The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India c8.s4.18

c8.s4.18

Thus the weaknesses in the army of the Sultanate were many. But since it won most of the battles and occupied the whole of northern India in the thirteenth century and penetrated into the South in the fourteenth, its superiority must be acknowledged. This superiority consisted first in the slave system. The system provided the Sultanates army with loyal soldiers. The strict process of recruitment and hard training was another factor. Another reason for its having an edge over that of the local rulers was the constant and unbroken arrival of foreign troops from Turk and Afghan homelands. Rajputs could not replenish their manpower from a similar source. That is why if and when the contact of the Delhi Sultans with Muslim homelands was partially or wholly snapped (as for example because of the Mongol upheaval in Central Asia) the Rajput princes could contain Turkish expansion in India as the history of the Sultanate shows. The Ghazi element was peculiar to the Muslim army. While its cupidity resulted in too much cruelty in warfare, it added a very zealous element to the fighting forces. Islam gave them a unity of thought, interest and action. Man to man the Rajput was not inferior to the Turk, but on the basis of the evidence available, the armymen of the Sultanate, on the whole, had an upper hand over the indigeneous warriors. Their highly caparisoned cavalry was an additional strong point. Good quality horses in India were scarce and had to be imported by Hindu Rajas both in the South and the North. This placed Indian rulers at a disadvantage. The Turkish army had many engines of war. An elaborate army administrative system, constant inspection and reviews of troops too increased the striking power of the army of the Sultanate.