The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c7.s1: Troopers' Roll (Chihrah-i-Tābīnān)
The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c7.s1
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Troopers' Roll (Chihrah-i-Tābīnān)
c7.s1.1
Qamr ‘Alī, son of Mīr ‘Alī, son of Kabīr ‘Alī, wheat complexion, broad forehead, separated eyebrows, sheep's eyes, prominent nose, beard and moustache black, right ear lost from a sword-cut. Total height, about 40 *shānah*.
c7.s1.2
Horse. — Colour *kabūd* (iron-grey?). Mark on left of breast. Mark on thigh on mounting side. *Laskar*(?) on thigh on whip side. Brand of four-pointed stamp +
c7.s1.3
Descriptive Roll of Horses (*Chihrah-i-aspān*).
c7.s1.4
The next thing done was to make out an elaborate description of the horse or horses (B.M. N°. 6599, fol. 106b). There were twenty principal divisions according to colour, and eight of these were again subdivided, so that there were altogether fifty-eight divisions. Then there were fifty-two headings for the marks (*khāl-o-khat*) which might occur on the horse’s body.
c7.s1.5
The Imperial Brand.
c7.s1.6
The hot iron was applied on the horse’s thigh (*Seir*, i, 481, note 27). The signs used in Akbar’s reign are given in the *Āīn*, i, 139, 255, 256; but in the end he adopted a system of numerals. In *‘Ālamgīrs* reign and about that time there were twenty different brands (*tamghah*), of which the shapes of fifteen have been preserved and are reproduced below (B.M. N°. 6599, fol. 161a). I am not certain of the spelling, and in most instances I am utterly unable to suggest a meaning for the names.
c7.s1.7
| NAME. | FORM OF BRAND. |
| 1. *Chahār parhā* (four feather?) | — | |
| 2. *Chahār parhā jomar-khaj* | — | |
| 3. *Chahār parhā dūr khaj* | — | |
| 4. *Chahār parhā sihsar khaj* | — | |
| 5. *Chakūsh* | — | |
| 6. *Istād* (upright) | — | |
| 7. *Uftādah* (recumbent) | — | |
| 8. *Istādah o uftādah* | — | |
c7.s1.8
| NAME. | FORM OF BRAND. |
| 9. *Yak ba do* (one with two) | └────────── |
| 10. *Asaran* | ├──────────┤ |
| 11. *Togh* (horse-tail standard) | └────────── |
| 12. *Panjah-i-murgh* (hen's foot) | └─┐┌─ |
| 13. *Mīzān* (balance) | ┌──────────┐ |
| 14. *Do dārah taur* | ├──────────┤ |
| 15. *Chahār bārah makar khaj* | ├─────┼───── |
c7.s1.9
The Noble's Brand.
c7.s1.10
It is obvious that in addition to the imperial brand, a second mark was required by each noble for the recognition of the horses ridden by his own men. Accordingly we find direct evidence of this second marking in Bernier, 216, and again 243, when he speaks of the horses “which bear the omrah's mark on the thigh.” Towards the end of the period the great nobles often had the first or last letter of their name as their special brand (*Seir*, i, 481, note 27), as, for instance, the *sīn-dāgh* (س) of Sa‘dat ‘Alī Khān, nāzim of Audh. The brand of Sayyad ‘Abdullah Khān, was عبد (*‘abd*), according to Khushḥāl Chand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 1020*a*. Ghulām ‘Alī Khān (B.M., Add. 24,028, fol. 63*b*) tells us that about 1153 H. (1740—41) Muḥammad Isḥāq Khān used the last letter of his name, a *qāf* (ق), as his brand. The way of selecting the brands is further illustrated by a passage in Kām Rāj's *A‘zam-ul-ḥarb*. When A‘zam Shāh in 1119 H. (1707) was on his march from the Dakhin, some new brands were chosen. “As the brand of the *Wālā Shāhī* (personal troops) was *‘Azmā*, that of Bedār Bakht, the eldest son, was *mankab*, and of Wālā Jāh, the second son, was *khail*, it was thought fit to fix on the word *hashm* (ح) as that of ‘Alā Tabār, the youngest son.” It is to be niferred from this passage that in each instance the first letter of the word was used.