ASSIGNMENT- HISTORY OF INDIA

Q.Mughal Victory and consolidation was largely due to changed military tactics. Explain?

The Mughals fought their enemies ceaselessly; be they grand campaigns for territorial
expansion, counter-insurgency operations to put down peasant uprisings or operations aimed
at suppressing rebellions within their own ranks, war was a constant preoccupation of
theMughal Empire. The organisation of its entire fiscal and administrative apparatus reflected
this. During the frequent spells of open conflict, victories in combat were only one of the
many priorities. The state also needed to ensure the smooth transportation of its armies and
the unhindered supply of food, water and arms to them. At other times, it had to keep on
attending to the maintenance, repair and construction of fortifications; the
procurement,training and deployment of diverse types of war animals; the production, storage
and ship-ping of various types of weaponry; and the recruitment, payment and transportation
of enormous numbers of soldiers from the centres of mobilisation to the theatres of war.
Consequently, war not only moulded the behaviour of the Empire in times of open conflict,
but also fundamentally shaped its very nature, priorities and concerns even in times of
peace.Yet, surprisingly, few scholars have used war as a point of entry for writing the history
of Mughal empire-building.

Instead, most works on Mughal warfare focus purely on its technical aspects. Three areas
in particular have been investigated in detail pitched battles, gunpowder weaponry and army
organisation.

There was a creation of a new military system by the founder of the Mughal Empire, Babur.
Its evolution continued under successors like Humayun and the Afghan usurper Sher Shah
Suri and it grew into a mature institution during the reign of Akbar.,Artillery-Technology
was an essential element of Akbar’s system as it evolved over the latter half of the16th
century. He employed the same basic tools as Babur and Humayun the musket and the
cannon—but he was able to implement much more refined and capable versions of these
weapons. The improvements went beyond gains in performance, durability and reliability.
The new equipment was much more diverse, with specialized models for every need. This
was especially true in the area of artillery. Babur’s army deployed four basic types of cannon
Akbar’s forces had over a dozen different models. The new weapons were concentrated at
opposite ends of the spectrum. Akbar saw a need for smaller, easily portable guns—true field
artillery. He experimented with bronze and wrought iron cannons that were light enough to
be pulled by horses instead of teams of oxen. The most ingenious type of light cannon was
the gajnal or chaturnal. This was a swivel gun attached by a harness to a camel’s back. It
could be operated by a single person. A skilled gunner could fire and reload without
dismounting. Another variant of this weapon was designed to be fired from an elephant.

These guns offered great tactical flexibility. There were also developments at the other
extreme. Akbar’s forces deployed a number of heavy siege guns and mortars. These were
similar in their basic form to models used by Babur, but they were much, much larger.
 As the artillery changed, so did the ammunition. Stone shot was still widely used, but metal
cannon balls became more common. Most of these were made of brass. Brass was expensive
in bulk, but it did offer some advantages. It was much easier to work than stone. These brass
shots could be manufactured in a hollow version, which conserved metal. Hollow balls
travelled further than stone shots. The adoption of hollow shot inevitably led to the concept of
explosive shells. During Akbar’s reign the Mughals began to use hollow brass cannon balls
packed with black powder, which ignited on impact. Another development during Akbar’s
period was the adoption of rockets. Rockets offered additional flexibility, even in an army
well equipped with firearms. They were even easier to use than a musket and could be fired
with little preparation.

 Apart from technology, multiple tactics were applied in warfare. Siege craft became

increasingly important. Two methods were used to actually breach the enemy’s fortifications
—mining and sapping. Miners tunneled underneath the objective and planted explosives
which caused structures to collapse from below. Saps, or approach trenches, were used which
provided cover for advancing troops and most importantly they allowed heavy guns to be
moved close enough to blast a breach in the walls. The Mughals used the sabat, or covered
trench. A roof and walls of heavy timbers covered the sabat. It protected its occupants from
small arms and light artillery fire and concealed their activities and movements from the
enemy

The Mansabdaari system played a crucial role in the organization and consolidation of the
empire,The success of his military arose as much from the adept management of manpower
as it did from the mastery of machines. Akbar himself acted as commander in chief of the
army. The Mughal military had two primary administrative divisions—a standing army under
the direct control of the Crown and the troops commanded by senior officers, or
mansabdars.Each mansabdar was required to maintain a certain number of cavalrymen and
twice that number of horses.  Abul Fazl say that Babur’s army had 25,000 soldiers, whereas
Akbar’s army had more than 3,00,000 soldiers, consisting of cavalry and artillery. 12,000
musketeers were present as royal guards.

Earlier, the size of elephant stables used to be regarded as a reflection of the size of an
empire.But this changed radically during Akbar’s period. Akbar did use a large number of
elephants in his early campaigns but they became less important in the battlefield. Due to the
increased use of gunpowder, elephants became less reliable and more vulnerableThe Mughals
adopted a combination of artillery and mounted archers, which ended the elephant-based
system in warfare.

Mughal firearms in the time of Akbar came to be far superior to anything that could be
deployed by regional rulers, tributaries, or by zamindars. The term "Gunpowder Empire" has
thus often been used by scholars and historians in analysing the success of the Mughals in
India. Mughal power has been seen as owing to their mastery of the techniques of warfare,
especially the use of firearms encouraged by Akbar.Thus becoming the greatest ruler in
Mughal history by causing a military revolution with aggressive expantionist policies ,
Akbar’s military tactics and army organization is applauded by historians and it is due to his
military institution that the Mughal Empire reached its peak.

Bibliography

 Chandra Satish, History of Medieval India 800-1700,Orient Blackswan,Delhi,2017.

 Britannica.com-The Mughal Empire-1526-1761