The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c7.s1.10

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.