History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c12.231.3

c12.231.3

Shams-al-Din of Bengal opposed the Sultan with 10,000 horse, lakhs infantry and 50 elephants and Jām Bābiniyah of Sindh was able to collect 20,000 cavalry and 4 lakhs infantry. Even if we make allowance for the fact that a large number of men must have been irregulars, it must be admitted that the strength of the royal army was considerable. The number of slaves given by the *Masālik* in Muhammad’s reign, does not seem to be correct for in speaking of the slave-system of Firuz, Shams-i-Siraj ‘Afif writes that the number of slaves had increased out of all proportion. He further adds that none of the Sultan’s predecessors had ever collected so many slaves. The largest corps was 50,000 under ‘Ala-al-Din and after him no Sultan had raised a large body of them until the time of Firuz.⁹⁸ The strength of Sher Shah’s army is given as one lakh fifty thousand cavalry, 25,000 infantry, 5,000 elephants exclusive of the garrisons in the 47 Sarkārs of his empire.⁹⁹ Muhammad must have surely needed a larger army than that of Firuz and Sher Shah, for he had to rule a vast empire teeming with hostile races. The army consisted of men of all nationalities—Turks, Khātians, Persians and Indians. There were among them not only skilled horsemen and soldiers, but also excellent athletes and numerous archers who possessed strong bodies and who were well-versed in the art of fighting.¹⁰⁰ Foreigners were largely employed in the army so that the amirs sadah were to be found in all parts of the empire.