Eztainutlacatl Profile picture
Oct 29, 2021 22 tweets 7 min read Read on X
See. Another state, same story. The British increase the taxes drastically and it's the king of Nilagiri who takes the beating because of that. Image
Let me try to make this a thread. Whenever I come across my old stuff, I will plug it here.
Vishwanath Shahdeo, the Zamindar of Barkagarh joined the War of Independence in 1857 because the missionaries converted tribals and instigated them to forcibly take over his lands. Image
The role of land settlement in fomenting unrest. Did this alienation between the ruler and the ruled paved way for missionary activity?
But, what is not told here is, there is no king in Keonjhar in 1915. Image
Guess Keonjhar needs to be looked more closely - not just Keonjhar but every kingdom where there was a regency. Image
On Ravenshaw of Ravenshaw College fame. Guess the college should be named Ratna Naik College or Rani Bishnupriya College? Image
Further more on Keonjhar settlement Image
How consistently the British used the minority of kings to increase their profits!! Bamra this time. ImageImage
Land Settlement in Nayagarh Image
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity - Hanlon's Razor
On Sambalpur Fort Image
Can the same reason be attributed to Bamanghati mess? Image
Baud Kandhamal rebellion Image
Well, Ravenshaw doesn't turn out to be as great as he is projected to be...he was the one who presided over the 1866 famine which forced the British not to plan for a repeat. Image
"embodied a valued tradition of Indian culture and civilization" Image
Bikaner. The king has no authority to change the decisions made during his regency. Image
Another minority regency ruling. Image
Jaora this time. King sacked a minister, the British retaliated by imposing an advisory council on him and the advices the council gave, the kingdom soon slipped into arrears and had to go for loans!! Image
And how do you clear off the debts? Insult Talukdars, get offended by the offended Talukdars and impose fines on them. Image
Experiments, eh? Image
We are happy to allow the king to do whatever he wants till he doesn't cross the line. What are the lines? Image
Pudukkottai again. The legal position of an Indian king. Image

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More from @cbkwgl

Jun 8
Let me bite the bullet then. Anyone, feel free to pick the topic.
Kurwai: Kurwai troops led by it's crown prince Izzat Khan was a part of Holkar troop. He either rebelled on field or defected - Abdali felicitated him.
He died of injuries soon after and on the other hand, Holkar invaded Kurwai and severely chastised it's ruling line.
Punjab:
Here, Marathas were completely out of picture and the subsequent decades ended up as running fights between Afghans and the kingdoms supporting them in India, and the Sikhs.
Read 18 tweets
Jun 5
The 600s Tang campaigns which genocided Agni and imposed Chinese rule on the Tarim Basin were the decisive blow for Indic influence and culture in Tarim Basin. The implication of it was not actually lost on the locals.
Led by Khotan, a kind of pacificst Buddhism was dominant in the area(its military power broken, and with Tibet and Arabs breathing down it's neck, there is only that much they can do).
A few centuries after the Chinese advances, an Uyghur Khan was asked why doesn't he convert to Buddhism. He replied, Buddhism teaches compassion and a king can never afford to be compassionate. His successors converted to Islam.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 29
Bangladeshis posted an image today of a headless Mahadeva, right? Shall I tell you the story of Mamarak Khan or Mubarak Khan, one of the last great commanders of Karrani Dynasty? He was sacrificed to Mahadeva himself. That was one of the last gasps of Muslim power of Bengal and
it ended up a Mughal province for the centuries to come. So, Mamarak Khan's story goes thus.
After a major defeat at Chatogram in the hands of Bijaya Manikya, the Pathans ruling the area fled to Bengal and petitioned Suleiman Karrani.
Suleiman Karrani sent his brother in law Mamarak Khan with a large army on Tripura. Chatogram was taken back but the Sylhet front under Kala Nazir held. Bijaya Manikya sent reinforcements which fought for eight months but didn't achieve success.
Read 17 tweets
Apr 20
Again, an old topic. Mahmud of Ghazni and Somnath. What is the sequence of events? Mahmud, who was known for his physical ugliness according to chronicles got his window of opportunity to pillage India proper after the collapse of Shahi enterprise.
So, by 1026, he has decided to pick one of the prized temples of India as a glorious conclusion of his career - Somnath. Accordingly, he entered India through Punjab and skirting the desert, crashed on Somnath. Except for people like Romila Thapar,
there is a historic consensus - the place was pillaged thoroughly after a brutal massacre, and the fragments of the shattered idol were taken back. Here starts the confusion. Mahmud didn't return by the way he came back but tried to force his way through the impossible desert -
Read 19 tweets
Mar 19
In 1542, Vijayanagara fought the Bahmanid coalition and defeated it. It was a massive battle and sensing a window, the three brothers - Ramaraya split the army into three and he along with his brothers Tirumala and Venkatadri marched in three directions chasing the big three - Ramaraya went on Golconda, Tirumala on Ahmednagar and Venkatadri on Bijapur.
Venkatadri clashed with the fleeing troops at Adoni, Kurakacherla and Manuva - in fact, Asad Khan who was holding Adoni abandoned the fort - while he fled with a select troop to raid Venkatadri's camp, he ordered the garrison to join the Adil Shah and Barid Shah.
He attacked Venkatadri's camp in the night and pillaged it - even to the extent of taking families hostage but was severely defeated. After this, he captured Amir Barid and overran Bidar. With Bidar collapsing, Adil Shah had no option but to flee even faster -
Read 6 tweets
Mar 14
Vira Narasingaraya who held the coast from Pulicat till almost Rameshwaram earned a revenue of 11 lakhs under Krishnaraya. Sewell gives it to around 3.5 rupees. He paid one third in tribute, maintained 30000 foot, 3000 horse, 30 elephants.
This is a good metric for Indian troop strengths.
39 lakh rupees revenue - 30000 infantry - 3000 horse - 30 elephant
Considering 30 lakhs, we will have a decent ratio -
1 lakh revenue - 1000 infantry - 100 horse - 1 elephant
While this is the number from around 1500, I don't see why this number should be different all history. There is only one counter metric. How does 30 lakh revenue translate to a cavalry based army.
Example, consider Battle of Raichur where Krishnaraya threw the full weight of the Empire. Now, if Narasinga Raya's contribution is 30k infantry, total Tamil country can be no more than a lakh. And total Vijayanagara, 3-3.5 lakh. Now, assuming he fielded a third of his army there(which is the maximum because of his logistics and the need for domestic security), the best Vijayanagara can field is 1-1.1 lakhs. We have another metric there to help us. Vijayanagara camp size is 7.36 lakh soldiers. Now, if we assume 10 camp followers for every soldier( you have shopkeepers, food supplies, barbers, grooms, everyone - some are capable of fighting anyways), we arrive at 73,600 troops. 75000 troops against a projection of 1 lakh seems a decent approximation. Now, what is this number? It's one-fifth of Vijayanagara's capacity. Can we assume A kingdom can field 20% of it's strength for a campaign? In case of Vijayanagara, it can be 75k troops, 7500 horse and 75-100 elephants with a 20% margin.
Summarizing,
1 lakh revenue - 1000 soldiers - 100 horse - 1 elephant
A kingdom can field 20-25% of it's total troop strength in a single campaign. Exceptions exist where you go for a total mobilization as in the case of a conquest but from a position of strength, this number holds.
Read 5 tweets

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