The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration

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In 1894 I began the preparatory studies for an account of the Inter Indian Moghul system of government and administration in all its branches, being impelled by the belief that some information of the kind was a necessary introduction to a History of that period, which I had previously planned and commenced. Before I had done more than sketch out my first part, which deals with the Sovereign, the Court Ceremonial, and the elaborate system of Entitlature, I noticed the issue of a book on a part of my subject by Dr. Paul Horn'. The perusal of this excellent work diverted my attention to a later section of my proposed Introduction, the subject of the Army and Army Organization; and in this way I have been led to write this portion before any of the others. Except incidentally, my paper is neither a translation nor a review of Dr. Horn's essay; and though indebted to him, as acknowledged from time to time, my study covers, in the main, quite different ground, forming a complement to what he done, and, as I think, carrying the subject a good deal farther in several directions. Dr. Horn seems to have read chiefly the authorities for the period before Aurangzeb 'Alamgir; while my reading has been confined in great measure to the reigns of Aurangzeb's successors in the period 1707-1893. The sources upon which we draw are thus almost entirely independent of each other; and I hope that contribution to this rather obscure corner of Indian history may not be thought inferior in interest to that of my predecessor. The first seven chapters have already appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for July 1896.