TACTICS AND TECHNOLOGY USED BY THE MUGHALS

INTRODUCTION
The 16th century was a very crucial period in the history of India for it not only
witnessed the emergence of one of the greatest empires in the world but also
marked an important development in war, tactics, and gunpowder technology.
With the establishment of the Mughal Empire in India, the use of gunpowder
technology became more frequent. Although primitive gunpowder technology was
known in India, Mohammad Zahiruddin Babur changed the contour of battle and
experimented with the latest Gunpowder technology introduced by the Europeans.
There have only been a handful of books dedicated to Mughal military history ever
writen, with a gap of nearly a century between William Irvine's colonial-era study
and the works of later scholars like Jos Gommans and Dirk Kolff. Most general
works on the Empire devote relatively little space to military matters, and even
dedicated works of military history in this period primarily address background and
context-how an army was funded, its social and cultural foundations, the political
implications of its expenses and actions. There has been little exploration of how
the Mughals and their enemies actually fought.
TACTICS
" The important factor behind the success of the Mughals in India was their use
of tactics and technology. The Mughal army is often visualized as a force
dominated by mnounted archers and other cavalry and as an organization
directly descended from the nomadic warbands of the steppe. The Central Asian
warrior ethos remained an important motivating factor, and the horse archer
was an essential player in the emerging imperial military order, but the overall
system was much more complex. Babur and his successors designed a
sophisticated combined arms force that included diverse personnel and
elements of both nomadic and sedentary warfare-mounted archers, heavy
cavalry, shock infantry, missile infantry and artillery. They merged an already
highly developed system of Central Asian tactics with Western developments in
field fortifications and gunpowder weaponry. Tactics in this setting evolved
much differently than their European counterparts. Indian warfare in the
Mughal era discouraged linear formations and emphasized entrenchments,
skirmishing, small unit operations and the tactical defensive. Apart from diverse
ethnic groups in the army, the Mughal emperors like Babur often emphasized
the weakness and strength of his army along with the enemy. He used to analyze
the strength and the weakness of the opponent along with his own troop and
accordingly, he plans his attack. Such consistent effort by Babur fetches him the
fruits of success.

If direct confrontations, either on the battlefield or from behind the shelter of

fortress walls, were not successful, the Mughals' enemies resorted to more
indirect means. The last resort for the Mughals' rivals was to scatter their forces
and commence 'guerrilla warfare' (the technique of letting the enemy to attack
first). This technique was borrowed by Babur from Muhammad Shaybani Khan
who had defeated Babur earlier in the Battle of Sar-e-Pul. Another famous
rivalry of the Mughals who used this technique was Sher Shah Suri against
Humayun. Suripreferred to avoid battle, giving ground and luring his opponents
far away from their home bases and then to striking at their supply lines and
advance outposts instead of their army proper. He only fought when conditions
were ideal, when the enemy was distracted, depleted and exhausted.

The best solution, however, was to succeed without fighting at all. As the Empire
expanded, open field battles of any sort became increasingly rare. The tactical
dilemma presented by the new system and the lethality and rate of fire of the
weaponry involved meant that any combat was extraordinarily violent and
costly. Battles like Panipat, Khanua and Tukaroi may have resulted in combined
death tolls of over 20,000 with at least several times that many wounded,
captured and missing. As an alternative to violence-which JOS GOMMANS
describes as "the second-best option," the Mughals resorted to posturing,
intimidation, diplomacy and bribery. Outright cash payments and the promise
of mansab, or high office in the imperial ranks, were used to induce their
opponents to give up without a fight-or perhaps, for honor's sake.
The most important tactics used by the Mughal emperors like Babur was the
skill of persuading people. If the plunder was not distributed to the soldiers, the
soldiers used to withdraw their support from the ruler. That's wise, after
invading India, when Babur went to Delhi and sent his son, Humayun to Agra for
plundering the treasure, some parts of the plunder was then distributed to the
allies of Babur (like soldiers). After the battle of Panipat, unlike previous
conquerors, Babur's tactics was to convey the Indians so, that these people
could associated themselves with the ruler, respect the ruler, provide basic
amenities like food grains to the ruler. But, most of the people were not trusting
Babur and were in terror because of him. Therefore, to make the people to trust
him, Babur has made several attempts. For example- he went to Delhi and paid
homage to the Sufi saints. However, until Akbar had not taken the throne of the
Mughal Empire, people were not ready to accept the Mughals as their ruler.
TECHNOLOGY
Technology played an obvious role in the Mughal military transformation. Babur
and his successors combined the traditional implements of Central Asian
warfare-bows, blades, armor and horses-with new devices-muskets,
cannon, bombs, rockets and ships. In many cases, these newer weapons did not
compete with or replace the older equipment but instead complemented it. The
Mughals were not simple imitators of Western designs but informed consumers,
able to grasp the full importance and implications of gunpowder weaponry.
Guns became more than just ugly but necessary tools. According to some
historians, the reason behind the success of Babur was the use of muskets and
cannons. But this is often seen as a misconception because Babur didn't rely on
these two rather, he was very much confident in mobile and trained cavalrymen.
They were stronger and his horses were far superior in comparison with the
Indian one. The muskets and canons were used to put-on the opponent in risk.
But his success was emphasized on cavalrymen. Babur used to praise his success
to cavalrymen.
Although the Chinese had been using gunpowder weapons before the Mongols
arrived on the scene, it is not until the end of the thirteenth century that
firearms of any sort, particularly rockets, appear in the Sultanate of Delhi or in
regional literary references. One can consider Mongols as the agents of
technological transmission. Although cannons became somewhat common
throughout India, the Mughals used them the most effectively, thus giving rise
to one of the popularly called Gunpowder Empires (along with the Ottomans
and Safavids). As in late medieval Europe, the expense of cannons meant that
few among the nobility besides the ruler possessed the resources to purchase
 them. Fortress walls gave little shelter against cannons and the
nobility quickly
learned to acquiesce to the authority of the ruler. Although similar situations
appeared among some of the regional Indian states, the rise of the Mughals
brings this phenomenon into better focus. From the Portuguese, the
and others learned how to make cannons from wrought Mughals
iron, thus reducing the
cost of the weapon, while at the same time improving it.
The Mughals, who
learned from Ottoman advisors, quickly grasped the importance
of light artillery
as it became less expensive and more easily
manufactured. While magnificent
in siege warfare, the lack of maneuverability of
heavy cannon left it virtually
useless on the battlefield. By the time of Akbar,
heavy mortars and cannons
were rarely used in the Mughal military. Light cannons that
could be used on
the battlefield were the mainstay of the
Mughal artillery corps, including the
shaturnal, similar to swivel guns, but carried on the backs of
camels and even in
the howdahs of elephants. In addition to
artillery, handheld firearms also
became ubiquitous throughout the Mughal Empire. We
can find western
influences in the technology. Western influences
included new technologies in
firearms manufacture. However, not all of these
became widespread. As a
result, stagnation occurred particularly in terms of
preferred weapon became the matchlock, even after standard weapons. The
surpassed it. One cannot ignore the role of the other technologies
matchlock musket in the
centralization of Mughal authority. Mughals also used
their authority. Babur began his career with a musketeers to maintain
scant musket bearing force of just
over a hundred men, but by the time of Akbar,
over 35,000 musketeers existed
in the Mughal military. One reason for
this was that, despite the cost of their
weapon, the musketeers were actually less
forces. The expense of feeding the man and expensive than garrisoning cavalry
his horse grossly exceeded that of
a musketeer. Thus, a small but trained
force of musket wielding troops allowed
the Mughals to assert their authority in
even the most remote provinces. This
was also possible as, for several decades,
the nobility was forbidden to recruit
their own forces of musketeers. At the
same time, this mass force of troops
firearms undermined the Mughals. As the with
cost dropped, but it also was deemed matchlock became ubiquitous, its
very reliable by those using it. Thus,
when other technologies came into even
the region, like flintlock muskets,
Mughals failed to adopt them due to the
economic
matchlock's popularity. While firearms aided the reasons as well as the
process of centralization, it
also played a role in undermining the Mughal's authority. Because of the
affordability of matchlocks and the relative simplicity in gaining expertise with
them, one did not have to train for years to be a warrior. Ultimately, this led to
the diffusion of firearms into the general populace and resistance to central
authority. Beginning in the late-sixteenth century, not only political rebels, but
even peasants opposed to tax collection acquired firearms. As domestic
tensions grew, the widespread use and manufacture of matchlock muskets
played a role in the breakdown of central authority, and the Mughals, despite
several innovative attempts, failed to halt the eventual Balkanization of their
empire.

CONCLUSION

While the Mughals and other Indian states adopted technology and processes
from abroad, they were informed consumers, not passive imitators. They
adapted and refined their new instruments to meet the unique demands and
challenges of their setting. Gun powder technology helped the Mughals expand
their empire along with the support of cavalry and infantry. However,
Gunpowder technology alone wasn't responsible for strong Mughal army. The
earliest Mughal emperor, Babur wrote in his autobiography that infantry,
cavalry (mounted archers) were the major components of his army that led him
win the battle. However, he doesn't deny the use of Gunpowder technology in
the battle but their contribution wasn't important as the cavalry and the
infantry.

REFERENCES

Mughal Warfare by Jos Gommas

Gunpowder and Empire: Indian Case : lqtidar Alam Khan
Nature of Gunpowder Artillery in India during the Sixteenth Century: A
Reappraisal of the Impact of European Gunner : lqtidar Alam Khan
www.jstor.org, Class notes