NAME- Rashi Babbar

ROLL NO. - 2020/127

ASSIGNMENT
WHAT ROLE DID TACTICS AND TECHNOLOGY
PLAY IN THE EARLY MILITARY SUCCESSES OF
THE MUGHALS?

 Introduction
As the Mughals came from Central Asia they brought the Central Asian
military tradition along with them. A new style of combat was adopted
due to the arrival of gunpowder and with that, a new kind of tactics was
also employed. Earlier, this was not the case since fighting
predominantly revolved around the use of horses and elephants with
weapons like bows, arrows, swords, and shields. But from now on a
new phase of military combat was adopted that focused on the use of
artillery and the use of muskets, bombs, etc. This does not mean that
the older weapons were completely replaced. In fact, they were
complemented with new ones, particularly the artillery. This
contributed to the change in battlefield tactics about the deployment of
the units in the battle, the positions of the infantry, cavalry and artillery
in battlefield and how they had to be employed. And not only were
there changes in the adoption of military tactics but also corresponding
changes in the manner in which these different military units were to
be maintained. New organizations were created with civilian
administrative institutions. As far as the structure is concerned, the
Mughal army consisted of cavalry, infantry, and artillery. Among these,
artillery held a subordinate position compared to that of the infantry
and cavalry. Besides, elephants were also used. Under the Mughals, the
emphasis was on the numbers and quality of the horse in an army.
However, it was the artillery that was used extensively to break through
the enemy forces and defeat them. Even during the first battle of
Panipat, the artillery played an important role in defeating Ibrahim
Lodhi's forces.
 FIRST BATTLE OF PANIPAT (1526)
The First Battle of Panipat was fought between the invading forces of
Babur and the Lodi Empire, which took place on 21 April 1526 in North
India. It marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire. This was one of
the earliest battles involving gunpowder, firearms and field artillery. In
1526, the Mughal forces of Babur, the Timurid ruler of Kabulistan,
defeated the much larger ruling army of Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi.
The battle was fought on 21 April near the small village of Panipat, in
the present day Indian state of Haryana, an area that has been the site
of a number of decisive battles for the control of Northern India since
the twelfth century. It is generally held that Babur’s guns proved
decisive in battle, firstly because Ibrahim Lodi lacked any field artillery,
but also because the sound of the cannon frightened Lodi’s elephants,
causing them to trample Lodi’s own men. However a reading of the
contemporary sources show that more than the gun, it was the tactics
which helped in winning the day
The new war tactics introduced by Babur were the tulughma and the
araba. Tulughma meant dividing the whole army into various units, viz.
the Left, the Right and the Centre. The Left and Right divisions were
further subdivided into Forward and Rear divisions. Through this a small
army could be used to surround the enemy from all the sides. The
Centre Forward division was then provided with carts (araba) which
were placed in rows facing the enemy and tied to each other with
animal hide ropes. Behind them were placed cannons protected and
supported by mantelets which could be used to easily maneuver the
canons. These two tactics made Babur’s artillery lethal. The guns and
cannons could be fired without any fear of being hit as they were
shielded by the bullock carts which were held in place due to the hide
ropes holding them together. The nozzle of the heavy cannons could
also be easily changed as they could be manoeuvered by the mantelets
which were provided with wheels. Ibrahim Lodi died on the field of
battle, abandoned by his feudatories and generals (many of whom
were mercenaries). Most of them changed their allegiance to the new
master of Delhi. However, had Sultan Ibrahim survived another hour of
fighting he would have won, as Babur had no reserves and his troops
were rapidly tiring.
 BATTLE OF KHANWA
Initially, Rana Sanga believed that Babur had plans to leave India. But
intelligence gathered suggested that Babur was getting ready to
consolidate his newly gained successes. Therefore, Rana Sanga decided
to wage war against the Mughal invader. At first, he forced Afghan
fugitive princes like Mehmud Lodi and Hasan Khan Mewati to join him.
Then he ordered Babur to leave India. As Rana's and Babur's troops
faced each other in Khanwa, near Fatehpur-Sikri, in 1527, a bloody
battle followed, resulting in death and destruction. Although, the
Rajputs had surrounded Babur, his technically superior army won the
battle. The reason for Babur's success was that even before the battle
took place Babur had carefully inspected the battle site. Like in the
Battle of Panipat, he strengthened his front by procuring carts that
were fastened by iron chains. These were used for providing shelter to
horses and for storing artillery. Gaps between the carts were used for
horsemen to charge at the opponent at the right time. To lengthen the
line, ropes built of rawhide were placed over wheeled wooden tripods.
Behind the tripods, matchlock men were placed who could fire and, if
required, advance. The flanks were given protection by digging ditches.
In addition to the regular force, small contingents were kept on the left
flank and in front for the tulghuma (flanking) tactic. Thus, a strong
offensive-defensive formation had been prepared by Babur. Rana
Sanga, fighting in a traditional way, attacked the Mughal army's flanks.
He was prevented from breaking through by reinforcements dispatched
by Babur. The carts and matchlock men were ordered to advance,
pressing on the Rajputs and their allies. The battle which lasted for not
more than 10 hours, was bitterly contested and became an exceedingly
brutal affair. At a critical moment of battle, the defection of Silhadi and
his contingent caused a split in the Rajput forces. Rana Sanga while
trying to rebuild his front was wounded and fell unconscious from his
horse. The Rajput army thought their leader was dead which resulted in
disorder, thus allowing the Mughals to win the day. Despite putting up
a gallant fight, Rana Sanga and his allies suffered defeat. With his
numerically huge army as compared to that of Babur, Sanga perceived
that he would win the battle against Babur. However, Babur's tactics
and the efficient use of artillery and cannons was no match for Rana
Sanga. The Rajputs had no answer to the wheeling tactics of the
Mughal cavalry. Babur's artillery had won the day for him; it had finally
established the Mughal rule over India and eventually sealed the fate of
the Rajput revival.
 BATTLE OF CHANDERI
He fought along with Rana Sanga in the battle of Khanwa against Babur.
After the battle Medini Rai returned to Chanderi. But Babur decided to
make Chanderi his next objective. Chanderi was a walled town. The
citadel was built on a hill above the town, with an outer-fort below the
hill. The citadel's water supply was lower down the hill, and was
protected by a double line of walls that ran from the citadel down to
the outer fort. The town's location made Babur's artillery less effective
than normal. Babur's chief of ordinance, was unable to find a position
above the height of the walls, and so work began on building a mound
for the mortar. The rest of the army was ordered to build ladders and
mantlets. Babur's next move was to send Araish Khan to meet with
Medini Rao with a peace offer - if Medini Rao would surrender Chanderi
then he would be rewarded with Shamsabad. This offer was refused.
The strategic planning and clever use of men and weapons by Babur
made it clear to the defenders of Chanderi that the end of the siege
was close. At this point they performed the ritual of Jauhar, killing their
women before making one final desperate attack on Babur's men. The
fall of the town had happened so quickly that Babur himself could not
take part in the battle. After the Battle of Chanderi, no Rajput ruler ever
challenged the authority of Babur.
 SECOND BATTLE OF PANIPAT
The Second Battle of Panipat was fought between the forces of Samrat
Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, popularly called Hemu. It was a decisive
victory for Akbar’s generals Khan Zaman I and Bairam Khan. According
to Badaoni, Hemu’s army was dispirited, and who set all his hopes on
the elephants, surrounded by his chiefs charged the imperial hosts, and
threw both right and left wings into great confusion. The Mughal forces
were charged repeatedly by elephants to break their lines. The Mughal
Vanguard according to sources consisted of 10,000 cavalries, out of
which 5000 were experienced veteran soldiers and they got ready to
meet the advancing army of Hemu. Hemu was himself commanding his
forces from atop an elephant. It seemed Hemu was on a winning track
and Akbar’s army would rout.
Suddenly in the midst of the contest, an arrow from the bent bow of
divener wrath reached Hemu’s eye, and piercing the socket, came out
at the back of his head. Akbar was accorded the epithet "the Great"
due to his many accomplishments, among which was his record of
unbeaten military campaigns that both established and consolidated
Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent. The basis of this military
prowess and authority was Akbar's skillful structural and organizational
calibration of the Mughal army.
Organizational reforms were accompanied by innovations in cannons,
fortifications, and the use of elephants. Akbar also took an interest in
matchlocks and effectively employed them during various conflicts.
Mughal firearms in the time of Akbar came to be far superior to
anything that could be deployed by regional rulers, tributaries, or by a
zamindar. In Ain-i Akbari one of the three military skills is prescribed for
a commandant administering a province is that of shooting with a
musket. It is put at par with horsemanship and archery. Abu'l Fazl
accordingly classifies musketeers (banduqchis) as part of the royal
household (manzil abadi) and not as part of the army.
The term "Gunpower Empire" has thus often been used by scholars and
historians in analyzing the success of the Mughals in India. Mughal
power has been seen as owing to their mastery of the techniques of
warfare, especially the use of firearms encouraged by Akbar. The
growing Mughal army employed diverse weapons, equipment and
tactics that had their origins in places as distant as Central Europe, the
Middle East, the city-states of Central Asia, and the steppes of
Mongolia and Russia. As the Ottomans advanced into Eastern Europe
they encountered both gunpowder weaponry and novel tactics. Babur
himself fought as a mounted archer. He and his men used recurved
composite bows, made with alternating layers of horn, wood and
sinew. Cavalry performed a number of crucial roles—scouting,
screening, skirmishing, flanking, encircling and pursuing an enemy and
exploiting breakthroughs.
Most of Babur’s artillery was of two basic types. The kazan, or heavy
cannon— firing balls of about 25-30 pounds—were carried on four-
wheeled wagons, with their barrels laid flat down the length of the cart.
. The smaller zarb zan—3 or 4 pounders mounted on two-wheeled
carriages with trails and limbers similar to the European style—were a
more flexible option. The four primary categories of artillery remained,
but the basic models used by Babur—the zarb-zan, (light cannon),
kazan, (heavy cannon), kazan-i-bozorg (siege gun) and firingi
(swivel/antipersonnel gun)—proliferated into a variety of weapons of
all shapes and sizes. 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 Besides the above, the Mughals also used weapons for more
distant attacks. They were of three different types:1) the bow (Kaman)
and arrow (Tir), 2) the matchlock (banduq or tufang) and3) the pistol
(tamanchah). The generic name of a sword was tegh (Arabic), Shamsher
(Persian) or talwar (Hindi).The Arabic word saif was also used
occasionally. One kind of short-sword was called the nimchah-
shamsher. During the sixteenth century, the heavy mortars produced in
India registered a striking advance. Known in Turkish as tabur jungi –
tabur translates the German Wagenburg (wagon fortress) and jangi
(literally fighting ) means tactics this system involves the use of carts
and wagons used to transport supplies to construct a field modification
behind which the Sultan and central forces are stationed. The Mughal
army is often visualized as a force dominated by mounted archers and
other cavalry and as an organization directly descended from the
nomadic warbands of the steppe. Aside from engagements in the open
field, the Mughals and their enemies also devised sophisticated tactics
for naval battles, sieges and guerrilla warfare. Developments in
technology, especially the proliferation of missile weapons of all sorts,
made battles of any kind increasingly violent and costly. However, the
problems like lack of mobility, proneness to accidents, slow rate of
firing and large consumption of gunpowder persisted causing a decline
in their overall popularity. The Mughals often found diplomacy to be a
better option than combat, but this choice was a luxury granted to
them by their position of increasing strength.
  Conclusion
For both the growing Empire and its rivals, this period was one of
profound, revolutionary change in the way their states and societies
waged war. In the space of a few brief decades, the Mughals and their
enemies mastered the new technology and developed complex
doctrine and tactics for its use in battle. Gunpowder weapons played an
important role in the creation of the new system, but they were part of
a larger whole. The method of warfare that became the standard in
India was based on a sophisticated combined arms approach and the
close coordination of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The military system
originally introduced by Babur and the first Mughals incorporated
elements not just from Europe but from all over the world. Gunpowder
weapons—and novel tactics for their use in battle—with origins in
Central Europe and the Ottoman Empire were combined with the
existing practices of Central Asian cavalry warfare and India’s tradition
of yeomen militias and infantry combat to form a whole that exceeded
the sum of its parts. The new devices were so effective because the
Mughals were able to internalize the changes in technology. Contrary
to the concept of the “Gunpowder Empire” in which Islamic states
supposedly used artillery and muskets as blunt instruments without
truly understanding their full implications, the Mughals devoted a great
deal of thought and attention to the optimal implementation and
refinement of firearms. The tactics adopted by the Mughal army were
shaped not just by the weapons and equipment used but by the
personnel available. Horse archers, with their ability to maneuver and
attack at range simultaneously, played a vital part, but despite their
iconic role in the heroic narrative of Imperial expansion they did not
win battles by themselves.