Punjab Under Mughal Arms

An emperor. A governor. A faujdar. A zamindar.

Before Punjab formed its own military organisation, it was already governed through an extensive system of soldiers, forts, revenue and local alliances.

The Mughal Empire could send armies across the region, maintain garrisons in its cities and command officers responsible for thousands of cavalrymen. Yet imperial power did not reach every village with equal strength. It depended upon Punjabi landholders, local recruits, fortified roads and the agricultural wealth required to keep men and animals in the field.

The empire ruled Punjab, but it could only do so through Punjab.

Punjab Within the Empire

The Punjab of the Mughal period was not governed as one province matching the region recognised today.

Under the third Emperor Akbar, much of northern and central Punjab formed the Subah - Province of Lahore, while the south and west belonged largely to the Subah of Multan. Eastern districts were connected to the Subah of Delhi, and the hill kingdoms retained varying degrees of autonomy along the north-eastern edge of Mughal authority.

These divisions had military as well as administrative importance.

Lahore stood upon the route connecting Delhi with Kabul and the north-western frontier. An army moving between the imperial heartland and the Indus normally passed through the province, requiring roads, supplies, horses and protected crossings.

Multan controlled approaches towards southern and western Punjab, Sindh and the routes leading towards Kandahar. Its wealth, fortified city and position near the Chenab River made it an important centre of government.

Sirhind guarded the road between Delhi and Lahore, while Attock Fort protected the crossing of the Indus. Other forts, towns and garrisons formed a chain through which imperial power could be moved across Punjab.

A governor could not control the region from Lahore alone. He required officers in the districts, soldiers along the roads and local chiefs prepared or compelled to obey.

The Provincial Military System

The subadar was the imperial governor of a province. He represented the emperor, maintained order, supervised defence and could command military operations when rebellion or invasion threatened the region. But he did not govern alone.

The provincial diwan - chief financial minister oversaw revenue, while other officials managed military payments, intelligence, justice and communication with the imperial court. Separating military and financial authority was intended to prevent one governor from controlling every resource of the province without supervision.

Below them operated faujdars - military officers assigned to strategically important districts or groups of districts.

A faujdar pursued rebels, protected roads, supported revenue collection and responded to violence that local officials could not contain. He might command cavalry, infantry and matchlockmen drawn from his own followers, imperial contingents and locally recruited forces.

His authority was powerful but not permanent. Mughal officers were transferred frequently, and their ability to act depended upon the soldiers, money and cooperation available to them. A faujdar who possessed an impressive title but lacked reliable troops could exercise little control beyond his own camp.

Mughal government therefore rested upon a combination of written appointment and visible force. An order issued in Lahore mattered only if someone could carry it into the countryside and compel others to obey.

Mansabdars and Their Horsemen

The mansabdari system connected imperial rank to military obligation.

A mansab was a numerical rank granted by the emperor. It determined an officer’s position within the Mughal hierarchy, influenced his salary and stated the number of cavalrymen he was expected to maintain.

The officer who held that rank was known as a mansabdar.

Some mansabdars served near the imperial court, while others governed provinces, commanded forts or led armies on campaign. Their origins were diverse. The Mughal nobility included men from Central Asian, Iranian, Afghan, Rajput, and other regional backgrounds. Punjabi chiefs and military families could also enter imperial service and receive rank.

Many mansabdars were supported through jagirs - assignments allowing them to collect revenue from particular territories. A jagir was not necessarily the officer’s private hereditary kingdom. It provided the income from which he was expected to maintain his household, horses, soldiers and military equipment.

This connected Punjab’s agricultural wealth directly to Mughal warfare.

Grain collected from cultivators became revenue. Revenue paid cavalrymen, purchased weapons and maintained horses. A prosperous district could support an officer’s contingent far beyond the place where its wealth had originally been produced.

The system allowed the emperor to command an enormous military establishment without keeping every soldier permanently gathered in one camp. Mansabdars maintained their own contingents and assembled beneath higher commanders when required.

It also created problems.

An officer might claim more soldiers than he truly possessed, arrive with inferior horses or use revenue intended for military service for his own purposes. Inspections, records and the branding of approved horses attempted to control these abuses, but distance made complete supervision impossible.

The Mughal army could be vast on paper while the force actually ready for battle was considerably smaller.

The Armed Power of the Zamindars

Imperial officers were not the only people capable of raising men.

Across Punjab, zamindars controlled land, revenue and local networks. The term could describe figures ranging from village headmen to powerful chiefs governing substantial territories. Some maintained forts, armed retainers and hundreds or thousandsof followers.

Their power came from their closeness to the countryside.

A local chief knew which families could provide horsemen, where grain was stored and which routes remained usable after rain or flooding. He could call upon relatives, dependants, cultivators and professional soldiers without waiting for instructions from Lahore.

The Mughal state attempted to incorporate these men rather than remove all of them. Cooperative zamindars collected revenue, supplied soldiers and helped officials maintain order. They could receive recognition, titles and protection in return.

Others resisted.

A chief might withhold revenue, shelter fugitives, attack a rival or fortify himself against an imperial officer. Punishing him was not always simple. Even after his fort was captured, his followers could scatter into hills, forests or neighbouring territories and return once the imperial army withdrew.

This created a continual negotiation between central and local power.

A Punjabi chief could fight against the Mughals in one campaign and accept imperial service in the next. The empire depended upon the same armed networks that could become sources of rebellion whenever its authority weakened.

What a Mughal Force Looked Like

There was no single Mughal uniform worn by every soldier in Punjab.

An imperial army was assembled from numerous contingents, each connected to its own commander. Equipment, clothing and training varied according to the wealth of the officer and the role of the soldier.

Cavalry formed the most prestigious element.

Mounted troops could scout roads, pursue a defeated enemy, raid supplies and travel rapidly between Punjab’s cities. Elite horsemen might possess armour, shields, swords, bows, spears and several horses. Others rode more lightly and carried only the weapons they or their commander could provide.

Infantry was generally less prestigious but remained essential. Foot soldiers guarded gates, occupied walls, escorted supplies and fought in terrain where horses could not move effectively. They included archers, spearmen, swordsmen and men armed with matchlocks.

Matchlockmen became increasingly important during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. From behind a wall, earthwork or other cover, they could threaten cavalry and defend narrow approaches. Their weapons were slower than later firearms and difficult to use in wet conditions, but organised gunfire gave infantry a power that older weapons alone could not provide.

Artillery belonged primarily to major rulers and wealthy commanders. Heavy guns could break walls, defend cities and decide sieges, but they were expensive and difficult to transport. Cannon required trained gunners, ammunition, draught animals, carts and roads capable of carrying their weight.

A gun stranded beside a flooded river possessed no military value.

War elephants also appeared in major Mughal forces. They carried commanders, equipment and sometimes weapons, while their size gave them considerable psychological power. Yet elephants required enormous quantities of food and could be difficult to control during a confused battle.

The Mughal army was therefore not one type of soldier. It was a moving combination of cavalry, infantry, firearms, artillery, animals, servants, craftsmen and supplies held together by command and payment.

Forts, Roads and River Crossings

Mughal power was strongest where it could be physically anchored.

Lahore Fort protected the provincial capital, treasury and administrative centre. Multan’s fortified city controlled a major centre of southern Punjab. Sirhind guarded the road towards Delhi, while Attock Fort secured one of the most important crossings of the Indus.

These strongholds performed different military functions.

A fort could store weapons, grain and revenue. It provided a garrison with protection and offered imperial troops a base from which to patrol the surrounding country. Its walls also announced that the state intended to remain after the main army had departed.

Control of the roads between these positions was equally important.

Couriers carried orders between Delhi, Lahore, Multan and the frontier. Revenue travelled towards provincial treasuries. Armies required routes wide enough for cavalry, baggage animals and artillery. Sarais provided places where travellers and officials could rest, while guarded crossings allowed men and supplies to pass over Punjab’s rivers.

Yet a chain of forts could not enclose the whole region.

An imperial garrison might dominate a city while rebels moved through the countryside beyond it. A road could be protected during daylight and attacked after the patrol had passed. A river crossing held in one season could disappear beneath floodwater in another.

The Mughal system controlled strategic points. The spaces between them still depended upon local knowledge and cooperation.

Feeding an Imperial Army

Military strength began long before battle.

A large army required grain for its soldiers and enormous quantities of fodder for its animals. Horses weakened quickly if grazing or feed became scarce. Oxen pulling artillery and baggage carts moved slowly and required their own supplies. Weapons had to be repaired, gunpowder kept dry and wounded men carried away from the fighting.

Punjab’s agricultural wealth made major campaigns possible.

Its fields supplied grain, its pastoral communities maintained animals and its towns contained merchants capable of providing equipment and credit. Revenue officials converted this production into the money needed to pay soldiers and commanders.

But an army could also devastate the countryside supporting it.

Troops passing through a district might purchase, requisition or seize food. Horses consumed crops intended for local animals. Rival forces attempted to deny one another grain, burn fodder or remove boats from a river crossing.

A commander could win a battle and still lose his campaign if his army exhausted the land around it.

The Mughal military system therefore depended upon administration as much as battlefield courage. Revenue had to be collected, supplies gathered and transport arranged before thousands of soldiers could move.

The Limits of Imperial Power

At its strongest, the Mughal Empire could replace governors, besiege forts and send reinforcements across enormous distances.

It was never equally powerful everywhere.

Punjab’s rivers delayed movement. Its forests and scrub concealed smaller forces. The hills protected rulers who controlled narrow routes and fortified heights. Local chiefs could cooperate outwardly while withholding soldiers, revenue or information.

Distance also weakened control.

Orders from the imperial court took time to reach Lahore. Lahore then had to communicate with officers across the province. An approaching rebellion could grow before the governor obtained permission or gathered enough forces to suppress it.

The empire’s strength depended upon its ability to concentrate resources. When the emperor, governor, mansabdars and local zamindars worked together, resistance could be overwhelmed. When succession disputes, unpaid salaries or rival officials divided them, the same system became slow and unreliable.

This did not mean Mughal power disappeared as soon as it encountered resistance. Its armies remained formidable, and its forts, artillery and revenue greatly exceeded the resources available to most local movements.

Its weakness was that permanent control required cooperation from the society it governed.

The empire could defeat an army. Controlling every armed chief, village and concealed route across Punjab was a different task.

An Imperial Army Built in Punjab

The Mughal army should not be imagined as a foreign force permanently standing outside Punjabi society.

Its ruling dynasty originated beyond Punjab, and many senior nobles maintained Central Asian, Iranian or Afghan identities. Yet imperial power in the region increasingly depended upon people and resources drawn from Punjab itself.

Punjabi Muslims, Rajputs, Jats, hill soldiers, local retainers and professional fighting men could all enter the service of imperial officers or recognised chiefs. A military contingent might contain men of several religions and regional backgrounds united not by one communal identity, but by payment, allegiance and loyalty to a commander.

The same person could move between different forms of service during his lifetime.

A horseman might follow a local chief, enter the household of a mansabdar and later return to defend his own lands. A matchlockman could seek employment wherever his skill earned wages. A zamindar might supply troops to the empire while maintaining his own independent following.

Military knowledge therefore circulated through Punjabi society.

Men learned to ride, handle firearms, defend walls, gather intelligence and organise supplies through service in many different forces. Weapons and tactics did not remain confined inside Lahore Fort or the households of imperial nobles.

The Mughal system concentrated these traditions beneath imperial authority, but it did not possess them exclusively.

The World Guru Hargobind Inherited

By the beginning of the seventeenth century, Punjab already contained every element from which a military force could be built.

There were experienced horsemen, professional soldiers and village fighters. There were matchlocks, swords, bows and artillery. Forts guarded cities and roads. Local chiefs raised followers, while religious and commercial networks carried money and information across the region.

What the Punjabi community did not yet possess was its own permanent military organisation.

Its growing congregations could gather resources and followers, but armed protection remained dependent upon the wider political order. When that order itself became a source of danger, wealth and spiritual authority could not guarantee security.

Guru Hargobind’s transformation must be understood within this world.

He did not introduce Punjab to horses, weapons or fortification. He adopted methods already used by imperial officers and local chiefs - armed retainers, cavalry, defensive positions, training and the collection of military resources - and placed them beneath the leadership of the Guru.

The change was not that Punjab became armed.

Punjab had been armed for centuries.

The change was that an organised community began creating a military force of its own.