Military Administration of Mughal Empire

Military Administration of Mughal Empire

Military Administration of Mughal Empire

The army was the hub of Mughal administration. The medieval age was an epoch of extensive empires. It was the heartfelt desire of the rulers of medieval period they should extend their empire as much as possible by capturing the territories of the neighboring weak rulers. For this purpose they needed a powerful and vast army. Moreover, the north-west frontier of India was unsafe and foreign intruders invaded India from there from time to time, hence it was also essential for the Mughals to maintain a large army for the safety of the country. The rebellious tribes in the country, such as Afghans, Rajputs, Uzbegs, Jats and Marathas also created problems for the emperors, hence the need of a powerful army was realized for crushing the revolts of these tribes therefore, all the Mughal emperors from Babur to Aurangzeb paid their utmost attention to the maintenance of a strong and powerful army.

Mansabdari System :- The Mughal army was based on the Mansabdari system. Although the signs of Mansabdar system were visible during the Sultanate period but Akbar gave it a scientific structure. Normally Mansab means rank and honour, so the post of Mansab can be said to be of a government officers who was paid salary or Jagir according to his Mansab by the imperial treasury.

Method of Recruitment :- The emperor was in-charge of all recruitment of imperial officers. He was at liberty to award any Mansab to anybody with whom he was pleased. Promotion, degradation and dismissal were also in the hands of the emperor. Akbar was an expert in the selection of right persons and he often appointed efficient persons direct to high Mansabs. Abul Fazl writes, “His Majesty sees through some men at the first glance and confers upon them high ranks.” The devotion and faithfulness of a Mansabdar contributed a lot to his promotion to the high ranks.

Salary Structure :- Normally cash salaries were given to the Mansabdars and they were paid very highly. In case, any Jagir was awarded to some high rank officer it was not given to him permanently and changes were introduced from time to time. The Mansabdar led a luxurious life because even after meeting the expenditure, they saved a lot of money from the amount they received from the imperial treasury. A Mansabdar was paid a monthly salary of rupees 100, 82.5, and 75 to the first, second and third category, respectively.

Different Categories of Soldiers :- Besides the Mansabdars and their soldiers there were some more categories of soldiers who served the Mughal empire earnestly.

Ahandi Soldiers :- They were the personal soldiers of the emperor. Diwan and Bakhshi looked after their appointment, training and discipline on behalf of the emperor. They were nicely paid from the imperial treasury. The ordinary horseman was given as salary only rupees twelve to fifteen per month but an Ahadi was paid up to rupees five hundred per month.

Dakhili Soldiers :- They were also recruited on behalf of the emperor but kept in the charge of Mansabdars and formed a part of Mughal army.

Mughal emperors had a powerful permanent army. According to Blockmann, the army of Akbar consisted of 25,000 soldiers but it seems to be a hypothesis and the truth must be very far from it. The following were the significant units of the Mughal army which worked effectively and won laurels for the Mughal emperors by extending their territory.

Cavalry :- During the Mughal period, the cavalry was divided into two parts : (i) Bargir, and (ii) Siledar.

The Bargirs were the soldiers who received their arms and dresses from the state and the siledars were those who possessed their own weapons and horses. The horses used by the cavalry belonged to Turki, Tazi, Arbi, Farsi, Muzanna, Yabu and Jongla breeds. As the cavalry was the best part of the army, considerable attention was paid to it.

Infantry :- All the Mughal emperors paid attention towards the proper upkeep of the infantry. The foot soldiers were mainly divided into two categories, i.e. Bandukchi (riflemen) and Shamshirbaz (swordsmen). Besides rifle and sword, the soldiers were expert in handling bows and arrows and javelins etc. apart from the soldiers all workers who were attached with the army, such as slaves sand water-carrier, were also included in the infantry.

Elephants :- The Mughal rulers also maintained a number of war elephants. During the reign of Akbar, they numbered about one thousand but their number was about fifty thousand in the entire Mughal empire. Elephants were used for multifarious purposes. Besides fighting, these elephants were engaged as goods carriers also.

Artillery :- Artillery was equally a significant part of the Mughal army Babur was the first Mughal ruler who made use of gunpowder. His successors strengthened artillery later on. Mir-i-Atish was the officer in charge of this branch. During the reign of Akbar the artillery was improved a lot. Besides small guns he also got the big guns prepared. The small guns could be carried on elephants or camels and used very effectively on the battlefield as their direction could be changed easily and immediately but the big guns were either wheeled or carried on big wooden platforms. Dr. R.P Tripathi has aptly praised the artillery of Akbar, “Excepting the Turkish artillery, Akbar’s was second to none in Asia, for in Akbar’s time it had reached the high point of efficiency.” About 12,000 mounted musketeers and a great number of matchlockmen were included in his artillery which made it all the more effective during the war.

Navy :- The Mughals did not pay attention to the development of naval force before Akbar established his control over Gujarat. In the meantime the Portuguese established their supremacy over the Indian seas and they did not see eye to eye with those who devoted themselves to the progress of navy. Akbar and his successors had strong land forces. The y maintained only some small fleets of boats which in no way could be said to be a powerful navy. The officer in charge of these boats was known as Mir Bahr. His chief function was to prepare ferries and bridges for the passage of the troops and local inhabitants. No doubt Akbar and his officers were capable of maintaining powerful navy on the European style but they did not suspect any danger from the sea-route, hence they remained negligent towards the formation of a powerful navy. The task of the safety of the western coast was handed over to the sides of Janjira by the Mughals only because they did not maintain an efficient navy.

During the reign of Akbar there was a department of Dag Mahali whose chief function was to maintain a Huliya register for each soldier. He also performed the duty of branding the horses and elephants. Besides the mark of Mansabdar, the animal also had a special mark of the emperor. It was properly done to avoid cheating by the Mansabdars. The emperor used to inspect the army of each Mansabdar annually or once after three years.

Milan Tomic

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