His Majesty guides the Imperial Army by his excellent advice and counsel, and checks in various ways attempts at insubordination. He has divided the army, on account of the multitude of the men, into several classes, and has thereby secured the peace of the country.
With some tribes, His Majesty is content, if they submit; he does not exact much service from them, and thus leads many wild races towards civilization.
The Zamindárs of the country furnish more than four millions, four hundred thousand men, as shall be detailed below (Third Book).
Some troopers are compelled by His Majesty to mark their horses with the Imperial brand. They are subject to divisions into ranks, and to musters.
Some soldiers are placed under the care and guidance of one commander. They are called Ahadís, because they are fit for a harmonious unity. His Majesty believes some capable of commanding, and appoints them as commanders.
A large number are worthy but poor; they receive the means of keeping a horse, and have lands assigned to themselves, without being obliged to mark their horses with the Imperial brand. Túránís and Persians get 25 Rupees; and Hindústánís, 20 R. If employed to collect the revenue, they get 15 R. Such troopers are called Baráwardí.
Some Commanders who find it troublesome to furnish men, get a number of such soldiers as accept the Imperial brand. Such troops are called Dákhilís.
In the contingent of a Commander (mançabdár) of Ten Thousand, other mançabdárs as high as Hazárís (Commanders of One Thousand) serve; in the contingent of a Commander of Eight Thousand, Mançabdárs up to Hashtçadís (Commanders of Eight Hundred) serve; in the contingent of a Commander of Seven Thousand, Mançabdárs up to Haftçadís (Commanders of Seven Hundred) serve; in the contingent of a Commander of Five Thousand, other Mançabdárs as high Pançadís (commanders of Five Hundred) serve; and in the contingent of a Pançadí, Mançabdárs as high as Çadís (Commanders of One Hundred) serve. Mançabdárs of lower ranks do not serve in the contingents of high Mançabdárs.
Some Commanders also receive auxiliaries. Such reserves are called Kumakís.
At the present time, those troopers are preferred whose horses are marked with the Imperial brand. This class of soldiers is superior to others. His Majesty's chief object is to prevent the soldiers from borrowing horses (for the time of musters), or exchanging them for worse ones, and to make them take care of the Imperial horses; for he knows that avarice makes men so short-sighted, that they look upon a loss as a gain. In the beginning of the present reign, when His Majesty was still ‘behind the veil,’ many of his servants were given to dishonest practices, lived without check, and indulged, from want of honour, in the comforts of married life. Low, avaricious men sold their horses, and were content to serve as foot-soldiers, or brought instead of a superior horse, a tatoo that looked more like an ass. They were magniloquent in their dishonesty and greediness of pay, and even expressed dissatisfaction, or rebelled. Hence His Majesty had to introduce the Descriptive Roll System, and to make the issue of pay dependent upon the inspection of these rolls (vide below A´ín 7). This stopped, in a short time, much lawlessness, and regenerated the whole military system. But at that time the regulations regarding the Imperial brand were not issued, as His Majesty had adopted the advice of some inexperienced men, who look upon branding an animal as an act of cruelty; hence avaricious men (who cannot distinguish that which is good from that which is bad, having neither respect for themselves nor their master, and who think to promote a cause by ruining it, thus acting against their own interest) adopted other vicious practices, which led to a considerable want of efficiency in the army. Horse borrowing was then the order of the day. His Majesty, therefore, made the branding of the horses compulsory, in addition to the Descriptive Roll System. Easy-minded idlers thus passed through a school of discipline and became worthy men, whilst importunate, lowmen were taught honorableness and manliness. The unfeeling and avaricious learned the luxury of magnanimity. The army resembled a newly irrigated garden. Even for the Treasury the new regulations proved beneficial. Such are the results which wisdom and practical knowledge can produce! Branding a horse may indeed inflict pain; but when viewed from a higher point, it is the cause of much satisfaction to the thinking man.