Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s15: II. The organization and discipline of the Durrānī and Maratha armies contrasted
Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s15
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Contents
- v2.c27.s15.t1 Marching and Encamping — 9 parts
- v2.c27.s15.t2 Equipment and Discipline — 14 parts
II. The organization and discipline of the Durrānī and Maratha armies contrasted
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Ahmad Shah Abdali had been trained under the eyes of the great Nādir Shah, first as his personal attendant and then as his favourite lieutenant. After his master's death he had inherited Nādir's veteran army and Nadir's system of military discipline. The Turks,—whether belonging to the tribes long settled in Persia and called *Qizilbashes* ('Red Caps') or mercenaries from their cradle-land in Central Asia,—were not only hardy soldiers and born horsemen, but also amenable to training and discipline in a degree unequalled by any other Asiatic race of former times and surpassed only by the modern Japanese. Under a great captain who shared their camp-life and hardships and led them personally in battle, and whose banners were ever victorious, these soldiers were prepared to perform every exertion, bear every hardship, and undergo every strictness of control and punishment almost to the extreme verge of human endurance. Nādir's strict control of his troops and their willing submission rivalled the condition of Frederick the Great's army. Two examples of it are recorded by Ashub (the foster-brother of the Emperor Muhammad Shah) during the Persian conqueror's occupation of Delhi, which contrast vividly with the slack chaotic condition of the Indo-Mughal army.
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Ahmad Abdali was only a lesser Nādir; less of an original genius, working in a narrower field and achieving less brilliant success than his master, no doubt, but still the only Asiatic of that age who could be at all compared to Nādir in capacity and spirit, and certainly no unworthy heir to his empire and tradition. The strict enforcement of order in camp and battle-field, the rigid punishment of the least disobedience in any subordinate, the control of every officer's movements according to the plan of the supreme chief, the proper gradation of officers forming an unbroken chain between the generalissimo and the common soldier, the regular transmission of his orders by an efficient staff organization, and above all the fire control of the troops,—which distinguished Ahmad Shah's army were unapproached by any other Asiatic force of that age. Above all these was the transcendent genius for war and diplomacy and the towering personality of the master—who had risen like Nādir from nothing and attained to almost the same pre-eminence of fortune and invincibility in war.
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The Maratha captains, on the other hand, were to a man individualistic in spirit and military tactics. Their common soldiers and lower officers alike were refractory and hated discipline with the hatred of "lesser breeds beyond the law" who extol lawless caprice as liberty and howl against the disciplined self-control and organized team-work of a true army or school as the marks of a 'slave mentality' and the destroyer of their *élan vital*.
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This point will become quite clear when we contrast the rival races that met at Panipat in respect of their manner of camping, marching and discipline,—leaving out of consideration the relative genius of the two supreme chiefs.
Marching and Encamping
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"The Shah advanced alone amidst the ranks of his slaves, riding a horse . . . There were four bodies of slaves,—each of 3,000 men, —one division in front, one behind, and one on each side. Each division of them wore a hat of a different style. It was prohibited for a slave belonging to one division to ride with another division; he must keep with his own set . . . on pain of such severe beating that he was left half-dead. They rode fast horses of Kābuli breed, and guided them, each in his own station, with a grave demeanour. They moved at the distance of a musket-shot from the Shah’s person, all their faces turned towards him. The Shah rode alone in the middle, with an open space around him.
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The treasure and the food supplies, the store of clothes, etc., were carried in the following manner. On the left flank, outside the ranks of the slaves, there were 100 camels loaded with bread, baked and then dried, 200 camels loaded with grain (sursāt!) This grain was given out daily in allotted portions . . . On the right flank were 200 camels loaded with clothes and vessels. . . Such treasure as there was came in the rear of the guard of slaves, which followed the Shah; it was carried on mules and two-humped dromedaries.
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Shāh Pasand Khan and Jangbāz Khan, with the quwāchi-bāshi, were told off to the rear-guard and held command over its movements. The three thousand slaves, who rode in front as advance guard, fully armed and ready, bore each a lance whose head was either gilt or silver-plated, having a decorated and fringed pennant . . . It was wondrous as a garden in springtime, and a sight worth beholding.
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The camp of the Shah was pitched in two portions. The first was the male and the other the female quarters. Between the two was left an open space of about the width of 2 or 3 arrows’ flight. [The part of the male camp] where the Shah sat was styled Khargāh, and where the office scribes were placed was called Darikhānah. In the screens of the Khargāh, facing the Darikhanah there was one large entrance of wood. . . At each of the two wings of this entrance stood a large standard in a gold-embroidered scarlet broadcloth cover. From the top of each standard hung a bow upside down . . . (to which signals for a halt or a march on the next day were attached.)”
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[From the diary of Samin in Abdali’s camp near Ballabhgarh in March 1757. *Indian Antiquary*, 1907, pp. 55-58.]
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Among the *Marathas* : “Orders for marching are signified by *chits* (notes) to the chieftains and promulgated by a cryer to the army the preceding night. And about four the ensuing morning the signal for moving is given by the great *naubat* or drum, on the second beating of which the Biniwālā (Quarter-master General) sets out with the Peshwa’s flag, escorted by his own corps. . . With him proceed parties from all the different chieftains with their respective flags, followers, bazar, infantry, artillery, etc. (*bahir* and *bungāh*.) These all proceed promiscuously in vast multitudes and without the smallest order till they see the Peshwā’s *Dal* flag, which is erected in a situation where the convenience of water is the principal consideration . . . By this flag the erection of all the others of the army,—and every chief has one,—is regulated for the camp. Except in the line of the bazar which generally forms a fine street in front of the chief’s tent, there is not the smallest internal regularity in the pitching of a Maratha camp ; yet with respect to Headquarters all the chiefs have their relative stations to the right and left, from which a deviation is by no means allowable. . . But, as no distances are marked out, and the numbers of no chief are definitely known, the whole exhibits an appearance of utter confusion.
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The only part of the camp that carries the appearance of regularity is the Bazar, which generally forms a very long and broad street to the tent of the chief, whereas the rest of the camp is so straggled and destitute of all order that it is a most difficult thing to get through the crowds of camels bullocks horses etc. to the interior of the camp, which subjects them to the utmost confusion in case of an alarm....
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As soon as the camp is pitched the baggage tattoos (ponies), attached in great quantities to the Pāgās, gallop off with wonderful activity in quest of forage,...nor are the camels far behindhand with them.... These foraging parties are more destructive to a country than locusts. Nor are territories of friend or foe exempt from their depredations.... I suppose there was scarce a piece of wood or a blade of grass or hay left in the villages round the Peshwa's camp, after a short time's continuance, for the space of 12 miles.... Shopkeepers, handicrafts and every species of profession carry on their callings [in the amps of the Marathas] as much at their ease as in their cities... The safety of the Maratha camps is to be attributed to the vast numbers of their cavalry hovering round in every direction, rather than to any of the precautionary measures of trenches, posts, guards, etc. systematically used in our [i.e., English] armies.
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I am, from a general observation of the manners of the people and the extreme looseness of particular discipline or general arrangement amongst them, strongly of opinion that they would afford a very easy conquest to any army of a more vigorous composition that could bring a sufficient number of cavalry to prevent their making a sport of war and retreating in safety." [Sir C. W. Malet's Memoranda on the Maratha Army, written from the Maratha camp at Khardla, March, 1795. India Office MS. records.]
Equipment and Discipline
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The organization of the Durrāni king's own troops was as regular as that of the European-trained sepoy regiments of India. Each dasta (cavalry regiment) of Abdali's army may therefore be taken as exactly 1,000 or 1,200 strong.
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On the other hand, in every Maratha general’s contingent the actual number of soldiers fell very far below the normal round number for which his cash salary (naqd) or land-assignment (sarānjām) was calculated. Sir C. W. Malet noticed in the Peshwa’s army in 1795:—
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“The sums which the commanders receive for the payment of their troops, generally run to a certain rate per man and a fixed sum for the commander; and as in the management of these corps the payment by Government is generally very tardy, the commanders have recourse to every trick by which they can possibly elude the checks [of Government]; . . .by which means it happens,—more particularly in the Peshwa’s service,—that a corps of 100 men has seldom more than 50 effectives. . .Not only is half the grass and forage allowed to the horses of the Pāgā (cavalry mounted on Government horses) embezzled, but horses are changed, reported dead, and every species of the most flagitious peculation practised with impunity arising from the general interest and participation therein.”
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“The arms of the Maratha cavalry [in 1795] are swords, spears (bhālā), matchlocks and a few bows and arrows. The sword is universal and indispensable; the matchlock frequent and almost universal in the Pagas [this was not the case in 1761] and seems to be daily gaining ground of the long spear,—long a favourite weapon of the Marathas; but many of the silahdars, yekandias, and those who claim or affect superiority of birth or rank seldom encumber themselves with anything but a sword or two. It must, however, be understood that the arms, accoutrements and clothing of the horseman being his own property, there is not the smallest uniformity, every individual being equipped as his taste or circumstances suggest.
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Every horseman throughout a Maratha army looks upon himself as company for his chieftain and always sits down with him.”
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“So long as the Shāhān-shāh was on his horse all these [his high officers] stood on foot around him...When he sat down in his tent, they too went in and used to make their speeches standing. Only Hafiz Rahmat Khan was often ordered to sit down at the time of dawn, which was not the time of holding Court, on the ground of his having memorized the *Qurān*.” [Nur-ud-din, 40b.]
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DISCIPLINE.
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Bālājī Vishwanath took Malhar Holkar with him to Delhi as a Pindhara, with 20 to 25 retainers. The Peshwa agreed in return for ransom from a certain village there not to damage its green crops. But Malhar went with his retainers, cut the crop and gave it to his horses to eat. So Balaji’s son Baji Rao himself went, stick in hand, to punish them. On seeing in Malhar’s camp a *bārgir* feeding his horse with the green crop, he struck him with the stick. Then Malhar from the door of his small square tent abused Bāji Rāo and flung a clod of earth at him...Some time later during their return march, one day Bāji Rāo was sitting in the shade of a bush on the bank of a *nālā* in the plain of Sipri-Kolāras, with an escort of only 10 to 20 men, bathing and getting ready for his meal. Malhar Holkar arrived there with 500 troopers by devious paths, levelled his spear at the heart of Baji Rao and cried out, “That day I had hit you with a clod; if I now transfix you with my *bhālā*, who can save you?” But the Rao...rose up, and walking up to the feet of [Malhar’s] horse, greatly flattered him! [*Holkarānchi Kaifiyat*, 2-4.]
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Bālkrishna Dikshit writes on 15 Feb. 1751:—“On my pilgrimage to Gaya I alighted at Daudnagar [a town in South Bihar.] There some 3 or 4 hundred horsemen of Nilopant Vaishampāyan came up and plundered the market of Daudnagar, taking away four lakhs worth of goods. They also laid hands on me, and I lost clothing utensils and a gold chain weighing 12 tolas. They had no sardar over them; only a man named Mānāji Bhāgwat.” [Raj. iii. 383.]
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On 31 May 1754, when Malhar Holkar arrived opposite Delhi, as the ally of Imād-ul-mulk (imperial Paymaster-General), a body of his troops forded the Jamuna and plundered the *katra* of Nizam-ud-din Auliya’s tomb and some other places and also burnt the Khurma mart. Imād, on hearing of it, went to Malhar and cried out, “What is this? Why are your soldiers plundering the city?” Malhar replied, “They are soldiers. They always do it.” [Tarikh-i-Ahmad Shāhi, 133.]
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“As the common soldiers among the Durrānis are stubborn and disobedient, notwithstanding the Shah’s proclamation, they committed some irregularities in Shuja-ud-daulah’s camp (1760.) The Shah, on hearing of this, had 200 of them seized, and having had their noses bored through with arrows, and strings passed through the holes, they were led in this condition, like camels, to Shuja…to be put to death or pardoned, as he should think proper.” [Kāshirāj, 8.]
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“29 January, 1757. The Persian troops who had gone out for foraging, invaded many of the lanes [of Delhi], broke the doors of houses and plundered the property within. The shops of the bazars remained closed in consequence of this oppression…. This day the Shah slit the noses of two or three of the Persian soldiers, cut their stomachs open, thrust arrows into their nostrils, and in this manner paraded them in disgrace. This brought safety to Delhi.” *DC.*
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CHAPTER XXI
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THE BATTLE OF PANIPAT, 1761
Linked texts (2)
- Bayān-i wāqiʿ — Khwāja ʿAbd al-Karīm Kashmīrī 1780, Persian
- Indian Antiquary