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Military System of The Mughals Module - II

Military History of
which was able to fire balls of about 20-25 pounds in weight while the lighter
Medieval India
canon was called 'zarb-zan' which was mobile and could be moved in different
places and was able to fire 3 to 4 pound weight of projectile. The Kazan were
big guns and were used against forts and fortified positions. Since these canons
were heavy it was difficult for the army to move or maneuver them effectively
during battles. In such cases, it was the lighter canons the Zarb-Zan which was
effective as it was quite mobile. Note

Besides, there was also a third kind called 'firingi' or Frankish canon, which was
much smaller than the zarbzan. The last kind of Babur's artillery consisted of a
heavy siege gun which fired projectiles of about 100 pounds or more.
b) Elephants: Long before the Mughal Empire fell into decay, elephants had
become principally beasts of burden or means of display, and their role in the
battle reduced significant. Yet, Akbar made much use of elephants by bringing
them into the field in great numbers. Under Akbar the elephants ridden by the
emperor were called khasah (special), and all others were arranged in groups of
ten, twenty or thirty, called halqah. The Elephants were aggregated as groups
and formed a single division.

c) Discipline in the military was extremely lax, if not entirely absent. Once thrown
into confusion, it was impossible to restore a Mughal army's discipline. During
the march they moved without order, with the irregularity of a herd of animals.

The Mughal military had an elaborate system of arrangement to take care of
invasions. There was a person called Mir Tuzak (literally, Lords of Arrangement)
whose responsibility was to identify the route, decide on the marches and proceed
ahead, select a place for encampment and lay out the site of the various camps
and the lines of shops. When carrying out these duties, the first Mir Tuzak was
more commonly known as Mir Manzil, Lord of the Stages.

d) Camps: Each soldier had a tent as shelter. Outside the gate of the enclosure
were the elephants and horses with their establishments on one side; and the
records, the carts and litters, the general of artillery, and the hunting leopards on
the other. The heavy artillery was ranged at a distance and defended the
approaches.

e) On the March: The heavy artillery went first, followed by the units of the
infantry called the advance guards. The baggage followed the combat unit. In
the baggage first came the camels carrying the imperial treasure. Immediately
behind these came the imperial kitchen. The army came after the baggage.

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