The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c12.167

c12.167

hundred and eighty thousand slaves, but several thousand of these were employed in civil capacities. The number of his soldiers must, however, have been fairly large to permit the presence of eighty thousand in his camp when he advanced for the second time on Bengal.¹ Sher Shāh had twenty-five thousand artillerymen at the capital, and several thousand in important forts.² The sultans also possessed a fleet of river boats, called *bahr*, under an *amīr-i-bahr*, which was used mainly for police duties and transport.³ The efficiency of the army, so long as it was under central control, was beyond question. Even the nobles who fought Tīmūr at Dehlī fought well, and the great conqueror did not consider it an easy victory.⁴ The tribal hordes of the Lodīs were easily swept away by Bābur, but when properly led by Sher Shāh, the Afghān soldiers drove out the Mughuls, who could return only when anarchy had, once again, replaced central control.