The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c23.27

c23.27

This dismounting was resorted to at the crisis of a battle; and when the horsemen alighted, they bound themselves together by the skirts of their long coats. There are many references to this mode of fighting in the descriptions of battles in the early part of the 18th century. The Persians in the Indian service scoffed at this habit, and attributed it not to valour but to defective horsemanship. An anonymous writer of that nation remarks, "So when Hindūstānī cavalry go to battle, it is impossible for them to make a stand without suffering physically. If they are caught involved in a fight they have no resource left but to alight and let their horses go. Though they may be killed in either case, yet the chances are greater in favour of life when they alight. If they remain in the saddle, it is impossible for them to escape, for the horse, as likely as not, kills the rider before the enemy touches him. Anyhow, this manœuvre of utārā has the appearance of bravery and they boast of it. ("Memoirs of Dihli", trans. of Tārīkh-i-Farah Bakhsh, by W. Hoey, M. A., D. Lit., i, App. 8).