The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c14.6

c14.6

The Mīr Ātash had grown into a most important officer; this is borne ont by Khushḥāl Chand’s remark, Berlin Ms., fol. 1133b, when Ṣafdar Jang was appointed on the 21st March 1744, that “contrary to former days, the artillery has become the most trusted and favoured corps in the army”. Involving as it did the command of the imperial artillery, which was always parked round the fortress or palace or the tents occupied by the emperor, this office carried with it the custody of the emperor’s person and the guarding of the palace gates and walls. (Seir ii, 373, note 170, and Ma‘lūmāt-ul-āfāq, fol. 79b).