The cavalry has always been the most important element of the Mughal army. It has been divided into four main parts. The best, at least the highest paid and most heavily armed, were the elite Ashadi horsemen or "noble warriors." Many of their descendants still hold the title of manzaab. Ashadi Akbar was under the command of the most noble nobleman and had their own treasurer bakhshi. Their main duty was to serve directly to the emperor, convey important messages and guard the palace. The pay (and status) of the ashadi was lower than that of the lowest manzabdar, but higher than that of an ordinary tabinan, that is, a soldier.
Sabers and shield of Indian horsemen of the Mughal era.
The second to come were the dakshilis, or "additional troops," hired and paid by the state. They also formed an elite detachment of cavalry, which was called Tabinan-i Khasa-i Padshikhi, and during the reign of Aurangzeb numbered about 4,000 people. That is, it was a kind of counterbalance to Ashadi.
Shah Aurangzeb on horseback. San Diego Museum of Art.
The troops, which were personally recruited by the Manzabdars, made up a third of the cavalry. These were mostly ordinary tabinan. Their armament and training standards varied greatly depending on where they were recruited. Their first duty was loyalty to their manzabdars, who brought them into service, and they proved to be the most reliable element of the Indian cavalry during Akbar's reign.
Indian chain mail of the 17th-19th centuries Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The fourth and last part of the cavalry was made up of the irregular troops of local rulers and tribal leaders. Many of them were Hindu zamindars, who belonged to the warrior caste, whose rights were recognized by the Mughal government. Under Akbar, 20 zamindars usually took part in his campaigns, each with its own troops. In turn, the zamindars paid regular tribute to the Mughals and, at their first request, provided them with their troops when it was necessary. These units had a very high ethnic or cultural specificity: Afghan recruits usually served with Afghan manzabdars, Turks served "under the Turks," and so on. Even if this principle was violated in later years, many divisions continued to have in their ranks a significant number of men of "correct" ethnicity.
Indian segment helmet. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The quality of the troops was tested using a system known as dah, borrowed from the past and revived during Akbar's military reforms. Simply put, it was recorded in a detailed way what warrior had in stock, and once a year a review was held, where the presence of everything recorded was checked.
Little is known about the training of the Mughal cavalry, although, of course, the recruits had to pass tough tests of their "professional aptitude" and riding skills. It is known that training was carried out at home using weights or heavy pieces of wood; in the rainy season, the soldiers engaged in fighting. Archery was taught both on foot and on horseback; and the Indian cavalry, especially the Hindu Rajputs, prided themselves on their ability to fight as infantry when needed and as cavalry. An exercise with a sword and a shield was obligatory.
Indian helmet made of fabric stuffed with cotton 18th centuryWeight 598, 2 g. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The importance of horses in cavalry is clear. Throughout the Middle Ages, a large number of horses were imported to India, mainly from Somalia, Arabia, Central Asia and Iran. Already in the days of Babur, wounded horses were sent to cool mountain pastures in Afghanistan to recover there, because they did not feel well in the hot Indian climate. The Mughals established their own well-organized imperial stables under the direction of a special atbegi official, with the stables being very carefully selected. Akbar raised the level of horse breeding within India so high that horses from Gujarat were valued even higher than horses of famous Arab breeds.
The Mughals prized the horse's strength and endurance above speed, perhaps because their cavalry used horse armor. Some horses have been trained to walk or jump on their hind legs to allow the rider to attack the elephants. The Persians, however, believed that the Indians made their horses too obedient, which "depressed their spirit."
Mughal infantry have never been as prestigious as cavalry, but they played an important role. Most of them were poorly armed peasants or townspeople hired by local Muslim manzabdars or Hindu zamindars. The only professional infantry consisted of "musketeers", the best of whom seem to have come from the lower reaches of the Ganges and Bengal. In the beginning, however, only a quarter of the regular infantry were armed with muskets; the rest were archers or served as carpenters, blacksmiths, water carriers, and pioneers. Some of the infantry were recruited from the foothills near Rawalpindi. In the 16th century, warriors were also recruited from the mountainous deserts of Baluchistan; they fought as foot archers and also as camel archers. Ethiopians are sometimes mentioned, but mostly as palace eunuchs or … police officers in the city of Delhi.
The infantry consisted of dardans - porters; special security units, apparently, recruited from "thieves and robbers", and, finally, cooks - sewers. But most exotic was the Urdu Begis "infantry", a unit of armed women who guarded the imperial harem.
Siege of the Rathambore fortress. Akbarname, approx. 1590 Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
At the lower end of the scale was the Bumi Hindu local militia. Their duty was to maintain law and order, as well as fight religious fanatics, organize illumination at religious holidays, defend the city in the event of an enemy attack, and even … provide assistance to widows forced to commit sati or Hindu ritual suicide, if they really did not. want. Each sarkar or rural district was in charge of its own militia, but there was also a local rajah force. Moreover, it is interesting that one of their burdensome duties was to compensate any traveler who was robbed in the daytime, that is, subjected to extreme violence. If the theft took place at night, it was believed that it was the victim's fault: he had not to sleep, but to protect his property!
Indian saber shamshir, early 19th century Steel, ivory, enamel, gold, silver, wood. Length 98.43 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In the collection since 1935.
The armament of the Mughal infantry was very diverse. Interestingly, the Indians preferred to use match muskets, even part of the military elite, since they proved to be more reliable than flintlock rifles in the damp conditions prevailing in India. Most infantry are armed with swords, shields, spears, daggers, bows, and sometimes crossbows. The powerful composite bow of Central Asian origin has been known in India for thousands of years, but such bows have suffered greatly from the local climate; as a result, the Indians used the kamta, or simple bow, similar in design to the medieval English bow.
Indian steel bow 1900Wallace Collection, London.
It is known that even in antiquity, when the Mauryan state existed in India, archers used bamboo bows of such a size that they pulled them with their legs! Well, Muslim India has developed its own type of bow, suitable for the Indian climate - steel, from Damascus steel. The main occupation of the infantry was the siege, and since there were a lot of castles and fortresses in India, the Mughals simply could not do without infantry. European travelers, however, noted more than once that even the emperor's own "musketeers" were not as well trained as the European ones.
With the help of an elephant, it was possible to steal a beloved directly from the balcony. Bodleian Library, Oxford University.
War elephants were an important, though not the main, element in the Mughal army. Females were used to carry luggage and transport guns; male elephants were trained to fight. Western observers consistently play down the importance of elephants in war. However, Babur himself stated that three or four elephants could pull a large weapon that would otherwise have to be pulled by four or five hundred people. (On the other hand, he also noted that one elephant eats as much as fifteen camels.)
The main function of the war elephants in the Mughal army was to use them as … a platform for commanders to give them enough height to watch what was happening. True, this turned them into a good target, but on the other hand, it was easier for them to escape than for everyone else, since a running elephant is like an all-crushing battering ram!
An Indian war elephant in armor from the Royal Arsenal in Leeds, England.
In 1526, Babur wrote that he witnessed how Indian war elephants attacked his riders, trampled many horses, so that their riders were forced to flee on foot. Elephants are difficult to kill, although not too difficult to repel, he went on to write. Akbar also did not give up elephants. He created several "centers" for the training of these animals, starting at the age of ten. And the first thing they were taught was not to be afraid of the sounds of gunshots! Soon Akbar received several detachments of elephants, on whose backs were musketeers and archers. Some "armored elephants" even carried a small cannon.
In the early 16th century, a Portuguese traveler noted that the Great Mughals had very large cannons. He also noted that Indian bronze cannons were superior to those made of iron. He noted the use of "European" light field guns, which were called farinji, zarbzan, which were run by two men, and tufeng muskets. Babur's heavy cannons could fire at 1600 paces. As for Humayun's army, it was reported that it consisted of 700 guns drawn by oxen, as well as 21 heavy guns that were transported by elephants.
Indian cannons have always been richly decorated in the past.
Under Akbar, India, along with the Ottoman Empire, became the leading state of the Muslim world in the development of artillery. The emperor created new factories and ordered that all new guns be tested by shooting. Akbar is credited with creating a 17-barreled gun and a special device to clean all 17 barrels at the same time.
Muzzle of an ancient Indian gun.
The standard weapon was a wick cannon with a barrel about four feet long, while the larger guns were six feet long. For firing, stone cannonballs, buckshot were used, but the infantrymen also used ceramic powder grenades and rockets from bamboo barrels.
Rockets, in fact, have become increasingly popular in India since the mid-16th century. The range of their flight was up to 1000 yards, and it is known that the launchers were often transported on camels. Some of them had gunpowder warheads, while others simply had to "bounce" on the ground to scare the enemy's horses. A British officer named Congreve saw the weapon in India in 1806 and proposed his own version (the "Congreve rocket") of the Indian missile that the British used in the Napoleonic wars.
Drawing by Angus McBride. Urban's cannon at the walls of Constantinople. The Great Mughals had about the same guns, only they carried these guns by elephants.
Babur was the first Indian ruler who turned artillery into a separate branch of the army under the strict control of the state, that is, directly at the imperial court, where there was a special officer rank mir-i atish, who was responsible for it. Interestingly, most of the gunners were Ottoman Turks, but also Arabs, Indians, Portuguese and Dutch. From the middle of the 17th century, European mercenary gunners of a very high rank in the Mughal army became numerous; one Dutchman, for example, served in India for 16 years before returning home as a wealthy man.
Mughal Indian dagger: steel, gold, rubies, emeralds, colored enamel. Wallace Collection, London.
The Mughal artillery reached its peak during the reign of Aurangzeb in the second half of the 17th century, who was also very fond of large bronze cannons. Their trunks were intricately decorated, and they themselves had heroic-sounding names. True, they rarely fired. Light cannons every 15 minutes, while giant cannons every 45 minutes.
The transport system of the Mughal army was well organized. The goods were transported on Bactrian camels, bulls, and also on elephants. But only the emperor's own troops had special military kitchens. The rest of the troops were fed "individually" and … somehow! Medical services were even worse than in other Muslim armies, most of the wounded could only rely on their own relatives to help them after the battle.
Indian chain-plate armor.
The communication and supply of the army was carried out along the rivers, since there is the Indus and the Ganges in India. It is interesting, writes D. Nicole, that the Indian Ocean was a surprisingly calm place for navigation until the Europeans got there. Large ships sailed there, some of which were used as military transports during coastal campaigns. The only real Mughal fleet consisted of 750 ships that were supposed to defend the coast from Burmese, Bengal and European pirates.
Indian court guardsman of the 18th century in protective clothing, called "armor of ten thousand nails." Armed with a hand sword. Wallace Collection, London.
Europeans who visited India in the mid-17th century describe Mughal soldiers as brave but undisciplined and prone to panic. Jealousy among senior commanders was an even more serious problem, as it created unnecessary and dangerous rivalries. But the main problem was most likely the complicated structure of the military system adopted by Akbar. Shah Jahangir tried to simplify it, but only made it worse.
When Shah Jahan ascended the throne, he found that his army was much larger on paper than in reality. Senior officers lent (!) Their troops to each other during the census, while others in front of her recruited untrained people in the bazaars and put them on any affordable horse. Shah Jahan recognized the situation as critical, and in 1630 decided to reduce the size of the army to what it actually was. At the same time, he also lowered the officer's salaries and made the size of the salary dependent on the officer's competence. In practice, this meant that the successful commanders were given more money so that they could buy extra horses. A system of "bonuses" was introduced, and control over the collection of money in the field was strengthened. But all these measures did not give great results!
