The Mughal army, like the Mughal state, was a product of it's environment, it's society and economy. The many curious aspects of this military force, including those related to it's logistics, are similarly a product of these factors...
The North Indian military labour market was nigh saturated [A. Graza]. This meant potential soldiers & especially infantrymen, were cheap. Desertion was not an immediate major concern for the Mughal general/Emperor. Furthermore, the Mughals & their contemporaries in the subcon...
Were notorious for arrears in payments. Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah I, was known to "never withhold pay for more than 3 months". Such a statement, recorded as a point of merit, can only mean, that 3 months was the least number of months for which pay was usually witheld!..
The priorities & military culture of the North Indian nobility were seemingly misplaced being skewed in favour of awe & show, compared to practicality & utility. Cumbersome & ineffective Mughal bombards delayed marches as they were given precedence in order of march...
Therefore, paradoxically, a cavalry heavy Mughal army marched at a snail's pace in most of it's campaigns (ignoring other factors causing delays ex-superstition). A commissariat was lacking, infantry was paid paltry sums & by & large, the force relied on the leadership of...
Mansabdars, Jagirdars & high ranking nobility, their personal agency, leadership & foresight to see a campaign through. For ex- the Deccan wars, a theatre which broke Mughal claims of invincibility thoroughly, saw success under the leadership & competence of Raja Jai Singh I...
To illustrate these problems I'll take the example of the Mughal campaign under Aurangzeb in Multan:
A force of 57k Mansabdari cavalry, 5k Ahadis (included in the 57k) & 10k Tofangchis was assembled. The force, like most Mughal armies had a "Mir-e-Manzil" who charted..
Major cities, towns, routes for travel, available resources & specifics on geography, & assessed how many days of marching, how many *kos* per march, & how many stops, would accomplish the army's movement. He traveled before the actual army and dispensed an invaluable service..
Unfortunately, this officer was concerned only with the Imperial household, it's soldier & dependents. The remainder of Mansabdars & their men, supplied their necessities & transport considerations themselves. The Imperial kitchen fed a select number of men via a charity...
Kitchen or *Langarkhana* maintained at the Emperor's expense. Rajas, mansabdars etc, distributed cooked food for those especially attached to their person. Outside of these circles each man provided for himself, buying his daily requirements from *banjaras* attached to the army..
The army departed from Multan in February on 16th, arrived at Qandahar on May 2nd. This is 75-76 days of marching to cover a distance of 124 kos. That's 248 miles according to Gaz-i-illahi & Bengal Presidency measurements, and this translates to roughly 400 kms, or 5.4 km/day....
This rate of marching would have been acceptable, had the Mughal army not been a cavalry favouring force where horsemen outnumbered the infantry >3:1. The problem only gets worse given that artillery had the precedence on march, not cavalry. A measure, presumably of caution...
Now, addressing the elephant in room. The rations. A force of 67k men is assembled. Assuming their caloric requirements are moderate compared to western European forces, at least 1.5k-2k calories would be required by men marching for several kms, carrying weight. A rough figure..
Can be calculated as 67k soldiers eat 2k kcals/day, taking 667g (approx.) of Millets (staple crop, more affordable), would mean 44,690 kg Millets/day (approx.). But this is not all. Men, ordnance, supplies & all required beasts of burden to drag & carry them. These animals...
Required food as well. Assuming the Mughals maintained a ratio of atleast 2:1, we have 1,14,165 horses (165 horses for ordnance) that each eat 12 kgs of fodder a day (4 kg being grain) = 4,56,660 kg of grains and 9,13,320 kgs of dry feed/day. Even ignoring the bullocks, camels..
Elephants and ponies, this is an astronomical amount of food, demanded each day by the entire force. Its a remarkable testament to the later 18th century forces of the Company, the later forces of the Raj, the regularised forces of Ventura and De Boigne etc., that they were...
Capable of arming, rationing & supplying their armies. It's an even greater testament to the institutional strengths of the Company Bahadur & the Raj, that their armies marched by & large, by not causing any loot or plunder for forage or supplies, unlike the Mughals or Marathas.
To care for one's soldiery is not a mere act of charity, but rather a fundamental basis for the creation of regular formations, efficient in fighting & maintaining morale. An ill-fed & rarely looked after force, will suffer lack of discipline, organisation & combat effectiveness.
How do people today call British Indian Army soldiers "slaves" or "mercenaries"?
Were these not the ancestors of their own countrymen?
Did they not have families, personal honour, duty & allegiance to uphold?
Did they not make the ultimate sacrifice against terrible foes?
Are their victories, sacrifices, lives & legacy, less worthy of our praise?
This binary of colonial instrument or not, is flawed & allows no nuance or individuality.
The very principles on which it is based betrays our innate sensibilities.
They were our kin, family, blood.
Did they not recall the Mahabharata when engines of war rained down death from above?
Did they not remember their Kul Devis & Ishta Devas before charging, bayonet in hand against the foe?
The sheer audacity of some among us, to look upon our glorious dead & question their honour.
The Banaras Hindu University was the brainchild of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya.
Recently people have become interested in the personages whose monetary contributions went towards making the University a reality. This is a thread to show how the money for BHU was raised :
Panditji needed to raise atleast ₹1 crore, of that sum, half was to be raised before December 1911, & of that, ₹25 lakhs were to be raised by September 1911.
A 20 member deputation whose names are given below travelled to major cities in Punjab, United Provinces, Bihar & MP.
While it is not possible to summarize the names of all those who contributed to the Hindu cause, it's suffice to say that the movement had electrified Hindus in these cities to contribute whatever they could.
In areas such as Kanpur, even adjoining villages poured out support.
The Aitareya Brahamana of the Rig Veda describes in full detail the elaborate rituals & ceremonies to be performed by a Vedic king in order to ascend the throne & royal splendour & thus become sovereign of the earth & protector of his realm.
The ceremonial day is filled with ritual obligations to be performed by the king, including ablution & "anubandhya" animal sacrifice. The throne upon which the king ascends is made from sacred Udumbara wood & covered in tiger skin, latter representing the "lord of the jungle".
As the king approaches the throne, he kneels & prays to the following gods :
Agni
Savitar
Soma
Birhaspati
Mitra
Varuna
Indra
The summoning of the Gods carries with incredible symbolic & ritual weight, as each God is praised as a king for the role they play in Aryan society.
Jemadar Parkash Singh Chib, born Kana Chak, Kathua, Jammu, served in the 14/13th Frontier Force Rifles, was awarded Victoria Cross for his bravery under enemy pressure & display of extraordinary courage in the night of 16-17th Feb, 1945, Burma against the Imperial Japanese Army.
During the attack, his company faced hand-to-hand fighting, supported by artillery & mortars. Despite severe wounds to his leg, bleeding profusely, he continued to command his company, encouraging them with the Dogra war cry "Jwala Mata Ki Jai" or "Victory to Goddess Jwala".
"Until the time of his death at 02:30 hours, Jemadar Parkash Singh conducted himself with conspicuous bravery & complete disregard of his severe wounds & there is no doubt that his ceaseless encouragement of his platoon, his inspired leadership & outstanding devotion to duty,...
Given my recent expected disappointment at the #AadiPurush trailer, I feel obligated to talk today about what I feel is perhaps one of the best adaptations of the Ramayana tale to cinema. That being "Ramayana : The Legend of Prince Rama", an animated, Indo-Japanese production...
Any reference of this movie is incomplete without first giving thanks & expressing gratitude to the efforts & passion of two men, Mr. Yugo Sako and Shree Ram Mohan Ji, both of whom are directly responsible for this cherished childhood memory and incredible adaptation...
Mr. Yugo Sako travelled to India over 60 times, devoted a decade of his life & over $13 million in his quest to bring the story of Lord Rama to the big screen. He visited India for the first time, in 1985 to film a documentary, "The Ramayan Relics," about an archaeological...
For the figures on per capita income, the table posted, references Heston, from "Cambridge Economic History of India Vol II", pp. 402, table 4.5. Heston's own figures from the referenced source show otherwise. Cloth production increased, when accounting for Indian mill cloth...
Production as shown below, it reached as high as 2200 (m. yd.) in 1909 👇. As for life expectancy, It remained low in 1860-1920 (convenient time period) due to multiple famines & endemic diseases, context missing from numbers often used which show the reasons for this decline...
By the time of our independence, life expectancy reached 33, having consistently increased from 1920s onwards. Not to mention it remained stagnant for centuries before 👇