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The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t3: The Army

The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t3

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The Army

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Though rājanīti works like the Nītisāra lay it down as a principle that kings should maintain an army comprising four classes of troops, viz. chariots, elephants, horses, and foot, the first of these had gone out of use long before the age of the Kākatīyas. The Kākatīya army, like that of the other Indian States of the period, was made up of three arms, namely, elephants, cavalry, and infantry. According to contemporary sources, it consisted in the days of Pratāparudra of one hundred elephants, twenty thousand horses, and nine lakhs of archers.² No definite information is available about the way in which the Kākatīya monarchs gathered their forces. The elephants were perhaps partly captured from the forests of the Eastern Ghats and partly acquired by purchase from such countries as Kalinga, Burma, and Ceylon, where they flourished in a wild state. As horses were not largely bred anywhere in India except in Sindh, they were necessarily imported from abroad, especially from Iraq, Iran, and Arabia. And since military service was not subjected to any communal restrictions, it was possible for anyone who wished to adopt the profession of arms to enlist as a soldier irrespective of the caste or creed to which he might belong. The existence of the offices of the gajasāhini and the aśvasāhini indicates that the practice was in vogue of training both elephants and horses for the purposes of war. An officer of the name of paṭṭasāhini rāya- or mahārāya-paṭṭasāhini is sometimes mentioned in the inscriptions. Obviously he was an officer attached to the royal establishment, though it is not easy to find out exactly what his functions were. We have no evidence as to whether the practice of drilling the foot-soldiers and instructing them how to combine in mass movements on the battlefield was known at the time. But doubtless all persons desirous of following the military profession were able to get instruction in the gymnasia and to acquire skill in wielding the sword, the buckler, the lance, the bow, and other weapons of warfare.

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² The Early Muslim Expansion in South India, p. 34.

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The Kākatīya army fell into two divisions, the royal forces and the nāyaka levies. How these were officered and commanded is not known, though daṇḍādhipatis and sēnādhipatis are both frequently mentioned in the inscriptions. The king was the ipso facto commander-in-chief of the whole army by virtue of his office. Very often he actually took the field in person. Rudra and Mahādēva both fell in battle; Gaṇapati was taken prisoner while fighting by the side of his father; and even Rudramadēvī, if we can rely on general tradition, donned male attire, put on armour, and fought with the Yādava king Mahādēva when he came to invest her capital. The king was usually accompanied by a number of officers called *aṅgarakshas* whose special duty it was to guard his person and palace. Beside the *aṅgarakshas* a body of *leṅkas* or companions-at-arms, who called themselves his sons and who shared his board, fought by his side. The *leṅkas* were slaves who had entered into a covenant with their lord to devote themselves exclusively to his service. They took an oath (*bāsa*) to look on their lord as their *guru* and deity in this world and the next, to have no regard either for their own property or for their lives in furtherance of his interests, to stand by him in the hour of danger, to fight his battles, either to perish with him in the clash of arms or to kill themselves if they should chance to survive him.¹ However, no instance of the immolation of the *leṅkas* after the death of their master is actually on record in the Telugu country, though such occurrences did take place in the neighbouring Karṇāṭaka, as illustrated by the example of the *Garuḍas* under the Hoysalas.² The ideal of conduct which the *leṅkas* were expected to follow was indeed lofty. It will be of interest here to cite the chief characteristics of a *leṅka* as described in an inscription of A.D. 1045: ‘Truth should be his utterance, praise (of his master) his work, charity his recreation, succour of the distressed seeking his protection his merit, and unflinching attitude in a great battle his prime concern.’³ The duties and obligations of the *leṅkas* were collectively known as the *leṅka-vāḷi* and in return for their performance the *leṅkas* were granted estates by the king out of the proceeds of which they were to maintain themselves. The royal feudatories and the *nāyakas* dependent on the kings also maintained *leṅkas* in their private services, so that these retainers became a common feature of Āndhra society during the middle ages.

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¹ JOR, xiv, p. 109.

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² EC, v, Bl. 112.

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³ AR, 443 of 1914; SII, ix, i, No. 101.

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A number of commanders and officers are mentioned by name in the inscriptions, but no exact information is available about the way in which the military hierarchy was organized. Distinguished service in the army was frequently rewarded by the grant of landed estates and the conferment of titles and badges of honour by the king. Titles such as *kōṭa gelpāta*, *dvīpi-luṇṭāka*, *velanāṭi-dūshaka*, *Kāñchi-kavāṭa-chūrakāra*, and *Sūryavaṁśa-sthāpana-āchārya* were bestowed on their respective bearers to commemorate important historic events with which they had been specially associated. Some of the *birudas* such as the *mūru-rāya-jagaddaḷa* and probably also the *chalamarthi-gaṇḍa* had special insignia attached to them. The *gaṇḍa-peṇḍēra* or ‘anklet of the heroes’ was a common decoration bestowed on distinguished men for meritorious service.

Cites (3)