The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c20.3

c20.3

Description of an army on the march. Catrou, 12mo ed. 1715, iv, 49—57, or 4to edition p. 126, gives us the following picture of a march of the emperor Aurangzeb. The heavy artillery went first and formed as it were the advance guard. The baggage followed in good order. First came the camels bearing the imperial treasure, one hundred loaded with gold and two hundred with silver coin. The load of each did not exceed 500 lbs. The treasure was succeeded by the hunting establishment. There were a great many dogs used for coursing deer and numerous “taureaux” ¹ for hunting tigers. Next came the official records. It is the practice of the Moghul empire for these never to be separated from the emperor. The accounts and other archives of the empire were carried on eighty camels, thirty elephants and twenty carts. Immediately behind these came fifty camels carrying water for the court and the princes. This is a necessary precaution in Indian travelling, you are often in a waterless country or the water, speaking generally, is stagnant and unwholesome. Behind these camels came the imperial kitchen and fifty camels with the provisions for the day. There were fifty cows to give milk, as Aurangzeb chiefly lived on milk. One hundred kitchen servants riding on horses followed. Each man prepared one particular sort of stew . . . . Next was the wardrobe of the emperor and the harem, and for this fifty camels and one hundred carts sufficed. Thirty elephants bore the harem jewels and the store of swords and daggers, from which the emperor makes presents to his generals. In front of the baggage train and the artillery two thousand pioneers marched with spades ready to smooth the ground. There were other thousand who followed to repair any holes made by the camels or elephants.