The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c19.1

c19.1

Each soldier seems to have had the shelter of a tent, even if it consisted only of a cotton cloth raised on two sticks. The kinds of tents were numerous, from the *rāutī*, a mere low awning, up to the huge imperial tents. The *Āīn*, i, 54, names twelve different kinds of tents. I have just spoken of one of these, the *Rāutī*, and of another, the *Gulālbār*, not a tent but an enclosure, I shall speak further on. The *sarāpardah* N°. 11 also is a screen and not a tent. From a perusal of the passage referred to, coupled with plates x and xi, it is fairly easy to understand what each of these tents was like. The *Shamiyānah*, N°. 9, is still known and in common use; the name may be from *shām*, evening, that is an awning for use in the evening, or from *shāmah* (Steingass, 725), a veil. The *khargāh*, N°. 8, (Steingass, 456) are spoken of by Bernier, 359, note 4, and 362, where he says they are folding tents with one or two doors, and made in various ways; he calls them "cabinets", and leads us to infer that they were set up inside the large tents. The emperor and the great nobles were provided with tents in duplicate, one set being sent on to the next camping ground while the other set was in use (Bernier, 359). The tents thus sent on were known as the *pesh-khānah* (literally "advance-house").