The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c12.90

c12.90

The engineering department must have been well organized to construct all these forts, defensive works, redoubts and war engines. Pontoon bridges were thrown over rivers, and sometimes when the army was camping, it had to be protected with a ditch and even with palisades called katgharahs.³ When Islām Shāh Sūr marched against Humāyūn, he had 150,000 wood-cutters and another 150,000 men to dig ditches.⁴ Even if these numbers be exaggerated, the evidence shows that the department was well manned. There was an orthodox method of camping. The choice of the site was effected by the facilities for obtaining water, grass and firewood. The layout corresponded with the battle array. The position of the royal household was just behind the fighting forces; at the back of the royal tents were the armoury, the transport animals and the camp-followers.⁵ Thus the sultan and his family were in the middle of the entire encampment. If possible, the rear of the encampment was protected by a hill or a river.⁶ In case of actual danger, a ditch was dug round the army, or the camp might be defended by wagons or wooden palisades tied together by chains.¹