The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c3.20

c3.20

*Suwār Rank.* — The grant of *suwār* in addition to *zāt* rank was an honour. Dr. Paul Horn, 15, supposes, however, that these horsemen were paid out of the *zāt* allowances. In that case a man who had no *suwār* would be better paid than another who was honoured with the addition of *suwār* to his *zāt* rank. Naturally Dr. Horn, 16, holds that this “eigentlich nicht recht glaublich ist.” He is quite right in his conjecture. The explanation is, that the table of pay in Blochmann, i, 248, and that given above, are exclusively for the *zāt* rank, from which money the officer had to maintain his transport, his household, and some horsemen. For the *suwār* rank there was a separate table, pay for these horsemen being disbursed under the name of the *Tābīnān*. As Orme says (“Hist. Frag.,” 418), the officer raising the troops was responsible for the behaviour of his men; he therefore brought men of his own family or such as he could depend on. Another rule was, according to the *Mirāt-i-Aḥmadī*, ii, 118, that the *Tābīnān*, if horsemen, must be one third Mughals, one third Afghāns, and one third Rājputs; if infantry, two thirds archers, and one-third matchlockmen.