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I'd love to read about this aspect of the Mughals, if people would share what they know .

really awesome ..................1

The Mughals were renowned for their prowess in battle. One of their most successful techniques was the use of "sabat", a covered passage with cannon proof walls of mud and rubble and a wooden roof secured with hides. Teams of workmen added to the front of the sabat until it reached the walls of the enemy's fort. Inside, the Sabat was wide enough for some dozen horsemen to ride alongside each other, and tall enough to enable elephants and riders with raised lances to pass through in comfort. Soldiers armede with muskets and cannons could fire at the enemy through loop-holes in the roof and walls . The emperor Akbar used a sabat to great effect in 1568 when he captured the hill fortress of Chittor. The structure writhed it's way slowly up the steep hill-side and struct serpent like at the walls of the fort. The Mughal armies spent most iof their time in waging war . In between actions, the soldiers kept training by taking part in large scale animal hunts. Following the example set by early Mongol warriors , they acted as beaters, forming a large circle upto 50 miles (80km) in diameter.They then closed in on their prey, such as deer,forcing them into an enclosure some 3 miles(5km) wide.The emperor and his nobles then proceeded to slaughter animals with swords,spears and bows and arrows. Akbar himself went hunting with Cheetahs, which pinned the deer to the ground and tore out their throats. After several days the troops were allowed their turn killing any animals still alive.Their taste for blood-shed sharpened , and their skill for manoeuvers enhanced, the soldiers were then ready to battle again. Like the Mongols before them, the Mughals erected 'towers of skulls' studded with severed heads of their enemies as a warning to foes.The heads of the rebells and thieves are mortered and plastered in.

Each time the travelling camp of Jehangir stopped for the night, it covered an area some 20 miles (32km) in circumference. it took half a day for the vast procession to pass by any one spot along the way. Even so , the entire complex could be set up in about four hours. The streets, red and white tents and wiooden buildings were laid out to an un-varying plan. Tradesmen and their bazaars were always located in the same place so that people knew exactly where to go shopping for their shopping needs. And at the centre of the camp stood the wood and canvas walled fort of the emperor who ruled for 22 yrs The emperor's fort, some 300 yards (275m) in diameter was entered through an elegant gate-house.Once in the emperor's presence, officials and courtiers stayed at strictly decreed distances from him: the more senior the status, the nearer they were allowed to stand to his throne. All were called to prayer several times a day in a mobile wooden mosque. Courtiers lived in pavillions which were luxuriously furnished with silk covered couches,elaborately patterened hand woven carpets andrich tapestries. The emperor held public and private audiences in halls equipped with glass hookah bowls and spitoons, and eveery morning he appeared on a balcony to show his subjects(Jharokha darshan) that he was alive and well.Nearby a painted tent accomodated 5000 members of the Mughal harem.In addition there was a studio for the court painters , who accompanied Jehangir on his travels and military campaigns recording and illustrating the splendours of his reign.Hundreds of tents houses the camp's 3000 servants: these included a thousand or more swordsmen and wrestlers to provide evening entertainment.500 torch-bearers to light the scene and hundreds of elephant minders. Whenever the court moved, the emperor was supplied with fresh fruit from Kashmir and Kabul.He and his inner circle had a choice of anything upto a thousand rich dishes a day.Supplies of ice were brought daily by runners from the snowy Himalayas and the emperor's drinking water came from the holy river Ganges. To move the emperor's quarters alone took the combined efforts of some 500 camels, 400 wagons, and 100 elephants and their bearers.The Harem ladies travelled in covered litters/ palinquins carried on poles on men's shoulders or in howdahs, or canopied seats , on the backs of elephants. Swelling the camps population were thousands of followers wandering tradesmen, and an immense host of grain mercahnts with more than 100,000 bullocks bearing supplies.

The urge to move from place to place was typical of the unbroken line of emperors who ruled much of India from the 16th to the middle of the 18th century.They made these journeys for a variety of reasons. Jehangir travelled to see at 1st hand how his armies were dealing with the rebel forces which in 1616 threatened to overrun the southern realm in Deccan.Periodically emperors and their courts journeyed north to Kashmir to escape the sweltering heat. Sometimes the emperors travelled simply because it was in their blood to do so.For the emperors were descended from Mongol conquerors Genghis Khan and Tamerlane

Thanks Digvijay. That was very enlightening. Could you possibly shed some light on the structure of Mughal army? I know about the sowar and the zat system, but l am curious to know about the constituents of a Mughal army on march. How many infantry, how many cavalry, how many elephants, etc in a typical marching army.

Pulin : This book would answer most of your questions. Download it !

Thanks RBSI. Thy Will be Done. :))

And its done. Thanks again.

Not too interested in battles and armies but the miniature is exquisite!

These frequent marches and movements, I would probably hazard was also more importantly a means to keep the officers and troops in battle ready condition... and project their army as a dynamic force...considering that there was always trouble (read rebellion) in the vast dominion under their sway.

Yes. That too, Frank, besides it served as showing the flag.

Yes Pulin can you imagine how impressive this whole spectacle would have been...the power, grandeur, and the magnificence on display would have left those witnessing such an army on the move with a sense of awe.