View source for Army of the Mughal Empire

{{Short description|Armed forces of the Mughal Empire}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox national military|country=[[Mughal Empire]]|name=Mughal Army|image=File:Farrukhsiyar Procession in front of the Great Mosque of Delhi.png|caption=Arrival of an imperial procession of the emperor Farrukh Siyar at Delhi's "world-revealing" mosque on a Friday, to hear the sermon (khutba) recited in his name|founded={{Circa}} 1556|disbanded={{Circa}} 1806|branches=|headquarters=''Exalted camp'' / ''Victorious camp''<ref name="Traveling mode of Mughal rulers; Zoya Ansari">{{cite news |author1=Zoya Ansari |title=Traveling mode of Mughal rulers |date=December 24, 2022 |url=https://theweekenderpk.com/traveling-mode-of-mughal-rulers/ |access-date=13 March 2024 |publisher=the weekender pk |language=En}}</ref>|flying_hours=|commander-in-chief=[[Timurid conquests and invasions|Timurid Army]]|commander-in-chief_title=Former Military|minister_title=[[Grand vizier|Grand-Vizier]]|commander=|commander_title=|age=15-25|conscription=|manpower_data=1600 est.|active=* Regular army: 
** 911,400–4,039,097 infantry{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=29}}
** 342,696 cavalry{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=29}} 
* Total: 4,400,000{{sfn|Barua|2005|p=47}} - 26,000,000{{sfn|Eraly|2007|p=300}} personnel|available_f=|fit=|fit_f=|reaching=|reaching_f=|reserve=|ranked=|deployed=|amount=12,071,876,840 ''dams''{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=29}}|percent_GDP=|domestic_suppliers=|foreign_suppliers=|imports=|history=|ranks=|minister=[[List of Mughal grand viziers|Mughal ''Vazere'azam'']]|chief minister_title=[[Padishah]]|chief minister=[[Mughal Emperor]]}}
The '''army of the Mughal Empire''' was the military force by which the [[Mughal emperors]] established and expanded [[Mughal Empire|their empire]]. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, were in the cavalry-based armies of central Asia, its essential form and structure was established by the third emperor, [[Akbar]]. The regular forces were mainly recruited and fielded by ''[[Mansabdar]]'' officers.

During the 17th century, the army became the earth's largest,<ref name="harrison2">{{cite book|title=Developing cultures: case studies|author=[[Lawrence Harrison (academic)|Lawrence E. Harrison]], [[Peter L. Berger]]|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2006|page=158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RB0oAQAAIAAJ|isbn=978-0-415-95279-8}}</ref> numbering 911,400–4,049,097 infantry ([[Infantry|zats]]) and 342,696–15,000,000 cavalry ([[Cavalry|Swari]]).{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=29}} Alternatively, according to the [[Abul Fazl]]'s census, the size of the army was roughly about 4.4 million, with less than half a million trained as cavalry;{{sfn|Barua|2005|p=47}}<ref name="The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-16052">{{harvtxt|Andrew de la Garza |2016 |p=48}}</ref>{{rp|89–90}} while modern Indian historians estimate 26 million.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|p=300}}

The Mughal dominated India,<ref name="Abdul Sabahuddin 2003 1992">{{harvtxt|Abdul Sabahuddin |Rajshree Shukla|2003 |p=199}}</ref> employing superior engineering and logistic mastery. Historians compared the Mughal army with [[Roman army|that of the Roman Empire]] or the [[United States Armed Forces]] in terms of force projection.<ref name="Mughal, Memorial Jon Guilmartin2">{{cite book |author1=Robert S. Ehlers Jr |author2=Sarah K. Douglas |author3=Daniel P.M. Curzon |title=Technology, Violence, and War: Essays in Honor of Dr. John F. Guilmartin, Jr. |year=2019 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-9004393301 |page=93,98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yheJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR6 |access-date=19 July 2024}}</ref><ref name="Societies and Military Power India and Its Armies; Stephen Peter Rosen2">{{cite book |author1=Stephen Peter Rosen|author-link=Stephen Peter Rosen |title=Societies and Military Power India and Its Armies |date=May 15, 2019 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9781501744792 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9OyYDwAAQBAJ |access-date=14 March 2024 |language=En}}</ref>{{rp|276}}<ref name="The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-16052" />{{rp|158}} In logistical superiority, the Mughals were comparable with the [[British Army during the Victorian Era]].<ref name="Jeremy Black; Mughal logistic2">{{cite book |author1=Jeremy Black |author1-link=Jeremy Black (historian) |title=Logistics: The Key to Victory |publisher=Pen and Sword Military |year=2021 |isbn=978-1399006026 |access-date=4 August 2024 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xydCEAAAQBAJ |quote=Ancient Rome or British army... logistics had to support operations in a variety... faced problem transporting artillery...}}</ref> Historian Stephen Morillo claimed that Western scholarship generally overlooked the destructive scale of Asian empires such as the Mughal, not unlike the Roman Empire.<ref name="Seven Myths of Military History (Myths of History: A Hackett Series)2">{{cite book |author1=John D. Hosler |author1-link=John D. Hosler |author2=[[Alfred J. Andrea]] |author3=Stephen Holt |title=Seven Myths of Military History (Myths of History: A Hackett Series) |date=2022 |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc |isbn=978-1647920449 |page=40 |language=En }}</ref>

British historian [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Jeremy Black]] claimed that the Mughal army's struggles until their decline in the wake of [[Nader Shah's invasion of India]] reflected Asiatic military development in the 17th century. Black's evaluation contrasted with other historians who claimed that Asian empire militaries during the 17th century were influenced by the [[Military Revolution]] in Europe.<ref name="A Military Revolution?: Military Change and European Society 1550–1800 (Studies in European History, 14)2">{{cite book |author1=Jeremy Black |author1-link=Jeremy Black (historian) |title=A Military Revolution?: Military Change and European Society 1550–1800 (Studies in European History, 14) |date=1991 |publisher=Red Globe Press |isbn=978-0333519066 |page=59 |language=En }}</ref> This period coincided with the costly [[Deccan wars]], which substantially damaged the Mughal army.

Historians such as [[Irfan Habib]] and Farhat Hasan claimed that Mughal cavalry was unmatched in South Asian conflicts.<ref name="State and Locality in Mughal India Power Relations in Western India, C.1572-17302">{{cite book |last1=Hassan |first1=Farhat |title=State and Locality in Mughal India Power Relations in Western India, C.1572-1730 |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-84119-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4TbxNT70UPEC |access-date=8 July 2023 |language=En |format=Hardcover |quote=Others suggest that it was not artillery but cavalry that made the Mughals invincible in the}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Farhat Hasan |title=State and Locality in Mughal India: Power Relations in Western India, C.1572-1730; Issue 61 of University of Cambridge Oriental Publications, ISSN 0068-6891 |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521841194 |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4TbxNT70UPEC |access-date=25 July 2024}}</ref> Its superiority in discipline and shock [[Charge (warfare)|charge]] were a staple of its success.<ref name="Later Mughals2">{{cite book |author1=William Irvine |editor1-last=Sarkar |editor1-first=Sir Jadunath |title=Later Mughals |date=2007 |publisher=University of Minnesota |isbn=978-969-35-1924-2 |pages=669 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOk2AQAAMAAJ&q=mughal%20superior%20heavy%20cavalry%20charge%20babur |access-date=8 July 2023 |language=En}}</ref><ref name="The Mughal Empire2">{{cite book |author1=John F. Richards |title=The Mughal Empire |date=1993 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2 |page=160 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC |access-date=8 July 2023 |language=En |format=Paperback |chapter=Part 1, Volume 5}}</ref> By the 16th-17th century, Mughal horses were imported, mostly from Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and Central Asia.<ref name="HORSE TRADE Mugla2">{{cite journal |last1=Kumari |first1=Deepti |title=HORSE TRADE |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2017 |volume=78 |pages=351–360 |jstor=26906103 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26906103 |access-date=10 December 2021}}</ref>

Due to their adoption of gunpowder warfare, historians [[Marshall Hodgson]] and colleague [[William H. McNeill (historian)|William H. McNeill]] termed the Mughals a [[Gunpowder empires|gunpowder empire]].{{sfn|Hodgson|1974|p=II:405-06}} The Mughal army employed [[Cannons|heavy cannons]], light artillery, [[Grenade|grenades]], [[Rocket (weapon)|rockets]],<ref name="The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-16052" /><ref name="Throwing Fire Projectile Technology Through History2">{{cite book |author1=Alfred W. Crosby |title=Throwing Fire Projectile Technology Through History |date=April 8, 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79158-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyFxldb2GJQC |access-date=6 December 2023 |language=En |format=Hardcover}}</ref>{{rp|133}}<ref name="The Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes - Debt Before Dishonour Timetable of World Dominance 1400-21002">{{cite book |author1=Will Slatyer |title=The Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes - Debt Before Dishonour Timetable of World Dominance 1400-2100 |date=February 20, 2015 |publisher=Partridge Publishing Singapore |isbn=978-1-4828-2961-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tprrCQAAQBAJ |access-date=6 December 2023 |language=En |quote=rockets were upgraded versions of Mughal rockets utilised during the Siege of Jinji by the progeny of the Nawab of Arcot}}</ref> and heavy [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] among other weapons.<ref name="Masters of Warfare Fifty Underrated Military Commanders from Classical Antiquity to the Cold War; Pinzelli; Akbar2">{{cite book |author1=Eric G. L. Pinzelli |title=Masters of Warfare Fifty Underrated Military Commanders from Classical Antiquity to the Cold War |date=2022 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books |isbn=9781399070157 |pages=140–142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W62ZEAAAQBAJ |access-date=14 April 2024 |language=En}}</ref> Heavy cannons were expensive and difficult to transport, and had to be dragged by elephants and oxen.

The Mughal naval forces were named the ''Amla-e-Nawara''. In [[Dhaka]], the Mughal naval fleet contained 768 ships with 933 foreigner crews of Portuguese origin and 8,112 artillery personnel.<ref name="Mughal Forts on Fluvial Terrains in Dhaka; UNESCO2">{{cite web |author1=Permanent Delegation of Bangladesh to UNESCO |title=Mughal Forts on Fluvial Terrains in Dhaka |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6675/ |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=19 April 2024 |location=Dhaka, District- Dhaka, Narayanganj, Munshiganj |language=En |date=2023}}</ref> They maintained fleets of warships and transport ships.<ref name="NAVAL STRATEGY OF THE MUGHALS IN BENGAL2">{{cite journal |last1=Roy |first1=Atulchandra |title=Naval Strategy of the Mughals in Bengal |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1961 |volume=24 |pages=170–175 |jstor=44140736 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140736 |access-date=23 May 2023}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|List of battles involving the Mughal Empire}}{{Excerpt|Battles of the Mughal Empire}}

== Organization ==
The emperor's personal army numbered around 24,000 soldiers.{{sfn|Roy|2015|pp=65–66}} Directly under royal command, these warriors were called ''Ahadis'',{{sfn|Roy|2015|pp=65–66}} a body of cavalry troopers.<ref name="Shahjahanabad The Sovereign City in Mughal India 1639-17392">{{harvtxt|Stephen P. Blake |2002 |p=85 |ps=... Mughal emperor contained a great many persons . The only one of its kind, this elite mahallah served as the model ... walashahis ( belonging to the king ) or ''mansabdar''an - i khassa ( special officeholders ), were found in the emperor's ...}}</ref> 

Another term for the Mughal emperor's personal bodyguards which was associated with the ''Ahadis'' was the ''Walashahis'' (belonging to the king),<ref name="Shahjahanabad The Sovereign City in Mughal India 1639-17392" /> or imperial bodyguards. Regarded as the most trusted and faithful troops, they were directly in the pay of the Emperor.<ref name="Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire2">{{harvtxt |Jos J. L. Gommans |2002 |ps=... walashahis, the most trusted bodyguard of the emperor and often associated with the ahadi contingent.49 Indeed, for any European observer, the precise difference between slaves and free retainers must have been rather obscure. For ...}}</ref> They served as cavalrymen, similar to ''Ahadis''.<ref name="Shahjahanabad The Sovereign City in Mughal India 1639-17392" /> ''Walashahis'' were chiefly, if not entirely, men who had been attached to the Emperor since their youth and had served him while he was only a prince, and were thus marked as his personal attendants and household troops.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.131341/page/n297/mode/2up?q=zafar |title= The Reign Of Muhammad Shah 1919-1748 |author= Zahiruddin Malik |date= 1977 |page= 298 }}</ref>

The Mughal army was generally divided into four branches: the cavalry (''Aswaran''), the infantry (''Perigean''), the artillery (''Topkhana'') and the navy. These were branches or classes that were distributed amongst the ''Mansabdars'' '', each of whom commanded some of each of these forces. The exception to this rule was the artillery, which had its own designated commander, and was not part of the ''mansabdar''i'' troops.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|p=300}} The Mughals followed the tradition of harsh execution of mutineers by strapping them into the mouth of cannon and blowing them apart.<ref name="True to Their Salt Indigenous Personnel in Western Armed Forces; Robert Johnson2">{{cite book |author1=Robert Johnson |title=True to Their Salt Indigenous Personnel in Western Armed Forces |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190694562 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f05WDwAAQBAJ |access-date=14 March 2024 |language=En |format=Hardcover}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Muzaffar H. Syed|1905|p=417}}</ref> This tradition was copied by the [[British soldiers in the eighteenth century|British empire's military]] to punish their own mutineers.<ref name="Amazing Uttar Pradesh - General Knowledge for UPPSC, UPSSSC & other Competitive Exams; Disha Experts2">{{cite book |author1=Disha Experts |title=Amazing Uttar Pradesh - General Knowledge for UPPSC, UPSSSC & other Competitive Exams |date= July 2020|publisher=Disha Publications |isbn=9789390486724 |page=65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4D44EAAAQBAJ |access-date=14 March 2024 |language=En |format=ebook}}</ref><ref name="A History of Artillery; Jeremy Black2">{{cite book |author1=Jeremy Black |title=A History of Artillery |date=2023 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=9781538178218 |page=117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-IS_EAAAQBAJ |access-date=14 March 2024 |language=En |format=ebook}}</ref><ref name="The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Warfare From Ancient Egypt to Iraq2">{{cite book |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Warfare From Ancient Egypt to Iraq |date=16 April 2012 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=9781465403735 |page=394 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YpRT7qBPDAwC |access-date=14 March 2024 |language=En |format=ebook}}</ref>

=== Mansabdars  ===
{{main|Mansabdar}}

<gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Raja_Man_Singh_I.jpg|[[Man Singh I]], ''mansabdar''
</gallery>Officers called ''mansabdars'' led the bulk of the Mughal armed forces. Under Akbar, as many as 1,600 ''mansabdar''s served.{{sfn|Roy|2015|pp=65–66}} [[Shah Jahan]] had many as 8,000 ''mansabdars''.{{sfn|Roy|2015|pp=65–66}} ''[[Mansabdar]]'' officers worked for the government and were responsible for recruiting and maintaining their quota of horsemen.{{sfn|Roy|2015|pp=65–66}} A ''Mansabdar's'' rank was based on the horsemen he provided, which ranged from 10 (the lowest), up to 5000. A prince had 25000.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Roshen Dalal |author1-link=Roshen Dalal |title=The Puffin History of India for Children, 3000 BC - AD 1947, Volume 1 |date=2002 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=0143335448 |page=237 |edition=illustrated, reprint, revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2gRUVIF2joC |access-date=11 July 2024 |language=En}}</ref> Their salaries were based on their ranks.<ref name="Jorge Flores 742">{{harvtxt|Jorge Flores |2015 |p=74}}</ref><ref name="Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500-17002">{{harvtxt |Jos J. L. Gommans |2002 |p=85}}</ref>

Historian [[Richard M. Eaton]] noted Aurangzeb's strengthening of the ''mansabdar''i system and rotation of ''jagirs'', which ensured noble loyalty and political stability, deterring usurpation attempts during his early reign.<ref name="pers">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RFXVDwAAQBAJ&dq=mughals+heavy+cavalry&pg=PT349 |title= India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |author= Richard M. Eaton |date= 2019 |publisher= University of California Press|isbn= 978-0-520-97423-4 }}</ref>

Each ''Mansabdar'' was responsible to the ''[[Bakhshi (Mughal Empire)#Mir Bakhshi|Mir Bakshi]]'', or the head of Mughal empire's office of military and intelligence administrations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abidin |first=Farah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DE-lCwAAQBAJ |title=Suba of Kabul Under the Mughals: 1585-1739 |publisher=Patridge Publishing India |year=2014 |isbn=9781482839388 |pages=76}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Gladden |first=E.N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PgGaDwAAQBAJ |title=A History of Public Administration Volume II: From the Eleventh Century to the Present Day |date=23 May 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-42321-5 |pages=234–236}}</ref><ref name="Corinne2">{{Citation |last=Lefèvre |first=Corinne |title=Bakhshī (Mughal) |date=2014 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/bakhshi-mughal-COM_25229?lang=en |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_25229|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Aside from reporting to the Mir Bakshi, ''Mansabdars''  were often appointed as [[Subahdar|''Subahdars'']], or heads of provincial administration where they were assisted by provincial officers such as ''Diwan'', ''[[Bakhshi (Mughal Empire)|Bakhshi]]'', ''[[Faujdar]]'', ''[[Kotwal]]'', ''[[Qadi|Qazi]]'', ''Sadr'', ''Waqa-i-Navis'', ''Qanungo'' and ''[[Patwari]]'' officers.<ref>Mahajan V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). ''History of Medieval India'', Part II, New Delhi: S. Chand, {{ISBN|81-219-0364-5}}, p.236</ref> ''Faujdaris'' aided their ''subahdar'' in maintaining law and order and enforcing imperial regulations, while also commanding ''thanas'' or military outposts, which were usually garrisoned with a fixed number of ''[[sowar]]'' (cavalry).<ref name="The Mughal State: 1526-1750 (Oxford in India Readings: Them) (Oxford in India Readings: Themes in Indian History); Muzaffar Alam; Muzaffar Alam2">{{cite book |author1=Muzaffar Alam |title=The Mughal State: 1526-1750 (Oxford in India Readings: Them) (Oxford in India Readings: Themes in Indian History) |author2=Sanjay Subrahmanyam ( |date=February 17, 2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-565225-3 |language=En}}</ref> According to Jos Gommans, the assessment and appointment of ''mansabdar'' officers was done personally by the emperor.<ref name="Jorge Flores 742" /> Mughal administrative policies were directed at the heterogenous population of India which consisted of myriad backgrounds, social strata, ethnicities, and religious groups. While rare, foreigners from Europe such as the Englishman [[William Hawkins (fl. c. 1600)|William Hawkins]] were sometimes appointed as ''Mansabdar''. Hawkins provided records about the administrations of ''mansabdar'', recording during his life the names of about 41 ''mansabdar'' officers who commanded about 3,000-5,000 ''Zat'' or horsemen.<ref name="Jorge Flores 74-752">{{harvtxt|Jorge Flores |2015 |pp=74–75}}</ref>

=== ''Bakhshi'' officer ===
[[Bakhshi (Mughal Empire)|''Bakhshi'']] officers were charged with the management and payment of a province's military. The provincial ''bakhshi'' often simultaneously served as the province's ''waqia-navis'' (news writer), and reported on all provincial ''mansabdar's'', including senior officials (such as the ''subahdar'' or ''diwan'').The role of provincial ''bakhshi'' could face tension from the ''subahdar'' or ''diwan'', since the ''bakhshi'''s activities kept these officials accountable to the imperial centre.<ref name="Corinne2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Abidin |first=Farah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DE-lCwAAQBAJ |title=Suba of Kabul Under the Mughals: 1585-1739 |publisher=Patridge Publishing India |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4828-3938-8 |pages=76}}</ref>

The ''Mir Bakhshi'' was the chief ''Bakhsh'', and worked in the central administration. The position was also referred to as ''bakhshi-ul-mamalik'' or ''bakhshi-i-mamalik''. Scholars translated the title as 'paymaster general' or 'army minister'.<ref name="RichardsBakshi2">{{Cite book |last=Richards |first=John F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC |title=The Mughal empire |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2 |edition=Transferred to digital print |series=The new Cambridge history of India / general ed. Gordon Johnson 1, The Mughals and their contemporaries |location=Cambridge |pages=63–64}}</ref><ref name="Corinne2" /> Unlike the [[Delhi Sultanate]]-era office, the Mughal version ''Mir Bakhshi'''s influence extended beyond the military, since every noble of the Mughal empire was a ''mansabdar''.{{sfn|Chandra|2005|pp=139–140}}

=== Imperial camp and fortresses ===
[[File:Great_Mogul_And_His_Court_Returning_From_The_Great_Mosque_At_Delhi_India_-_Oil_Painting_by_American_Artist_Edwin_Lord_Weeks.jpg|right|thumb|Great Mogul And His Court Returning From The Great Mosque At Delhi by Edwin Lord Weeks.jpg]]
The Mughal imperial camp, known as "The exalted camp" or "The victorious camp", was used for military expeditions and royal tours, also serving as a mobile, ''de facto'' administrative capital and imperial army headquarters. It was manned by hundreds of thousands of people and 50,000 horses and oxen required to transport tents, baggage and equipment as its challenge. Vincent Smith writes that the Mughal Camp was like ''a moving city from one place to other'' while [[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier]], discussing about the mode of travelling, observed that the manner of travelling in those days was convenient like Italy or France.<ref name="GRANDEUR OF THE MUGHAL'S MOVING COURT; ANJU BALA2">{{cite journal |author1=Anju Bala |title=Grandeur of the Mughal's Moving Court |journal=Online Journal of Multidisciplinary Subjects |date=1 June 2018 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=1015–1019 |url=http://docplayer.net/103105878-Grandeur-of-the-mughal-s-moving-court.html |access-date=13 March 2024 |publisher=Department of History, University of Jammu |language=En |issn=2349-266X}}</ref>

This mobile military capital was constructed by more than 2,000 personnel and labourers sent ahead of the main force. From the time of Akbar, Mughal military camps were huge in scale, accompanied by members of the royal court, as well as soldiers and labourers. Administration and governance were carried out from within, with the Emperors spending a significant portion of their rule within these camps.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sinopoli |first=Carla M.|date=1994|title=Monumentality and Mobility in Mughal Capitals|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42928323|journal=Asian Perspectives|volume=33|issue=2|pages=296 & 298|jstor=42928323|issn=0066-8435}}</ref> Akbar's entourage included small camps for journeys or hunting and large camps for royal tours and military campaigns, which could altogether accommodate 300,000 people.<ref name="Managing Mobility: New Materialist Approaches to Mughal Mobility in the Encampment and Constructed City; Jolen A Martinez2">{{cite journal |author1=Jolen A Martinez |editor1-last=Jordan |editor1-first=Avery |title=Managing Mobility: New Materialist Approaches to Mughal Mobility in the Encampment and Constructed City |journal=Rice Asian Studies Review |date=2020 |volume=4 |pages=29–34 |url=https://www.academia.edu/44568042 |access-date=13 March 2024 |publisher=[[Rice University]] Chao Center for Asian Studies |language=En |quote=...Mughal historiographical tradition has depicted the encampment as an example of its central Asian legacy.... He also created new revenue collection systems known as the khalisa... 21 Nevertheless, these centralizing policies also coincided with Akbar's .... Akbar's entourage included small camps for journeys or hunting and large camps for royal ...The emperor and his administration ruled the expanding Mughal empire from these camps.}}</ref> The large camp travelled an estimated 6-16&nbsp;km per day,<ref name="Description of Mughal Tents as a Temporary Capital; Naseer Ahmad Mir2">{{cite journal |author1=Naseer Ahmad Mir |title=Description of Mughal Tents as a Temporary Capital |journal=International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications |date=8 August 2017 |volume=7 |issue=8 |pages=668–670 |url=https://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0817/ijsrp-p6883.pdf |access-date=13 March 2024 |publisher=Centre of Advanced Study Department of History, [[Aligarh Muslim University]] |language=En |issn=2250-3153}}</ref> preceded by agents, scouts and workers who handled logistics, preparing roads and bridges, campsites, purchasing food and fuel and assuring the cooperation of local rulers.

As ''mansabdar''s, royal household, domestic servants and others presented a picture of a well-planned city, moving from place to place, traveller [[Niccolao Manucci]] who witnessed it wrote that the grandeur of the entourage was far greater than any European ruler.<ref name="GRANDEUR OF THE MUGHAL'S MOVING COURT; ANJU BALA2" /> [[Abul Fazl]] wrote that it was difficult to describe a large encampment, stating, "Each encampment required for its carriage 100 elephants, 500 camels, 400 carts and 100 bearers. It is escorted by 500 troopers, mansabdars, Ahadis besides, there are employed a thousand Farrashes, native of Iran, Turan and Hindustan, 500 pioneers, 100 water-carriers, 50 carpenters, tent makers and torch bearers, 50 workers in leather and 150 sweepers.".<ref name="GRANDEUR OF THE MUGHAL'S MOVING COURT; ANJU BALA2" /> [[Antoni de Montserrat]], who accompanied Akbar on a Kabul expedition, gave a detailed account of the magnitude of the Imperial Camp.<ref name="GRANDEUR OF THE MUGHAL'S MOVING COURT; ANJU BALA2" /> The marches came in intervals, as the imperial army adopted the Persian traditions of gardens and large and extravagant tents.<ref name="Description of Mughal Tents as a Temporary Capital; Naseer Ahmad Mir2" /> Persian texts such as the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', the ''Enuma Elish'', the [[the Code of Hammurabi|Code of Hammurabi]], Zoroastrian texts such ''Vendidad'' and ''Yasna'', and the [[Book of Genesis]] was implied in the pavilion structure of those gardens.<ref name="Description of Mughal Tents as a Temporary Capital; Naseer Ahmad Mir2" /> The pavilion-like structures in different Persian type and names used in this mobile encampment, such as ''emarat'', ''khaneh'', ''qasr'', ''moshkuy'', ''sarai'', ''shabistan'' ''tagh'', ''iwan'', and ''kakh'', while on the other side, it contained some permanent structures, and also tents with different sizes and complexities such as ''khaimeh'', ''khargah'', and ''sardagh''.<ref name="Description of Mughal Tents as a Temporary Capital; Naseer Ahmad Mir2" />

Akbar's massive mobile military encampment administration, followed by his successors, was accompanied by centralization policies practiced by the nomadic military style of his Central Asian predecessors, such as the Mongols of [[Genghis Khan]], [[Timur]] empire, and [[Babur]]<ref name="Managing Mobility: New Materialist Approaches to Mughal Mobility in the Encampment and Constructed City; Jolen A Martinez2" /> With steppe culture in mind, this model of military administration focused on the camps as a way to gain prestige and loyalty.<ref name="Managing Mobility: New Materialist Approaches to Mughal Mobility in the Encampment and Constructed City; Jolen A Martinez2" /> Babur wrote frequently about pitching his camp throughout Hindustan as he advanced.<ref name="Managing Mobility: New Materialist Approaches to Mughal Mobility in the Encampment and Constructed City; Jolen A Martinez2" /> Mobile technology that allowed Babur to evade his opponents was a military and political necessity because he was surrounded by raiding nomadic empires.<ref name="Managing Mobility: New Materialist Approaches to Mughal Mobility in the Encampment and Constructed City; Jolen A Martinez2" /> Regardless of his defeats in battle, Babur maintained control by monopolizing control of his subjects' movements, deciding which paths they would take as they maneuvered around Hindustan in their struggle for power.<ref name="Managing Mobility: New Materialist Approaches to Mughal Mobility in the Encampment and Constructed City; Jolen A Martinez2" />

The Mughals also erected permanent military fortresses such as [[Lalbagh Fort]],<ref name="Extracts from the Notes on the Antiquities of Dacca2">{{cite book |title=Extracts from the Notes on the Antiquities of Dacca |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6C4wNQEACAAJ |year=1903 |author=Sayid Aulad Hasan |publisher=Published by the author |page=5}}</ref> [[Allahabad Fort]],<ref name="Alphabetical List of Monuments - Uttar Pradesh2">{{cite web |title=Alphabetical List of Monuments - Uttar Pradesh |url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_alphalist_uttarpradesh_lucknow.asp |access-date=13 November 2014 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India}}</ref> [[Red Fort]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Delhi's Red Fort was originally white |first1=Dean|last1=Nelson|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] (UK)|date=20 May 2011}}</ref> [[Balapur Fort]], and [[Purana Qila]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/019wdz000003459u00000000.html | title=The Purana Qila, Delhi }}</ref> They inherited chains of forts, or ''qilas'' that were scattered throughout the Deccan.<ref name="Mughal Administration of Deccan Under Nizamul Mulk Asaf Jah, 1720-48 A.D.; M. A. Nayeem2">{{cite book |author1=M. A. Nayeem |title=Mughal Administration of Deccan Under Nizamul Mulk Asaf Jah, 1720-48 A.D. |date=1985 |publisher=Jaico Publishing House |isbn=9788172243258 |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRweAAAAMAAJ |access-date=14 March 2024 |language=En |format=Paperback}}</ref>

=== Manpower ===
Around the 17th century, the dynasty was ruling the world's wealthiest empire and controlling its largest military.<ref name="harrison2" /> The Mughals had an approximately 24 percent share of the world's economy and a military of millions of regular soldiers.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|p=300}}<ref name="Maddison20032">{{cite book|last=Maddison|first=Angus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA256|title=Development Centre Studies The World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics|date=25 September 2003|publisher=OECD Publishing|isbn=978-92-64-10414-3|pages=256–|author-link=Angus Maddison}}</ref><ref>Art of Mughal Warfare." Art of Mughal Warfare. Indiannetzone, 25 August 2005.</ref> Political scientist J. C. Sharman viewed the empire as one of Asia's great powers matching the [[Ming dynasty]] in terms of population, riches, and military power unmatched by their European contemporaries.<ref>{{harvtxt|J. C. Sharman|2019 |p=3}}</ref> Stephen Rosen calculated that even the highly conservative estimate for Indian peninsular military personnel per capita would at least rival contemporary Europe at the end of the [[Thirty Years' War]], using his own estimate of 550,000 personnel for the Mughal military and a population of 105,000,000 for Europe west of the [[Ural Mountains]].{{sfn|Barua|2005|p=47}}

The potential manpower of the Mughal empire in 1647, according to Kaushik Roy, reached 911,400 cavalry and infantry. He quoted the accumulation in imperial revenue of 12,071,876,840 ''dams,'' calculated by Streissand to support 342,696 cavalry and 4,039,097 infantry,{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=29}} while F. Valentijn estimated numbers higher than 4,000,000 in 1707.<ref name="Dirk H. A. Kolff 2002 42">{{harvtxt|Dirk H. A. Kolff |2002 |p=4}}</ref> It further illustrated that during Shah Jahan's reign, in 1647, the Mughal army composed of about 911,400 infantry and cavalry, while from 1627 to 1658, it included 47,000 mounted musketeers, foot musketeers, gunners, and archers.<ref name="Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500BCE to 1740CE; Kaushik Roy2">{{harvtxt|Roy|2015b|p=211 }}</ref> [[Antoni de Montserrat]] recorded in ''[[Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius]]'' that in the [[Mughal–Afghan Wars]] alone, Akbar could muster 50,000 cavalry, 500 war elephants and camels, along with "countless number of infantry".{{sfn|João Vicente Melo|2022|p=54}} De Montserrat claimed that the Mughal army under Akbar consisted of multiple ethnicities: Persians, Turkmen, [[Chagatai people|Chagatais]], [[Uzbeks]], [[Pashtuns]], [[Gujarati people|Gujaratis]], [[Pathans in India|Pathans]], [[Rajput|Rajputs]], and [[Baloch people|Balochis]].{{sfn|João Vicente Melo|2022|p=54}} [[Dirk H. A. Kolff]] claimed that this high estimate was essentially an "inventory of military labors" available for hiring in a single operation.<ref name="Dirk H. A. Kolff 2002 42" />
[[File:Battle_between_Mughal_princes_Chatelain.png|right|thumb|Battle between Mughal princes Chatelain]]
The ''Ain-i-Akbari'' chronicle recorded an estimate of 4 million soldiers including local auxiliaries, which consisted of infantries outside of Mughal controlled territories. According to Barua, this implied 3 percent of the Indian population in 1600. Barua asserted this number to exclude other political powers.{{sfn|Barua|2005|p=47}} [[Stephen Peter Rosen]] considered the 4,400,000 estimate of Mughal military population to be the most pragmatic, since he claimed that the ''Ain-i-Akbari'' census was too conservative, and did not cover the military population of southern India. Rosen inferred that Mughal military force numbered above 4.4 million.<ref name="Societies and Military Power India and Its Armies; Stephen Peter Rosen2" /> Far higher estimates came from [[Abraham Eraly]], who quoted [[Tapan Raychaudhuri]]'s work that the raw number of potential bodies of Mughal military personnel, including auxiliary forces, reached 26,000,000.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|p=300}} Eraly added the reflection of massive numbers of this Mughal military expenses in the case of Aurangzeb, who brought about 170,000 cavalry troopers and similar numbers of infantry and non-combatants, for a campaign in Deccan alone.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|p=300}} Eraly also mentioned Shah Jahan, who boasted about 900,000 troops.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|p=300}}

Other estimates came from historian [[Abdul Hamid Lahori|Abdul-Hamid Lahori]] recorded the Mughal military strength in 1647 as 200,000 paid cavalry, 185,000 other cavalry, and 40,000 garrisoned musketeers and gunners.<ref name="War and the World Military Power and the Fate of Continents, 1450-2000; Jeremy Black2">{{cite book |author1=Jeremy Black |title=War and the World Military Power and the Fate of Continents, 1450-2000 |date=2000 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-08285-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1W--DwAAQBAJ |access-date=9 December 2023 |language=En |format=Paperback |quote=... Mughals paid insufficient attention to the quality of their firearms, they nevertheless maintained a formidable mixed-arms army. In 1647, the historian Abdul Hamid Lahori listed Mughal military strength as 200,000 stipendiary cavalry ...}}</ref> Andrew de la Garza claimed that these troopers were not unorganized mobs, but rather units that had different roles, equipment and tasks, from heavy shock infantry that acted like [[Roman legion|Roman legionnaires]] or [[Swiss pikemen]], to the ''Shamsherbaz'' units that served as halberdier, mace fighters, or sword gladiators.<ref name="The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-16052" />

Soldiers were given the option to be paid either in monthly/annual payments or ''[[jagir]]''; many chose ''jagir''. The emperor also allocated ''jagir'' to ''mansabdar''s for maintenance of the ''mansabs''.<ref>{{harvtxt|Annemarie Schimmel|2004|pp=82–84}}</ref>

=== Logistics ===
The Mughal military developed an advanced logistics system, which according Rosen was comparable with the Romans or the US Army.<ref name="Mughal, Memorial Jon Guilmartin2" /> Historian Jeremy Black compared Mughal logistics with the [[Victorian era]] British army.<ref name="Jeremy Black; Mughal logistic2" />

Its massive war machine, complemented by large numbers of [[Pioneer (military)|settler pioneers]], animal trainers, security forces, spies, [[chef]]s, artisans, and others, allowed for armed forces that could operate effectively in any season or terrain.<ref name="Mughal, Memorial Jon Guilmartin2" /><ref name="Jeremy Black; Mughal logistic2" />

To ensure supplies for their massive cavalry forces, the empire had to ensure the transportation of [[fodder]].<ref name="Mughal hoofprint of empire2">{{cite journal |title=Hoofprint of Empire: An Environmental History of Fodder in Mughal India (1650–1850) |journal=Studies in History |volume=32 |issue=2 |year=2016 |publisher=Jawaharlal Nehru University |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0257643016645721 |language=En |last1=Arha |first1=Abhimanyu Singh |pages=186–208 |doi=10.1177/0257643016645721 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> A key component was producing revenue to employ camp followers such as accountants, bankers, and merch*#ants for months and years. Hundr¥eds of Mughal nobles had to supply their needs. The followers handled the needs of large camps inhabitants. They established an credit institution or [[Hundi]] system to supply the camps from local markets. Gommans noted that due to the empre's wealth, it was not necessary to frequently move their encampment sites.<ref name="Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire;1052">{{harvtxt |Jos J. L. Gommans |2002 |p=105}}</ref>

The logistics department proved pivotal in supporting naval fleets. The army logistical units cleared the jungles in coastal area and built roads and canals. This allowed naval units to advance, such as during operations in Assam by Mir Jumla and Chittagong by Shaishta Khan.{{sfn|Francisco Bethencourt|Cátia A.P. Antunes|2022|p=115}} Rivers and waterways peninsula proved crucial for the empire to transport their heavy artillery.<ref name="Jeremy Black; Mughal logistic2" />

== Arms and weapons ==
{{further|Mughal weapons|Mughal Karkhanas}}
[[File:Mumtaz_Mahal_Museum,_Red_Fort10.JPG|right|thumb|Weapons used by the Mughal Infantry]]
The Mughal's most important military equipment production centers were [[Delhi]] and [[Lahore]].<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=T7HpAAAAMAAJ&q=mughals |title= A Century of Collecting, 1882–1982: A Guide to the Manchester City Art Galleries |author= Timothy Clifford |date= 1983 |publisher= Manchester City Art Gallery |isbn= 978-0-901673-20-6 |quote= Under the Mughals, [[Delhi]] and [[Lahore]] had been the most important centres for the production of military equipment. }}</ref> ''Karkhanas'' or workshops produced arms, ammunition, and imperial stable-harnesses for horses using iron, copper and other metals.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Verma|first=Tripta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRntAAAAMAAJ|title=Karkhanas Under the Mughals, from Akbar to Aurangzeb: A Study in Economic Development|date=1994|publisher=Pragati Publications|isbn=978-81-7307-021-1|pages=18|language=en|access-date=2021-01-02|archive-date=2024-05-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516105534/https://books.google.com/books?id=IRntAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sharma|first=Sri Ram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7kQ5AQAAIAAJ|title=Mughal Government and Administration|date=1951|publisher=Hind Kitabs|pages=61|language=en|access-date=2021-01-06|archive-date=2024-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418195228/https://books.google.com/books?id=7kQ5AQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

The main weapons were the sword, spear, and [[bow and arrow]].<ref name="Abraham Eraly 2007 2932">{{harvtxt|Eraly|2007|p=293}}</ref> 

The [[Firangi (sword)|Firangi]] ({{IPAc-en|f|ə|ˈ|r|ɪ|ŋ|ɡ|iː}}) sword is a European style straight sword. Many classical image depictions of Mughal nobles holding firangis, or accompanied by retainers carrying their masters' firangis, suggest that this sword was a symbol of martial virtue and power.<ref name="Mughal Firangi sword2">{{cite book |author1=Nick Evangelista |author2=W. M. Gaugler |title=The Encyclopedia of the Sword |date=1995 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=Us |isbn=0313369739 |page=247 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rk7EEAAAQBAJ |access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref> It was used until the [[Indian Mutiny]] in 1857-58.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Saul David |title=The Indian Mutiny: 1857 |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=0141040971 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eULXUXXc2NQC |access-date=11 July 2024 |language=En |chapter=ill. 29, showing British and Indian Officers of Hodson's Horse March 1858. One Indian officer is armed with a firangi.}}</ref> The Rajput ''Shamserbaz'' infantry carried a [[halberd]] and mace. Some were equipped with sword-and-[[buckler]] set and a two-handed sword similar to the [[Zweihänder]], where they fought like central European [[Doppelsöldner]]s on the offensive.<ref name="The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-16052" />{{rp|89–90}}<gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Personal_armour_of_Akbar_-_CSMVS,_Mumbai.jpg|Personal body armour of emperor Akbar
File:Body_Armour_of_Aurangzeb,_Mughal_Period,_National_Museum,_New_Delhi.jpg|Personal body armour of emperor Aurangzeb
File:Shirt_of_Mail_and_Plate_MET_DP219616.jpg|Personal body armour of emperor Shah Jahan
File:Mughal_Armor_Detail.jpg|inscription detail of a Mughal armour
File:Dhal_(shield),_North_India,_Mughal_period,_17th_century,_steel,_gold,_silk,_leather_-_Royal_Ontario_Museum_-_DSC04543.JPG|Dhal (shield) from the Northern India during the Mughal era
File:Two-Handed_Sword_MET_36.25.1356_001June2014.jpg|Indian Two-Handed Sword; from the Metropolitan Museum of Art; donated by George C. Stone, 1935
</gallery>India was fertile ground for manufacturing technologies before the [[Industrial Revolution]]. The adoption of [[muskets]] became widespread under Akbar.<ref>{{harvtxt|Andrew de la Garza|2016|pp=114–115}}</ref> When the Portuguese reached India in 1498, they brought firearms, including the matchlock musket. Expert armourers were plentiful, and they copied the weapons and adapted them for local use.{{sfn|Gahir|Spencer|2006|p=156}} These indigenous matchlocks were called ''[[Toradar]]''.{{sfn|Stone|2013|pp=623-4}} They were found mostly in Mughal-influenced Northern and Central India.{{sfn|Stone|2013|pp=623-4}} One type of Toradar is slim, from {{convert|3-6|ft|cm}} long and straight stock with a pentagonal-shaped section, and a light barrel. The other type is between {{convert|5-6|ft|cm}} long, with a curved stock, diamond-shaped section, and heavy barrel, much enlarged at the breech.{{sfn|Stone|2013|pp=623-4}}

From the time of Babur, cavalry troopers wore heavy, chain mail armour and acted as mounted archers armed with [[Composite bow|composite]] or steel bows. Composite bows were made of animal horn and sinews with around four feet long.<ref name="Philosophers of War: The Evolution of History's Greatest Military Thinkers [2 volumes]; Mughal bows2">{{cite book |author1=Daniel Coetzee |author2=Lee W. Eysturlid |title=Philosophers of War: The Evolution of History's Greatest Military Thinkers [2 volumes] |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=US |isbn=978-0313070334 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OanOEAAAQBAJ |access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref> When facing a difficult situation, the cavalrymen would fight using ''Utara'',<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ3fAAAAMAAJ&q=utara+muslim+mughals |title= India and Its Army |page= 132 |author= Rajesh Kadian |date= 1990 |publisher= the University of Michigan |isbn= 978-81-7094-049-4 }}</ref> dismounting from their horses and fighting on foot until they died rather than retreat.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_2zNAAAAMAAJ&q=Utara+or+fighting+dismounted+.+This+was+considered+very+honourable+.+The+dismounting+was+resorted+to+at+the+crisis+in+battle+. |title= Know Your Armed Forces |date= 1969 |author=  Altaf Alfroid David  |page= 13 |publisher= Army Educational Stores}}</ref> Mughal armour was not as heavy as contemporaneous European armour, due to the hot climate, but was heavier than south Indian outfits.<ref name="Jos J. L. Gommans 2002 1202">{{harvtxt|Jos J. L. Gommans |2002|p= 120}}</ref>

== Cavalry ==
[[File:Painting_of_Cavalry_in_Durbar_Procession_of_Mughal_Emperor_Akbar_II.png|thumb|Cavalry in the Durbar Procession of Mughal Emperor [[Akbar II]] (reigned 1806–1837)]]
From the time of Babur, cavalry archery was a staple.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Sanjay Subrahmanyam |author2=Geoffrey Parker |author2-link=Geoffrey Parker (historian) |title=Arms and the Asian Part 1 |series=ARMAS, FORTALEZAS E ESTRATÉGIAS MILITARES NO SUDESTE ASIÁTICO – I |publisher=Revista de Cultura |year=2008 |pages=18–19 |url=https://www.academia.edu/20092687 |access-date=17 July 2024 |chapter=Revisiting European Firearms and their Place in Early Modern Asia}}</ref> Under Jahangir, the Mughals maintained 342,696 cavalry troopers.{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=29}} The Mughal army depended heavily on animals such as war elephants, warhorses, and bulls to transport their artillery.<ref name="Veterinary of Mughal beast of burdens2">{{cite book |author1=Susan D. Jones |editor1-last=Peter A. Koolmees |title=A Concise History of Veterinary Medicine |date=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108420631 |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pUF8EAAAQBAJ |access-date=11 July 2024 |language=En}}</ref>

André Wink claimed that cavalry warfare came to replace the logistically difficult elephant warfare and chaotic mass infantry assaults. Rajputs were co-opted by converting them into cavalry despite their traditions of fighting on foot. This was similar to the [[Marathas]]' role in the army of the [[Deccan Sultanates]].<ref name="making2">{{cite book |last1=André Wink |title=The Making of the Indo-Islamic World c.700–1800 CE|publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=University of Wisconsin, Madison |pages=165–166}}</ref> 

=== Horse ===
{{further|Arabian horse}}
[[File:Mughal_mail_head_defense,_Lahore,_1800s_-_Higgins_Armory_Museum_-_DSC05548.JPG|thumb|Mughal mail head defense, Lahore, dated from 1800s. exhibited by Higgins armoury Museum]]
''Bargustawan'' mail and plate armour worn by horses were formed from three parts, a ''shaffron'' (head defence), ''crinet'' (neck defence) and combined ''peytral'' and ''crupper''. Small plates edges are cusped and scalloped, giving the armour a geometric appearance. Panels of mail formed from alternating rows of solid and riveted links connects the rows. This arrangement accommodates radiating- pattern plates around circular plate edged with a brass border around the shoulders, flanks and neck areas of the armour.<ref>{{Cite web
|title         = Horse armour (bargustawan)    
|website       = Royal Armouries Collections Online
|publisher     = [[Royal Armouries Museum]]
|location          = [[Leeds]], England
|url           = https://collections.royalarmouries.org/object/rac-object-1693
|access-date   = December 23, 2025
|archive-url         = https://archive.today/20251223133326/https://royalarmouries.org/collection/object/object-1693
|archive-date   = 2025-12-23
}}</ref>

The key to Mughal power was its use of warhorses and its control of the supply of superior warhorses from Central Asia. Historian [[Annemarie Schimmel]] estimated that around 75 percent of warhorses were imported.<ref name="Annemarie Schimmel Mughal horses2">{{cite book |author1=Annemarie Schimmel |author1-link=Annemarie Schimmel |editor1-last=K. Waghmar |editor1-first=Burzine |title=The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture |date=2004 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=1861891857 |page=218 |edition=illustrated, reprint, revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7sewQQzOHUC |access-date=11 July 2024 |language=En}}</ref> This aided the Mughal in the battles of [[Second Battle of Panipat|Panipat]], [[Battle of Machhiwara|Machhiwara]], [[Battle of Dharmat|Dharmat]], reflected in eyewitness accounts such as that of Father Monserrate, which primarily featured the use of traditional Turko-Mongol horse archer tactics rather than gunpowder.<ref name="making2" /> The cavalrymen usually hailed from a high caste and were better paid than foot soldiers and artillerymen. They had to possess at least two of their own horses and good equipment.<ref name="Jos J. L. Gommans 2002 1202" />

The difference between Mughal heavy cavalry charge with their counterpart in European [[man-at-arms]] was the ability of the cavalryman to comfortably sit comfortably on their saddles during a top speed charge. Historian Jos Gommans recorded how the Mughals mocked the "European style" of cavalry charge.<ref>{{harvtxt|Jos J. L. Gommans |2002|p= 118}}</ref> The regular cavalry troopers were directly recruited by the emperor, mainly from the emperor's blood relatives and tribesmen. They had their own payroll and paymaster, and were better paid than normal horsemen [[Sowar|''sowars'']].<ref>{{cite book |author1=B. N. Majumdar |title=Military System of the Mughals |year=1959 |publisher=Army Educational Stores |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ecw9AAAAMAAJ |access-date=18 July 2024}}</ref>

Normally, the riders were armed with bows and arrows,<ref name="musket vs archer I A Khan; Mughal; 352">{{harvtxt|Iqtada Alam Khan|2001 |p=35}}</ref> [[Mace (bludgeon)|maces]], cavalry [[Lance|lances]], [[Sabre|sabres]],<ref name="Andrew de la Garza 2016 882">{{harvtxt|Andrew de la Garza|2016|p=88}}</ref> swords, shields, and sometimes also rifles.<ref name="Jos J. L. Gommans 2002 1202" /> Mughal cavalry armour was made of steel or leather, heavy chainmail, lamellar, or half-plate armour, while their horses also wore similar types of protection.<ref name="Andrew de la Garza 2016 882" /> The full set of their armour consisted of two layers; the first consisting of steel plates and helmets to secure the head, breast, and limbs. Underneath this steel network of armour was worn an upper garment of cotton or linen quilted thick enough to resist a sword or a bullet, which came down as far as the knees. There was also a custom among the riders to cover the body in protective garments until little beyond a man's eyes could be seen. Above all, they wore the traditional dress of their tribes, such as silken pants as the lower garment and a pair of [[kashmir shawls]] wrapped around the waist completed this costume.<ref>{{cite book |title=The army of the Indian Moghuls: its organization and administration |author= William Irvine |date= 1903 |page=64 }}</ref> Furthermore, [[Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri]] testified about the magnificent gallop of the Mughal cavalier's charge, as they adorned their horse's saddles and head covers with gems or jewel stones.<ref name="Abraham Eraly 2007 2932" />

The horse cavalry and musketeers recruited by ''mansabdar''s were required to meet the quality standards set by the emperor. The cavalry troopers in particular were riding the strong breeds of [[Tartary]] (central Asian)<ref name="The Writings of Antoni de Montserrat at the Mughal Court; 792">{{cite book |author1=João Vicente Melo |title=The Writings of Antoni de Montserrat at the Mughal Court |date=2023 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-9004471993 |page=79 |url=https://books.google.co.id/books?id= |access-date=11 July 2024 |language=En}}{{dead link|date=December 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> or Persian steeds which generally have larger bodies than most horses commonly found in contemporary India. The quality control regarding the imperial standard used ''Dagh'' (imperial mark) which branded on the side of the horse. The cavalry troops of the Mughals were also required to possess extra mounts as spares.<ref>{{harvtxt|John F. Richards |1993 |p=64}}</ref> Well-bred horses were either imported from Arabia, Iran and Central Asia, or bred in Sindh, Rajasthan and parts of Punjab. Emperors at times also issued firman or imperial mandates on regular intervals addressing officials like ''mansabdar''s, kotwals, zamindars and mutasaddis for the remission of taxes for promoting the horse trade.<ref name="Azad Choudhary2">{{cite journal |last1=Azad Choudhary |first1=R.B. |title=The Mughal and the Trading of Horses in India, 1526-1707 |journal=International Journal of History and Cultural Studies |date=2017 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |url=https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijhcs/v3-i1/1.pdf |access-date=4 June 2023 |publisher=Hindu College, University of Delhi |language=en}}</ref>{{pred|date=July 2024}}<ref name="Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500-17002" /> Meanwhile, the emperor and the high-ranking commanders using [[Arabian horse|Arabian horses]] for their high quality.<ref name="The Writings of Antoni de Montserrat at the Mughal Court; 792" /> The Marathan lords of [[Thanjavur]] regularly sent tributes to the empire by sending Persian and Arabian horses.<ref name="Mughal; gift, horse & Elephants2">{{cite book |author1=Muzaffar Alam |author2=Sanjay Subrahmanyam |author1-link=Muzaffar Alam |author2-link=Sanjay Subrahmanyam |title=Writing the Mughal World: Studies on Culture and Politics |date=2012 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0231158114 |page=360 |edition=illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mmLOKuzT-IC |access-date=12 July 2024 |language=En}}</ref>
[[File:Gatsby.jpg|thumb|Purebreed Arabian stallion]]
Aside from the high quality purebreed Arabian, Iraq, Khurasan, and Central Asia steeds, the Mughal also bred lower quality warhorses.<ref name="Jos J. L. Gommans 2002 1142">{{harvtxt|Jos J. L. Gommans |2002|p= 114}}</ref> The systematic classification of horse quality in Mughal empire was started in 1595 and generally divided horses into several classes such as:<ref name="Jorge Flores 782">{{harvtxt|Jorge Flores |2015 |p=78}}</ref><ref name="Jos J. L. Gommans 2002 1142" />

* Mujannas, mixed Arabian breed
* Yabus, mixed Turkish breed
* High quality native Indian breed from Sind, Balochistan, Kachchh
* Janglas, mid quality breed
* Tattus, a considered inferior breed
* Sanuji, local Punjab breed
* Gut, a western Himalaya breed with small bones
* Tanghan, an eastern Himalaya breed
* Pachwarya, a native Rajasthan breed

[[File:Turkish_horses_(SM_1557z).png|thumb|Depiction of Central Asian or Turkic horse]]
The most precious breeds of warhorse to the Mughals were:

* Iraqi variant of Arabian breed, which were considered by contemporary Mughals to be the best warhorse breed.<ref name="Annemarie Schimmel Mughal horses2" />
* Arabian-Persian mixed breed, for their endurance, speed, and mild temperament for training.<ref name="Jos J. L. Gommans 2002 1142" />
* Turkish breed, for their strength, greater stamina than Arabian breed, and long marches; this was considered the standard for a regular Mughal cavalry unit.<ref name="Jos J. L. Gommans 2002 1142" />

[[Stewart N. Gordon]] classified pre-colonial India into 3 zones of military culture. Southern India featured fortresses and light infantries, western India(such as the Marathas) basing their military forces on light cavalry, and the Mughals and Rajputs, relying on traditional heavy cavalry with feudalistic land revenue systems.<ref>{{harvtxt|Rosalind O'Hanlon |2007 |p=495}}</ref>

Tactically speaking, the Mughals were characterized by their frontal-combat oriented and shock-charge tactics. Heavy cavalry armed with swords and lances were popular in Mughal armies.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nfhGEAAAQBAJ&dq=mughals++cavalry+lances&pg=PT21 |title= Beyond the Military Revolution War in the Seventeenth Century World|author= Jeremy Black  |date= 2001 |publisher= Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn= 978-1-350-30773-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= The Indian Ocean in the Making of Early Modern India|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=viUlDwAAQBAJ&dq=mughals+heavy+cavalry&pg=PA203 |date= 2016 |author= Pius Malekandathi | publisher=Taylor & Francis | isbn=978-1-351-99746-1 }}</ref> The Mughal cavalry also trained in a special maneuver to attack enemies' war elephants, and could control their horses to stand on their hind legs and jump forward.<ref name="Stephen P. Blake 1986 2062">{{harvtxt|Stephen P. Blake |1986 |p=206}}</ref> The adversaries of the Mughals such as the [[Uzbeks]] employed their own cavalry archers to prevent the Mughal heavy cavalry from closing in.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Pratyay Nath |year=2022 |title=War and the Non-Elite: Towards a People's History of the Mughal Empire |journal=The Medieval History Journal |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=127–158 |doi=10.1177/0971945820961695 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0971945820961695 |access-date=17 July 2024 |issn=0973-0753 |quote=Nath, Climate of Conquest: 30–36|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Mughals also possessed their own cavalry archer units which were more effective than rifle armed cavalry, being able to shoot their arrows repeatedly while riding their horses.<ref name="musket vs archer I A Khan; Mughal; 352" /> [[François Bernier]] observed that a Mughal cavalry archer was capable of unleashing 6 arrows before a riflemen could shoot twice.<ref name="Stephen P. Blake 1986 2062" />

In the [[Second Battle of Panipat]], the Mughal army led by Ali Quli Khan Shaibani featured three sections of cavalry vanguard with the centre composed of 10,000 cavalry.{{sfn|Sarkar|1960|p=68}} This formation included Bairam Khan's detachment of Turks.{{sfn|Sarkar|1960|p=68}} There were unique characteristics among horse-cavalry troopers under the command of each [[Subahdar]] (Mughal provincial governor). According to the father of [[Shuja-ud-Daula]], [[Safdar Jang]], the [[Nawab of Awadh|governor of Awadh]] had adorned his contingent of 20,000 cavalry, who were mainly native Hindustan from the Jadibal district in [[Kashmir]], with the uniform of Persian [[Qizilbash]] in dress and taught them to speak Persian language casually.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49871/page/n267/mode/2up |page=254 |last= Sarkar |first=Jadunath |date= 1964|publisher= digitallibraryindia; JaiGyan|title=Fall Of The Mughal Empire Vol. 1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49871/page/n267/mode/2up |title= textsThe First Two Nawabs Of Oudh (a Critical Study Based On Original Sources) Approved For The Degree Of Ph. D. In The University Fo Lucknow In 1932 |author= Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal  |date= 1933 }}</ref> Meanwhile, the [[Sadaat-e-Bara]] tribe of [[Urdu-speaking people]] which traditionally composed the vanguard of the imperial army, held the hereditary role f serving as vanguard units of the empire in battles.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ak5oFjTys8MC&dq=barha+traditionally+right&pg=PA202 |title= Later Mughal |author= William Irvine |date= 1971 |publisher= Atlantic Publishers & Distri |page= 202 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3RVDAAAAYAAJ&q=barha+sayyids+every+battle |title= Journal of the Rajasthan Institute of Historical Research: Volume 12 |date= 1975 |publisher= Rajasthan Institute of Historical Research |author= Rajasthan Institute of Historical Research}}</ref>

=== Elephants ===
[[File:Mughal_elephant_armour.JPG|right|thumb|Side view Mughal [[War elephant|Elephant Armour]] model from the late 16th-early 17th century]]
[[File:Armored_elephant_front.jpg|right|thumb|Front view Elephant Armour model from the late 16th-early 17th century. An elephant armour (bargustavan-i-pil) dates back to around 1600 and was brought from India by Lady Clive, wife of Edward, 2nd Lord Clive (Governor of Madras), to England in 1801. It is said to be the largest armour of animal displayed in any museum. Elephants usually deployed in the centre of the line, where they served role to Shield the army against the opposition's charge or conduxt one themselves.<ref>{{Cite web
|title         = Elephant armour decoration   
|website       = Royal Armouries Collections Online
|publisher     = [[Royal Armouries Museum]]
|location          = [[Leeds]], England
|url           = https://shop.royalarmouries.org/products/elephant-armour-decoration?srsltid=AfmBOopS7aLRk8baG579SstfDHCfQU9yBWIpB-Jysr_6axjOXyKPYedQ
|access-date   = December 23, 2025
|archive-url         = https://archive.today/20251223134801/https://shop.royalarmouries.org/products/elephant-armour-decoration
|archive-date   = 2025-12-23
}}</ref>]]
Mughal army commanders led their troops atop an elephant,<ref name="ReferenceA2">{{harvtxt|Jeremy Black |1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |p=37}}</ref> as the perch gave them good vision for giving orders.<ref name="Masters of Warfare Fifty Underrated Military Commanders from Classical Antiquity to the Cold War; Pinzelli; Akbar2" /> An elephant unit consisting of two riders atop a single elephant was known as ''Howdah''.<ref name="Nossov; Mughal elephants2">{{harvtxt|Konstantin Nossov (Константин Носов) |2012 |pp=16–17}}</ref> They were mainly used to carry heavy goods.<ref name="Mahout elephant Mughal2">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Mahout |volume=17 |page=424}}</ref> Elephant riders in [[Indus river]] civilizations were typically called ''[[Mahout]]''.<ref name="Mahout elephant Mughal2" /> The riders were natives of desert areas like Rajasthan.<ref name="Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India2">{{cite book |last1=Mehta |first1=JL |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt Limited |isbn=978-81-207-1015-3 |page=359 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-TsMl0vSc0gC |access-date=5 June 2023 |language=en |format=Paperback}}</ref> Female elephants usually were tasked to carry or drag baggage and siege cannons, while males were trained to fight.<ref name="Masters of Warfare Fifty Underrated Military Commanders from Classical Antiquity to the Cold War; Pinzelli; Akbar2" />

In 1581, Catalan [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] Antoni de Montserrat recorded that Akbar had brought around 500 elephants and 28 field cannons to his battle against his brother Mirza Hakim.<ref name="Masters of Warfare Fifty Underrated Military Commanders from Classical Antiquity to the Cold War; Pinzelli; Akbar2" /> Montserrat testified to the supporting role of war elephants.<ref name="De la Garza elephant, nebelwefer & gladiator2">{{harvtxt|Andrew de la Garza |2016 |ps=german nebelwerfer...Monserrate notes the secondary role of elephants in the Mughal... 1,000 gladiators stationed in the royal palace...}}</ref> In 1703, under [[Aurangzeb]], Mughal commander [[Daud Khan Panni]] was recorded to have used 10,500 coins to purchase 30 to 50 war elephants from [[Ceylon]].<ref>{{Google books |id=3C1vz5ioOMwC |page=122 |title=Mughal Warfare: Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500–1700 }}</ref> Akbar maintained around 5000 to 7000 elephants in his ''fil-khana'' (elephant house), of which about 100 of the best were reserved for his personal collection (''khassa'').<ref name="An Elephant is Never Forgotten: The Mughals' Use of Elephants as a Means of Legitimizing Their Right to Rule; Vikram Aggarwal2">{{cite journal |author1=Vikram Aggarwal |editor1-last=Jordan |editor1-first=Avery |title=An Elephant is Never Forgotten, The Mughals' Use ofElephants as a Means of Legitimizing Their Right to Rule |journal=Rice Asian Studies Review |date=2020 |volume=4 |pages=1–10 |url=https://rasr.rice.edu/RASR_V4_FINAL.pdf#page=1 |access-date=13 March 2024 |publisher=[[Rice University]] Chao Center for Asian Studies |language=En |quote=..elephants significance to Mughal leadership's right to rule, depicting how cultural symbols are co opted and repurposed and thus underscoring the dynamic nature of culture and power....In South Asia, elephants have been a symbol of power and reverence since the ancient Vedic times, as shown in the Arthashastra and Manusmriti}}</ref> The Mughals were more interested in maintaining war elephants than their predecessors, the [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi sultans]], who never had more than 3,000 elephants.<ref name="An Elephant is Never Forgotten: The Mughals' Use of Elephants as a Means of Legitimizing Their Right to Rule; Vikram Aggarwal2" /> They changed their tactics to include elephants. Akbar was a proponent of elephant warfare.<ref name="An Elephant is Never Forgotten: The Mughals' Use of Elephants as a Means of Legitimizing Their Right to Rule; Vikram Aggarwal2" /> Historian Shireen Moosvin estimated the elephant population at 5,000, while [[Raman Sukumar]] estimated that under Jahangir, numbers swelled from 12,000 to 40,000.<ref>{{cite book |author=Raman Sukumar |author-link=Raman Sukumar |title=The Living Elephants |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-510778-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_IS80OBWTgC |access-date=2025-10-01 |pages=76–77}}</ref>

''Gajnal ele''phant unit carried Indian swivel-guns on its back.<ref name="Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India2" /><ref name="War Elephants2">{{cite book |last1=Nossov |first1=Konstantin |title=War Elephants |date=2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-84603-803-7 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w021CwAAQBAJ |access-date=5 June 2023 |format=ebook}}</ref> Two of these guns could be carried by a single elephant.<ref name="Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India2" />

Mughal's war elephants wore ''Bargustawan-i-pil'' armour. It consisted of [[chain mail]] and [[plate armour]] that weighed 118&nbsp;kg.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Jonathan Bloom |author2=Sheila Blair |title=Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set |date=2009 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=9780195309911 |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC |access-date=10 July 2024 |language=En}}</ref> However war elephants were vulnerable to firearms.<ref name="ReferenceA2" /> Mughal elephants bore substantial armour.<ref name="Mahout elephant Mughal2" /> it mostly protected the head and trunk. However, elephants ridden by high ranking figures typically were fully protected with chainmail, steel plates, sewn-scale or brigandine armour sets, although this was not typical.<ref name="Nossov; Mughal elephants2" /> From the earliest times, war elephants assigned to the frontline served as basically unstoppable shock troops.<ref name="Mughal, Memorial Jon Guilmartin2" />

Vikram Aggarwal highlighted historical accounts and religious lore to illustrate elephant's significance to Mughal leadership, co-opting cultural symbols and underscoring the dynamic nature of culture and power, Elephants played a major role in the culture of South Asia, as they had been seen as a symbol of power and reverence since the [[Vedic period]].<ref name="An Elephant is Never Forgotten: The Mughals' Use of Elephants as a Means of Legitimizing Their Right to Rule; Vikram Aggarwal2" /> The Mughals adopted elephant husbandry into their dynasty.<ref name="An Elephant is Never Forgotten: The Mughals' Use of Elephants as a Means of Legitimizing Their Right to Rule; Vikram Aggarwal2" /> [[Abul Fazl]], author of Akbar's biography ''[[Akbarnama]]'', stated that in Mughal society, the value of one well-conditioned elephant was equal to 500 horses.<ref name="An Elephant is Never Forgotten: The Mughals' Use of Elephants as a Means of Legitimizing Their Right to Rule; Vikram Aggarwal2" /> The empire had a regular supply of [[Sri Lankan elephant|Sri Lankan]] elephants from the Marathan lords of [[Thanjavur]].<ref name="Mughal; gift, horse & Elephants2" />

=== Camel ===
[[File:Reminiscences_of_Imperial_Delhi_Camel_Artillery_Man.PNG|right|thumb|Mughal [[Zamburakchi]]]]
Some Rajput ''mansabdar''s provided [[camel cavalry]]. The Zamburaks or camel units carried mounted swivel guns and were thought to be a Mughal innovation. Bernier reported that Aurangzeb took two to three hundred camel-guns with him on his expedition to Kashmir.<ref name="Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500-1700; page 125, 1282">{{harvtxt|Jos J. L. Gommans |2002 |pp=125, 128 |ps=(zamburak, shutarnal, shahin) that was attached to the saddle of the dromedary. These zamburaks were first mentioned by Bernier, who reports that Aurangzeb took two to three hundred camel- guns with him on his expedition to Kashmir}}</ref> Their mobility compared to their Gajnal elephant counterparts was considered pivotal, as these weapons, double the size of normal muskets, could be shot from the camels.<ref name="Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500-1700; page 125, 1282" /> Zamburaks attached to the saddle of a camel and the ordnance typically measured in two ''haths'' and forty - six ''liva''.<ref name="Karkhanas of the Mughal Zamindars A Study in the Economic Development of 18th Century Rajputana; Rajendra Kumar Saxena2">{{cite book |author1=Rajendra Kumar Saxena |title=Karkhanas of the Mughal Zamindars A Study in the Economic Development of 18th Century Rajputana |date=2002 |publisher=Publication Scheme |isbn=978-81-86782-75-0 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RRbtAAAAMAAJ |access-date=8 March 2024 |language=En}}</ref>

Akbar reportedly employed camel trainers from Baloch and [[Rabari]] ethnic in addition to his own camel corps that numbered around 6,000-7,000 camel riders.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Harbans Mukhia |author1-link=Harbans Mukhia |title=The Mughals of India |series= Volume 5 of Peoples of Asia |date=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0470758151 |page=190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxHTBQAAQBAJ |access-date=12 July 2024 |language=En}}</ref>

== Infantry ==
[[File:A_Mughal_Infantryman.jpg|right|thumb|A Mughal infantryman]]
The infantry was recruited either by ''Mansabdars'' , or by the emperor. The emperor's infantry was called ''Ahsam''. They were normally ill-paid, ill-equipped, and lacked discipline.<ref name="Climate of Conquest War, Environment, and Empire in Mughal North India2">{{cite journal |last=Spessert |first=Robert D. |title=Review: Climate of Conquest War, Environment, and Empire in Mughal North India – Pratyay Nath, Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2019, 368 pages |journal=Military Review |date=2019 |url=https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/January-February-2021/Spessert-Book-Review-Essay/ |access-date=4 June 2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> This group included ''bandukchi'' or gun bearers, swordsmen, and servants and artisans.<ref name="Climate of Conquest War, Environment, and Empire in Mughal North India2" /> They used swords, shields, lances, clubs, pistols, rifles, muskets, etc. They normally wore no armour.<ref name="Climate of Conquest War, Environment, and Empire in Mughal North India2" /> Unlike the Europeans who placed [[Laager|wagon forts]] in their rear formations, the Mughals army placed their wagon in front of enemy centers with<ref name="Climate of Conquest War, Environment, and Empire in Mughal North India2" /> chains connecting the wagons to impede enemy cavalry charges. These wagon forts provided cover for the slow-loading Indian musketeers,<ref name="Climate of Conquest War, Environment, and Empire in Mughal North India2" /> while protecting heavy cavalry who positioned behind the direct-fire infantry.<ref name="Climate of Conquest War, Environment, and Empire in Mughal North India2" />

===Musketeer===
Musket infantry (''Banduqchis'') units were generally more effective than archer infantry units<ref name="musket vs archer I A Khan; Mughal; 352" /> and were the majority.<ref>{{cite book |author=Satish Chandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PudjDwAAQBAJ&dq=banduqchis+bulk+of+mughal+infantry&pg=PT275 |title=Medieval India Old NCERT {{as written|Hist|roy [sic]}} Book Series for Civil Services Examination |date= 101|publisher=Mocktime Publications}}</ref>

The musketeers line was able to break the enemy's elephant charges without help from cavalry units, as was demonstrated in the [[Battle of Haldighati]] and in the [[Battle of Tukaroi]] against cavalry and elephant charges, exploiting some level of [[combined arms]] with cavalry and artillery units.<ref name="Andrew de la Garza 2016 49–502">{{harvtxt|Andrew de la Garza |2016 |pp=49–50}}</ref> They were most useful in rural operations to subdue local insurrections.<ref name="musket vs archer I A Khan; Mughal; 352" />

Locally recruited and equipped with [[matchlocks]], bows and spears, the infantry was held in low status and was virtually equated with [[Litter (vehicle)|''palanquin'']] bearers, woodworkers, and [[Pinjara|cotton carders]] in the army payrolls. Their matchlocks were one-third as fast as the mounted archers, and battle chronicles hardly mention them.<ref>{{cite book |last1=André Wink |title=The Making of the Indo-Islamic World c.700–1800 CE|publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=University of Wisconsin, Madison |page=164}}</ref> Indian Muslims usually enlisted in the cavalry and seldom recruited in the infantry, as they regarded fighting with muskets with contempt. The ''Banduqchis'' were mainly made up of Hindus of various castes who developed skills as marksmen, such as the Bundelas, the Karnatakas and Buxar.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.119114/page/n293/mode/2up?q=patronage |title=Parties And Politics At The Mughal Court |author= Satish Chandra |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1959 |page=245 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RFrXAAAAMAAJ&q=department+was+filled+with+Turkish+and+Feringi+gunners+and+cannon+-+founders+,+while+the+musketeers+were+mostly+recruited+from+certain+. |quote= musketeers were mostly recruited from certain Hindu tribes, such as the Bundelas, the Karnatakis, and the men of Buxar |title= The Mughal Administration |author= Sir Jadunath Sarkar  |date=1920 |page=17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149767/page/n89/mode/2up?q=sword+play |title=A Comprehensive History Of India Vol. 9 |author=Ghosh, D. K. Ed. |date=1978 |publisher=Orient Longmans |quote=The Indian muslims looked down upon fighting with muskets and prided on sword play. The best gunners in the mughal army were hindus}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=William Irvine |page= 668 |publisher= Sang-e-Meel Publications |date= 2007 |title= Later Muguhals }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kNiAAgAAQBAJ&dq=matchlockmen+mughal&pg=PA161 |title=Mughal Warfare: Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire 1500-1700 |author= J.J.L. Gommans |date=2022 |publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-55276-4 }}</ref>

=== Heavy infantry ===
[[File:Mughal_armor,_India-Pakistan,_mail_head_defense_Lahore_1800s,_mail_shirt_perhaps_1700s,_pata_gauntlet-sword_India_1600s-1700s_-_Higgins_Armory_Museum_-_DSC05543.JPG|thumb|Mughal chainmail armour set with [[Pata (sword)|Pata]] gauntlet]]
The main infantry was supplemented by specialized units such as the ''Shamsherbaz (''sword-wielders or gladiators,<ref name="Garza; Empire at War2">{{cite book |last1=Garza |first1=Andrew de la |title=The Mughal Empire at War: Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-1605 |date=28 April 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-24530-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E2ERDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT82 |language=en}}</ref> or swordsmen).<ref>{{cite book |author1=Henk W. Wagenaar |editor1-last=Parikh |editor1-first=S. S. |title=Allied Chambers transliterated Hindi-Hindi-English dictionary |year=1993 |publisher=Allied Publishers |isbn=8186062106 |page=1146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kWROaer5UsC |access-date=18 July 2024}}</ref> The Shamsherbaz were elite heavy infantry companies of skilled swordsmen. Some were assigned to the court to serve as palace guards, or participate in mock-battles or exhibitions. Tens of thousands were assigned to army units by the ''Mansabdars''.<ref name="Garza; Empire at War2" /> The Shamsherbaz were frequently used in siege warfare, unleashed to deal with any resistance once the walls were breached with explosives or artillery.<ref>{{harvtxt|Andrew de la Garza |2016}}</ref> They were divided into classes:<ref name="Pratyay Nath 2022 1572">{{harvtxt|Pratyay Nath |2022|p=157}}</ref>

* ''Yak-hath'': carried a single-handed weapon and a shield. ''Yak-hath'' soldiers originated from south India. Their shields could cover an entire horsemen, while those from other regions carried a smaller shield.
* ''Banaits'': carried a curved longsword called ''Bankulis.'' Each hundred soldiers were commanded by a ''Ṣadī'' (lit. [[centurion]]), who hailed from an ''Ahadi'' noblemen. According to Abul Fazl, their salary was between 80 and 600 ''dāms''.

Much of the Shamsherbaz were recruited from religious sects such as [[Tariqa|Sufi orders]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Andrew de la Garza |2016|pp=89–90}}</ref> Many Rajput tribesmen joined Shamserbaz units either as regular soldiers or as mercenaries.<ref name="The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-16052" /> Chronicler Abul Fazl recorded that around 1,000 Shamsherbaz lived within the Mughal royal palace, of approximately 100,000 gladiators in total.<ref name="De la Garza elephant, nebelwefer & gladiator2" />

=== Archer ===
Infantry archers were called ''dākhilī''. The emperor placed them under the command of ''manṣabdār'' officers. They usually had a salary of about 100-120 [[Dam (Indian coin)|''dāms'']]. A captain of 10 archers was called a ''Mīr-dah'' officer, typically paid between 20 and 180 ''dāms''.<ref name="Pratyay Nath 2022 1572" /> During Akbar's final years, the ratio of archers to musketeers was about 3 to 1.<ref>{{harvtxt|Andrew de la Garza |2019|p=92}}</ref> Archer units mainly filled a similar role as musketeer units.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Irfan Habib |author2=K. N. Panikkar |author3=T. J. Byres |author4=Utsa Patnaik |title=The Making of History: Essays Presented to Irfan Habib |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=1843310384 |page=82 |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejrBraqBaLQC&q=%22 |access-date=19 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{harvtxt|Iqtada Alam Khan |2004 |p=165}}</ref>

[[Mridha]] archers were the elite class archers units hailing from the parts of [[Dhaka]], [[Tangail]], [[Bikrampur]] and [[Pirojpur]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Chatterjee |first=Partha |author-link=Partha Chatterjee (scholar) |year=2002 |title=A Princely Impostor?: The Strange and Universal History of the Kumar of Bhawal |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/princelyimpostor00chat_1/page/29 29] |isbn=978-0-691-09031-3 |quote=Most of the larger zamindari establishments consisted of a considerable number—sometimes half or more of all estate employees—of armed men, called ''jamadar'', ''mridha'', ''peyada'', ''paik'', and so on, who were used against recalcitrant tenants. |url=https://archive.org/details/princelyimpostor00chat_1 |url-access=registration }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Islam |first=Sirajul |year=2012 |chapter=Lathial  |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Lathial |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref>

===Slave soldier===
{{redirect|Chelas|the concept of the disciple in Indian religions|Guru–shishya tradition|the station on the Red Line of the Lisbon Metro|Chelas (Lisbon Metro)}}
''Chela'' were slave soldiers. As counterparts to the mercenaries, over whom commanders had a loose hold, commanders typically collected personal dependents or slaves. Such troops were known as ''chela'' (slave). They were fed, clothed, and housed by their owner. The mostly had been brought up and trained by the master. They were recruited chiefly from children taken in war or bought from their parents during famine. The great majority were of Hindu origin, who converted to Islam after they were enslaved. These units were the most dependably loyal in the force.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mughal Empire in India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.511766 |first=S. R. |last=Sharma |year=1940 |page=11}}</ref>

The Mughals, Timurids, and other Mongol-derived armies, and unlike other Islamic states did not use slave soldiers as their regular army. The ''Chela'' mainly worked as menial labor, footmen and low-level officers. [[Eunuch]] officers were particularly prized for their loyalty.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bano |first1=Shadab |title=MILITARY SLAVES IN MUGHAL INDIA |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2006 |volume=67 |pages=350–57}}</ref>

=== Female palace guards ===
{{main|Urdubegis}}

''Urdubegis'' were women assigned to protect the emperor and inhabitants of the Emperor's ''[[zenana]]'', (harem).<ref name="Urdubegis; Khadija Tauseef2">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Urdubegis |encyclopedia=World History Encyclopedia |author=Khadija Tauseef |date=19 February 2024 |publisher= |location= |id= |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Urdubegis/Urdubegis |access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref> The women of the Mughal court were sequestered under ''[[purdah]]'', so their living quarters were run entirely by women.<ref name=":02">{{cite book|last1=Lal|first1=K.S.|title=The Mughal Harem|date=1988|publisher=Aditya Prakashan|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-85179-03-4|pages=14, 52–55}}</ref> The division of administrative tasks was dictated largely by [[Akbar]], whose ''zenana'' numbered over 5,000 noble women and servants.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Ain-i Akbari|last=Abu 'l-Fazl Allami|publisher=Munishram Manoharlal|others=Trans. H. Blochman|year=1977|isbn=978-81-86142-24-0|editor-last=Phillot, Lieut. Colonel D.C.|location=Delhi|pages=45–47}}</ref>

The women who protected the zenana were commonly of [[Habshi]], [[Tatars|Tatar]], Turk and [[Kashmiris|Kashmiri]] origin. Kashmiri women were selected because they did not observe ''purdah''. Many were purchased as slaves.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Women in the medieval Islamic world : Power, patronage, and piety|last=Hambly|first=Gavin|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1998|isbn=0-312-21057-4|location=New York|pages=431–433|chapter=Armed Women Retainers in the Zenanas of Indo-Muslim Rulers: The case of Bibi Fatima}}</ref>

They are mentioned as early as the reigns of [[Babur]] and [[Hamayun|Humayun]], and were proficient in the lance and bow. Emperors spent a great deal of their leisure time in the ''zenana'', and slept there. The women assigned to protect the women's quarters were part of the larger system to protect the emperor.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Women in Mughal India (1526–1748)|last=Misra|first=Rekha|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal|year=1967|location=Delhi|pages=79–80|oclc=568760006}}</ref> During Babur's and [[Humayun]]'s reign, when the Mughal throne was not consolidated, the harem was mobile, traveling with the Emperor. Accordingly, it was necessary to have trustworthy guards and thus, the army of ''Urdubegis'' was constituted. They accompanied the harem during excursions and sieges, and kept guard in the palace mansions were the Emperor's male soldiers were prohibited from entering. Warriors ascended the ranks, or were granted a promotion by the Emperor in return for a favour. For instance, Bibi Fatima, the only known ''Urdubegi'', was first a wet-nurse in Humayun's period, but was promoted to the rank of an ''Urdubegi'' by [[Akbar]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Findly |first=Ellison B. |date=1988 |title=The Capture of Maryam-uz-Zamānī's Ship: Mughal Women and European Traders |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/603650 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=227–238 |doi=10.2307/603650 |issn=0003-0279 |jstor=603650|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Despite the large number of ''Urdubegis'', the name of only one is known: Bibi Fatima. She is mentioned by [[Gulbadan Begum|Gulbadan-Begum]], Humayun's half-sister, who wrote of her in his autobiography the [[Humayun Nama|''Humayun-nama'']].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tauseef |first=Khadija |date=2022-06-20 |title=Urdubegis: The Forgotten Female Fighters of the Mughal Empire |url=https://www.mpositive.in/category/royal-familiespreindependence-descendants/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Ancient Origins Reconstructing the story of humanity's past |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=enrouteI |date=2022-10-22 |title=The Urdubegis — Female Guards of the Zenana and the Mughal Emperor |url=https://enrouteindianhistory.com/the-urdubegis-female-guards-of-the-zenana-and-the-mughal-emperor/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Enroute Indian History |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Artillery==
{{main|Mughal artillery}}

The Indian Muslims during the rule of Mughal maintained artillery dominance, and even after the fall of the empire, various other non-Islamic Indian kingdoms continued to recruit Hindustani Muslims as artillery officers in their armies.<ref name="Romesh C. Butalia 1998 3002">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eV262iNGUb4C&dq=artillery+officers+indian+muslims&pg=PA300 |title=The Evolution of the Artillery in India |page=300 |author=Romesh C. Butalia |date=1998 |publisher=Allied Publishers Limited |isbn=978-81-7023-872-0 }}</ref>

Mughal artillery consisted of various types of [[cannons]], light artillery, and [[grenadier]] units.<ref name="The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-16052" /><ref name="Throwing Fire Projectile Technology Through History2" />{{rp|133}}<ref name="The Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes - Debt Before Dishonour Timetable of World Dominance 1400-21002" /> The artillery was a specialized corps with its own designated commander, the Mir-i-Atish.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|p=291}} The office of Mir-i-Atish grew in importance during the time of the later Mughals.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi3cAAAAMAAJ&q=mir+atish+military |title=A Military History of Medieval India |page=657 |author= Sandhu |date=2003 |publisher=Vision Books |isbn=978-81-7094-525-3 }}</ref> Being in charge of the defense of the Imperial Palace Fort, and being in personal contact with the Emperor, the Mir-i-Atish commander had great influence.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=mir+atish+military&pg=RA1-PA235 |title=History of Medieval India |page=235 |author=V. D. Mahajan |date=2007 |publisher= Chand |isbn=978-81-219-0364-6 }}</ref> The Mughal artillery was somewhat risky to be used in the battlefield, since they exploded sometimes, killing the crew members. Light artillery was the most useful in the battlefield. They were mainly made up of bronze and drawn by horses. This also included swivel guns born by camels called [[zamburak]].

One of the largest artillery pieces used by the Mughal army was employed during the [[Siege of Chittorgarh (1567–1568)]], where they used a gigantic [[Mortar (weapon)|Mortar]] designed by Persian engineer [[Fathullah Shirazi]]. This mortar was capable of firing a cannonball weighing over {{convert|3000|lbs}}.<ref name="Masters of Warfare Fifty Underrated Military Commanders from Classical Antiquity to the Cold War; Pinzelli; Akbar2" /><ref>{{harvtxt|Andrew de la Garza|2016|p=47|ps="...One gargantuan mortar used....payload of over 3,000 pounds"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Asiatic Society, Asiatic Society of Bengal |location=Kolkata, India|title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 65, Part 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hOnRAAAAMAAJ|date=2007 |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bengal |isbn=978-9693519242 |page=294 |access-date=13 July 2024}}</ref> Another recorded mortar usage also recorded in 1659 during the conflict between Aurangzeb and his brother, [[Shah Shuja (Mughal prince)|Shah Shuja]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=James Prinsep |editor1-last=Sarkar |editor1-first=Jadunath |editor1-link=Jadunath Sarkar |title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (first published in 1896) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WHf7oZgguEC |year=2007|volume= 65 part 1 |publisher=Asiatic Society, Asiatic Society of Bengal |location=Kolkata, India |isbn=978-9693519242 |page=187 |access-date=13 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=William Irvine |editor1-last=Sarkar |editor1-first=Jadunath |editor1-link=Jadunath Sarkar |title=Later Mughals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOk2AQAAMAAJ |year=2007|series= Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal |publisher=Asiatic Society, Asiatic Society of Bengal |location=Kolkata, India |isbn=978-9693519242 |page=199 |access-date=13 July 2024}}</ref>

The Mughals also used [[Rocket (weapon)|rocket]] based weaponries.<ref name="The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-16052" /><ref name="Throwing Fire Projectile Technology Through History2" />{{rp|133}}<ref name="The Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes - Debt Before Dishonour Timetable of World Dominance 1400-21002" /> Emperor [[Akbar]] reportedly used metal cylinder rocket weapons known as ''bans'' against enemy [[War elephant|war elephants]], during the Battle of Sanbal.<ref name="POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE MUGHALS: INFLUENCE ON SOUTH ASIA; 1132">{{cite journal |author1=Swati Shiwal |author2=Dolamani Sahu |year=2022 |title=POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE MUGHALS: INFLUENCE ON SOUTH ASIA |journal=IJRTS Journal of Research |volume=23 |issue=23 |page=113 |url=https://ijrtspublications.org/fileserve.php?FID=235 |access-date=16 July 2024 |language=En |issn=2347-6117}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=MughalistanSipahi |date=19 June 2010 |title=Islamic Mughal Empire: War Elephants Part 3 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbzr26t8H2U  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Lbzr26t8H2U |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|access-date=28 November 2012 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 1657, the Mughal army also used rockets during the [[Siege of Bidar]].<ref name="Yazdani152">{{cite book |author1=Ghulam Yazdani |title=Bidar: Its History and Monuments |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=8120810716 |page=15 |edition=1 |year=1995}}</ref> Aurangzeb's forces reportedly used rockets and [[Grenade|grenades]] while scaling the walls.<ref name="Yazdani152" /> Some miscellaneous rocket artillery engine was also employed by the Mughal artillery corps, such as one which recorded by chronicler Abul Fazl, which modern historian Andrew de la Garza described as resembling German [[nebelwerfer]] artillery.<ref name="De la Garza elephant, nebelwefer & gladiator2" />

The Mughals artillery corps also employed hand [[Grenade|grenades]]<ref name="Irvine19032">{{cite book |author=Irvine W. |author-link=William Irvine (historian) |title=The Army Of The Indian Moghuls: Its Organization And Administration |url=https://archive.org/details/armyofindianmogh00irvirich |publisher=Luzac |year=1903 |pages=113–159}}</ref> and rocket artilleries.<ref name="The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-16052" />{{rp|48}}<ref name="Throwing Fire Projectile Technology Through History2" />{{rp|133}} These rockets are considered to be the predecessor of [[Mysorean rockets]] employed by [[Hyder Ali]] and [[Tipu Sultan]]<ref name="The Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes - Debt Before Dishonour Timetable of World Dominance 1400-21002" /> Pradeep Barua also noted that the Mughal technology for [[sapping]] and mining warfare saw small improvements from the Delhi sultanates which ruled India before them.<ref>{{harvtxt|Pradeep Barua |2005 |p=318}}</ref><gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="200">
File:The_Adventures_of_Akbar_artillery.jpg|depiction of Mughal artillery during the reign of Akbar
File:Bibi_Mariam.jpg|Mughal-era Cannon
</gallery>

== Naval forces ==
{{further|Shipbuilding in Bangladesh}}
[[File:1565-Battle_Scene_with_Boats_on_the_Ganges-Akbarnama.jpg|thumb|1565-Battle Scene with Boats on the Ganges-Akbarnama]]
The Mughals also maintained a considerable navy, known as the ''Amla-e-Nawara''. In [[Dhaka]] alone, the fleet numbered 768 ships, including 933 sailors of Portuguese origin and 8,112 artillery personnel in the east.<ref name="Mughal Forts on Fluvial Terrains in Dhaka; UNESCO2" /> To support the maritime operations, Mughal grand vizier [[Mir Jumla II|Mir Jumla]] repaired and fortified three river forts: [[Hajiganj Fort]], [[Sonakanda Fort]], and [[Idrakpur Fort]] between 1660 and 1663.{{sfn|Francisco Bethencourt |Cátia A.P. Antunes |2022 |p=116}}<ref name="Mughal Forts on Fluvial Terrains in Dhaka; UNESCO2" /> The Navy's main duty was controlling piracy, but it was sometimes used in war.<ref>{{harvtxt|Atul Chandra Roy|1972}}</ref> It is known from the standard survey of maritime technology in 1958, that Bengali expertise on shipbuilding was duplicated by the British [[East India Company]] in the 1760s, leading to significant improvements in seaworthiness and navigation for European ships during the Industrial Revolution.<ref name="Technological Dynamism in a Stagnant Sector: Safety at Sea during the Early Industrial Revolution2">{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=Morgan |last2=Ó Gráda |first2=Cormac |title=Technological Dynamism in a Stagnant Sector: Safety at Sea during the Early Industrial Revolution |journal=UCD Centre for Economic Research Working Paper Series |date=2017 |page=10 |url=http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/WP17_11.pdf |access-date=23 May 2023 |publisher=UCD SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN |language=en}}</ref> Among them, there are 923 Portuguese sailors in service of Akbar.<ref name="India, Modernity and the Great Divergence Mysore and Gujarat (17th to 19th C.); Kaveh Yazdani2">{{cite book |author1=Kaveh Yazdani |title=India, Modernity and the Great Divergence Mysore and Gujarat (17th to 19th C.) |date=January 5, 2017 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-33079-5 |page=258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdrzDQAAQBAJ |access-date=24 November 2023 |language=En |format=ebook |quote=Akbar supposedly possessed 3000 vessels or boats. Later on, the amount was decreased to 768 armed cruisers; (1618–1707) is said to have possessed four great vessels at Surat, the southern Gujarati port}}</ref>

=== Ships ===
According to records on the Mughal invasion of the [[Ahom kingdom|kingdom of Ahom]], the characteristic warships of Mughals in the Bengal regions were [[Ghurab]] warships which were outfitted with 14 guns.<ref name="The Mughals and the North-East Encounter and Assimilation in Medieval India2">{{cite book |editor1-last=Nag |editor1-first=Sajal |title=The Mughals and the North-East Encounter and Assimilation in Medieval India |date=2023 |publisher=Manohar |isbn=978-1-000-90525-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kEa8EAAAQBAJ |access-date=4 July 2023 |language=En |format=Ebook}}</ref> Their personnels numbered 50 to 60 crew members.<ref name="The Mughals and the North-East Encounter and Assimilation in Medieval India2" /> The officers of these ships were conscripted from Dutch, Portuguese, British, and Russian naval officers.<ref name="The Mughals and the North-East Encounter and Assimilation in Medieval India2" />

Another characteristic of Mughal warships were their strength and their size, due to the shipbuilding skills of their Bengali shipbuilders.<ref name="NAVAL STRATEGY OF THE MUGHALS IN BENGAL2" /> Contrary to the naval forces in Bengal which relied mostly on riverine fitted Gharb warships,<ref name="Naval Resistance to Britain's Growing Power in India, 1660-1800 The Saffron Banner and the Tiger of Mysore2">{{cite book |last1=MacDougall |first1=Phillip |title=Naval Resistance to Britain's Growing Power in India, 1660-1800 The Saffron Banner and the Tiger of Mysore |date=2014 |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=978-1-84383-948-4 |pages=28–34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AIKfBwAAQBAJ |access-date=20 June 2023 |language=En |format=Hardcover}}</ref>{{rp|28}} the naval forces of Janjira state which were subsidised by [[Aurangzeb]] and access to the port of [[Surat]] could construct more large ships like [[Sailing frigate|frigates]] and [[Man-of-war|men-of-war]].<ref name="Naval Resistance to Britain's Growing Power in India, 1660-1800 The Saffron Banner and the Tiger of Mysore2" />{{rp|34}} The man-of-war ships of the Mughals were as large as English [[third-rate]] ships, while the frigates used [[Bow (watercraft)|prows]] instead of [[Beakhead|beakheads]].<ref name="The History of India from the Earliest Ages Volume 52">{{cite book |author1=James Talboys Wheeler|author-link=James Talboys Wheeler |title=The History of India from the Earliest Ages Volume 5 |date=1881 |publisher=National Library of Scotland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HSBcVPdoHQEC |access-date=5 December 2023 |language=En}}</ref>{{rp|499–500}} Some of these ships carried thirty to forty pieces of cannons.<ref name="The History of India from the Earliest Ages Volume 52" />{{rp|499–500}} This navy included rare huge vessels with certain craft weighing between 300 and 400 tons and equipped with heavy ordnance on row boats, where a few matchlock gunners and spearmen were cramped.<ref name="Mughal Naval Weakness2">{{cite journal |last1=Hasan Askari |first1=Syed |title=Mughal Naval Weakness and Aurangzeb's Attitude Towards the Traders and Pirates on the Western Coast |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1961 |volume=24 |pages=163–170 |jstor=44140735 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140735 |access-date=23 May 2023}}</ref> The use of hand-driven pumps to remove excessive water from boats was already used by Indian shipmasters in the seventeenth century.<ref name="The Mughal Empire2" />{{rp|287}} However, larger imperial ships were also operated by Mughasl such as the [[Rahīmī]], which reached 1500 tons.<ref name="The Great Defiance How the World Took on the British Empire; David Veevers2">{{cite book |author1=David Veevers |title=The Great Defiance How the World Took on the British Empire |date=2023 |publisher=Ebury Publishing |isbn=9781473594524 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VlKFEAAAQBAJ |access-date=1 April 2024 |language=En |format=ebook |quote=Rahimi, a 1,500 - ton}}</ref> [[Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti]] also noted the existence of ships belonging to the emperor weighing 1000 tons.<ref name="The Archaeology of European Expansion in India Gujarat, C. 16th-18th Centuries; Dilip K. Chakrabarti2">{{cite book |author1=Dilip K. Chakrabarti |author1-link=Dilip K. Chakrabarti |title=The Archaeology of European Expansion in India Gujarat, C. 16th-18th Centuries |date=2003 |publisher=Aryan Books International |isbn=9788173052507 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ_pAAAAMAAJ |access-date=1 April 2024 |language=En}}</ref> Another notable huge ship owned by the Mughals was the ''Ganj-i-Sawai'', which had 800 onboard guns at its disposal.{{sfn|Roy|2015b|p=194}}{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=194}}<ref>{{harvtxt|Atul Chandra Roy |1972|p=XII }}</ref> Ganj-i-Sawai was reported as the largest ship in Surat at that time, with its 1600 tonnes in weight.<ref name="The Pirate King: The Strange Adventures of Henry Avery and the Birth of the Golden Age of Piracy2">{{cite book |author1=Sean Kingsley |author2=Rex Cowan |title=The Pirate King: The Strange Adventures of Henry Avery and the Birth of the Golden Age of Piracy |date=2024 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781639365968 |page=1629 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=68LEEAAAQBAJ |access-date=13 April 2024 |language=En}}</ref><ref name="Pirates of the British Isles2">{{cite book |author1=Joel Baer |title=Pirates of the British Isles |date=2005 |publisher=Tempus |isbn=9780752423043 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b4RzAAAAIAAJ |access-date=13 April 2024 |language=En |format=Hardcover}}</ref>

=== Naval history ===
[[File:Avery_Chasing_the_Great_Mughal's_Ship.jpg|thumb|The Ganj-i-Sawai, one of the largest armed trade ships in the 17th century.]]
For the two decades at the end of the 16th century, during their operations in Bengal, the Mughals faced difficulties due to the rainy climate and the geography of Bengal, which contains large portions of the [[Ganges|Ganges River]] delta, resulting in any attempts for military conquest turning into amphibious operations. Their opponents were local warlords, who owned large quantities of warships. The locals were also assisted by the pirates from the Portuguese Goa region, along with some Dutch ships, although some of the Portuguese instead assisted the Mughal empire.<ref name="Mughal Forts on Fluvial Terrains in Dhaka; UNESCO2" />

The Mughal amphibious forces also operated in muddy terrains, such as when Ghiyas Khan led an operation against Udayaditya of the [[Jessore District|Jessore]] Kingdom.<ref name="Kaushik Roy Lorge 1542">{{harvtxt |Kaushik Roy |Peter Lorge|2014|p=154}}</ref> To further improve their operations in wet terrains, the Mughals leveraged local Bengalese fortress construction techniques to build a number of cheap, river-dedicated fortresses which were built with the abundance of mud in the region. Soon, the imperial naval strategy focused on the mobility of their ships whose tracks were defended by these river forts.<ref name="Mughal Forts on Fluvial Terrains in Dhaka; UNESCO2" /> Grand vizier Mir Jumla also constructed land-based defensive installations to put on those floating river forts. These were constructed by lashing ships, while large rafts enabled the Mughal soldiers to fight on water.{{sfn|Francisco Bethencourt|Cátia A.P. Antunes|2022|p=116}} Heavy artillery pieces were brought on board rafts to supplement the existing ones, while wagons lashed to decks and stacks of crates or bales of straw and cotton formed makeshift fortifications.{{sfn|Francisco Bethencourt|Cátia A.P. Antunes|2022|p=116}}

The foundation of the salt water naval force of the Mughals was established by [[Akbar]] from the late 16th century after he conquered Bengal and Gujarat.<ref name="Command of the Coast: The Mughal Navy and Regional Strategy2">{{cite journal |last1=de la Garza |first1=Andrew |title=Command of the Coast: The Mughal Navy and Regional Strategy |url=https://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/12.1/forum_delagarza.html |journal=World History Connected |date=February 2014 |volume=12 |issue=1 |publisher=Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois |access-date=23 May 2023}}</ref> Emperor Akbar reorganized the imperial navy from a collections of civilian vessels to more professional institutions of naval administration; this is detailed in the ''[[Ain-i-Akbari]]'', the annals of Akbar's reign. The annals identify the navy's primary objectives as being the maintenance of transport and combat vessels, the retention of skilled seamen, protection of civilian commerce and the enforcement of tolls and tariffs.<ref name="Command of the Coast: The Mughal Navy and Regional Strategy2" /> Akbar was recorded in ''A'in Mir Bahri'', to be possessed of 3000 armed vessels, although this later decreased to 768.<ref name="India, Modernity and the Great Divergence Mysore and Gujarat (17th to 19th C.); Kaveh Yazdani2" /> In early 1600, the Mughals employed local Bengali warriors as their naval force.<ref name="Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500-17002" />{{rp|165}}{{sfn|Francisco Bethencourt|Cátia A.P. Antunes|2022|p=116}} these ''Nawwara'' is a Bengal local warlords.<ref>{{harvtxt|Jadunath Sarkar |1985 |page=8, .... Nawwara ( Bengal war flotilla )}}</ref> These locals consisted of the twelve chiefs of [[Baro-Bhuyan]] military confederacy, and were responsible for shipbuilding, commercial trade, slave raids, and military protection.<ref name="Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500-17002" />{{rp|165}} The Mughals assigned these local warlords to naval positions and gave uncultivated lands to them{{Clarify|date=November 2025}}.<ref name="Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500-17002" />{{rp|165}}{{sfn|Francisco Bethencourt|Cátia A.P. Antunes|2022|p=116}}

About 20 years after the [[Siege of Hooghly]], the Mughals in Bengal came into [[Anglo-Mughal War (1686–1690)|a conflict with English East India]]. The Mughal forces were commanded by [[Shaista Khan]]<ref name="Bengal – India's Rebellious Spirit2">{{cite book |author1=Temple of India foundation |title=Bengal – India's Rebellious Spirit |date=2018 |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=978-1-64324-746-5 |pages=449–450 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0MAYEglIiFAC |access-date=3 July 2023 |language=En |format=ebook}}</ref> and Masum Khan, the eldest son of [[Musa Khan of Bengal|Musa Khan]] and grand son of Isa khan, former enemies of the Mughals in Bengal during the reign of Akbar. Masum served as the Mughal army's general during the Hughly invasion in 1632.<ref name="bpage3982">{{cite book
| last = Chowdhury
| first = Kamal
| year=2005
|title = Banglar Baro Bhuiyan and Maharaj Pratapaditya
|page = 398
}}</ref><ref name="Unseen Enemy The English, Disease, and Medicine in Colonial Bengal, 1617-18472">{{cite book |last1=Bhattacharya |first1=Sudip |title=Unseen Enemy The English, Disease, and Medicine in Colonial Bengal, 1617-1847 |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-6309-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZJJDAAAQBAJ |access-date=3 July 2023 |language=En |format=ebook}}</ref> The English company under Admiral Nicholson, who had been granted permission by the emperor to sail about 10 warships,<ref>{{cite book |author1=H. C. Das |author2=Indu Bhusan Kar |editor1-last=Pani |editor1-first=Subas |title=Glimpses of History and Culture of Balasore |date=1988 |publisher=Orissa State Museum |page=66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=im1DAAAAYAAJ&q=nicholson%20bengal%20mughal%2010%20warships |access-date=3 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> aimed to seize [[Chittagong]] and consolidate its interests.<ref name="Bengal – India's Rebellious Spirit2" /> However, the English were defeated by the Mughal counterattack under Shaista Khan towards Hooghly.<ref name="Bengal – India's Rebellious Spirit2" /><ref name="Unseen Enemy The English, Disease, and Medicine in Colonial Bengal, 1617-18472" />

Empress [[Mariam-uz-Zamani]] maintained large fleets of trade ships, including the ''[[Rahīmī]]'' and ''[[Ganj-i-Sawai]]''.<ref name=":152">{{cite journal |last1=Safdar |first1=Aiysha |last2=Khan |first2=Muhammad Azam |year=2021 |title=History of Indian Ocean-A south Indian perspective |url=http://pu.edu.pk/home/journal/44/v7_no1_21.html |journal=Journal of Indian Studies |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=186–188 |quote=... Mariam Zamani then ordered the building of an even larger ship with 62 guns .... take pilgrims to Mecca...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=11 April 2021 |title=Harking back: The Empress and her two doomed pilgrim ships |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1617497/harking-back-the-empress-and-her-two-doomed-pilgrim-ships}}</ref> The Rahimi was the largest of the Indian ships trading in the Red Sea.<ref name=":22" /> It had large sails that were identifiable to sailors from miles away, and was known to Europeans as ''the great pilgrimage ship''.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=Findly |first=Ellison Banks |url=http://archive.org/details/nurjahanempressofmughalindia |title=Nur Jahan Empress Of Mughal India |pages=150–151 |language=English}}</ref> After being sacked by pirates, this ship was replaced by the ''[[Ganj-i-Sawai|Ganj-i-Sawa]].'' This ship was eventually scaked{{Clarify|date=November 2025}} by English pirate [[Henry Every]].''<ref>{{cite journal |year=1812 |title=The trial of Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, Wm. Bishop, James Lewis, and John Sparkes, at the Old-Bailey, for felony and piracy |journal=A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors |volume=13 |issue=392, column 451}}</ref>''

The Mughal Empire's naval forces also engaged in maritime cooperation with the Ottoman Empire to counter Portuguese dominance in the 16th-century Indian Ocean. Giancarlo Casale's The Ottoman Age of Exploration highlights that Ottoman fleets, such as during the 1538 Diu siege, relied on logistical support from Surat, a key Mughal port after 1573.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Casale |first=Giancarlo |title=The Ottoman Age of Exploration |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780195377828 |pages=87–89}}</ref> The Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient notes Surat's role as a trade and logistical hub, where local sailors aided Ottoman efforts against the Portuguese.<ref>{{Cite journal |last= |first= |title=Maritime Trade and Politics in the Indian Ocean |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |volume= |issue= |year= |pages= |publisher=Brill |doi= |url=https://www.jstor.org/journal/jeconsochistor}}</ref> Seydi Ali Reis's Mir'āt ül-Memālik records Surat's sailors providing supplies and navigation aid to Ottoman fleets in 1554, integrating Mughal naval efforts into a broader Islamic maritime network.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seydi Ali Reis |title=Mir'āt ül-Memālik |editor=Veli Sevin |year=1975 |language=Turkish}}</ref>

On November 9, 1665, Mughal commander Abul Hussain, under Shaista Khan, attacked [[Sandwip]] Island from Dhaka to oust 80-year-old pirate ruler Dilawar Khan (Raja Dilal), who had held it independently for around 50 years. Wounded in the clash, Hussain retreated to Noakhali as an Arakanese fleet approached but withdrew. Reinforcements of 141 boats, 1,500 musketeers/gunners, and 400 cavalry under Jamal Khan and others arrived. On November 18, the Mughals captured wounded son Sharif Khan and Dilawar after fierce fighting, imprisoning them in Dhaka. This bloody victory, aided by Dutch and Portuguese defectors, secured a base for Chittagong.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rizvi |first=S. N. H. |title=Chittagong District Gazetteer |publisher=Dhaka |year=1970 |ref=none |pages=82–84 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304141335/https://www.scribd.com/doc/150840424/Chittagong-District-Gazetteer |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/150840424/Chittagong-District-Gazetteer |archive-date=2024-03-04 |access-date=2024-03-04}}</ref>{{sfn|Sarkar|1919|pp=226–228}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ahmad |first=Shafaat |title=Anglo-Portuguese Negotiations Relating to Bombay, 1660–1677 |journal=Journal of Indian History |volume=13 |pages=1–22 |date=1934 |jstor=44140983 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140983 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304141335/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140983 |archive-date=2024-03-04 }}</ref>

In the same year, during the [[Shaista Khan#Conquest of Chittagong|conflict against the kingdom of Arakan]] in December, Aurangzeb dispatched Shaista Khan, his governor of Bengal to command 288 vessels and more than 20,000 men to pacify the pirate activities within Arakan territory and to capture [[Chittagong]],<ref name="Command of the Coast: The Mughal Navy and Regional Strategy2" /><ref name="The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760; Richard M. Eaton2">{{cite book |author1=Richard M. Eaton|author-link=Richard M. Eaton |title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760 |date=2023 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91777-4 |page=237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cMTLEAAAQBAJ |access-date=8 March 2024 |language=En |format=ebook}}</ref> assisted by about 40 Portuguese vessels.<ref name="Majumdar20072">{{cite book |date=2007 |orig-year=First published 1974 |editor1-last=Majumdar |editor1-first=Ramesh Chandra |editor1-link=R. C. Majumdar |editor2-last=Pusalker |editor2-first=A. D. |editor3-last=Majumdar |editor3-first=A. K. |series=The History and Culture of the Indian People |title-link=The History and Culture of the Indian People |volume=VII |title=The Mughal Empire |location=Mumbai |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan}}</ref>{{rp|230}} Ibn Hussain, Shaista Khan's admiral, was asked to lead the navy, while the subahdar himself took up the responsibility of supplying provisions for the campaign. He also ordered [[Farhad Khan]] and Mir Murtaza to take the land route, while the overall command was given to [[Buzurg Umed Khan]], a son of Shaista Khan.<ref name="Majumdar20072" />{{rp|230}} The Mughals and the Portuguese held sway in the following naval battle. The conquered territory to the western bank of Kashyapnadi ([[Kaladan river]]) was placed under direct imperial administration. The name of Chittagong was changed to Islamabad and it became the headquarters of a Mughal [[faujdar]].<ref name="Majumdar20072" />{{rp|230}} This ensuing conflict in Chittagong was documented as the largest galley battle of the [[Early modern period|Early Modern period]], involving more than 500 ships and claiming more than 40,000 lives.<ref name="Command of the Coast: The Mughal Navy and Regional Strategy2" /> After the Mughals took Chittagong, the Portuguese moved to the Ferengi Bazaar in Dhaka. Descendants of the Portuguese still reside in these places.{{Sfn|Hasan|2012|p=125}}
[[File:Murud_Janjira_Fort.JPG|thumb|[[Murud-Janjira]], a semi independent island fort which allied to the Mughals .{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=13}}]]
It is said in the Ahkam 'Alamgiri record that the commander of British navy, Sir John Child, concluded peace with the Mughals in 1689 due to his fear of the "Mughal navy" force of Janjira which let by [[Yakut Khan|Siddi Yaqub]].<ref name="Mughal Naval Weakness2" /> According to Grant Duff, until 1670 the imperial navy under the leadership of Shah Jahan with the Janjira mariners has clashed frequently against [[Maratha Navy]] under [[Shivaji]], where the Janjira and Mughal naval forces always comes victorious.<ref name="History of the Konkan2">{{cite book |last1=Kyd Nairne |first1=Alexander |title=History of the Konkan |date=1988 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0275-5 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzPCcILP-XwC |access-date=19 June 2023 |language=En |format=Hardcover}}</ref> English letters in 1672 record that Aurangzeb sent 30 small frigates to assist the Siddis in Danda-Rajapuri.<ref name="Chinese and Indian Warfare - From the Classical Age to 18702">{{harvtxt |Kaushik Roy |Peter Lorge|2014|p=196}}</ref> The resulting battle caused the Shivaji naval forces to be burned and 50 ships to be lost.<ref name="Chinese and Indian Warfare - From the Classical Age to 18702" />{{rp|196}} [[Khafi Khan]] also records that the Mughal fleet once inflicted heavy losses on the Maratha naval forces during the reign of Shah Jahan, capturing 200 while suffering only 100 casualties. This fuelled the rivalry of the Siddis with the Maratha in the sea.<ref name="Chinese and Indian Warfare - From the Classical Age to 18702" />{{rp|196}}

During the era of Aurangzeb, the chronicle of ''Ahkam 'Alamgiri'' reveals how the Mughals had struggled to establish a strong navy, spurred by the failure to prevent losses of Muslim vessels off the coast of the [[Maldives]] islands. Aurangzeb was said to possess four huge vessels at Surat and the port of southern Gujarat.<ref name="India, Modernity and the Great Divergence Mysore and Gujarat (17th to 19th C.); Kaveh Yazdani2" /> Aurangzeb's Vizier, Jafar Khan, blames the Mughal lack of ability to establish an effective navy not on the lack of resources and money, but on the lack of men to direct (the vessels).<ref name="Mughal Naval Weakness2" /> Thus, Syed Hassan Askari concluded that the lack of priority of Aurangzeb to afford his naval project due to his conflicts against the Maratha hindered his ability to do so.<ref name="Mughal Naval Weakness2" />

Andrew de la Garza stated that the other reason why the Mughal navy did not evolve into a high seas fleet during the 17th century was the technological inferiority of Indian [[Blast furnace|blast furnaces]] in comparison with their European counterparts, which were capable of creating the high temperatures required to manufacture [[cast iron]] cannons in quantity.<ref name="Command of the Coast: The Mughal Navy and Regional Strategy2" /> Nevertheless, Syed maintained that the Mughals were not independently able to control rampant piracy and European naval incursions, instead depending on the strength of friendly Arab forces from [[Muscat]] to keep the Portuguese in check.<ref name="Mughal Naval Weakness2" /> Alternative explanation were offered by [[Michael Pearson (historian)|Michael Naylor Pearson]], as he and other historians suggested that the Portuguese were actually posing no real threat to the Hajj expeditions during the reign of Aurangzeb. Umar Ryad highlighted the fact that the Portuguese typically did not dare to attack armadas of pilgrims sponsored by the Mughal empire, since they were heavily protected with many military personnel in each ship.<ref name="umarryad2">{{cite book 
|author=Umar Ryad 
|title=The Hajj and Europe in the Age of Empire 
|isbn=  9789004323353
|date=2016
|page= 31 |publisher=BRILL 
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-wIKEQAAQBAJ |access-date=23 May 2023}}</ref>

However, Syed Hassan also highlighted that Aurangzeb did not completely neglect the Mughal navy as he had acquired British expertise to strengthen the fort of [[Murud-Janjira#History|Janjira]] island, while also establishing naval cooperation with semi independent [[Siddi]] community naval force of [[Janjira State]] which resisted the Marathas.<ref name="Mughal Naval Weakness2" /> The proficiency of the Siddi Yaqub navy is exemplified during [[Anglo-Mughal War (1686–1690)#Events|Siege of Bombay]], where Siddi Yaqub and his [[Mappila Muslims|Mappila]] fleet blockaded the fortress and forced the submission of the British forces.<ref name="The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600-17502">{{cite book |last1=Veevers |first1=David |title=The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600-1750 |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-48395-7 |page=156 |edition=Hardcover |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uhzhDwAAQBAJ |access-date=23 May 2023}}</ref> In the late 1600s, Sidi Yaqut received a subsidy of 400,000 rupees from emperor Aurangzeb to manage [[Murud-Janjira]] He also owned large ships which weighed 300–400 tons. According to records, these ships were unsuitable for fighting on the open sea against European warships, but their size allowed for transporting soldiers for amphibious operations.{{sfn|Roy|2011|p=13}} Reports from travellers has noted that Mughal general [[Mir Jumla II]] was employing the services the sailors from British, the Dutch, and the Portuguese, along their ships.{{sfn|Sarkar|1951|p=243-244}} In August, 1660, he employed 6–7 British sailors of a small vessel carrying Trevisa, the English Agent, to [[Dhaka]].{{sfn|Sarkar|1951|p=243-244}} He also utilised the services of both the Dutch and the British for constructing his warships as it is recorded a [[galiot]] built by the Dutch at [[Hooghly district]] and manned by 6–7 British fugitives under a captain named John Durson.{{sfn|Sarkar|1951|p=243-244}} Furthermore, Mir Jumla also employing a Britishman named Thomas Pratt to construct boats and making ammunition for riverine warfare{{sfn|Sarkar|1951|p=243-244}} During the tenure of Mughal general Mir Jumla in Bengal, he employed Portuguese, English, and Dutch sailors to operate his 323 warships.{{sfn|Francisco Bethencourt|Cátia A.P. Antunes|2022|p=116}}{{sfn|Sarkar|1951|p=243-244}} In August, 1660, he employed 6–7 British sailors of a small vessel carrying Trevisa, the English Agent, to [[Dhaka]].{{sfn|Sarkar|1951|p=243-244}} He also utilised the services of both the Dutch and the British for constructing his warships as it is recorded a [[galiot]] built by the Dutch at [[Hooghly district]] and manned by 6–7 British fugitives under a captain named John Durson.{{sfn|Sarkar|1951|p=243-244}} Furthermore, Mir Jumla also employing a British named Thomas Pratt to construct boats and making ammunition for riverine warfare.{{sfn|Sarkar|1951|p=243-244}} After the death of Mir Jumla, Shaista Khan launched conquest of Chittagong in 1666, where he employing the fleet of ships belonging local warlords group in Bengal, which called [[Baro-Bhuyan|''Nawwara'']], to overcome the turbulent water frontier of the region.<ref>{{harvtxt|Francisco Bethencourt |Cátia A.P. Antunes |2022 |p=115}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Battles of the Mughal Empire]]
* [[List of battles involving the Mughal Empire]]
* [[Tipu Sultan]]
* [[Sir John Child]]
* [[Yahya Saleh]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
=== Book ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author1=Abdul Sabahuddin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-C1uAAAAMAAJ |title=Mughal Strategy of War |author2=Rajshree Shukla |date=2003 |publisher=Global Vision Publishing House |isbn=9788187746997 |language=En |format=Hardcover |access-date=21 March 2024}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Eraly |first1=Abraham |author-link=Abraham Eraly |url=https://archive.org/details/emperorsofpeacoc0000eral/page/171/mode/1up |title=Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-14-100143-2 |orig-year=First published 1997}}
* {{cite book |last=Ali |first=Syed Murtaza |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJk9AAAAMAAJ |title=হযরত শাহ জালাল ও সিলেটের ইতিহাস |publisher=[[Bangla Academy (Bangladesh)|Bangla Academy]] |year=1965 |location=[[Dhaka]] |language=Bangla}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ali Khan |first1=Zulfiqar |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.73304/page/n4/mode/1up |title=Sher Shah Suri, Emperor of India |publisher=Civil and Military Gazette Press |year=1925 |location=Lahore}}
* {{cite book |last1=Eraly |first1=Abraham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zpa8gyGW_twC&dq=the+artillery+had+a+specialized+commander+mughal&pg=PA291 |title=The Mughal World: Life in India's Last Golden Age |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-14-310262-5 |page=291}}
* {{cite book |author1=Andrew de la Garza |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGERDAAAQBAJ |title=The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-1605 |date=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-24531-5 |language=En |access-date=6 December 2023}}
* {{cite book |last1=Banerji |first1=S.K. |url=https://archive.org/details/humayunbadshah035068mbp/mode/2up |title=Humāyun Bādshāh |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1938 |location=Calcutta |oclc=952877148}}
* {{cite book |last=Barua|first=Pradeep  |url=https://epdf.tips/the-state-at-war-in-south-asia-5ea6a52742153.html |title=The State at War in South Asia Studies in War, Society, and the Military |date=2005 |publisher=[[Ohio State University]]; [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]] |editor1-last=Grimsley |editor1-first=Mark |page=47 |language=en |access-date=13 March 2024}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sabyasachi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3GxzQEACAAJ |title=A Comprehensive History of Modern Bengal, 1700-1950 |date=2020 |publisher=Asiatic Society |isbn=978-93-89901-95-5 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bhattacherje |first1=S. B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGVSvXuCsyUC |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates |publisher=Sterling Publishers |year=2009 |isbn=978-81-207-4074-7 |language=en |access-date=11 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240121155826/https://books.google.com/books?id=oGVSvXuCsyUC |archive-date=21 January 2024 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of India, Volume IV: The Mughal Period |publisher=Cambridge University Press |others=Planned by Wolseley Haig |year=1960 |editor-last=Burn |editor-first=Richard |ref={{sfnref|Haig & Burn, The Mughal Period|1960}} |orig-date=1937}}
* {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=James Macnabb |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54652/54652-h/54652-h.htm |title=History of Gujarát |publisher=The Government Central Press |year=1896 |editor=[[James Macnabb Campbell]] |series=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency |volume=I(II) |pages=266–274 |chapter=Chapter II. ÁHMEDÁBÁD KINGS. (A. D. 1403–1573.), Chapter III. MUGHAL VICEROYS. (A.D. 1573–1758)}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chandra |first1=Satish |author-link=Satish Chandra (historian) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&pg=PA105 |title=Medieval India: from Sultanat to the Mughals |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |year=2005 |isbn=978-81-241-1066-9 |edition=Revised |volume=II |location=New Delhi |orig-year=First published 1999}}
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-link=Satish Chandra (historian) |title=History of Medieval India |publisher=[[Orient Longman]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-81-250-3226-7 |place=New Delhi}}
* {{cite book |author1=Dirk H. A. Kolff |author1-link=Dirk H. A. Kolff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrdiVPsFRYIC |title=Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850 |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521523059 |language=En |format=illustrated, reprint, revised |access-date=14 April 2024}}
* {{cite book |author1=Francis Robinson |title=ムガル皇帝歴代誌 |date=2009 |publisher=創元社 |page=242 |language=Ja |trans-title=Chronicles of the Mughals |id={{ASIN|4422215205|country=jp}}}}
* {{cite book |author1=Francisco Bethencourt |author1-link=Francisco Bethencourt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mplcEAAAQBAJ |title=Merchant Cultures A Global Approach to Spaces, Representations and Worlds of Trade, 1500–1800 |author2=Cátia A.P. Antunes |date=2022 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004506572 |language=En |access-date=21 March 2024}}
* {{cite book |title=Weapon - A Visual History of Arms and Armor |date=2006 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=9780756622107 |editor1-last=Gahir |editor1-first=Sunita |location=New York City |editor2-last=Spencer |editor2-first=Sharon}}
* {{cite book |last1=Habib |first1=Irfan |author-link=Irfan Habib |title=Akbar and His India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-19-563791-5 |place=New Delhi}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SaG8GIBTIGAC |title=The Muslim world in the 21st century : space, power, and human development |date=2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-94-007-2632-1 |editor1-last=Hasan |editor1-first=Samiul |location=New York |access-date=13 July 2015}}
* {{cite book |last=Hodgson |first=Marshall G. S. |author-link=Marshall Hodgson |title=The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization' |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-226-34677-9 |location=Chicago}}
* {{cite book |author1=Jeremy Black |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neUKEvaYPZYC |title=The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492-1792, Volume 2 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |isbn=0521470331 |edition=Illustrated |page=37 |access-date=19 July 2024}}
* {{cite book |author1=Jorge Flores |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3XsCgAAQBAJ |title=The Mughal Padshah: A Jesuit Treatise on Emperor Jahangir's Court and Household |date=2015 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004307537 |series=Volume 6 of Rulers & Elites |page=74 |language=En |access-date=13 July 2024}}
* {{cite book |author1=Jos J. L. Gommans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vA3YVOt9QZUC |title=Mughal Warfare Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire, 1500-1700 |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-23989-9 |language=En |format=Paperback |access-date=4 December 2023}}
* {{cite book |author1=Konstantin Nossov (Константин Носов) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w021CwAAQBAJ |title=War Elephants |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=978-1846038037 |access-date=19 July 2024}} Author link=* [[:ru:Носов, Константин Георгиевич|Konstantin Georgievich Nossov]]
* {{cite book |author1=Iqtada Alam Khan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s4PfAAAAMAAJ |title=Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=0195665260}}
* {{cite book |author1=J. C. Sharman |title=Empires of the Weak: The Real Story of European Expansion and the Creation of the New World Order |date=2019 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0691182797 |language=En}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Jenkins |first1=Everett Jr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSYkCQAAQBAJ |title=The Muslim Diaspora (Volume 2, 1500-1799): A Comprehensive Chronology of the Spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas |publisher=McFarland |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4766-0889-1 |language=en |access-date=11 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111182852/https://books.google.com/books?id=kSYkCQAAQBAJ |archive-date=11 January 2024 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |first=João Vicente |last=Melo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHFuEAAAQBAJ |title=Jesuit and English Experiences at the Mughal Court, C. 1580–1615 |date=2022 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=9783030965884 |language=En |format=ebook |access-date=16 March 2024}}
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* {{cite book |author1=Muzaffar H. Syed |title=History of Indian Nation : Medieval India |date=1905 |publisher=K. K. Publications |isbn=81-7844-132-2}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Sarkar |first1=Jagadish Narayan |url=https://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/65196.pdf |title=The Life of Mir Jumla, the General of Aurangzab |date=1951 |publisher=[[Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts]] |language=En |access-date=8 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014040654/http://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/65196.pdf |archive-date=14 October 2023 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Prasad |first=Beni |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.281009 |title=History of Jahangir |publisher=The Indian Press |year=1930 |edition=2nd |location=Allahabad |orig-year=1922}}
* {{Cite book |last=Prasad |first=Ishwari |author-link=Ishwari Prasad |title=The Mughal Empire |publisher=Chugh Publications |year=1974 |location=Allahabad |oclc=1532660}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Puri |first1=B. N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7fUHMEDAyEC&q=sher+shah+suri+bengal+campaign+1537 |title=A Comprehensive History of India: Comprehensive history of medieval India |last2=Das |first2=M. N. |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |year=2003 |isbn=978-81-207-2508-9 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Richards |first1=John F. |author-link=John F. Richards |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA288 |title=The Mughal Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Rizvi |first=S. N. H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GntCAAAAYAAJ |title=East Pakistan District Gazetteers: Dacca |publisher=East Pakistan Government Press |year=1969}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roy |first1=Kaushik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zp0FbTniNaYC |title=War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-136-79087-4 |edition=Volume 3 Asian States and Empires}}
* {{cite book |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |title=Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia |date=October 6, 2015 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-32128-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5JECgAAQBAJ |access-date=4 December 2023 |language=En |format=ebook}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roy |first1=Kaushik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oh7ICQAAQBAJ&dq=babur's%20horse%20archers&pg=PT136 |title=Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500BCE to 1740CE |date=2015b |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-58691-3}}
* {{cite book |author1=Kaushik Roy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=627fBQAAQBAJ |title=Chinese and Indian Warfare - From the Classical Age to 1870 |author2=Peter Lorge |date=December 17, 2014 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-58710-1 |page=196 |language=En |format=ebook |access-date=5 December 2023}}
*{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Atul Chandra |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.532589/mode/2up |title=History of Bengal: Mughal Period, 1526-1765 A.D. |publisher=Nababharat Publishers |year=1968 |location=Calcutta}}
* {{cite book |author1=Atul Chandra Roy |url=https://www.amazon.com/history-Mughal-navy-naval-warfares/dp/B0006C8KUY |title=A history of Mughal navy and naval warfares |date=1972 |publisher=World Press |pages=XII |language=En |access-date=6 April 2024}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sabyasachi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3GxzQEACAAJ |title=A Comprehensive History of Modern Bengal, 1700-1950 |date=2020 |publisher=Asiatic Society |isbn=978-93-89901-95-5 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |author=Sanjay Subrahmanyam |author-link=Sanjay Subrahmanyam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-DZciX6WxgUC |title=The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500-1700: A Political and Economic History |publisher=Wiley |year=2012 |isbn=9780470672914 |edition=2nd |language=English |oclc=1055573094 |access-date=2025-11-07 |orig-year=1993}}
* {{citation |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |title=History of Aurangzib: Based on Original Sources |year=1920 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3NHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA77 |publisher=Longmans, Green and Company |author-link=Jadunath Sarkar}}
* {{cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.183820/page/n1 |title=History Of Aurangjib |year=1919 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.183820/page/n274 264]–265}}
*{{cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |author-link=Jadunath Sarkar |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56807/page/n5/mode/2up |title=The History of Bengal |publisher=The University of Dacca |year=1948 |edition=First |volume=II |location=Dacca}}
* {{cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |author-link=Jadunath Sarkar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoRDAAAAYAAJ |title=Military History of India |publisher=Orient Longmans |year=1960 |isbn=978-0-86125-155-1 |pages=66–69}}
* {{cite book |author1=Jadunath Sarkar |author1-link=Jadunath Sarkar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzYg4HTVKb4C |title=Bengal Nawābs |date=1985 |publisher=Asiatic Soc. |page=8, .... Nawwara ( Bengal war flotilla ) and |language=En |access-date=22 March 2024}}
* {{cite book |author1=Stephen P. Blake |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vJ0e0kfgttUC |title=Shahjahanabad The Sovereign City in Mughal India 1639-1739 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-521-52299-1 |language=En |format=Paperback |access-date=4 December 2023}}
* {{cite book |last=Stone |first=George Cameron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chVfUm2Hz3MC |title=A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times |date=2013 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=9780486131290 |location=Dover}}
* {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Vincent A. |author-link=Vincent Arthur Smith |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofi00smit |title=The Oxford History of India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-19-561297-4 |orig-year=First published 1919}}
*{{cite book |last=Tripathi |first=Ram Prasad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uc8BAAAAMAAJ |title=Rise and Fall of the Mughal Empire |publisher=Central Book Depot |year=1960 |location=Allahabad}}
{{refend}}

=== Journal, thesis, and encyclopedia ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ali |first=Syed Murtaza |author-link=Syed Murtaza Ali |year=1954 |title=A chronology of Muslim Faujdars of Sylhet |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.66554/page/n3/mode/2up |journal=Proceedings of the Pakistan History Conference |location=Karachi |publisher=Pakistan Historical Society.}}
* {{cite thesis |author1=Andrew De La Garza |title=An unfinished revolution: Babur, Akbar and the rise of Mughal military power |date=2006 |access-date=12 July 2024 |degree=MA |publisher=Ohio State University |url=http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1210269616 |language=En}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Iqtada Alam Khan |year=2001 |title=State in the Mughal India: Re-Examining the Myths of a Counter-Vision |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3518271 |journal=Social Scientist |language=En |volume=29 |issue=1 |page=35 |doi=10.2307/3518271 |jstor=3518271 |url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Manjeet S. Pardesi |date=2017 |title=Region, System, and Order: The Mughal Empire in Islamicate Asia |url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/ss/2017/00000026/00000002/art00003 |journal=Security Studies |language=En |publisher=Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group |volume=26 |access-date=16 March 2024 |quote=This Mughal military machine conquered and absorbed all the northern and central regions of South Asia except for some small, geographically isolated, strategically insignificant, or … |number=2}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Malik |first1=Adnan |last2=Zubair |first2=Muhammad |last3=Parveen |first3=Uzman |date=2016 |title=Effects of social reforms of shaykh Ahmad sirhindi (1564-1624) on muslim society in the sub continent |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/MALEOS-28 |journal=Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities |language=En |publisher=[[University of Karachi]] |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=155–164 |doi=10.46568/jssh.v55i2.70 |access-date=9 March 2024 |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite Banglapedia|article=Musa Khan|last=Khan|first=Muazzam Hussain}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Rosalind O'Hanlon |author1-link=Polly O'Hanlon |date=2007 |title=Military Sports and the History of the Martial Body in India |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25165208 |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |language=En |publisher=Brill |volume=50 |issue=4 |page=495 |issn=0022-4995 |jstor=25165208 |access-date=14 April 2024}}
* {{cite journal |author1=Stephen P. Blake |year=1986 |title=Courtly Culture Under Babur and the Early Mughals |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41931994 |journal=Journal of Asian History |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=193–214 |jstor=41931994}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{commons category|Military history of the Mughal Empire}}

* {{cite book |last1=Edwardes |first1=Stephen Meredyth |author-link1=Stephen Edwardes |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.10091 |title=Mughal Rule in India |last2=Garrett |first2=Herbert Leonard Offley |year=1930}}
* {{cite book |last=Sharma |first=S. R. |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.511766 |title=Mughal Empire in India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material |year=1940}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chandra |first1=Satish |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |year=2001 |isbn=978-81-241-0522-1 |volume=I}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chandra |first1=Satish |author-link=Satish Chandra (historian) |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.119462/page/n24/mode/1up |title=Mughal Religious Policies, the Rajputs & the Deccan |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-7069-6385-4 |location=New Delhi}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Mehta |first1=J. L. |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India |date=2019 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-81-207-1015-3 |language=en}}

{{PD-old-text|title=[https://archive.org/details/armyofindianmogh00irvirich The army of the Indian Moghuls: its organization and administration]|year=1903|author=[[William Irvine (historian)|William Irvine]]}}{{Mughal Empire}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Mughal Empire Army}}
[[Category:Indian slaves]]
[[Category:Military of the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Military history of India]]
[[Category:Military history of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Military slavery]]
[[Category:Disbanded armed forces|Mughal]]
[[Category:Disbanded armies|Mughal]]