The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c14.9

c14.9

In earlier days, judging from passages in Bābar’s memoirs, a Mīr Ātash was supposed to supervise the casting of cannon. Ustād Qulī Khān, Bābar’s Mīr Ātash, is described as taking an active part in the founding of a large cannon at Āgrah. I doubt if this was the practice in later reigns; I fancy that the cannon-foundry and ordnance store department fell more completely into the hands of the Khānsāmān and his officers, while the Mīr Ātash confined himself more exclusively to his purely military duties. As for arsenals, magazines, or store-houses of cannon and the other requisites pertaining thereto, these were under neither the Khānsāmān nor the Mīr Ātash. All reserve artillery and stores were kept in certain great fortresses, such as Āgrah, Dihlī and Lāhor, in the charge of the special commandant (qilaʿhdār), who was an officer appointed direct from court and in no way connected with or subordinate to the provincial governor (nāzim or ṣūbahdār).