History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c12.231.1

c12.231.1

As the government was a military despotism, the maintenance of a large standing army was a necessity for, without it, it was impossible to manage such a huge empire, greater in extent than that of Akbar. The author of the *Masālik-al-Absār*, who derived his information in certain cases from men who had served in the army of the Sultan of Dihli writes⁹³ that the royal army consisted of 900,000 horsemen, some of whom were stationed near the Prince and the rest were distributed in the provinces, 3,000 caparisoned elephants with *howdahs* (towers) placed upon them, each carrying from six to ten fighters, and 20,000 Turkish mamluks, who marched by the king's side and fought in front of him. Besides these there were 10,000 eunuchs, 1,000 spearmen, 1,000 *bashmaqdārs* and 200,000 slaves who marched with the Sultan.⁹⁴ These figures seem to have been considerably exaggerated, but there is no doubt that the strength of the imperial army in these times was formidable. Barani and Ibn Batūṭah mention the huge armies which the Sultan collected in order to lead his expeditions against hostile chiefs.