The Rashtrakutas and their Times c19.s1.34

c19.s1.34

The Rāṣṭrakūṭa forces did not consist of untrained or half trained soldiers. Regular officers were appointed to train different units. A cavalry instructor is referred to in an inscription from Ron in Dharwar district.²² This record, which probably belongs to the time of Amoghavarsha I, records a gift of land by the illustrious Turagaveṇḍega (Marvel in training horses), when he was going out to battle. The training of the recruits, however, was not as arduous a task during our period as it is now. We have seen already how most of our villages had their own militias, recruited from their own inhabitants. These militias must have been the principal recruitment fields for the regular armies. The recruits thus possessed a certain amount of military efficiency at the time of their enrolment. The Rāṣṭrakūṭas could very well have afforded to set a high test for admission to the army, e. g. requiring the recruit to show his skill in archery or riding as was done by some of the Muslim states in the 14th century. (23)