The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c11.s2.11

c11.s2.11

*Powder horn et cetera.* These accoutrements were called collectively *kamr* (Egerton 83, N°. 143, 133, N°. 683). The set consisted of a powder flask, bullet pouches, priming horn (*singṛā*), match-cord, flint and steel, the whole attached to a belt. This belt was often of velvet embroidered in gold. Ashob, fol. 226*b*, gives *shākh* as the word for powder horn. Steingass, 720, does not include this specific signification in the numerous meanings he gives; but Platts, “Hindustani Dictionary”, 716, has *shākh-dahana*, a small powder flask for priming. Fitzclarence, 69, speaking in 1817 of some irregular horse in the Company’s service, half of whom were armed with matchlocks, says “the receptacles which contained their powder and ball are unwieldy, and as they never make use of cartridges for their pieces, they are a long time in loading. Some of them have at least twenty yards of match about their person, similar in appearance to a large ball of pack-thread”. Modern words, adopted from Europeans, were *tozdān* (pouch) and *kārtūs* (cartridge). They are used by Khair-ud-dīn, *‘Ibratnāmah*, i, 422, when recounting René Madec’s defeat in 1191 H. (1777) by Mullā Raḥm Dād Khān. The book itself was written after 1203 H. (1788).