The Institutes of Akbar 155.2

155.2

In the contingent of a Commander (manṣabdár) of Ten Thousand, other manṣabdárs as high as Hazárís (Commanders of One Thousand) serve; in the contingent of a Commander of Eight Thousand, Manṣabdárs up to Hashtṣadís (Commanders of Eight Hundred) serve; in the contingent of a Commander of Seven Thousand, Manṣabdárs up to Haftṣadís (Commanders of Seven Hundred) serve; in the contingent of a Commander of Five Thousand, other Manṣabdárs as high Pançadís (commanders of Five Hundred) serve; and in the contingent of a Pançadí, Manṣabdárs as high as Çadís (Commanders of One Hundred) serve. Manṣabdárs of lower ranks do not serve in the contingents of high Manṣabdárs. Some Commanders also receive auxiliaries. Such reserves are called Kumakís. At the present time, those troopers are preferred whose horses are marked with the Imperial brand. This class of soldiers is superior to others. His Majesty’s chief object is to prevent the soldiers from borrowing horses (for the time of musters), or exchanging them for worse ones, and to make them take care of the Imperial horses; for he knows that avarice makes men so short-sighted, that they look upon a loss as a gain. In the beginning of the present reign, when His Majesty was still ‘behind the veil,’ many of his servants were given to dishonest practices, lived without check, and indulged, from want of honour, in the comforts of married life.