The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c12.105

c12.105

The scouts, called ṭalai'ah or yazkīs, formed an important part of the army.¹ These were light troops specially trained to reconnoitre and bring news. They had instructions not to move in a body, yet to be within reach of one another; not to seek fight, yet to be able to defend themselves and beat a retreat if attacked. They were specially enjoined not to flee, for that might cause a general stampede.² The scouts are rightly compared to the eyes of an army; they should not be confused with the spies whose business it was to go and mix with the enemy and find out his secrets. The spies were not soldiers and moved about in various disguises to worm out secrets more easily.³ Muslim armies had ambulances and hospitals from very early times; the practice continued under the sultans of Dehli.⁴ Nor was the spectacular side neglected. Bands of music were an essential part of the equipment of an army.⁵ Fīrūz Shāh constructed immense drums which had to be carried on elephants.⁶ Large banners were carried with the army. The sultans had two main colours: on the right were black flags, of Abbasid colour; and on the left, they carried their own colour, red, which was derived from Ghūr.⁷ Quṭb-u’d-dīn Aibak’s standards bore the figures of the new moon, a dragon or a lion; Fīrūz Shāh’s flags also displayed a dragon.⁸ This sultan made his banners so big and heavy that they had to be carried on elephants, and could be seen at a distance of two or three krohs.¹ The nobles had their own standards, and Khusraw suggests that Ghiyāth-u'd-dīn Tughluq's flag bore the design of a fish when he fought the usurper Nāṣir-u'd-dīn Khusraw; this is one of the earliest mentions of māhī-marātib in the history of the sultanate.² Under Muḥammad bin Tughluq a khān was allowed to carry seven flags and an amīr three.³ When Fīrūz Shāh gave battle to Shams-u'd-dīn of Bengal, there were five hundred flags belonging to the sultan and his generals in the army.⁴ The generals were magnificently dressed. Their usual attire was a Tartar robe with gold brocade, with embroidered sleeves or shoulders; they wore a four-cornered head-dress inlaid with diamonds and rubies. Their hair was plaited in hanging locks with silk tassels. They had gold and silver belts wound tightly round their waists and they wore shoes and spurs⁵ The soldiers wore distinctive clothes which served as uniforms to distinguish between friend and foe.⁶ The zarrādkhānah supplied arrows and missiles and replaced broken weapons.⁷ The qūrkhānah was the repository of royal arms and the officer in charge of it was styled qūrbeg. Sometimes there were two qūrbegs, one for the right wing, another for the left.⁸ Attached to every army was a ṣāḥib-i-barīd-i-lashkar who was the official news-writer and sent all reports to the capital.⁹