 267

Scan of Page  267
View Page 267

FORTS AND STRONGHOLDS. 267 feet at the 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 other. On the glacis are generally large excavations for grain; but this, of course, is only in dry situations. The mud walls receive the shot without being shattered, and they are in consequence very difficult to breach". A similar description applying to the southernmost part of India, is to be found in Wilks, ii, 9a. Blacker, "War", 229, gives a good general description of the small forts in the Dakhin. "Imagine a mound of earth of about one hundred and fifty yards diameter and about sixty or seventy feet high. Then the sides of this are scarped off by labour, 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 revdlement 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 revu1ement of the place, inclosing a small space; and it will be likewise flanked 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 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 form a high glacis, which makes the space left between it and the wall actually a ditch; but in very few cases is a ditch actually excavated round a garhi". Parlicular Fort8. I have collected from European writers

Page 268

Scan of Page  268
View Page 268

268 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. the descriptions of a good many Indian fortresses; and I have no doubt that many more such notices are in existence. I append a list of those I have seen, arranged in alphabetical order with references. A4hmadnagar. Fitzclarence, 241, a detailed account. Ajaigarh. Fitzclarence, "Journal", 62; Pogson,"Boondelas", 136, in whose book a plan, a general view of the east face, and of the breach at the N. W. gateway may be seen. 'Aligarh. Taken by the English on the 4th Sept., 1803: it was of European design. Thorn, "War", description on p. 102, view on plate 3. Asirgarh. Blacker, "War", a description on p. 414, two views, one from the north and one from the east, and on Plate 38 plan and sections. Bhartpur. This 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. Daulaldbad. A detailed account in Fitzclarence, 216, and also in Anquetil Duperron, "Zend Avesta", I, ccli. Anquetil visited the place on the 18th April 1758, when it was held by a French officer on behalf of M. Bussy. Dharwar. A view and description in Moor, "Narrative", 39. Hathras. Fitzclarence, "Journal", has a plate of it opposite p. 18. Kalinjar. This place is fully described in Pogson, "Boondelas", 148-157; he tells the story of the siege of 1812 on pp. 139-147. Na9pur. Described in Fitzclarence, "Journal", 110, Lake, "Sieges", 35. Trichinopoly. There is a description of this fortress by Col. Stringer Lawrence in R. 0. Cambridge, "War", 15. Imperial Fortresses. In the official manuals we have several lists of these places. The greater number of these forts were in the Dakhin, and in the better days of the Moghul period, the charge of them was committed to

Page 269

Scan of Page  269
View Page 269

FORTS AND STRONGHOLDS. 269 imperial officers called qila'hdars, who were appointed direct 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 as a 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 to his chances of success. I find from a list referring to the reign of 'Alamgir (B. M. Or. 1641 fol. 52b), that there were forty-two imperial forts. I cannot read all the names but 1 have made out the following. 1) Shahjahanabad, 2) Akbarabad, 3) Lahor, 4) Kabul, 5) Kashmir, 6) Atak, 7) Allahabad, 8) Ajmer, 9) Jhansi, 10) Gwaliyar, 11) Kalinjar, 12) Sitapur, 13) Taragarh, 14) Bargarh, 15) Chandu, 16) Ujjain, 17) Raesen, 18) Ranigarh, 19) Dohad, 20) Kakrun, 21) Ranthambhor, 22) Ruhtas Khurd, 23) Surat, 24) Kangrah, 25) Munger, 26) Jodhpur, 27) Mairtah, 28) Sambhar, 29) Ghaznain, 30) Pishawar, 31) Zafarabad, 32) Shergarh, 33) Lankarkot. The identity of Nos 12, 13, 14, 18, 32, 33, is doubtful; the others are well-enough known places. However, this list, although containing as many as forty-two places, 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.

Page 270

Scan of Page  270
View Page 270

CHAPTER XXIV. SIEGES. In India the art of fortification remained in the same state as it was in 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 flanked by some other (Lake, t11). Blacker holds that nothing proved more forcibly their ignorance of the attack and defence of fortified places than their manifest superiority when acting on the defensive. A 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. On the contrary, 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 instances of its being practised with effect (Blacker, "War", 23). In the Mujmil-ut-tarikh ba'd Nadiriyah, p. 78, line 7, it is stated that the Afghans had a practise before commencing a siege of killing a 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-suwciri), the walls were not often breached, and rarely escaladed. Treachery

Page 271

Scan of Page  271
View Page 271

SIEGES. 271 within the walls was as frequent a cause of surrender as any other thing. In sitting down before a fortress, a Moghul army tried to surround it completely so as to prevent any ingress or egress. As Grant Duff, 165, expresses himself, "they never considered an army capable of undertaking a regular siege unless sufficiently large to surround the place invested and completely obstruct communications". Earth works (mirchal) 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 of the place, guns were mounted on them. These were called saba. Scaling ladders (narduban) were not unknown, and were occasionally brought into use. Elephants were frequently brought up to batter in the wooden gates of a fort. The Seir translator, iii, 182, note 45, says the gates, b9ing always covered by some work, could not be broken in except 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; to meet which it was the practice to furnish the elephant with an iron frontlet (Fitzclarence, 137). For instance, we read in the Siyar-ul-mulakharin (translation, iii, 181), with reference to an assault by the Mahrattas in 1173 H. (1759), that the Khizri gate of the Dihli citadel "was covered with sheets of brass and set thick with iron nails jutting out twelve inches, and an inch square at the bottom". Often the gateway was bricked up when a siege was im

Page 272

Scan of Page  272
View Page 272

272 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. minent, and this device rendered it impossible to blow it in. At Cuttack in 1803, the gate was partially built up in this way, and we had considerable difficulty in entering (Lake, 211, note). These general remarks are borne out by a passage in Lake's "Sieges of the Madras Army", 14: "when one of their 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 battery, that their effect is uncertain, and even this desultory fire is only kept up at intervals during the day; for at night, to guard against the consequences of a sally, the guns are always withdrawn to the camp; and this ridiculous process is continued till the besieged are tired out, and a compromise is 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 treachery 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 1, which is the least perishable of any article of subsistence, the defence of such places may be the longer protracted. Though the natives did not understand the advantage of a glacis, still they saw the necessity of covering the foot of the wall from the enemy's fire when exposed to it, and formed a defence similar to a faussebraye, which they call rainee (see back, p. 265). They are very partial to loopholes to fire through,..... Each of 1 This is not true of Hindustan, outside of Bengal. If "corn" were substituted, the argument would still hold good, and exactitude would not be sacrificed.

Page 273

Scan of Page  273
View Page 273

SIEG-ES.:273 these narrow and confined [entrance] lanes is generally enfiladed with guns and loopholed on every side, so that should the enemy force the outer gate, they find themselves exposed to a continuation of fresh dangers from an invisible garrison at every turn. I am not, however, a 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 Indians, in the defence of their forts, behave with the greatest gallantry and courage, and in this differ from the 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), "which send a ball of 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 they have recourse to thick earthen-ware pots with fuses and full of powder, 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, shells are the most effective means for reducing them"; (id. 246). zApproach by sap and mine. The word used for the galleries of approach seems to have been sabat. This is defined by the Lucknow editor of the Akba-rnai2ah (Vol. ii, p. 245, note 7) as a roof (saqaf) between two walls, which is also After this date the author also saw Daulatabad, pp. 215-221, and Ahrnadnagar, 241, 242. 18

Page 274

Scan of Page  274
View Page 274

274 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. called "the path of safety" (kuchah'-i-salalmal); sabat is, he says, the name of a town in Transoxiana. Steingass, 638, explains it as a covered passage connecting two houses. The ordinary Hindi word for a 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 (sabal) 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 the direction of their approach by putting his ear to the ground and listening, just as our engineers did at Lucknow in 1857, Budaoni, Text, i, 465 (Ranking, 599), and McLeod Innes' "Siege of Lucknow". And again, at the siege of Gurdaspur in 1715, 'Abd-us-samad Khan made covered ways or approaches (sabd), Yalya Khan, 123(. 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, (Siwanih-i-Khi-ri, 13). So also at the siege of Agrah (July, August 1719) Haidar Quli Khan, who had under his command many Europeans whom he had brought from Surat, drove several saps towards the walls (id.). Sabal. 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 sabal were constructed in the following manner. "The zigzags, commencing at gunshot distance from the fort, consist of a double wall, and by means of blinds or stuffed gabions covered with leather, the besiegers continue their approaches till they arrive near to the walls of the place

Page 275

Scan of Page  275
View Page 275

SIEGES. 275 to be attacked". T'here is another passage to the same effect with reference to the year 1595 and the siege of Ahmadnagar. The text of Firishtah is even more explicit as to the siege of Chitor (Lucknow edition, 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 sabaL, "which are peculiar to India". These men laboured at making sai6t 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 (nlqqab) 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 breached (rakhnah shud), the rest of the army reaches the spot by way of the sabat, and effects an entry into the fort". We have the story of the same siege told by Nizam-uddin in the Tabaqd1-i-Akbdr Shahi, fol. 209a, line 17, (under the 12th Ilahi year, the beginning of Rainazan 974 i., 1566 A.D.). It is practically the same as Firishtah, sometimes word for word the same. He says work was begun in 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 1 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 1 The word actually used is irtafca, "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, wliat we call "depth", when speaking of an excavation.

Page 276

Scan of Page  276
View Page 276

276 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. and picked off men appearing on the fortress walls. "His Majesty sat upon the top of a building (k/anah) prepared for his reception upon the sdbat of his entrenchment (mdrchal). He sat there matchlock in hand". Budaoni, ii, 103, (Lowe 106), here copies and abridges Nizamn-ud-din: and in describing the siege of Kalinjar in 952 H. (1545), he uses the word sdbat as if he meant by it a sap or trench, 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 sabat 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 s8bat was not a tower or erection, built up from the surface of the ground. If Ab,ul Fazl had not thrown the subject into confusion by his use of the word sabat in the Akbarnwmah, the meaning of the word would be clear enough. But he persists in using it as the name for a temporary tower, or a battering ram, as he explicitly says in ii, 261, last line, (Lucknow edition), describing the siege of Ranthambhur in the 14th year, 22nd Ramazan 976 H. The besiegers of Ranthambur came to the conclusion that the fort could not be taken without recourse to sdbat, kih sarkob-i-gardankashan bdshad. As to this siege Nizam-ud-din fol. 212a, also uses the word sabal, but enters into no details. Budaoni, ii, 107 (Lowe, 1ll), follows Nizam-ud-din very closely. Abul Fazl persists in using sdbat in a different sense from everybody else. To begin with the siege of Chunar, Abul Fazl (Lucknow edition), Book i, 114, line 6, says

Page 277

Scan of Page  277
View Page 277

SIEGES. 277 Rumi Khan, ba kishtihae tarfzb-i-sadbat sdkhtah. The passage is translated by Mr. Beveridge, i, 331, "Rumi Khan,....... constructed a covered way (sabat) upon boats, and arranged such a roof (sataha)......". But if we go to Jauhar, Aftabchi, my Ms. fol. 166, or to Nizam-ud-din, Tabaqat, fol. 151b, we find that Rumi Khan took three boats and built on them a battering ram (muqabzl-kob). The passages are rendered to the same effect in Stewart, T'ezkereh-al- Vakiat, p. 20, lines 11-25, Erskine, "Babar and Humayun", ii, 140, 141, Budaoni, Ranking, i, 456, and Elliot, "Mahomedan Historians", v, 199. In none of them is there a word about a sabal, nor did they ever dream of calling this high erection built on boats, a sabaf. It is the same with Ab,ul Fazl's long account of the siege of Chitor, (Lucknow edition) ii, from line 11 of p. 245, although in one place he says they made diwar-i-gilini-adriz-i-marpec/, "serpentine, wide, earthen walls"; but he writes elsewhere that Akbar sat aloft upon a sab6t, which commanded the walls, and from thence he shot. How could a serpentine wall be a tower, from which a man shot; or a battering ram, as he elsewhere defines a sa8b6 to be? Abu,l Fazl has misled Count von Noer "Kaiser Akbar", i, 234-240, French edition, i, 165 (Horn 121) into asserting that a sabal should "if possible command the walls", that from "the top of the sab8a, cannon breach the walls of the fortress". Then he speaks of the rolling of movable shields. Dr. Horn seems here, by a reference to the turah (see ante p. 142) to identify it with the saba6. But I think the text of the Akbarnamah ii, 243-254, Lucknow edition, leads to the conclusion that three things were employed by Akbar at Chitor, 1) a long and deep trench (abat), 2) movable shields to protect the workmen (turah), and 3) a high erection commanding the walls (s8ba). Apparently open trenches were resorted to by the Mahrattahs so far back as 1670 at the siege of Karnala, for

Page 278

Scan of Page  278
View Page 278

278 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Grant Duff, 110, quoting the Bombay Records, says "they advanced by throwing up breastworks of earth". Sandbags. In order to facilitate an attack, the ditch of a fort was at times filled up with sacks (juwal, Steingass, 376), filled with earth. This was done at 'Alamgir's siege of Gulkhandah in 1097 H. (1685-6), Khafi Khan, ii, 356, line 1. We find these bags mentioned as part of the Sikh equipment when they advanced in 1710 against the town of Rahun in the Jalandhar duabah, Khafi Khan, ii, 658, line 9, o juwdlah-h.e pur az reg, barae miurchal bastan, "and bags full of sand to make batteries". Movable shields. In 1710 the Sikhs, when attacking the town of Jalalabad in the Ganges Dudbah, adopted the plan of using movable wooden screens, or mantlets, mounted on ordinary cart-wheels. These they brought close to the walls, 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 Tirah, when dealing with Light Artillery. Shatur, GUl. In Budaoni, Text, i, 382, we find this word, and it would seen from the context to refer to some article made of the trunks of trees, something connected with a siege. Colonel G. Ranking, 494, note 7, not finding it in any dictionary, suggests the Turkish salt, the roof of a house, meaning a shelther under which to approach the walls, something like the Roman vinea, a roof of planks and wicker work supported on poles eight feet long, and carried by the men as they advanced. May not the correct word be shdlhzr, a beam? Malc/ar. This is an obscure word used by 'Abd-ul-hamid twice, Badsla/hnanimah, 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 in the second instance leads one to infer that the malchar was something in the nature of an approach by trenches.

Page 279

Scan of Page  279
View Page 279

SIEGES. 279 Temporary wall. Another device was to surround a fortress with a temporary wall, leaving a few openings at which strong guards were posted, and no one was allowed to enter or come out without a pass. This was done by 'Alamgir at Gulkhandah in 1098 H. (1686-7), Ma,asir-i'Alamgara, 296. The materials employed were trunks of trees and clay. A somewhat similar plan was resorted to by 'Abd-us-samad Khan, when he invested Bandah, the Sikh, in Gurdaspur. Towers (Siba). In connection with this siege of Gurdaspur, we are told of the building of high wooden towers, on which guns were mounted, the inside of the fortified place being thereby commanded, so as to make it 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 of the guns being worked. They were about three cubits (4- feet) in height and in shape like bastions. A constant fire 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 cArif Khan, 'Abd-us-samad Khan prepared a tower over-topping the fort wall, and mounted his guns upon it. This device disconcerted the besieged, as the interior of the fort was now commanded and their movements thereby hampered. Similar towers were raised on two other sides of the attack, where Zakariyah Khan and Qamr-ud-din Khan commanded respectively", Ghulam Muhi-ud-din Khan, fol. 57a. Ijad, fol. 23a, with respect to the same operations, uses a word which I read chob-8bade, and I suppose it applies to these towers. "The besiegers threw up chob-s6bae, and drove subterannean passages towards each corner of the

Page 280

Scan of Page  280
View Page 280

280 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. fort". But I am doubtful of this interpretation, as he had just spoken of "mounds of earth raised on the trunks of trees and placed from distance to distance round the fort" i. e. in other words, "towers". Why then should he refer again to the same thing by another name (chob-szbae) in the next sentence? Szba is defined by Steingass, 714, as from the Turkish, "a place surrounded by walls"; but Horn, 103, quoting the 'Alamllzrnamah, 313, translates szba "aus den Befestigungen sich erhebender Bastionen", or in other words what was called in Europe, a cavalier. This latter meaning would apply equally to 'Abd-us-samad Khan's towers, although they were independent structures, and not part of a fortress. It was evidently a szba that was built by Dara Shukoh when 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 Miratus-safa, foll. 996, when in 1169 H. (July 1756 ) the French under Bussy were invested in the Chahar Mallal at Haidarabad. The assailants erected sibah. 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, 3rd 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 1783, Sirdar Khan employed what was evidently a siba, though the name is not used. "An immense extent of base served as 1 See Malleson, "French in India", (new edition) p. 490.

Page 281

Scan of Page  281
View Page 281

SIEGES. 281 the foundation for several successive stories, constructed of the trunks of trees in successive layers, crossing each other and compacted by earth rammed between the intervals; the contrivances in the rear for 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). Storming. With the inefficient artillery of those days, a breach was very rarely effected, and we hear of very few forts being actually stormed. Entrance was oftener secured through breaking in the gate, and for this purpose elephants, as already stated on p. 177, were employed. Scaling ladders. The name for scaling ladders was narduban, 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 zinah-pae, the round of a ladder or step of a stair, and kamand, which Ranking translates literally "noose", though from the context "ropeladder" would be better. Again they were used in Shahjahan's reign, (1044 H. 1634-5), at the siege of Urchhah, Badshahnamah, i, part 2, p. 107, line 15. From time to time we hear of their being used at a much later period. For instance, at the end of 1719, when Girdhar Bahadur was besieged in Allahabad fort by Haidar Qul! Khan and other imperial officers, we read that a general attack in two directions was ordered. One of these was headed by Sher Afgan Khan, Daud Khan, an officer under Muhammad Khan, Bangash, and others. They drove the besieged back to the very foot of the wall, then "Daid 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", Siwanih-i-k/izri. In 1710 the Sikhs had scaling ladders with them when they tried to take

Page 282

Scan of Page  282
View Page 282

282 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Jalalabad in the upper Ganges Diabah, Khafi Khan, ii, 657. Modes of repelling assault, Burning oil, Powder Bags &c. In a quotation already given on p. 273, from Fitzclarence, reference has been made to the throwing down from the walls of bags of gunpowder and burning thatch. I have also referred on p. 131 to the huqqahl-i-dlas/h used for a similar purpose. Other missiles are named by Horn, 123, quoting Von Noer i, 254 ("French trans.", i, 161), who says that at the siege of Chitor the Rajputs brought sacks of cotton cloth and fascines steeped in oil, which they endeavoured to set fire to while the breach was being stormed. As to the throwing of skins full of gunpowder with a match attached, we read of this being done by the defenders of a fort in the Dakhin in the fourth year of Shahjahan (1631 A.D.). Horn, 132, quotes the passage from the Badslhahnamah, i, 376, sixth line from end, az darun-i-hisadr bdn o tufang o huqqah o sang o mas/hk-h7e bar-rut r dtlash zadah mi andakhtand, "From inside the fort they threw rockets and bullets and grenades and stones and lighted powder-skins". A somewhat later instance of the use of the.uqqah or hand-grenade and the handi or firepot, was at the siege of the Ghasahri fort ('Aligarh district) by Suraj Mal, Jat, in the year 1753. In the Sujan Charitr, Canto v, stanza 24, we have: Utlhhan mdaru ghani padau, salith mukh mo.de; Handli hukke aggi de, gadh-wdlauie cUhhode. "There he fierce fighting fell, his men turned back; The defenders threw lighted handis and huqqahs". Quite at the end of the Moghul period, we find these means of defending a breach resorted to by George Thomas' officers, in resisting the Mahratta assault on Hansi (3rd Dec. 1802): "Burning choppers (i.e. thatch from the roofs of houses), powder-pots, 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"

Page 283

Scan of Page  283
View Page 283

SIEGES. 283 ("Military Memoirs of Lt. Col. James Skinner, C. B." i, 228). Again, at the siege of Bhartpur in 1805, we find in use similar means of repelling an assault. Thorn, "War", 457, says "the people on the walls continually threw down upon their heads ponderous pieces of timber and flaming packs of cotton previously dipped in oil, followed by pots filled 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 besieger. (Blacker, "War", 318). In 1044 H., 1634-5, when Dhamoni in Bundelkhand was besieged, the defenders rolled stones down on their assailants. Badshahnamah, i, part 2, p. 108. This was also done at a fort in the 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 of stones was the principal cause of our failure at the first storming of Chunar on the Ganges, Nov. 29th 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 again by twenties at a time...... Our people were at last so fatigued that they were obliged to give it up". Here Captain Dow (the historian) had his skull fractured by a stone, for which he was obliged to be trepanned. Khair-ud-din, clbrat-namah, 75, tells 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. We were also repulsed twice, in 1789 and again in 1791, at Kistnagarhi (Salem District) "simply by (the garrison) rolling down stones and large masses of granite on the assailants", Lake, 207, note. Again, at

Page 284

Scan of Page  284
View Page 284

284 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Trimbak, in Khandesh, our assault on the 24th April 1818 was chiefly repulsed 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 13th 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 a blow, they would not only defend a mere walled town, but stand an assault 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 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. 1719), when Nekusiyar, after laying claim to the throne, was invested in that fort by Husain CAll Khan. "After a month, provisions began to be scarce. Many of those who had joined from the country round began to desert, getting over the walls at night, only to be seized by the Nawab's sentries. These fugitives informed Husain 'All Khan of the disheartened and suffering condition of the garrison. All the good grain had been used up, and nothing was left but inferior pulses, and even these had been stored over seven years and smelt so strong, that even

Page 285

Scan of Page  285
View Page 285

SIEGES. 285 the 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 battlements. Some of the artillery of the besieging force took part in this traffic. After this was found out, the strictness of watch was redoubled, anything moving in the river at night 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, Lahori, 286, 287. Negociations commenced, and the fort was surrendered on the 12th Aug. 1719, after an investment of nearly three months. Gurdaspiur. The reduction of Gurdaspur and the consequent surrender of Bandah, the Sikh leader, is another instance of the starving out of a garrison. CAbd-us-samad Khan appeared before the place in April 1715, but it was not taken before the 17th Dec. of that year. Some time before this happened, the provisions had come to an end, not a grain being left in the storehouses. The garrison obtained a little food from the common soldiers outside, for 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 (Pirst 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 Bhartpur, and it was their chief place of strength before they removed to Bhartpur. It was situated somewhere between Dig and Gobardhan, to the west of Mathura. In 1716 the cup of

Page 286

Scan of Page  286
View Page 286

286 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. Churaman's transgressions being full, it was resolved to proceed against him, and the duty was confided to Rajah Jai Singh Sawae of Amber. Thian having been completely invested, the siege began on the 19th 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". Supplies were abundant; indeed (though this is probably an exaggeration) there were, it was said, grain, salt, ghi, tobacco, cloth 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 much demur. Churaman's son, Muhkam Singh, and his nephew, Rtupa, issued from the fort and gave battle in the open. In his report of the 21st Dec. 1716, the Rajah claimed a victory. He next cut down the trees round the fort, and erected a large number of small guard-houses, in which he placed his men. A large cannon was sent to him from Dihil, while three hundred mnans of gunpowder, one hundred and fifty mnans 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 1o support at Court, they were not willing to yield. Soon after this Sayyad Khan Jahan, Barhah, a near relation of the wazir, negociated a peace over Jai Singh's head, and Churaman was allowed to settle matters by offering a tribute of thirty lakhs of rupees to the government, and a present of twenty

Page 287

Scan of Page  287
View Page 287

SIEGES. 287 lakhs for the minister himself. Rajah Jai Singh was then recalled. ThAn (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 sop 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 Nov. 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, Muhkam Singh, had been persuaded to betray the fort, on a promise that he would be appointed to the chieftainship. Communication between Besiegers and Besieged. In Fraser, "Mil. Mem. of Lt. Col. J. Skinner", i, 231, we read that at Hansi the Mahrattas rolled.etters 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 is said to have communicated in this way with the Uzbak garrison, (BudaonT, i, 444). Another case is at the siege of Qandahar in 1545: "The dwellers in the fort wrote daily accounts of Mirza CAskari, and shot them down from the walls, twisted round an arrow", Akbarnanah (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. Keys of Fortresses. Horn, 133, quoting Elliot, v, 176,

Page 288

Scan of Page  288
View Page 288

288 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGIHULS. says that the fortresses had gold or silver keys; in this particular passage the place referred to is Ranthamnbhur. An instance of this practice in Persia is found in Mujmil-utTairzkh-i-baCd-nadiriyah (ed. Oskar Mann) 85, line 21. We are told here that the keys of Naishapur were delivered to Ahmad Shah, Durrani, when peace was made. Again, we have a somewhat earlier instance. In 1119 (1707) when Mir Wais, Ghilzai, killed Gurgin Khan, Gurji (Georgian), governor on 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 in Mujmil-ul-tar/dkh ba'd Nadiriyah, p. 88, line 2, the planting of a flag on the bastion of a fort as soon as it was taken. I have found no mention of this in India. As showing the importance attached in India to the keys of a fortress, we may instance the trouble taken by Aurangzeb 'Alamglr to make his father, Shahjahan, surrender those of Agrah, sending his eldest son, Sultan Muhammad, to demand them (Bernier, 63). In 1707, Mid Yar Khan, the qilac'ddr of Dihll, sent his son with the keys of the fort to Bahadur Shah in token of submission (Khafl Khan, ii, 577). And we read in Ghulam cAli Khan's Muqaddamrah-i-Shaih c/Allnnarmah, fol. 61b, 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, (siubahdar of the province), directing him to give up the keys of the fortress at Dihll to the Shah's agent, which was done accordingly. Then, when Najaf Khan took Agrah from the Jats in 1773, the messenger conveying the news to Dihli "carried with him the keys of the fort to be laid at His Majesty's feet", W. Francklin, Shah Aulum, 53. Particular Sieges. 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

Page 289

Scan of Page  289
View Page 289

SIEGES. 289 sieges. I then give an account, in a little more detail, of sieges belonging to the 18th century. In the second half of "Alamgir's reign sieges, or at least attacks on forts, were very numerous. Qandahar. Dara Shukoh had at the siege of Qandahar in 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 pakhalis (men bringing water in large skins carried on animals), 3000 ahadis, 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. Bijapur, 1097 H., 1685-6. B.M. 1641, fol. 113a (sixteen entries), id. 138a, Khafi Khan, ii, 322-368, Mlaasir-icAlamgqri, 275. Gulkhandah, 1098 H., 1686-7, Abul-Hasan left Haidarabad and took refuge in Gulkhandah in Zul Qa'dah 1097 H. Possession of Gulkhandah was obtained on the 24th Zu,l Qacdah 1098, Maasir-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. 113a, (forty entries). Jinji, 1105-9H., 1693-7. Khafi Kh. ii,418, Mad8sir-i-J. 391. Khelnah, 1113 H., 1701-2. Khafi Kh. ii, 499, Maasiir-i.-c, 445-457. Kandanah, 1114 u., 1702-3. Khafi Kh. ii, 510, Malasiri-CA. 469. Wakankhera, 1116 H., 1704-5 Khafi Kh. ii, 527, Ma,asiri-'A. 490. Jaitpur. One of the best known sieges of the 18th century was that of Jaitpur in Bundelkhand, where Muharnmad 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 15th 19

Page 290

Scan of Page  290
View Page 290

290 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. May to the 31st Aug. 1729. Chattarsal, Bundelah, had submitted himself earlier in the year, and Mulammad Khan, quite unsuspicious of danger, was out settling the country at the head of a small force. Suddenly he heard that a large Mahratta army, under Baji Rao and eleven other chiefs, was close at hand. From the 12th March to the 15th May, he maintained himself in his camp, but finally was forced to retreat on Jaitpur. There were no stores 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 month 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 rupees the seer; the only supplies were those furnished surreptitiously by the Mahrattas outside, and this flour 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 thousand or twelve hundred men remained. At last Muhammad Khan was forced to make terms and evacuate the fort (Journal A. S. B. for 1878, p. 300, and Miral-iwaridat, my copy, pp. 25, 26. Allahabad. This fortress was besieged twice in the 18th century, first in 1131 H. (1719) and again in 1163 H. (1750). On the first occasion the imperial forces 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 woazir of the empire. The first investment lasted about nine and the second some seven months, but on neither occasion did the besiegers succeed

Page 291

Scan of Page  291
View Page 291

SIEGES. 291 in reducing the fort. In 1131 H. (1719) Girdhar Bahadur yielded on obtaining the government of Audh, and marched out with all the honours of war. In 1163 H. (1750) the Pathans, before they had made the least impression upon the fortress, were recalled hurriedly to defend their homes against a combined attack by Safdar Jang and the Miahrattas. Bangarh. Almost the last expedition commanded by a Moghul emperor in person involved a siege. Between Abu,l Mansur Khan, $afdar Jang, governor of Audh, and 'Al1 Muhammad Khan, Rohelah, a man who had recently risen to power in what we now call Rohilkhand, there had long been ill-blood from one cause and another. Now, Amir Khan, 'Umdat-ul-mulk, a favourite of Muhammad Shah, had been banished from court 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 Dihll, where he resolved to oust his enemy, the wazir Qamr-ud-din Khan. For this purpose he sought the aid of Safdar Jang, and caused the emperor to summon him from his government. Safdar Jang was received with marked favour and appointed Mir AJash, or commander of the imperial artillery. Having secured influence at court, he proceeded to use it for the destruction of 'Ali Muhammad Khan. The latter had, however, a friend in the wazir, with whom he had prudently formed a matrimonial 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 of ejecting CAli Muhammad Khan was so fully impressed on the emperor, that for the first time in his reign he was persuaded to take the field in person. Amir Khan and Safdar Jang worked hard to secure this result, for without the emperor's presence they could effect little or nothing. The wazir, Qamr-ud-din Khan, was friendly to 'All Muhammad Khan, Qaim Jang, the nawab

Page 292

Scan of Page  292
View Page 292

THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. of Farrukhabad, was in secret concert and alliance with him, and his army was efficient and well-equipped. On the 24th Mul.arram, 1158 H. (25th February 1745), making a pretext of a hunting expedition in the Loni preserve, Muhammad Shah crossed the Jamnah, his real purpose being kept secret even from the wazir. Omitting the intervening events, we pass on to the 21st Rab-i ii (May 22nd 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, 'All Muhammad Khan quitted his abode at Alvlwalah, and took refuge in his stronghold of Bangarh, some kos to the south. To this place he was followed by the imperial army. On the one hand, the ovazir persisted that he could bring in cAli Muhammad Khan; on the other, 5afdar Jang urged that if he were given a free hand, he would soon overcome the rebel by force. To strengthen his position, Safdar Jang also sent to Audh for reinforcements. His bakhAls/, Naval Rae, 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 wazir 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-din Khan; so much so, that

Page 293

Scan of Page  293
View Page 293

SIEGES. 293 Haiyat-ullah Khan, Hizbar Jang, (son of Saif-ud-Daulah Zakariyah Khan, and son-in-law of the wazir), begged urgently for leave to advance and end the matter. In spite of the overwhelming odds, 'All Muhammad Khan held his ground. Khushhlal Chand, although an imperial officer, cannot help admiring his courage. He also breaks forth into unstinted praise of the flourishing state of the Rohelah territory, the lands being fully cultivated, the crops good, the peasants well-off. Theft, outrage and highwayrobbery were unknown within those boundaries. These results were the fruits of the ruler's strong reason and good understanding: "The fox carried off the morsel from the wolf, For the former has great wits, the latter, little". 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. Mulhammad Shah thought this imprudent, when on the one side were the Moghuls (the wazzr's 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 besieged. Several days elapsed. 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 obeisance". Muhammad Shah sent for the wazzr 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 made over this business to you, how long would it take?" The kayath replied: "Your Majesty's artillery is so powerful that I could reduce Bangarh to ashes in four gqari (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

Page 294

Scan of Page  294
View Page 294

294 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. went out a kos or two to meet him. Naval Rae commenced the siege in earnest, and 'Ali Muhammad Khan began to think of flight or surrender. He sent an intimation to this effect to the wazir, whose second son, Mu'in-ud-daulah (commonly called Mir Mannu) was sent to talk the matter over. Having received a promise that his life would be spared, 'Ali Muhammad Khan came to the Presence on the 3rd Jamadi i, ] 158 H. (2nd June 1745), Khushhal Chand, B.M. Or. 1844, foll. 164a-181b. Agrah. After their defeat by Ahmad Shah, Abdali, in January 1761, the Mahrattas for a time quitted Northern India. Suraj Mall of 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 they sold from the magazines within the fort. Obviously such people would not be difficult to deal with. Suraj Mall made a pretence of crossing to the north bank of the Jamnah, then turned suddenly and blockaded Agrah. Still, 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. From this traitor overtures were received, and the fort was given up. The blockade had lasted twenty days, but though the inhabitants of the city suffered from plundering, no damage had been done to the fort. Suraj Mall is supposed to have carried off fifty lakhs of rupees from the town. "When Suraj 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

Page 295

Scan of Page  295
View Page 295

SIEGES. 295 houses to be demolished, imitating what had been done at Allahabad, to allow room for the artillery to play. But the fort guns can do no harm as the bastions are so high. Nay, the debris of the houses could be used as ready-made entrenchments and batteries, to secure an approach to the main body of the place. The present commandant and the leaders of the Jats know nothing of war, they are men of low extraction, owing their rise solely to their devotion to young Juwahir Singh", "Orme Collections", p. 4303.

Page 296

Scan of Page  296
View Page 296

CHAPTER XXV. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. The war organization of the Moghul empire offers something more than a mere antiquarian interest. The more I study the period, the more I am convinced that military inefficiency was the principal, if not the sole, cause of that empire's final collapse. All other defects and weaknesses were as nothing in comparison with this. Its revenue and judicial system was, on the whole, suited to the habits of the people, they looked for nothing different, 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 Alhmad 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 it to pass that what had been gained by the sword was 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

Page 297

Scan of Page  297
View Page 297

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 297 to one's country. To a slight extent the zeal and fervour of Mahomedanism was on the side of the ruler. But in a country where the majority were still Hindus, any excess of this feeling was as much a danger as an advantage. In a faint degree, there was some attachment to the reigning house, which still lived on the reputation of such great rulers and soldiers as Babar and Akbar. But Aurangzeb 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, to desert or transfer themselves to a higher bidder. The army was full of Persian, Central Asian, and Afghan soldiers of fortune, whose swords were at the service of any one who chose to pay them. By its original constitution everything turned, in such an army, upon the character of its head. If he were an able 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 Taimar's house. A free field was thus opened to the jealousies and rivalries of the nobles. All courts seem more or less hot-beds of petty intrigue; but in eastern countries this evil growth seems to find its most congenial soil. 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 his master's confidence. Disastrons consequences followed from these jealousies among the great men and nobles. As one writer aptly says

Page 298

Scan of Page  298
View Page 298

298 THE AMRY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. a noble was hasad-peshah, "one whose profession was envy" In military matters we have not to go far in our search for examples of this jealousy and its consequence, base treachery. At Jajau in 1707, Zulfiqar Khian 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 Zu,lfiqar Khan stood aloof at Agrah, in the hope that his rival, Jahandar Shah's foster-brother, might be destroyed, leaving him to reap the benefit of an unshared victory. In this same battle 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 man was, there can be no doubt, individually brave, even to recklessness. 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 much to lose and so very little to gain. A trooper rode his own horse, and if it was killed he was ruined irretrievably. As a European writer of the middle of the 18th century justly enough says: "Their cavalry (which are among them very respectable, and also well paid) though not backward to engage with sabres, are extremely unwilling to bring their horses within the reach of our guns; so that they do not decline so much through fear of their lives, as for their fortunes, which are all laid out in the horse they ride on", Cambridge, "War", Tntrod. viii. In 1791-2 Moor, 204, noticed among the Mahratta cavalry that the same cause produced the same effect. "A reluctance to charge will be frequently observed; which does not proceed from any deficiency in personal courage, but from this cause: a great part of the horses in the Mahratta service are, we have understood, the property of the riders, who receive a certain monthly pay, according to the goodness of the horse, for their own and their beast's services. If a man has his horse killed or wounded, no equivalent

Page 299

Scan of Page  299
View Page 299

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 299 is made him by the Sirkar, but he loses his animal and his allowance; he will therefore, of course, be as careful as possible to preserve both". See also Seir, i, 315, note 250, Orme, "Hist. Frag.", 418, Fitzclarence, "Journal", 73, Blacker, "War", 21. Then in addition to this hindrance to zeal caused by his personal interests, we find that the individual soldier did not look to the sovereign and the State, or consider his interests identical with theirs. He was the soldier of his immediate commander and never looked beyond him. If a great leader was luke-warm in the cause or was bought over, was forced to flee from the field, or was slain in the battle, his men dispersed at once. With the leader's disappearance, their interest in the fight was at an end, and their first concern was their own and their horse's safety. To take one instance out of many, Sayyad Husain 'Ali Khan left Agrah in Muhammad Shah's train at the head of as large a force as 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. The death or disappearance of the general-in-chief always decided the battle. Outside Lahor, when prince Azim-ushshan's elephant ran off and 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 was lost, although Zulfiqar Khan's division was intact. Of treacherous defection in the field the examples would be endless. The luke-warmness of Indian troops serving with allies was shown many a time in our earlier campaigns; for instance, in Rohilkhand in 1774, where Shuja'-ud-Daulah allowed us 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

Page 300

Scan of Page  300
View Page 300

300 THE ARMY OF THE INDIAN MOGHULS. 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 the 18th century says: "'As an army, the composition is no less expensive than defective, and totally unfit for military operations. They encamp at random, without proper pickets in front, flank, or rear, and in consequence of this and other negligence are easily to be surprized - in short, these numerous bodies of robust men and active horse, seem designed for no other purpose than to adorn the march of their chief, who rides in the midst of them, upon one elephant, his standard displayed upon another, attended by chobdars calling out his titles". No orders were given for a march; word of them was conveyed to each chief by his news-writer, who attended the darbar every evening. Little attention was paid to merit; preferment was obtained through birth and connections, intrigue, cabal, and other means equally destructive to military character (Ouseley's "Oriental Collections", 1795 i, 21-32). Similar comments are to be found in the chapter on war in R. Orme's paper on the government and people of Indostan ("Hist. Frag." 417-420). In short, excepting want of personal courage, every other fault in the list of military vices may be attributed to the degenerate Moghuls: indiscipline, want of cohesion, luxurious habits, inactivity, bad commissariat, and cumbrous equipment. In fact, Mountstuart Elphinstone, in his "History", 579, gives us succintly the conclusion of the whole matter, "They formed a cavalry admirably fitted to prance in a procession, and not illadapted 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.

Page 301

Scan of Page  301
View Page 301

LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED AND REFERRED TO. I. Persian (printed books). 1. Dastur-ul-Inshi, by Yar Muhammad, (c. 1170 H.), Calcutta, 1270 H. (1853). 2. Firishtah (Muhammad Qasim, son of Hindu Shah), Gulshan-i-IbrahZmi, 4~., lithographed, Lakhnau 1281 H. (1864). 3. Badshdh-namah, by cAbd-ul-Hamid, 2 vols. (Bib. Ind.), Calcutta, 1867-8. 4. Muntakhab-ut-tawdrikh, by cAbd-ul-Qadir, Budaoni, 1004 H. 3 vols. (Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1868. 5. 'Alamgir-ndmah, by Mhd. Kazim, (Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1868. 6. Maasir-i-CAlamglri, by Mhd. Saqi, Mustaid Khan, 1122 H. (Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1871. 7. Muntakhab-ul-lubab by Khwafi Khan, 1137 H., 2 vols. (Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1874. 8. Tdarkh-i-Jahan-kushde Nddiri by Mirza Mahdi Khan (lithographed) Bombay, 1292 H. (1875). 9. Akbarnacmah by Abu,l Fazl, 3 vols., 4to. (Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1873 -1886. Id.- (lithographed edition) - Lakhnau 1883. 10. Mirdt-i-Ahmadi by CAli Muhammad Khan, composed 1174 is. (lithographed) Bombay, 1307 H. (1889). 11. Babarnamah or Tizuk-i-Babart, lithographed edition, Bombay 1308 H. (1890). 12. Maasir-ul-Umardc, by Shah Nawaz Khan, 3 vols. (Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1888-91. 13. Mujmil-ut-tdrikh bacd Nddiriyah by Abul Hasan b. Muhammad Amin, (composed 1196 H.), edited by Oskar Mann, Leiden, 1891 and 1896. II. Hindi (printed books). Chhutru Prukash of Lal Kuvi, edited by Captain W. Price, Calcutta 1829. III. Persian (Manuscripts). 1. Jauhar, Aftabchi, Tazkirat-ul-wdqicat. Irvine Ms. N0. 43, 995 H. 2. Nizam-ud-din, Tabaqat-i-Akbar Shadh, B.M. Additional Ms. NO. 6543, 1002 H.

Page 302

Scan of Page  302
View Page 302

30 LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED AND) REFERRED TO. 3. Dastilr-ul-'awl, British Museum No. 1641 (c. 1118 H.). 4. do. B.M. 6598. 5. do. B.M. 6599. 6. dO. B. M. 1690. 7. K-ammrij, A'zam-ul..harb, DM. 1899 (c. 1119 H.). 8. Danishmand Kh-n, Bahcidur Shih-nimah, B.M. Oriental, No. 24 (c. 1120 H.). 9. Bhim Sen, Nuskhah-i-dilkusha, B.M. Oriental No. 23, 1120 H. 10. History of Jahandar Shiih, B.M. Oriental No. 3610. c. 1124 ii. 11. Muhammad Muncim, Jacfarabhadi, Far,,rukhnadmnah, I. 0. L. NO. 1876, (1 128 H.). 12. Hidayatullah, Bah-arii, Hidadyat-ul-quwdcid, Irvine Ms. NO. 251, 1428 ii. 13. MIrzl Mluharn mad (son of M'Autacmad Khbn), Tazkircah, India Office Library. No. 50, (1131 H.). 14. K-mrdij, 'Ibratna-mah (Daftar I), I. O. L. NO. 1534 (c. 1131 H.). 15. Mh~d Ahsian, Ij-ad, Sanianawi, Farru.khsiyar-niiimah, B.M. Or. 25 and Irvine Ms. NO. 113, both incomplete (c. 1131 i.). 16. Mhd Qdaim, LdhorI, 'Ibratnadmah, I. 0. L. NO. 194 (c. 1133 H.). 17. Shidi Das, Shahna-mah, Mlanavvar-i-kaladm, B.M. Or. 26 (c. 1134 wi). 18. ChhabIlah Rdm, Nagar, letters of, 'Adib-u1-aftnq, B.M. Or. NO. 1776 (c. 1134 H.). 19. Ghuliamn Mulhi-ud-din Khbn, FatiihaMt-n amah-i-Samadi, B.M. Or. 1870 (c. 1135 H.). 20. Kamwar Kban, Tazkirat-us-saldatin-'i-Chaghtaiyah, Irvine Ms. NO. 70 (c. 1137 Hi.). 21. Rie Bihi'I Ram, N-gar, Guldastah-i-b-ar, Irvine Ms. NO.1 76(1 139H). 22. Mhd Q-aPim, Aurangdbddi, Ahwal-1ul-khawadqi-n 1.M. Addl. 26,244 (c. 1147 H.). 23. Yahvd Khiin, Tazkirat-ul-muffik, I. 0. L. No. 1149 (1149 ii.). 24. Rustain 'AlI, Ta-rikh-i-hindi, B.M. Or. 1628 (1149 H.). 25. Mhd ShafIc, W~i-rid, Mirdt-i-wdrida-t, B.M. No. 6579 (c. 1149 ii.). 26. Macldma-t-ul-afdcq, B.M. 1741 (c. 1150 ii.). 27. Risdlah-i-M1hd Shathi, B.M. Or. 1SO (c. 1150 H.). 28. Risilah-i-tir o kamiin, B.M. Additional Ms. No. 5629 (c. 1150 H.). 29. Jauhar-i-samsfion, B.M. Or. 1898, and Col. Fuller's translation, B.M. 30,784 (c. 1152 H.). 30. Anand Ram, Mukhlis, M1irddt-ul-istildh, B.M. Or. 1813 (1157 H.). 31. Sdhib R-ae, Khujistah-kaldrn, Irvine Ms. NO. 18 (1159 H.). 32. Khush1al Chand, Nddir-u:-za.mdnaii, BIM. Or. 1844, id. Addl. 24,027 and Berlin Ms. NO. 495 (Cat. p. 476) (c. 1161 H). 33. Anand Rilm, Mukhlib, Events of 1159-61 ii., I. 0. L. 1612 (1161 ti.). 34. Mirzd Muhammad, Tdrikh-i-Muharnmnadi, B.M. Or. 1824 and Irvine Ms. No. 143 (c. 1163 H.). 35. Tarikh-i-Ahmad S10thi, B.M. Oriental NO. 2005 (c. 1167 H.).

Page 303

Scan of Page  303
View Page 303

LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED AND REFERRED TO. 303 36. Mahmiid-ul-Munshi, Tarikh-i-Ahmad Shahi, B.M. Or. Ms. No. 196 (c. 1171 H.). 37. Rae Chatarman, Chahar Gulshan, Irvine Ms. NO. 118 (1173 H.). 38. Shakir Khan, Gulshan-i-sadiq, Irvine Ms. No. 69 (c. 1174 H.). 39. CAll Muhammad Khan, Mirdt-i-Ahmadi, B.M. Addl. 6580 (1174 H.). 40. Tdrzkh-iCAlamgTr Sani, B.M. Or. 1749 (c. 1174 H.). 41. Muhammad CAli, Burhanpuri, Mirdt-us-saffd, B.M. Addl. Mss. Nos. 6539, 6540 (1179 H.). 42. Dalpat Sing, Maldhat-i-maqdl, B.M. Or. Ms. NO. 1828 (c. 1181 ii.). 43. Sayyad Muhammad, Bilgrami, Tabsirat-un-ndazirin, Irvine Ms. No. 34 (1182 H.). 44. Abd-ul-la.t.f, Ahmad-namah, Irvine Ms. NO. 100 (1184 H.). 45. Ashob, Shahddat-i-Farrukhsiyar wa julus-i-Muhammad Shah by Mirza Muhammad Bakhsh, Ashob, B.M. Or. 1832 (1196 H.). 46. Ghulam Hasan, Bilgrami, (Samin), Tazkirah, Irvine Ms. No. 113 (1197 H.). 47. Ghulam Hasan, Bilgrami (Samin), Shardif-i-Cusmdni, Irvine Ms. No. 27 (c. 4200 H.). 48. Ghulam 'All Khan, Muqaddamah-i-Shdh CAlam-ndmah, B.M. Addl. 24,028 (c. 1204 H.). 49. Khair-ud-din Mhd, 'Clbratnamah, Irvine Ms. NO. 15 (3 vols.) (c. 1204 H.). 50. Waqa:-i-diyar-i-maghrib, Irvine Ms. NO. 189 (1213 H.) (almost identical with Tdrikh-i-Husain Shahi by Imam uddin, Chisti, Rieu, 904). 51. Imam-ud-din Chisti, tHusain Shdah, B M Or. NO. 1662 (1213 H.). 52. Mhd CUmr, Siwdnih-i-khizri, Irvine Ms. NO. 80 (c. 1213-14 H.). 53. Mhd cAli Khan, Tdrikh-i-muzaffari, Irvine Ms. NO. 25 (c. 1215-16 H.). 54. Rustam cAll, Bijnori, Rohelon ki tdrikh, B.M. Addl. Ms. NO. 26,284 (1803 A.D. Urdu). 55. Muhabbat Khan, son of Faiz CAta Khan, Daudzai, Akhbdr-i-muhabbat, Irvine Ms. NO. 21 (1220 H.). 56. Collection of Portraits, B.M. Oriental NO. 375 (c. 1835 A.D.). IV. Books and Mss. in European languages. 1. N. Manucci, Storia do Mogor, Konigliche Bibliothek, Berlin, Ms. Phillipps 1945 (1700). 2. Robert Orme, Ms. Collections now in the India Office (1760-1805). 3. F. Catrou (and N. Manucci). Histoire Generale de I'Empire du Mogol, one vol. 4to. Paris, 1705, and 4 vols. 12~. or one volume 4to. Paris, 1715. 4. F. Valentijn, Beschrijving van Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien, Vol. IV, fol. Dordrecht, 4726. 5. Gemelli Careri, Voyage autour du Monde, 6 vols. 12mo. Paris, 1726. 6. James Fraser, History of Nadir Shah, 2nd ed. 1742. 7. R. 0. Cambridge, Account of the War in India, 1750-60, 4to. 1761.

Page 304

Scan of Page  304
View Page 304

304 LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED AND REFERRED TO. 8. Jonas Hanway, Revolutions of Persia, 3rd. ed., 1762. 9. De la Flotte, Essais Historiques sur l'Inde, 2 vols. 12mo. Paris, 1769. 10. P. M. Anquetil Duperron, Zend Avesta, 3 vols. 4to., Paris, 1771. 11. Minutes of Select. Cor. House of Commons of 1772. 8vo. (T. Evans). London, 1772. 12. J. Z. Holwell, 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. 15. Asiatic Miscellany, 2 vols. 4to. Calcutta, 1785-6. 1t6. J. Bernouilli, Description de l'Inde, 3 vols. 4to. Berlin, 1788. 17. Seir Mutaqherin (1195 H.), trans. by Notamanus (Haji Mustapha), 3 vols., 4to. Calcutta, 1789. 18. Asiatic Miscellany, 3 vols, 8vo. Cal. 1788. New Ditto, 4to., Cal. 1789. 19. J. Rennell, Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan. 3rd. ed. 4to. 1793. 20. E. Moor, Narrative of Capt. Little's Detachment, 4to. 1794. 21. Jonathan Scott, History of Dekkan, 2 vols., 4to. Shrewsbury, 1794. 22. A. Dalrymple, Oriental hepertory, 2 vols. 4to. 1794-5. 23. W. H. Tone, A letter on the Maratta people (1796), Bombay, 1798. 24. Oriental Miscellany, Calcutta, 1798. 25. W. Francklin, History of the reign of Shah Aulum, 4to. 1798. 26. Sir W. Ouseley, Oriental Collections, 3 vols. 4to. 1797-1800. 27. R. Orme, Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, 4to. 1805. 28. W. Francklin, Military Memoir of Mr. George Thomas, 8vo. 1805. 29. Lewis F. Smith, Rise and Progress of the Regular Corps, 4to. Calcutta 1805. 30. Thomas Williamson, Oriental Field Sports, folio, 1807. 31. Lieut.-Col. Mark Wilks, Historical Sketches of the South of India, 3 vols. 4to. 1810-1817. 32. W. Thorn, Memoir of the War in India, 1803-6, 4to. 1818. 33. Lieut.-Col. Fitzclarence, Journal ofa Route across India,1 817-8.4to.1819. 34. Lieut.-Col.V. Blacker, Memoir of Operations in India 1817-19.4to. 1821. 35. Major D. Price, Chronological Retrospect of Mohammedan History, 4 vols. 4to. 1811-1821. 36. L Langles, Monuments Anciens et Modernes de l'Hindoustan, 2 vols., folio, Paris 1821. 37. J. B. J. Gentil, Memoires sur l'Indoustan. 8vo. Paris, 1822. 38. E. Lake, Sieges of the Madras Army, 1825. 39. J. Leyden and W. Erskine, Memoirs of Baber (translated), 4to., 1826. 40. J. Ranking, Historical Researches on the Wars and Sports of the Mongols and Romans, 4to. 1826. 41. W. R. Pogson, History of the Boondelas, 4to. Calcutta, 1828. 42. J. Prinsep, Useful Tables, Part. I, Calcutta 1834. 43. Despatches of the Marquess Wellesley, K. G., ed. M. Martin, 5 vols., 1836. 44. E. Quatremere (translator), Histoire des Mongols de la Perse, by Rashid-ud-din, folio, Paris 1836. 45. H. Wilkinson, Engines of War, 1841.

Page 305

Scan of Page  305
View Page 305

LIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED AND REFERRED TO. 305 46. Chevalier P. Armandi, Histoire militaire des elephants, Paris, 1843. 47. G. A. Hansard, Book of Archery, 1845. 48. Captain St. J. D. Showers, Inscription on a gun at Moorshedabad, Journal A.S. Bengal, XVI, Calcutta, 1847. 49. J. Shakespear, Hindustani English Dictionary, 4th. ed. 4to. 1849. 50. J. B. Fraser, Military Memoirs of Lieut.-Col. James Skinner, C. B., 2 vols. 1851. 51. A. Rockstuhl and F. Gille, Musee de Tzarkoe (folio), St. Petersbourg 1835-1853. 52. Colonel F. Colombari, Les Zamboureks, Paris, 1853. 53. W. Erskine, History of India under Baber and Humayun, 2 vols. 1854. 54. M. Elphinstone, History of India, 4th ed., 1857. 55. G. C. Mundy, Pen and Pencil Sketches in India, 3rd ed., 1858. 56. H. M. Elliot, Supplemental Glossary, Roorkee, 1860. 57. W. H. Russell, My Diary in India, 2 vols. 1860. 58. R. Orme, History of the Military Transactions in Indostan (reprint), 3 vols. Madras, 1861. 59. E. Thornton, Gazetteer of India, 1862. 60. G. A. Herklots, M. D. Qanoone-Islam, 2nd ed. Madras, r863. 61. E. W. Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, 1867. 62. Colonel T. Seaton, From Cadet to Colonel, 2 vols. 1866. 63. P. Meadows Taylor and James Fergusson, Architecture of Beejapore, 1866. 64. Viscountess Combermlere and W. W. Knollys, Memoirs of F. M. Viscount Combermere, 2 vols. 1866. 65. A. Pavet de Courteille, Dictionnaire Turc Oriental, Paris, 1870. 66. id., Memoires de Baber, 2 vols. Paris, 1871. 67. tI. Blochmann, CA,in-i-Akbari, 1 vol. (translation), Calcutta, 1873. 68. Voyle and Stevenson, Military Dictionary, 3rd. ed. 1876. 69. H. M. Elliot, History of India, Muhammedan Period, 8 vols. 1867 -1877. 70. W. Irvine, Bangash Nawabs of Farrukhabad, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vols. XLVII and XLVIII, 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. 74. Graf F. A. von Noer, Kaiser Akbar, Leiden, 1880. 75. id., L'empereur Akbar, trans. Alf. Maury, 2 vols., Leide, 1883. 76. Col. T. H. Hendley, Memorials of the Jeypore Exhibition, 4 vols. London 1883. 77. H. G. Raverty, Notes on Afghanistan, 4 parts, folio, 1881-3. 78. S. W. Fallon, New Eng. Hindustani Dictionary, Benares, 1883. 79. W. H. Lowe (translator), Muntakhab-ut-tawarikh, Vol. II, of 'Abdul-Qadir (Bib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1884. 80. John T. Platts, A Dictionary of Urdu, 1884. 81. H. Yule and A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, a Glossary, 1886. 20

Page 306

Scan of Page  306
View Page 306

306 aIST OF AUTHORITIES QUOTED AND REFERRED TO. 82. David Mac Ritchie, Account of the Gypsies, 1886. 83. Sir E. C. Bayley, The Local Muhammedan Dynasties, Gujarat, 1886. 84. J. B. Tavernier, Travels in India, trans. by V. Ball, '2 vols. 1889. 85. W. H. Lowe (translator), Tuhuk-i-Ja/itllngrl, F:asc. 1 (BIib. Ind.) Calcutta, 1889. 86. W. Hoey, M. A., D.Lit., T4trl,-h-i-Farah Balkhsh (1233 H.), trans., '2 vols. Allahabad, 1888-9. 87. F. Bernier, Travels in the Mogul Empire 1665-8, ed.A. Constable, 1891. 88. Syad Mlhd Latif, History of Lahor, Lahor, 1892. 89. F. Steingass, Persian-Eng. Dictionary, 1892. 90. T. D. Broughton, Letters written in a Mahratta Camp, 1809, new edition, 1892. 91. Herbert Compton, European Military Adventurers in India, 1892. 92. G. B. Malleson, History of the French in India, 1893. 93. Manual of the Administration of the \ladras Presidency, Vol. III, fol. Madras, 1893. 94. W. Forbes Mitchell, Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny, 1893. 95. E. G. Browne, M. A., A year among the Persians, 1893. 96. I. Burton, Life of Captain Sir R. F. Burton, 2 vols. 1893. 97. J. W. Mac Crindle, Invasion of India by Alexander, '1893. 98. August Demmin, Die Kriegswaffen, 4th ed. Leipzig, 1893. 99. Paul Horn, Das leer und Kriegswesen de, gross Moghuls, Leiden, 1894. 100. Emile Berber, Le Nabab Rene Madec, Paris, 1894. 101. Sir Hope Grant, Life and Correspondence, ed. H. Knollys, 2 vols. 1894. 102. Parliamentary Paper, No. 538, March 1894. 103. N. Elias and E. D. Ross, TcaTi kh-i-Rashdlt of M.l irza Haidar Dughlat, 1895. 104. John Martineau, Life and Correspondence of the Right Honorable Sir Bartle Frere, 2 vols. 8vo. 1895. 105. l)r. S. Weissenberg in ".lMittheilungen 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 Mluhammad Shah, by Tilok Das, Journal A.S. Bengal, LXVI, Calcutta 1897. 109. George S. A. Ranking (translator), Muntalhabu-t-tawadrikl_ by Abdul-Qadir Badaoni, Vol. I (Bibl. Indica), Calcutta 1898. 110. R. S. Whiteway, The Rise of Portuguese Power in India, 1899. 111. E. G Browne, The Chahdr Maqalah of cArudi, composed about 1161 A.D, Journal R. Asiatic Society, 1899. 112. C. R. Wilson, Early Annals of the English in Bengal, Vol. I and II (part 1), Calcutta 1895, 1900. 113. E. Blochet, Inventaire des miniatures des manuscrits orientaux, Paris 1900. 114. W. Irvine, Jangnltcmah of Farrukhslya)i by Shridhar Murlidhar, Journal A. S. Bengal, LXIX, Calcutta 1900.

Page 307

Scan of Page  307
View Page 307

CORRECTIONS, EMENDATIONS AND ADDITIONS. Page 7 (six lines fiom bottom). For "te" read "to".,o 48, 1. 20, Miskin, Tahmasp-namah, B.M. Oriental Mss. No. 1918, fol. 59a, states that the chihrahs of the mansabddrs were written on red paper. 4 49. The Imperial Brand. Manucci, Phillipps 1945, part III, fol. 27, says that the imperial brand was of this shape -, and was impressed on the horse's right flank., 50. The Noble's Brand. Manucci, id., mentions that the nobles had a separate mark, 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 Akbarnamah (Lucknow edition), III, p. 17, lines 10 and 11 fiom foot, has dabalghah (spelt xxaI). The same passage has the word pesh-bini for nose-guard. - 76 (line 11). For "scated" 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 Hanif", quoting 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". a 110 (line 12). For "these" read "there"., 114 (line 9). For "furaces" read "furnaces"., 117 (line 11). For "more" read "move". > 120 (line 4). For "is" read "it"., 148 (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 Art, among the oriental exhibits, is a four-pronged caltrop said to have been found on the battle field of Multan (1849). This goes to show that the Sikhs used this mode of obstructing cavalry as late as the middle of the '9th century.

Page 309 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  309
View Page 309 - Comprehensive Index

IN DEX. A. Ab (temper of sword blade), 75. Ablaq (black and white feathers), 97. Absence, without leave, 25. Adjutant-General (Bakhlshz). 37. Advance guard oftheCentre(iltimish), 226. Advances of pay, 18; recovery of, 18. Aftab (kind of standard), 32. Aftabgr., Aftdbgirl, 31, 34. Agrah, siege of, 294. AhadTs, 10, 19, 25, 43, 53; Bakhshi of the, 40. Ahangar (blacksmith), 174. Ahmadnagar, 268. Ahsham, 20, 26, 43, 155,160; three meanings of, 161. Aimdq, 241. Ajaigarh, 268. Ajmer, 269. Akbar, his rules for branding, 46; system of making over elephants to grandees, 20; artillery of, 115. Akbarabad, 269. Akhtah Begi (Master of the Horse),21. CAlam (a standard), 31, 32, 34, 85. CAlamgir, artillery of, 116. ACla Shdhi (Exalted Imperial regiment), 44. CAla-ud-din, Khilji, his branding system, 46. 'Aligarh, 268. CAlighol (class of troops), 164. Alkht liq (a tight coat), 29, 68. Allahabad, 269; sieges of 1719, 1750, 290. Al Maisir (divining by arrows), 98. Amazons, 165. Ambush, 255. Amir (noble), 9. Amnr-i-ACzam (great noble), 9. Amir-ul-umard (Noble of Nobles). 38. Angarkhah (a long coat), 68. Ankri-ddr (kind of arrow), 98. Ankus (elephant goad), 80. Anrsdr-i-maimanah (right wing), 226. Ansdr-i-maisarah (left wing), 226. Appointment of an Officer, mode of, 40. Approach by sap and mine, 273. CArdbah (gun carriage), 141; use of word, remarks on, 140. cArabi (Arab troops), 51. Arabs, 169. 'Aradah-top (wheeled artillery), 140. Arah-kash (sawyers), 174. Arghun (mitrailleuse), 138. CAriz (old name of a Bakhshi), 38. Arkalon (a tight coat?), 29. Armandi, treatise on elephants, 178. "Arme blanche", 73. Armour, defensive, 62, 63. Arms, offensive, 73; "short", 73. Army chiefly horsemen, 57; strength of the, 59; in the field, 190; on the march, 203; marches, length of, 219. Arrow, 73, 97; and bow, 90; shafts, 97; heads, 98; for practising, 98; symbolical use of, 98 (and see

Page 310 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  310
View Page 310 - Comprehensive Index

310 INDEX. Errata); divining by, 98; declaring war by, 99; from thle king's quiver, security for peace, 99; symbol of authority, 99. Artak-i-kajctj (horse-housing), 71. Artificers, 20, 173. Artillery, 113; Babar's, 114; Humayun's, 115; Akbar's, 115; CAlamgir's 116; Light, 133; of the Stirrup, 133, 134; Moveable, 133; personnel of, 152; departments of, 156; Manufacture of, 156; Arsenals 156; in battle, 230. Artillerymen, 20. CArzah-ddsht (report), 254. CArz-i-makarrac (Confirming Order), 13. 18, 42. CAsd-shamsher (straight sword), 76. Asirgarh, 268. Aslah (weapons generally), 62 Asndn (spears generally), 81. Assault on forts, modes of repelling 282; repulsed, evacuation after. 284. Assignment of revenue (jdagr), 14. Astrologers, 202. Atak, 269. Atashbas (firework-makers), 174. Audiences, parades during, 182. Auditors (mustaufis), 19. Aunchl (bow), 91. iAuang (throne), 31. Authorities, list of, 301 - 306. Axe, battle, 80; silver, 81. Ayydm-i-hilali, 19. Azhdaha-paikar(kind ofstandard)32. B. Babar's Artillery, 114. Back-scratcher (pusht-khdr), 80. Badaha (class of artificer), 174. Bddalij (catapult), 129. Baddaljah (catapult), 129. Badan (curtain of fort), 264. Badar (powder-bag), 151. Badraqah (escort), 210. Bagtar (body-armour), 66. Balha' o bangS/ (baggage), 191, 227. Bakhshls, First, 39; the other, 39; second, 39; third. 39: fourth, 40; of the calacds, 40. Bakhhshi, of the TWVld Shdhis, 40; provincial and other, 40; of the Realms, 42. Batklshlt-i-tan, 39. Bakhs!h-ul-nmainalik, 37; duties of, 38. Bakhsh-ul-muilk, 39. Baksariyah (kind of infantry), 168. Baktac) (body armour), 66. Balcaband (turban ornament), 29. Bcdldtang (surcingle), 72. Ballam (kind of spear), 84. Ban (Rockets), 147. Ban-andc- (rocket-man), 159. Bandahhde (servants), 44 n. 1. Badn-dacr (rocket-man) 159, 169. Bandtar (part of a sword), 75. Band-iq (a matchlock), 73, 103. Bandliqchl-i-jailgi (matchlock-man), 167. BandT.q-i-chaqmdql (flint musket), 105. Bangarh, siege of, 291. Banjrira (grain-carrier), 192. Baill; (kind of dagger), 86, 87. Barallnghdl (right wing), 226. Bacrdt (order on Treasury), 56. Bacrchhd, Bariclthah, archh, Birchha (kind of spear), 83. Barlchhah, see "Barchha". Bargarh, 269. Bargyi (name for Mahrattahs), 171. Bcdrgir (hired trooper), 37, 47. Bargustuwdn (elephant armour), 66. Barg ust awn-po sh (armour-clad elephant), 176. Barqanddz (matchlockman), 20,166. Barctacraf (rejection of horses), 22, 24, 25, 26. Bdc'rlt-/khcnah (powder magazine), 151.

Page 311 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  311
View Page 311 - Comprehensive Index

INDEX. 311 Basalt (an armourer), 174. Basolah (kind of weapon), 81. Battle Axes (tabar), 73, 80. Battle cries, 231. Battles, particular, force present at 60; order of, 223; conduct of 229; particular, 244; reports of, 254. Bayonet (sangiz), 83. Bazar (camp market), 191. Bdz-ydft (item under objection), 19. Beldar (a digger), 173, 174. Belly-piercer (kind of dagger), 86. Besiegers and Besieged, communication between, 287. Beuta (chain-mail shirt), 67. Bhal (arrow-head), 97. Bhala (kind of spear), 82. Bhanju (part of armour), 69. Bhartpur, 268. Bhilah (class of infantry). 170. Bichwd (kind of dagger), 87. Bijapur, siege of, 289. Bila-shart (unconditional pay), 13. Bima4r (illness), 25. Bibnar-ndmah (medical certificate). 25. Birinjadr (grain-carrier), 192. Blacksmiths' forges, establishment of, 52. Blank Cartridge, 107. Blockades, 272. Blowing from guns, 184. Burj o bdrah (fortifications), 264. Bound Hedge, 261. Bow (of a saddle), 72. Bows and arrows, 73, 90, 91; estimation of, 90; recent use of, 90; make of, 92; mode of drawing, 94, 96; stringing the, 102; shooting with, 102. Bow-men, 53. Brand, imperial, 49 (and see Errata); the noble's, 50 (and see Errata). Branding, 45. Bridge of boats, 2t1. Broad cloth, 73 n. 1. Bunain (butt of spear), 81. Bundelahs (class of infantry), 169. Burning oil, throwing of, 282. C. Cailletoque (a musket), 107. Caltrops, 233 and see Errata. Camps and Camp Equipage, 195; a description of, 195. Cannon, construction of, 114; rate of firing, 116; names of, 118; mode of mounting, 121; heavy, descriptions of, 123; wooden, 128. Cartridge, blank, 107. Casualties, 22. Cavalry charges, 232; Moghul, tactics of, 234. Centre (qul, qalb), 226; advance guard of the (iltimish), 226; wings of the (tarah), 227. Certificate of heirship (wdrisndmah), 27; fiom Bakhshi's office (tasdiq), 41, 42. Chadar (missile or tent or mantlet), 131. Chaghatae language, use of, 184. Chahdr-danah (breastplate), 66. Chahlam (kind of armour), 68. Chakhmdgh (battle-axe), 81. Chakhmdq (id.), 81. Chalani (small piece ofartillery), 138. Chalqat (doublet over armour), 69. Chamchdq (kind of battle-axe), 81. Chamkhakh (a long knife), 87. Chamkhhdq (kind of battle-axe), 81. Chanddwul (the rear-guard), 227. Chandu (imperial fort), 269. Changal-i-bdz (mode of holding bow), 102. Chapkunchi (a reconnaisance), 241. Chapqalash (an onslaught), 233,241. Chdqchdq (kind of knife), 87. ChdqchaqW-i-wilayati (a long knife), 89.

Page 312 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  312
View Page 312 - Comprehensive Index

312 INDEX. Chdaqt (a knife), 89. Charges of cavalry, 241. Cht rl.hL (cross-bow), 92. C/hark/hchi-bds/lL (head bowman), 92. Chatr (state umbrella), 31. Cha/t-toi-o (yak-tail standard), 31. Ch/auc (guard), 23, 25, 188. Chaullk -i;kdanh (guard-house), 196. Chelds (slaves, household troops), 11. Chevaux-de-frise (caltrops), 233 and see Corrections. Chharl- (rocket-stick), 147. Chhatah-i-qilach (platform?), 264. Chihaltah (wadded coat), 68, 69. Chihilqad (wadded coat), 69. Chihrah (descriptive roll), 47. Chihrctah-i-aspdn (descriptive roll of horses), 49. Chihrah-i-tlabndn (descriptive roll of troopers), 48. Chillah (bow-string), 93. Clhiltd (wadded coat), 69. Chinglapat (fortress), 268. Chinrah, meaning of, 47 n. 1. Chirwah (kind of shield), 78. Chob-slbae (wooden-tower), 279. Choppers (thatches of roofs), 282. Christians in Mogul Service, 152, 153, 154; contelmpt for, 152, 153. Coats, wadded, 69. Colligation in fighting, 237, 238. Combat, single, 236. Commander-in-Chief, 37. Commissariat, 191. Conditional pay (mashrit), 13. Confirmation of orders (Carz-i-maharrar), 18. Contingent (suwdrs), 6. Coup-de-main, 270. Cross-bow (chark1h), 92, 95. Crossing Rivers, 211. Crutch, fakir's, 77. Cuirass (alnah), 67. D. Dabalclhah (helmet), 64 and see;' Corrections". Daggers, 73, 85. Ddgh, 13, 25. Dcaghlah (quilted coat), 68. Ddch-o-mahallU (parades), 46. Dg- 1-o-tash ihah (Branding and Verification), 46. Dagld (quilted coat), 68. Dah-bist (proportion of horses to men), 10. Ddaklili troops, 160. Dami (a coin of account), 6. Damd/CiSh1a (holes on fortress wall for pouring down boiling oil), 266. Ddnt-tin/i; (form of surrender), 185. Dlu) goslhah-i-h/amdn zadan (to capture), 240. Dairoyhah-i-dlak (Chief of Post), 213. Daroghjhal-i-hctrhi1rch (Head Spy), 213. Darolhah-i-topklhluah (artillery general), 154. Dashiah. (kind of dagger), 89. Dasl-t (a turban), 29. Dast-i-chap (left wing), 226. tDast-i-rdst (right wing), 226. Dastluwnah (gauntlets), 70. Daul (estimate), 18. Daulatabad (fortress), 268. Dautlat-khdnah (emperor's residence), 199. Dead on battle field not buried, 259. Death (fauti), rules for pay, 25, 27. Deductions from Pay, 19. Defeat, 241. Defensive armour, 62. Deficiency, in horses, 22; in equipment, 22; in troopers, 22. Deg (Mortars), 129. Dcg-aclddz (mortar-man), 129, 158, 4169.

Page 313 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  313
View Page 313 - Comprehensive Index

INDEX. 313 Delay in Verification, fines for 24, 54. Description of an army on the march, 203. Descriptive Roll, of men, 47; of horses, 49. Desertion (Fararl), 25; pretended, 255. Dhal (a shield), 77. Dhcalait (foot-soldier), '165. Dhamaikah (small gun), 135, 137. Dhara (kind of mace), 79. Dharwar (fortress), 268. DhuAnah (cotton-carder), 174. DhItp (straight sword), 76. Diary, see Wdqicah. Diary-writer, see WdSqiCah navis. Dira/h (measure of length), 217. Discharge (bartarafi), 25. Discipline, 182. Dismounting to fight, 237. Divination by arrows, 98. Diwan-i-iald (chief minister), 17. Diwan-i-tan (second revenue minister), 16, 39. Driver of elephant, general changing places with, 257. Do-ang-bdzz (kind of sword-play),1 85. Dog, killing of, before a siege, 270. Dohad (fortress), 269. Do muhdnah (kind of arrow-head), 98. Drill, 182, 185. Drums, miniature, 30. Duaspah, 23. Dumchi (crupper), 72. Dur-bin (telescope), 246 n. 1. Duties of the Bakhshi-ul-mamdlik, 38. E. Elephants, in general, 175; made over to grandees, 20; gifts of, 30; armour of, 175; khasah, 178; names of, 179; disuse of, 179, 180; numbers in use, 180. Elephant-goad (an/us), 80. Emperor's taking the field in person, 202; conveyance of, and usages on his passing by, 210. Ensigns, 31. Entering the service, procedure on, 36. Equipment, 62, 73, 90; deficiency in, 22. Escort (badraqah), 210. Establishment, subordinate, 52. Estimate, rough, 17; (daul), 18. Estimation of weapons, 90. Europeans in Mogul service, 152,153, 154. Evacuation of fortress, after repulsed assault, 284. Exercises, 182. F. Fakir's crutch, 77. Faldkhan (sling), 95. Falitah (match for firelock), 107. Farangi (European), 172. Fariri (desertion), 25, 26. Farriers (na~lband), 53; establishment of, 52. Fasil (terre-plein), 264. Fausse-braye (rauni), 265. Fauti (death casualties), 25, 27. Fencing Shields, 78. Field Pieces, 138. Fighting, on foot, 237; colligation in, 237, 238; technical terms of, 239. Fines, 22, 63. Finger stall (zihgir). 93. Fish (MHhi) standard, 32; and dignities, 33; fish-scale armour (baktar), 67. Fish back-bone (Khar-i-mdhi), 80. Flags, 31. 32; of truce, 214. Flail (sadnt), 80. Flight, of inhabitants, 194; pretended, 255. Flint-lock (banduq-i-chaqmrdq), 105. Fodder, 192. Foraging, 192.

Page 314 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  314
View Page 314 - Comprehensive Index

314 INDEX. Force actually present at particular battles, 60. Fording river. 212. Fortresses, keys of, 287. Forts and strongholds, 260; description of, 260; Hill, 262; small, description of, 266; particular, description of, 267; Imperial, 268. Furlough, 25. G. Gajbag (elephant goad), 80. Gajbail (kind of sword), 77. Gajnal (small gun), 135. Gancldsd (a chopper), 85. Ganj-i-shahzd (martyrs' grave), 259. Gdrdani (amazons). 166. Gardani (neck-piece for horse). 71, 72. Gdrdi (drilled French sepoys), 106. Gargu: (kind of mace), 79. Garh (a fort). 264. Garhi (small fort), 264. Gairhiyd (small fort), 85. Garwvah (a shield), 78. Gaz-i-ildhi (measure of length), 217. Ghabdrah (kind of field-piece), 129. Ghaiir-hadzir (absence), 25. Ghaznain (fortress), 269. Gherid (kind of shield), 78. Gherah (kind of arrow), 98. Ghoghll (armour head-piece), 65. Ghol (troop), 226. Ghor-dihan (kind of matchlock),l 11. GhuighZ (armour head-piece), 65. Ghughwah (armour head-piece), 70. Gh1unghi (armour head-piece), 65. Gifts, of money, 18; other than money, 29. Gingall (wall-piece), 109. GinCjal (wall-piece), 110. Gipsies, 116. Girih-kusha (kind of spear), 94. Girwah (a shield), 78. Gobhan (a sling), 95. Godhi- (arm-gualrd), 100. Golacnd:l (artillery-man), 158, 169. Gold-coin presented on passing by of emperor, 210. Goonga (battlements?), 264. Goonju (battlements?), 264. Gophan (a sling), 95. Goshah (notches of bow). 93. Government revenue, assignment of (jdgyr), 14. Grandees, elephants made over to, 20. Grass cutters, 191. Gud ka (single-stick), 185. GuTzllbar (imperial enclosure), 195, 1 99. Gulel (pellet-bow), 95. Guns, names of, 118; heavy,118-128; light, 133-147; wooden, 128; spiking, 241. Gupti (stick-sword) 77. Gupti-kard (knife in stick), 89. Gurdaspur, siege of, 285. Guirohah, hamnan-i- (pellet-bow), 95. Gurz (mace), 79. Gusdins (kind of infantry), 163. Gwaliyar, 269. IH. Hadaf (object aimed at), 101. Haiat-i-rmanjtmu (mode of attack), 241. Hallah (charge), 241. Ialqah (class of elephants), 178.,-Iamd,il (shoulder-belt), 75. Hdndl (fire-pot) 282. Hanger (kind of dagger), 87. 4Haqiqat (statement). 16, 40..aorakat-i-mazbuihit? (a feeble attack), 239. Hardwal (vanguard), 225. Harem women with armies, 200. tHaclali (part of armour). 68. HHarkdlrah (spy, scout), 213. Hasanpur, battle of, 245. Has/ho (margin of account book), 26. lHatithtdl (small gun), 135.

Page 315 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  315
View Page 315 - Comprehensive Index

NI)EX. 315 Hathras (fortress), 268. Haudah, 176. Hazari (artillery captain), 23, 157..Tdzir-i-rikab (present at Court), 9. Heads, pillars of, 242. Heavy Guns, 113, 118; descriptions of, 123. Hedge, Bound, 261. IIeirship, certificate of(waris-namah), 27. Heralds (naqib), 231 n. 1. Hissah-i-ajnas (payment in kind), 19, 20. Historians, florid style of. 244. Horsemanship, 187. Horsemen, Mogul army made up of,57. Horses, in general, 29; deficiency in, 22; to be furnished by recruits, 47; descriptive roll of, 49; classification of, 51; CArabi, 51; Persian, 51; lMujannas, 51; Turki, 51; Yabu, 51; Tazi, 51; Janglah 51; discrepancy of, 52. Humayun, artillery of, 115. Hunting, 189. juqqah (hand-grenade), 282. Zuqqah-i-dtash (id.). 131. I. Iftali (advanced troops), 225. Jlghar (forced march). 218. Illness (Bimari), 25. Iltimish (part of order of battle) 226. CImrrz (protected howdah), 176. 'Inan (reins), 72. Infantry, 161; pay of, 173. Intervals after which verification was imperative, 54. Investment of fortresses, 272. J. Jaba (coat of mail), 67. Ja'bah (a quiver), 99. Jackets, quilted cotton, 64. Jae narela (part of sword) 75. Jagir (assigment of revenue). 14, 22. Jagzrs, management of, 15, 16. Jaibah (coat of mail). 67. Jaibah-i-hazdr-mikhi (kind of armour), 67. Jaitpur, siege of, 289. JMli (railing before throne), 199. Jamagi (match for fire-lock), 107. Jdmah (court dress), 29. Jamah-i-fatahi (kind of coat), 68. Jama'hdar (petty leader), 183. Jambishz, iopkhdnah-i- (light field artillery), 133. Jambtyah (kind of dagger), 87. Jambwah (kind of dagger), 87. Jamdhar (kind of dagger), 86. Jarnkhdk (kind of dagger). 87. Janib-i-yasar (left wing), 226. Jancjal (wall-piece). 109. Jaranghar (left-wing), 226. Jats, said to be gipsies, 116. Jauhar (temper of sword-blade), 75. Javelin or short spear, 81. Jazdil (wall-piece), 109, 111. Jazair (id.), 109. Jhtlar (a fringe), 33. Jhambwah (kind of dagger), 87. Jhanda (a flag), 31. Jhansi, 269. Jihlam (kind of armour), 68. Jinjal (wall-piece), 110. Jinji, siege of, 289. Jins (goods, food-stuff), 20. Jinsi, top-khdnah-i- (light artillery), 133. Jodhpur, 269. Joshan (kind of armour), 66, 68. Jubah (kind of armour), 67. Juhar (immolation), 242. Juzah-i-hardwal (part of van-guard), 226. Juzzail, see "Jaza,il".

Page 316 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  316
View Page 316 - Comprehensive Index

316 INDEX. K. Kcat1th-i-bais (arrow-shaft?), 97 n. 1. I catar, k aalc, /I;ctt-i; (darerl). 85. IKCbah (a long gown), 29. Katlbat -i-bash (arrow-shaft?), 97i.1, K-abul, 269. Ka!ukabah (kind of standard), 31, 32, Kahak-banha (kind of rocket), 148. 33. Kahardah, Hifndustani (class of arti- K ayetoc (kind of matchlock), 108. ficer), 174. Kettledrums, 30. Kaalladah, Turdz, (class of artificer) Kha I c;,c: (glacis), 264. 174. Khlal-gol (blank cartridge), 107. Kaitok, kaitoke (kind of matchlock), Khdl-o-khcat (marks on horse), 49. 108, 171. Khan (Lord), 28. Kajem (horse-armour), 71. Khandc (kind of sword), 76. Kajim (id.), 71. K| hanjar (kind of dagger), 86. Kakrun (fortress), 269. Khapiwah (kind of dagger), 87. Kali Piyddah (kind of infantry), 171. 1 haria(t (turner). 174. Kalinjar (fortress), 268, 269. Kha rch-i-itikhah (a deduction from Kanmal (kind of armour), 69. pay), 19. Kamal-posh (Blanket Wearers), 44. KhargyfIh (kind of tent), 195. Kamnan (bow) 73, 92; i-gurohah 95. K/I]r-i-mran d (kind of mace), 80. KIamoand (rope-ladder), 281. lKhsahc (caltrops), 233 and Errata. Kami-i-baridari (deficiency of men), Khelnah. siege of, 289. 22. Kheralh (a shield), 78. Kanmlz-gih (ambush), 255. Khilact (robe of honour). 29. KaIzm al (blanket), 44. Kh ilact-khlnah (state wardrobe). 29. Kaimnait (kind of archer), 96. Khollh (armour head piece), 65. Kampti (bambu bow), 96. Khogir (saddle), 72. Kacr (accoutrements), 107. Khor ba lliyht (class of artificer), 174. Kamrband (waist belt), 29. lKhlid (helmet), 64. Komrgyah (part of fortress), 264.. l-;undli-pl/'nsid (kind of mace), 79, Kamr-i-khah jar (sword-belt), 75. 80. IKamarsal (sword-belt), 75. Kh-uT/-i-dctaivcbb (feed of cattle), 7, Kamrthah, kamanth (kind of bow), 95. 1 9, 20, 178. Kandanah, siege of, 289. Kichim (horse-armour), 71. Kangrah (fortress), 269. Kilk (arrow-shaft), 97. Kantha-sobha (gorget), 70. Knives, 85. Kard (a long knife), 88. Koft work, 62. Kdikhlancahs (workshops), 196. Kohar-tarcishz (kind of arrow), 98. Ka-ratak/ (class of infantry), 170. Kout (kind of spear), 85. Karmcandi (horns), 208. Nos length of, 216. Kart-is (cartridge), 107. Kotdlu sili:lh (short-arms). 73. Kasariat (exercises), 185. Kotah-ytr'Tq (short-arms), 73. Kashmir (fortress), 269. K otlil (kind of armour), 69. Kamit'-i-do-dmii (deduction fiom I Koltlll (lolice officer). 210. pay), '19. 1fl(ct(/h-i-ab(t/Iwta (coxered way), 274.

Page 317 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  317
View Page 317 - Comprehensive Index

INDEX. 317 luhuk (kind of rocket), 148. Mairtah (fortress), 269. Kummurgah (part of fortress), 264. Maisarah (left wing), 226. Kungur (battlements), 264. Ma isir, c a- (divination by arrows), 98. Kurkah (kind of drum), 30 n. 1. Mlclbls-i-khas (emperor's robes), 29. L. Malcha-r (mode of approach during a siege), 278. Ladders, scaling, 271, 281. lMalk (part of armour?), 68. Lais (kind of arrow), 98. Manjaniq (catapult), 130. Lahor (fortress), 269. Manqalah (advanced troops), 225. Lake, Lord, mahl conferred on, 33. Mansab, generally, 3. 42; first class, Lance, cavalry, 82; Mahratta use of, 6; second class, 6; third class, 6; 82. system, 58; system, connection Langarkhdnah (charitable kitchen), with number of men present, 58. 191. Manscabddrs, 19, 43; formed an army Lange (kind of spear), 84, 85. of horsemen, 57. Lankarkot (fortress), 269. Mansab-i-:at, table of, with yearly Leader's death or disappearance, effect pay, 8. of, 235; changing places with ele- Mantlet (tbrah), 146, 278. phant driver, 257. Marabba' (mode of archery), 102. Leather Guard (godhu), 100. Mardtib (kind of standard), 33. Leave of absence, 25. March, army on the, 202; description Left Wing, 226. of, 203; length of, 215, 219-222; Length of marches, 215. imeasurements made of, 216; official Lezam (bow for exercising), 185. day's, 216; forced, 218. Light artillery, 133. Marching through passes, 212. Lion dignity (Sher-maratib), 34. M1aru (parrying shield), 79. Loans, 18; recovery of, 18. Masarl (part of armour?), 68. Lord (Khia), 28. Mashrut (conditional pay), 13. Losses, 244; statistics of, 258. Mashrdt-ba-khidmat (id.), 13. Match (faltah), 107. Matchlockmen, 20, 53; rates of pay, Maces (gurz), 73, 79. 167. Madad-i-maudshi(kindofallowance),3. Matchlocks, 73, 90, 91, 103; barrels, Mahadaji-Sendhia, 33. 106; stocks, 106; hammer of, 106. Mahallah (parades), 46, 182 n. 1. Measurements of marches, mode of, Mahasarcah kardan (to invest a 216. fortress), 264. Memorandum (yad-ddsht), 18, 42. Mdh/ (a kind of standard), 32. Mewdti (class of infantry), 170. Mdh/l-o-mnardtib (kind of standard), AMcwrah (post-runners), 170. 31, 33. Migh/far (part of armour), 65. Mahratta use of lance, 82. Military music and the Natubat, 207. Mahsun shudan (to be invested), 264. ltltcq (a matchlock), 108. Mahsur shudan (id.), 264. Mines, 271, 273, 275. iMahltb (blue lights), 151. 1 Mil-bdshi (artillery captain), 157. Mlaimanah (right wing), 226. A Mr CArz (old name of BakihshZ), 38.

Page 318 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  318
View Page 318 - Comprehensive Index

318 INDEX. Mir Atash (general of artillery), 454; duties of, 455. IMVTr Bahr (head of boatmen), 211. Mir Baklhshi (second noble), 37. Mirdahah (petty officer), 23, 26,158. M31rManzi l(Quarter-master-general), 490. Missiles, 90 lliiziat (kind of standard), 32. Mochi (class of artificer), 174. Moghul Army, an army of horsemen, 57. Moghul cavalry, tactics compared with Europeans, 234. Moghul Empire, War Organization of, reasons for decay of, 296; no patriotism, 296, 297; badly constructed, 297; weakened by jealousies of officers, 297, 298; bad system of recruitment, 298, 299; troops only fit for a procession or a charge, 300. Mortars (deg), 129. Mounting Guard, 188. Mozah-i-ahani (part of armour), 71. Mugdar (wooden clubs), 185. Mughal (class of infantry), 172. Muharraf (mode of archery), 10,2. Muhndl (scabbard mountings), 75. 3luhrah-i-rahkalah (nozzle of fieldpiece), 1 46. Muhtasib (Censor), 210. Munger (fortress), 269. Muqdbil-kob (catapult), 130. Muqaddamah-ul-jais (vanguard), 225. Murch.dl (battery, entrenchment), 271. Musdadat (money advances), 18 Musht (mode of archery), 102. Music, military, 207. Mustaufts (auditors), 19. Musteis, false, 45. Mutdlibah (recovery of loans), 18, 38... N. \abah (fiurrows on sword blade), 75. Nagas (class of infantry), 163. Ndgphani (kind of shield), 78. Nagpur (fortress), 268. Najib (class of infantry), 164. Najjdr (carpenters), 174. Ndl (barrel), 103. Naqdr-khdnah (music-room or Bandstand), 196. Naqb (under-mining), 271, 275. Naqb-kun (digger), 474. Naqd (cash pay), 14, 20. Naqtb (herald), 231 n. 41. Naqqdrah (kettle-drums), 30, 208. Nardlubdn (scaling-ladders) 271, 281. Narsingh moth (kind of dagger), 87. Nasaqchi (army police), 227. N\aubat (drum-beating), 30, 207. NaSwak (kind of bow), 96. Negotiations, 214. Nets (redes) for hunting tigers, 203 n. 1. Nezah (lance), 81, 82. Nezah-bdzda (spear-men), 82. Nicamat Khdn, A'Ill, quoted, 244. Night surprizes, 257. Nimah-astin (a jacket), 29. Nimchah-shamsher (short sword), 75, 112. Noble of Nobles (Anir-ul-umard), 38. Non-verification Cadam-i-tashthah), 22. Notch of bow, 93. Nuktah (kind of arrow), 98. Number of weapons carried, 73. 0. Observations, general, 296. Offensive weapons, 90. Offering presented on passing of emperor, 210. Officer, first appointment of, 40. Official day's march, 216. Officials and their duties, 55.

Page 319 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  319
View Page 319 - Comprehensive Index

INDEX. 319 Oil, burning, throwing of, 282. Opchi (a bowman), 91. Oqchi (a bowman), 91. Order of battle, 223. Orders, confirmation of (Carz-i-makarcrar), 18. Organ (Arghdn), 138. Organization, 183. Ornaments, jewelled, 29. P. Paebdaq, right to collect arrears of Jdgir rents, 21. Pdemali (compensation for damaged crops). 193. Pahri (small shield), 78. Paikan (arrow-head), 97. Paikan-kash (arrow-drawer), 101. Pdkhar (elephant armour), 176. Paladrak (a sword), 75. Pal-i-siydh kindofgun-arnmunition), 151. Palkis (litters). 29. Paltah (headstall), 72. Panach or panchak (bow-string), 93. Pand.-ballam (kind of spear). 84. Panjah (kind of standard), 31, 34. Panjmukh (kind of spear), 84. Par (arrow-feathers), 97. Parades (nahalllah, sdn didan), 182, id. ~n. 1. Parah (gun-hammer), 106. Parrah bastan (hattle-array), 223. Parlal (baggage) 191. Particular battle,forceactually present at, 60. Parusa (battle-axe), 81. Passes, marching through, 212. Patapati or striped tents, 198. Pathabd4 (swordsman), 165. Patkah (part of armour), 71. Patkah-poshdn, 71. Patrolling, 209. Patta (rapier), 77. Pay, yearly, table of Mansab-i-:-t, 8; rates of, 8; for one horseman, 10; date from which drawn, 12; conditional (Mas/wiit) 13; niconditional (BIild-shart), 13; in arrears always, 13; in Naqd (casl), 14; by JdLgyr (assignment), 14; rates of infantry, 17". Paymaster and Adjutant-General (Bakhshl-ul-nmamlik), 37, n. 1. Paymaster-General (id.), 37. Pensions, 25, 26. Percussion weapons, 105. Peshkhldnah (advance-tents), 195. Peshqabz (kind of dagger), 88. Phari (fencing shield), 78. Pioneers, 53. Pishawar (fortress), 269. Pistol (tabdichah or Pistol), 73, 90, 91, 91, 111, 112. Piyddagdn (infantry), 160. Piyddah (foot-soldier), 24. Piyadz (kind of mace), 79. Plundering, untimely, 236. Pommel ofa saddle (qcarbus, qash), 72. Powder Bags, 282. Powder horn, 107. Powder Magazines, 151. Practising, arrow used for, 98. Privileges (mansab), 4. Procedure on entering Service, 36. Provincial and other Bakhshls, 40. Punishments, 184. Pushtah (field shelter), 109. Pusht-khad (kind of mace), 80. Q. Qabchah (quilted under-jacket), 63. Qabz (pay-bill), 26. Qabzah (sword-hilt), 75. Qabzahgar (mode of archery), 102. Qaiduq (a matchlock), 108. Qainchi-i-bdn (rocket tripod), 148. Qal'ah (a fort), 264.

Page 320 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  320
View Page 320 - Comprehensive Index

320 INDEX. Qal'achah (small fort) 264. Qalandara (kind of arrow), 98. QalUwucrl (skirmishers), 224. Qalb (centre of army), 226. Qamargah (centre of army), 226. Qamchi-kdrd (narrow knife), 89. Qaamrgah (mode of hunting), 189. Qandahar, siege of, 289. QanddIq (gun-stock), 108. Qarawal (skirmishers), 189, 225. Qarcdwal Begq (chief of skirmishers, Head huntsman), 189. Qarbits (pommel of saddle), 72. Qasrcah (kind of field-piece), 140. Qdsh (pommel of saddle), 72. Qashqah (fiontlet), 71, 72. Qashiuvn (hody of troops), 183. Qatds (yak-tail), 34. Qazdqi (mode of attack), 240. Qidr (a cauldron?), 111. Qiltah (a fort), 264. QilaChdar (fort commandant), 269. Qirbtd (bow-case), 100. Qizzilbash (Persian horsemen). 58. Quilted cotton jackets, 64. Quiver (tarkash), 99; the King's, a symbol of authority, 99. QlI (a slave, also centre of army), 44 n. 1, 226. Qi-lt7iq (the armpit), 108. Qumqumah (kind of standard), 32, 33. Qundaq (gun-stock), 104. Qur (armoury, armed attendants), 31, 205. Q-rbbcgi (head of armoury). 205. Qurqchls (emperor's guard), 169. R. Raesen (fortress), 269. Rahkalah (wheeled field-piece), 135, 139; use of word, remarks on, 140. Rahkalah-bar (artillery park), 200. Rainee (fausse-braye), 265. Rqmichanit (kind of small cannon), 137. lRdmj]aki (id.), 137. RT,1cjangL, (id.), 137. Rdajanci; (id.), 135, 137. R.tnak; (greaves), 71. Ritnigaarh (fortress), 269. Rank (mcansab), 4. Rank, swiitr, 9. Ranking's work on elephants, 178. Ranthambhor (fortress), 269. Raoni (fausse-braye), 265. Rasad-i-j is (payment in kind), 20. Raunlee (fausse braye), 265. RBautL (a small tent), 195. Rtcwat (a Hindu trooper), 171. Rear guard, 227. Recovery of leans and advances, 18. Recruit, to furnish own horse, 47. Redes (nets for liunting tigers), 203 t. 1. Reduction of fortresses by Starvation, 284. Refuge, places of, 263. Regiments. 57. Rejections, 22. Reklas (kind of conveyance), 139 n. 1. Renny (fausse braye), 265. Report (Hcaqiqat), 41. Resignation, 25. Revenue, assignment of (jdgbg), 14. Right Wing of army, 226. Rikab (stirrups), 72, 134. Risalah (department), 42. Rivers, crossing of, 211 fording, 212. Robes (of Honour), 29. Rockets (ban, kahak-bdn), 73, 147' mode of carrying, 148; description of, 149, 150; mode of discharging, 149, 150, 151. Rod- (bow-string), 93. Rolls, descriptive, 47, 49; for Troopers, 48. Ruhtas Ktiir'd (fortress), 269. Rzuhhsat (leave of absence), 25.

Page 321 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  321
View Page 321 - Comprehensive Index

INDEX. 321 S. Scaat-i-said (lucky moment), 202. Sdbdt (covered way), 274, 275, 276, 277. Sabuchah-i-bdrut (fire-pots), 132. ~Sadiqi (coat of mail), 69. Sadiwil (artillery sergeant), 23, 26, 158. Saff arastan (battle array), 223. Safil (terreplein), 264. Sahalki (class of artificer), 174. Sahm (arrow), 97. Sdiban (a kind of standard), 31. Saif (a sword), 75. Saildbah-i-Qalmdqi (a kind of knife), 89. SainthT (kind of spear), 81, 84. Sainti (id.), 79, 84. Saints, shrines of, 202. Sdir (privates), 158. Saldbat-bdr (imperial enclosure), 199. Salhqaba (kind of armour), 68. Sadlotri (farrier), 174. Sambhar (fortress), 269. Sandbags, 278..Sn didan (a parade), 182 n. 1. Sang (kind of spear) 83. Sang-afkan (aperture for hurling down stones), 266. San.g-andaz (id.), 266. Sang-i-falakhan (slings for stones), 95. Sangin (a bayonet), 83. SangraCd (catapult), 130. Sang-tarash (stone-mason), 174. Sank (kind of spear), 81, 83. Sdnt (kind of spear), 80. Sap, approach by, 273. Saqah (rear of any troops), 227. Saqati (horse casualties), 22, 24. Saqat-ndmah (certificate of horse's death), 25. Sari (arrow-shaft), 97. Sar-i-suwarl (coup-de-main), 270. Sarkob (catapult), 130. Sarndl (scabbard mountings), 75. Sarpech (head ornament), 29. Saz-i-marassac (jewelled trappings), 72. Saz-i-tilde (gold-mounted trappings), 72. Scaling-ladders (nardubdn), 271, 281. Scarcity and other suffering, 193. Scouts, 213. Sel (kind of spear), 84. Selarah (kind of spear), 81, 84. Service, entering the, 36. Shab-gard (night-rounds), 209. Shab-gir (night-surprize), 257. Shab-khitn (id,). 257. Shdhin (falconet), 135. Shahjahanabad (fortress), 269. Shdkh (powder horn). 107. Shikh-dahdna (id.), 107. Shdkh-i-tufang (tripod for matchlock), 104. Shamiydnah (kind of tent), 195. Shamsher (sword), 75. Shamsherbdz (swordsman), 78. Shashbur (kind of mace), 79. Shast (thumbstall), 94. Shast-dwez (id.), 94. Shdtur (a catapult?), 278. Sherbachah (a blunderbuss), 112. Sher-bachah (a class of troops), 58. Shergarh (fortress), 269. Sher-mdah (kind of fish-bone), 89. Sher-mardtib (a kind of standard), 34. Sher Shah, his system of musters, 46. Shields, 73, 77; fencing, 78; movable (or mantlets), 278. Shikdrband (part of horse trappings), 72. Shikdrgah (kind of sword), 77. Shooting, modes of, 401; with bow, 102. Shrines of noted saints, visits to, 202. Shutarndl (small gun). 135; size of, 136. 21.

Page 322 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  322
View Page 322 - Comprehensive Index

322 INDEX..Siba (towers at sieges, also "cavaliers"), 271, 277, 279, 280. Sieges of Gurdaspur and Thun, 270, 285; particular, 288; of Qandahar, 289; of Bijapur, 289; of Jinji, 289; of Khelnah. 289; of Kandanah, 289; of Wakankhera, 289' of Jaitpur, 289; of Allahabad, 290. of Bangahr, 290. Siham (arrows), 97. Sihbandi (local militia), 166. Sih-bhalah (kind of spear). 98. Si h-pdyah (tripod for matchlock),104. Silah (weapons in general), 62. Silahdcdr (class of trooper), 37, 47. Silah-posh (a class of troops), 164. Sindn (spear in general), 81. Sin gauta (parrying shield), 79. Single-stick play, 185. Singra (priming horn), 107. Sipahl-i-fale: (undisciplined troops). 241. Si'par (a shield), 77. Sirohi (kind of sword), 76; gaj ba'il (id.), 77. Sitapur (fortress). 269. Siydha daul (estimate of allowances), 17. Siydh namudan (to appear in the distance), 241. Siydhposh (class of troops), 183. Skirmishers (qarawalarn), 225. Slain and wounded, plundering of, 259. Spears, 73, 81; short, 81; mode of wielding, 82. Spies, 213. Sqarldt (broad-cloth), 73 n. 1. Standards, 32, 205; Yak's-tail, 34. Starvation, reduction of fortresses by, 284. Statement (flaqiqat), 16. Stones, use of. by besieged, 283. Storming, 281. Stratagems, 244; of war, 255. String of bow, 93. Stringing the bow, 102. z'ubi (part of armour), 68. S-far (notch of bow), 93..Sultlni (Royal), 44. Sil'ain (head of spear), 81. Suraj-mukhi (kind of standard), 34. Surang (a mine), 274. Surat (fortress), 269. Surgeons (jarldh), establishment of, 52. Surkh-posh (class of troops), 44, 183. Suwdr (troopers), 5; Rank, 9. Swivel-gun, 109. Swordplay, 186. Swords, 73, 74; mode of carrying, 74. Sword-stick, 77. System, Akbar's, of making over elephants to grandees, 20. T. Tabal (head-piece), 227. Tabdnc.hah (pistol), 112. Tabar (battle-axe), 80. Tabar zaghnol (kind of axe), 80. Tdbianii (cavalry soldiers), 9, 43, 48. Tdbnilnd-i-barddari (class of cavalry), 10. Table of Mansab-i-zat, 8. Tabrdirb (axe-man), 174. Tafdwat-i-asp (a deduction from pay), 22, 52. Tafdwat-i-silch (id.), 22. Tafdwat-i-tadblnn (id.), 22. Taghaiyur-i-rah dadan (change of route), 210. Tahnic l (scabbard-mounting), 75. Tainadt (posted to a province), 9. Takhsh (kind of missile), 147. Takhsh kaman (cross-bow), 95. Takht-i-rawan (portable throne),210. Talafi (deduction from pay), 20. Taldq —i-fus'Liqaili (encounter of ari mies), 241. Ta/i ah (videttes), 209.

Page 323 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  323
View Page 323 - Comprehensive Index

INDEX. 323 Tac'lqah (executive order), 43. Talwia (sword), 75. Tamanchah (pistol), 411, 112. Tamanchah (id.), 111. Tandb-i-quruq (rope enclosure), 199. Tankhwdh (pay), 17, 21, 38. Tankhwdh-i-inaCm (a gift), 18. Taraf-i-yamin (right wing), 226. Taragarh (fortress), 269. Tarah (part of battle array), 227. Tarah-i-baddm (kind of arrow), 98. Tarah-i-haldl (id.), 98. Tarah-i-khdr (id), 98. Tarah-i-khorni (id), 98. Tarah-i-mdh (id.), 98. Tarah-i-toko (id.), 98. Tarangilah (battle-axe), 80. Target, 101. Tarkash (quiver), 99. Tasdiq (certificate), 41, 42. Tashihah (verification), 46, 53. Taulghamah (part of battle array), 227. Taulqamah (part of battle array), 227, 233, 240. Tawaqquf-i-tashzhah (delay in verification), 24, 54. Tawaqquf o Cadam-i-tashihah (nonverification), 22. Technical terms of fighting, 239; words connected with fortresses, 263. Tegh (sword), 75. Teghah (sword blade). 75. Telescope, 246. Tents, colour of, 198; striped, 198. Terre-plein, 264. Thonth (kind of arrow), 98. Thun(First Siege),285; (Second Siege), 287. ThTth (kind of arrow). 98. Tilak (sect-mark). 72. Tildyah (patrol). 209. Tilwah (kind of shield), 78. Tzr(arrow), 73, 97; various meanings of, 129. Tirah-band (loaded), 129. Tir-anddz (archer), 91. Tirbarddr (arrow-extractor), 101. Titles, 28. Tobrah (nose-hag), 142. Togh (kind of standard), 34. Top (cannon), 65, 113. Top (helmet), 64, 65. Top-i-hawie (air-gun?), 130. Top-i-kalan (heavy gun), 114. Top-i-khurd (field-piece),.114. Top-khdnah (artillery), 113. Tori (gun match), 107. Torah (law, custom), 145. Toreddr (matchlock), 104. Toshah-khdnah (wardrobe for presents), 29. Towers (siba), 279. Towns, Walled, 263. Tozdin (pouch), 107. Transport, 191. Tricllinopoly (fortress), 268. Troopers, fine for deficiency in, 22; roll for, 48. Truce, flag of, 214. Tudah (earthen target), 101. Tufak (matchlock), 103 n. 1. Tufak-i-dahdn (blow-pipe), 97. Tufang (matchlock), 73, 103. Tufang-chi (matchlock man), 167. Tufang-i-farang (European matchlock), 104. Tukah, Tukkah (kind of arrow), 97. T-umdn (body of troops), 183. Tumtnddr (head of tWmdn). 183. Tzman-togh (Tuman-tok) (kind of standard), 31, 34. Tumdr (despatch, report), 254. Tupak (matchlock), 103 n. 1. Turah (mantlet), 142, 145, 277. Turk-tazi (Turk-galloping). 241. Tynashee work, 62.

Page 324 - Comprehensive Index

Scan of Page  324
View Page 324 - Comprehensive Index

324 INDEX. U. Uim-aq (class of cavalry), 241. Ujjain (fortress), 269. Umard (nobles), 9. Umard-i-kibdr (great nobles), 9. cUmdah (pillars of the State), 9. Unconditional pay, 13. Uniform, 183. Ustak (shabracque), 72. Utdrd (fighting on foot), 237. CUzzdm (great nobles), 9. V. Vanguard, 225; advanced post of the, 226. Venmuroo (kind of mace), 81. Verification, 53; delay in, 24, 54; roll, 26; and branding, 45; intervals after which imperative, 54; department-officials and their duties, 55. Victory, proclamation of, 242. W. Wadded coats, 69. Wakankhera, siege of, 289. Wakil-i-mutlaq (vice-gerent), 37. WdVl Shdhis. Bakhshi of the, 40, 43, 44; (High Imperial), 44. Wall, temporary, 279. Wall-piece, 109. Waqi'ah (official diary), 18, 41, 42, 254. WdqiCah navis (diary-writer). 18. daqiCah-nigdr (diary-writer), 40,41. War Organization of Moghul Empire, reasons for decay of, 296-300. Wazir (chief minister), 37. Weapons, 29; great number that a man carried, 73; offensive, 90; relative estimation of, 90. Wielding the spear, mode of, 82. Wings of army, Right, 226; Left, 226; of the centre, 227. Wounded, no medical aid for, 259. Wrestling, 186. Y. Ydd-ddsht (memorandum), 18, 42. Yak-ang-badz (kind of sword-play), 185. Yakaspah (having one horse), 23. Yakkah-ta-z (riding alone), 43. Yak's-tail standard, 34. Yaltang-posh (part of horse trappings), 72. Yaltmish (part of battle array), 226. Yasdwals (armed messengers), 44, 81, 210. Yurish (onset), 241. Z. Zafar-abad (fortress), 269. 'Zaghnol (kind of axe), 80. Zalmun (an arrow), 99. Zamburak (camel-piece), 135; size of, 136. Zanjir-bandi (chaining cannon), 229. Zanjir-i-fil (phrase of record or account), 179. Zarb-zan (cannon), 113. Zardposh (class of cavalry), 183. Zdt (personal rank), 5. Zerband (martingale), 72. Zih (bow-string), 93. IWdris-ndmah (certificate of death), Zihgir (thumstall), 93. 94. 27." Zinah-pde (scaling-ladder), 281. Watching, 209. Zirih (kind of armour), 66. 67. Water-carriers, 53. Zirihkuldh (part of armour). 66.

Page [unnumbered]

Scan of Page  [unnumbered]
View Page [unnumbered]

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 3 9015 03435 9938 DO NOT REMOVE OR MUTILATE CARD

Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.