Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c9.s2: 5.2. The Army
Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c9.s2
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5.2. The Army
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Muslim rule in India was not only established but throughout sustained by its army. In other words, Muslim rule in India was army rule. The state resembled the organisation of an army; its civil functions were meant to support this organisation. Medieval historians and political thinkers like Fakhr-i-Mudabbir, Ziyauddin Barani and Shams Siraj Afif asserted that kingship was the army and the army kingship.³¹ On the army was spent the largest chunk of the state income obtained through conquest and loot. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban used to say, "I have devoted all the revenue of my kingdom to equip my army." His contemporary chronicler Ziyauddin Barani writing for the early hundred years of Muslim rule (c. 1250-1350) specifically mentions that "all income from Khalisa lands throughout the empire was earmarked to be spent on the soldiers and the Karkhanas (workshops) which manufactured weapons and equipment for the army".³² So, the agrarian sector, which was the greatest source of revenue of the Sultanate largely paid for the upkeep of the army. We have seen how this sector was fleeced and sponged. It was done to keep the army in good health and shape.
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An idea of the expenditure on the army can be had from the computation of salary of soldiers, the pay of officers, maintenance of the various corps like elephant, horse and camel, the cost of building and maintaining forts where army contingents were stationed, and expenditure on the karkhanas (workshops) which turned out weapons and other materials required for war. We shall try to estimate the expenses incurred on these items under the Sultanate and the Mughal empire. This will give an idea of the burden borne by the people mainly agriculturists, for maintaining the Muslim army.
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*Mercenaries*
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The army of the Sultanate comprised of the soldiers in the permanent employment of the ruler and special recruits enrolled on the eve of an expedition or for performing a specific task. The Ghaznavid tradition of enrolling mercenaries was continued by the Turkish sultans in India. Writing early in the reign of Iltutmish, Fakhr-i-Muddabir mentions a body of troopers "who have voluntarily joined the forces". Balban employed 3,000 Afghan horse and foot in his campaign against the Mewatis,³³ and appointed thousands of Afghan officers and men in the forts of Gopalgir, Kampil, Patiali, Bhojpur and Jalali to contain the restive elements there.³⁴ On his way to Lakhnauti Balban enrolled about 2,00,000 horsemen and infantry.³⁵ So also used to do Sultan Raziyah. Throughout the medieval period, mercenaries (Muslims, says Afif for Sultan Firoz's times) used to be enrolled in the army. Recorded instances imply that such recruitment was an established practice.³⁶ "It is perhaps safe to guess that such recruitments (with the object of fighting against the infidels) were confined to Muslims only", says Habibullah.³⁷ Enrolment of fresh levies was a continuous process. It was necessary to replenish the troops, for losses used to be great. in his campaigns against the Mewatis alone Balban is said to have lost one hundred thousand men in the course of one year. Rebels like Tughril Beg of Bengal took two years to subdue only after great losses had been inflicted on the royal troops on two earlier occasions.
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The cost of emergency recruitment was high. In the fourteenth century the cost of emergency recruitment and equipping 1000 horsemen in a short time came to three lakh *tankahs*.³⁸ Prince Alauddin Khalji was the *muqta* of Kara. He was permitted by his uncle Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji to recruit extra troops to lead an expedition into central Hindustan. He enrolled three to four thousand horsemen and two thousand infantry in a short time for leading an expedition to Chanderi en route to Devagiri. The cost of recruiting them can be estimated from the statement of Barani quoted above.
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*Regular Troops*
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The soldiers in the permanent employment were paid a regular salary. Since war (Jihad) was a permanent and ever expanding activity of the Muslim regime, most sultans maintained a large standing army on a permanent basis, and did not disband troops after a conquest was accomplished or a foreign invasion repulsed. According to Farishtah Alauddin Khalji's regular army consisted of 4,75,000 horsemen well equipped and accoutered. There were two separate forces. One was meant to repulse Mongol invaders while the other was sent out on the conquest of newer regions.³⁹ The annual salary paid to a cavalrymen by the Sultan was 234 *tankahs*. In addition 78 *tankahs* were paid to a *do aspa* or to one who possessed an additional horse because maintenance of an extra mount added to the soldier's efficiency.
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The salary bill of 4,75,000 horsemen at the rate of 234 *tankahs* alone would have come to 111 million or eleven crore *tankahs* annually. This was high by any standards, more so when it did not include the allowance to *do aspas*, payment to the infantry and expenses on the large staff of officials involved with the upkeep of such a large army. The salary paid to soldiers under the Khaljis was high. Besides there was unrestrained plunder in every campaign. it was probably because of this reason that Alauddin changed the rule regarding Khams. He took away 4/5 of the booty (*ghanimah*) and distributed 1/5 to the participating soldiers. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq maintained his army on the pattern and regulations of Alauddin Khalji.⁴⁰ Muhammad Tughlaq's cavalry is said to have consisted of 900,000 horsemen,⁴¹ double the size of that of Alauddin Khalji. Alauddin had freezed the prices of articles of daily use by soldiers through his Market Control. So, he paid a fixed salary to them. Under Muhammad Tughlaq there was no market control and the salary of troops would probably have gone up. Even at the rates fixed by Alauddin, the salary bill would have come to twenty-two to twenty-five crores annually. Muhammad Tughlaq's empire was vast and revenue from far-off regions of Dwarsamudra to Satgaon and Telingana to Malwa and Gujarat used to be collected without much problem (before the spate of rebellions started). Firoz Tughlaq's army was not that large.42 Nevertheless as will be seen presently, the expenditure on his army establishment was no less large. There were Arab and Persian contingents in Firoz Tughlaq's army. Sure enough, the size of the army varied from time to time. The Saiyyads were weak and the Lodis not so strong. But even in the newly created Muslim kingdoms of the fifteenth century like Gujarat, Malwa, Jaunpur etc., war remained the most prominent activity and 'the army consumed most of the revenue.
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*Salary of the Mughal Soldiers*
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The salary of soldiers under the Mughals is given in Abul Fazl's *Ain-i-Akbari*. There were several classes of foot soldiers who performed various kinds of duties. The first class infantry man got 500 *dams*; the second, 400 *dams*; the third, 300 *dams*,, the fourth, 240 *dams* per month. As a rupia was equal to 40 *dams* the pay of the best foot soldier was about 12 rupia and of the lowest 6 rupia per month. The cavalry was better paid. A cavalryman with an Iraqi horse got 30 rupia per mensem, with a Turki horse 20 rupia, with a Tazi 15 rupia, with a *jangla* (local breed) 12 rupia. Their salary was equal to the (civil) collectors of revenue. "The revenue collectors of domain lands got formerly 25 rupia, but now only 15 rupia."
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The pay of Banduqchis or Matchlock bearers, who were (non-commissioned) officers of four grades got 300, 280, 270 and 260 *dams*. The common Banduqchis divided into five classes received 250 to 110 *dams*. The best paid were the Ahadis, "the immediate servants of His Majesty". These "worthy persons whom His Majesty does not appoint to a Mansab, but whom he frees from being under the orders of any one", got as much as 500 rupia per mensem.43 These are specimens of salaries paid. There were hundreds of types of troops, wrestlers, slaves and chelas and hundreds of grades of pay for them and their administrative officers. The remuneration money spent on the troops was, on the whole, not much. This is the conclusion one arrives at by certain statements of Jahangir. "On the day on which the royal troops were ordered to pursue (the rebel prince) Khusrau, 15,000 rupees were given to Mahabat Khan and 20,000 to the Ahadis, and 10,000 more were sent with the army to be given to whom it might be necessary to give it on the way." On another occasion a body of 3,000 (superior kind of) cavalry was despatched under Shah Beg. For the expenses of this force 200,000 rupees were given.⁴⁴ These amounts for overall expenses were not much, when to an officer Taj Khan who had been nominated to beat the Afghans of Bangarh, he gave, obviously as a reward, 50,000 rupees.⁴⁵
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*Pay of Officers*
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As against the troops and according to all contemporary chroniclers, the army officers were highly paid throughout Muslim rule. Shihabuddin al-Umri says that a Khan received 200,000 *tankahs*, each being worth eight dirhams (silver coin). "This sum belongs to him personally, and he is not expected to disburse any part of it to his soldiers." Every Malik received from 50 to 60 thousand *tankahs* and every Amir 40 to 50 thousand *tankahs*.⁴⁶ This amount was paid sometimes in the form of cash salary, at others by the grant of a revenue assignment called *iqta*. There were officers with other ranks as well.
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The nobles or Umara were graded as Khans, Maliks, Amirs, Sipehsalars in the Sultanate period and as Mansabdars under the Mughals. According to Barani, a Sarkhail commanded ten horsemen; a Sipehsalar ten Sarkhails; an Amir ten Sipehsalars; a Malik ten Amirs; and a Khan ten Maliks.⁴⁷ According to the author of the *Masalik-ul-Absar* a Khan commanded more or less 100,000 troops, an Amir 10,000, a Malik a thousand and so on.⁴⁸ The term Amir was normally used in a generic sense to denote a high officer. In Akbar's time and after, all the great men of the Mughal empire were graded and appointed to a Mansab (rank) in the imperial service. From the lowest rank, that of the commander of ten, upto the rank of 400 an officer was known as Mansabdar. From 500 onwards a noble was known as Amir, or Khan, or Khan-i-Azam. They were all generally spoken of as Umara.
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The salaries of the Mughal officers and grandees were equally high. W.H. Moreland, the economic historian of the Mughal Empire, computes that a commander of 5000 could count on at least Rs. 18,000 a month under Akbar and his successor. A commander of 1000 could similarly count on receiving Rs. 5000 a month, while a commander of 500 would have received the equivalent of Rs. 500 to 600 "at the present day" (1914). Certainly there was at the time no other career in India which could offer such prospects and prizes. It is therefore no wonder that the most enterprising men from a large portion of Western Asia should have been attracted to the Mughal court.⁴⁹ The government both civil and military was conducted by means of officials entered in the army list and graded in successive ranks or Mansabs. According to Jadunath Sarkar, "of these, all those who held any grade from 3 *hazari* upwards were called grandees (*umara-i-azam* or grand commanders), and those below the command of 3000 horse (nominal) were styled simply *mansabdars* or officers". The total number of officials including both Umara and Mansabdars were 1,803 under Akbar (c. 1596), 2,945 under Jahangir (c. 1620), 8,000 under Shahjahan (c. 1647) and 14,449 under Aurangzeb (c. 1690). There was enormous inflation of the army list under Aurangzeb. Under him the annual salary and allowances of the Mansabdars, including the pay of their troops were as follows for the first classes in each grade - 3.5 lakhs of rupees for a 7-*hazari*, 2.5 lakhs for a 5-*hazari*, 50,000 for a *hazari* and 1,000 for a commander of twenty.⁵⁰
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*Strength of the Mughal Army*
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V.A. Smith says that Akbar did not maintain a large standing army. According to him the strength of Akbar's army "equipped by the State and paid directly from the Treasury", could not have exceeded 25,000 men. However, on the testimony of Monserrate he himself writes that at the time of his expedition to Kabul (1581), Akbar had 45,000 cavalry, besides 5000 elephants and an unnumbered host on foot.⁵¹ The military character of the Mughal government of Akbar is vouched by all, and yet the estimates of the standing army of the Mughal emperors from Akbar to Aurangzeb have wide variations. Had it been so large as has been made out by some scholars, "we should arrive at so huge an army that it should have been impossible for the country, however heavily taxed, to meet such an expense".⁵² The standing army was not large because, according to Abul Fazl, "the zamindars of the country furnish more than four million, four hundred thousand men, as shall be detailed below".⁵³ These details are given in the Third Book of the *Ain-i-Akbari*. From the detailed Tables provided - a laborious work only a scholar like Abul Fazl could produce - it appears that a quota of troops to be provided to the Mughal emperor on demand by every Raja or Zamindar was fixed in the same manner as was the revenue amount. The Rajput forces were thus completely merged with the Mughal army. Or, it was like the Subsidiary Alliance of the Raj days. Jahangir writes that from "this Subah (of Ajmer) in time of war 86,000 horses and 304,000 Rajput foot are provided".⁵⁴ From Malwa, "when needful there are obtained from it about 9,300 horse and 4,70,300, footsoldiers, with 100 elephants".⁵⁵ This system continued under Jahangir and Shahjahan making the Mughal empire the strongest empire in the world till Aurangzeb's bigotry alienated the Rajputs and weakened the Mughal army and the empire.
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The actual armed strength of the empire at the close of Shahjahan's reign (1647) was 2 lakhs of troopers brought to the muster and branding, 8 thousand Mansabdars, 7 thousand Ahadis and Barqandaz, 1,85,000 Tabinan or additional troopers of the princes, Umara and Mansabdars, and 40,000 foot musketeers, gunners, and rocket-men. These numbers underwent a still further increase with Aurangzeb's fresh warfare in the Deccan,⁵⁶ for "the total amount of pay claims generated by grant of mansabs pressed directly upon the empire's revenue resources".⁵⁷
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*Army Corps*
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The army of the Sultanate comprised both cavalry and infantry. It had an elephant corps also. Elephants were not generally purchased. They were captured from jungles or taken as tribute from defeated rulers. Camels and ponies and other animals were also used for commissariat service. The most important wing of the army was the cavalry. And horses were costly. In India, good horses were found only in some regions like the eastern Punjab and the Salt Range, but they were inferior to the horses of the West Asian breed. This made the importation of war horses from abroad a matter of necessity for the sultans of Delhi. Medieval chronicles speak of Yamani, Shami, Bahri and Qipchaqi horses as being in use by soldiers in India, and there was large-scale importation of horses into India from Arabia, Afghanistan and even the steppe lands of southern Russia known as Tatars. According to Ibn Battutah and Wassaf their cost was high. "The good horses are worth 500 (silver) *dinars* or more." Besides making direct purchases from abroad, the sultans of Delhi replenished their *paigahs* with horses of foreign breed obtained from defeated Indian princes, particularly those with access to the sea as they imported such horses in large numbers. Gujarat and the South provided war horses in particular when, for example, the rulers of Warangal, Dwarsamudra and the Pandya kingdoms surrendered thousands of horses to Malik Kafur in the fourteenth century. The Hindu rulers of the South had imported foreign breed horses through the sea route. Wassaf says that 10,000 horses were imported annually into Mabar, Kambayat and other western Indian ports at the cost of 220 gold *dinars* each. But many times horses obtained in tribute had to be given to Muslim soldiers when their mounts got disabled in battle. Al-Umri mentions that Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq distributed to his army 10,000 Arab horses and countless others. The two great kings of the Sultanate period, Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughlaq, had under their command 475,000 and 900,000 horsemen. Even Firoz Tughlaq who is said to have neglected his army, maintained extensive *paigahs*.58 The size of the cavalry varied from time to time. The Saiyyads were weak, the Lodis not so strong, but even in the provincial kingdoms of Gujarat, Malwa and Jaunpur the cavalry wing was maintained at high cost. The expenditure on Sher Shah's army too was large. He had 150,000 cavalry and the same numbers were maintained in cantonments. The infantry was 25,000 and 50,000 in garrisoning the forts. He had 5,000 elephants. "It was known that a suitable garrison was maintained in every fort in the country."59
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Under the Mughals, according to Abul Fazl, "Merchants used to bring to court good horses from Iraq-i-Arab and Iraq-i Ajam, from Turkey, Turkestan, Badakhshan, Shirwan, Qirghis, Thibet, Kashmir and other countries." But unlike the Sultanate period cross-breeding was now freely done in India. In "the breeding of this sensible animal... after a short time Hindustan ranked higher in this respect than Arabia... There are fine horses bred in every part of the country; but horses of Cachh excel, being equal to Arabs", writes Abul Fazl. So, by Akbar's time good quality horses were available in many parts of the country. There were 12,000 horses in Akbar's stables. Their prices were fixed by experts. Khasa horses, meant for the personal use of the king, cost 10 to 20 *mohurs*. Their officers, servants, harness and food all were fixed, and cost not a little. For, Akbar was a man of details and his officers also became so.60
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The *Ain-i-Akbari* gives a detailed description of the elephant stables under Akbar. The Emperor possessed 5,000 of them. The price of an elephant in his reign varied from one lakh to one hundred rupees. During the reign of Jahangir the price of a well trained war elephant rose much higher. Some elephants were imported from Ceylon (as by Firoz Tughlaq) and some others from Africa (as under Jahangir) and Burma (as by Shahjahan). But they were mostly available in all parts of India. The classification of the imperial elephants, the food allowed to them, the money spent on their harness and their five attendants were all fixed and settled. His Majesty's Khasa (personal) elephants had their personal names. The elephant was a costly corps of the Mughal army.⁶¹ Jahangir gives the unmistakable impression that the Mughals loved their elephants and gave them endearing names. Some of these are Hawai, Ran Bhaga, Bansi Badan, Rup Sundar, Ran Rawat, Panchi Gaj, Fauj Singar, Surat Gaj, Mahipati, Durjansal, Giranbar. One was called Nur Bakht after Jahangir's own name. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. Unlike camels and horses, elephants were bred in India and were found in almost all parts of the country like Agra, Bayana, Narwar, Bastar, modern Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bengal, Orissa and elsewhere. Abul Fazl says that Panna elephants were the best. Hence the tradition of giving them Hindu names. Moreover, elephant fights provided good entertainment. It was a sagacious animal. The beginning of muster review was with the elephants.⁶³
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No less important was the camel corps. As in the case of horses, the quality of the camels of the country breed improved with time, and according to Abul Fazl, Indian camels soon surpassed those of Iran and Turan. Camels were numerous in Rajputana, as is the case even today. They were also found in large numbers in Kutch, Gujarat and Bhatinda in Punjab. During the Mughal period their greatest abundance was found in Sindh. Details regarding their food, furniture, servants, expenses have been mentioned in the *Ain-i-Akbari*.⁶⁴ The mules were pack animals preferred for transport of men and goods. They were mostly bred in North Punjab and Kashmir.⁶⁵
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As in any organisation, there were some good points and some weaknesses in the Muslim army. We cannot go into all these. One point each of the two may receive our attention. On the positive side there was constant vigil and inspection of the forces leading to savings; on the negative side there was corruption which led to loss of revenue. in the Sultanate period there were regular inspections of troops and their horses. There was the system of branding horses and keeping an account of the credentials of soldiers. Sometimes it used to take a fortnight to inspect all the contingents which set out on a campaign. Periodical reviews of the army, whether in headquarters or in camp, kept the soldiers on their toes and their mounts in good shape. The system of *dagh wa chehra* (cauterization and descriptive roll) was introduced by Alauddin Khalji; it was revived by Sikandar Lodi and reintroduced by Sher Shah. It ensured that at the time of review no soldier could send a substitute and no horse could be presented twice, or replaced by an inferior one after the review.⁶⁶
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Still better was the position under the Mughals. Akbar was an administrative genius. Most of the important appointments were made and promotions effected by him personally. The muster of men and horses and other animals was often inspected by him. There were regulations about the branding of horses and keeping full complements of the mounts.⁶⁷ Even the highest officers' contingents were inspected.
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*Army Reviews*
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Emperor Jahangir writes, "On the 25th (March 1617) the contingent of Itimad-ud-daulah passed before me in review on the plain under the *jharokha*. There were 2,000 cavalry well-horsed, most of whom were Moghuls, 500 foot armed with bows and guns, and fourteen elephants. The bakhshis reckoned them up and reported that this force was fully equipped and according to rule."⁶⁸ This paragraph in the *Tuzuk* is very important for it brings into prominence three characteristics which made the Mughal army efficient. It shows that even in the reign of the pleasure loving Jahangir, the contingents of the Mansabdars were thoroughly checked by bakhshis and regularly reviewed by the emperor. Secondly, even a high dignitary and close relative of the king like Itimad-ud-daulah was not exempt from equipping and accoutering his troops except "according to rule". Thirdly, the mention of the fact that most of the cavalry was foreign, confirms the observation of Bernier that the Mogul (emperor) is considered a foreigner in India and he ruled with the terror of the foreign army rather than love or respect of the people at large.
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At another place he writes that after receiving Prince Khurram on the completion of his Deccan mission, "The bakhshis were ordered to arrange according to their mansabs the Amirs who had come with my son to pay their respects. The first Khan-i-Jahan. After this Abdullah Khan, then Mahabat Khan..."⁶⁹ it shows that protocol was maintained and noblemen were positioned in the *darbar* in conformity with their status. This was a positive aspect.
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*Corruption in the Army*
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On the negative side, corruption among officers of the army was rampant. From the very beginning of Turkish rule the conquered land used to be distributed by the king among army officers, nobles, government officials and even soldiers as rewards and also in lieu of personal salary, and for paying their soldiers. These grants were not hereditary, and were given as pay for military service. But many a time the land-holders continued in possession of their land without rendering any military service. This is what Sultan Balban found about 2,000 of his cavalry officers. Over and above this, corruption was galore in the Diwan-i-Arz. Horses of little value were brought to the Diwan and were passed as serviceable, obviously by greasing the palms of the clerks. This was the situation in the Sultanate period. During Mughal times Abdul Qadir Badaoni writes that "the whole country, with the exception of the *khalisa* lands, was held by the Amirs as *jagir*, and as they were wicked and rebellious, and spent large sums on other stores and workshops, and amassed wealth, they had no leisure to look after the troops or take interest in the people". In case of emergency they came with bedraggled slaves and attendants to the scene of war, "but really useful soldiers there were none".⁷⁰ Under Akbar, Shahbaz Khan, the Mir Bakhshi, introduced the custom and rule of *dagh/mahalli* of the times of Alauddin Khalji and Sher Shah, but cheating continued. Akbar divided the Ahadis into *do aspa*, *yak aspa* and even *nim aspa* (having half a share in a horse)", in which latter case two troopers kept one horse together, and shared the stipulated salary, which amounted to six rupees.⁷¹
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The salary of the soldiers and expenditure on their horses usually formed part of the pay of the Umara or Mansabdars who were expected to spend it on them. But this system gave the nobleman an opportunity to retain some money from every man's pay and prepare false returns of the horses he was supposed to provide. "Many of the lords who hold the rank of 5000 horse, do not keep even 1000 in their employ."⁷² This practice was universal throughout the medieval period. Niccolao Manucci's comment on the situation is quotable as there was corruption in payment of salaries to the soldiers from the very beginning of Muslim rule in India.⁷³
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"Throughout the world the vice is rampant of being ambitious for the acquisition of wealth. But in no part of the world is this so much the case as in the Mogul Empire and the rest of India. There our Italian proverb applies: 'The big fish eat the little ones.' Particularly is it true at the court and in the army of the Mogul, where the captains and generals observe no fixed rules in paying their soldiers, conforming neither to the rank they have granted them nor to the men's merit. The rank the soldiers receive is high in name, but as for the pay, it is never more than half what the rank indicates.
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"The soldiers accept anything and everything, being forced by necessity; for if they cannot obtain military service they have no means of living. Speaking generally, all these soldiers are badly paid and ill-satisfied, for what should be given them in eight months they do not receive in a year. What is worst of all, they are never paid the exact amount due, but little by little. Then they always have to take in the course of a year's service two months pay in second hand goods. In many cases they are kept two and three years in arrears. This forces the soldiers to borrow money at interest from the traders in the camp; these lend it with the consent of the men's own captains and generals."⁷⁴
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To conclude. A brief description of the various wings of the army cannot give an idea of the heavy expenditure incurred on them. For example, many army contingents were stationed in forts spread all over the country. An estimate of the cost of some forts has been given in the section on monuments. The estimates of expenditure on the maintenance of soldiers and artillery stationed there is not possible because of paucity of information available. But it was enormous. In fact Muslim rule in India was military rule so that "the order of the household, the efficiency of the army, and the welfare of the country, are intimately connected with the state of this (Arsenal) department". Akbar took great interest in watching the practice of mechanical arts, and often worked at them, himself. He paid special attention to the founding of new cannon and the manufacture of matchlock guns. He was inventor of good armour, bullet-proof breast-plates and other weapons. "His Majesty has made several inventions... He made a gun which, on marches, can easily be taken to pieces, and properly put together again when required. By another invention, His Majesty joins seventeen guns in such a manner as to be able to fire them simultaneously with one match."⁷⁵ There were many kinds of swords. As usual there were Khasa swords and guns.⁷⁶ All this and much more was manufactured in the royal karkhanas or workshops. Naturally much of the royal revenue, both during the Sultanate and Mughal period, was expended on these karkhanas.