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Originally it had a form similar to cavalry based army of central Asia.
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Its essential form and structure was established by Akbar (third Emperor of Mughal Empire).
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The army had no regimental
structure and the soldiers were not
directly recruited by the emperor.
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Instead, individual officials such as nobles or local leaders would recruit their own troops, referred to
as a mansab, and contribute them to the army.
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Akbar restructured the army and introduced a new
system called the mansabdari system.
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Therefore, the essential structure of the Mughal army started from the
reign of Akbar.
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Mughal emperors maintained a small
standing army, numbering only in thousands.
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The officers called mansabdars
provided much of the troops.
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There were four branches of the
Mughal army: the cavalry (Aswaran),
the infantry (Paidgan), the artillery (Topkhana) and the navy.
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Cavalry: The cavalry was the most superior branch of
the Mughal army. An officer had to keep men and horses in a ratio of 1:2. The
horses had to be carefully verified and branded, and Arabian horses were
preferred. Mughal cavalry also included elephants, normally used by generals.
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Infantry: The infantry was recruited either by
Mansabdars, or by the emperor himself. They were normally ill-paid and
ill-equipped, and also lacked discipline. This group included bandukchi or gun
bearers, swordsmen, as well as servants and artisans.
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Artillery: The artillery was an important branch of the
Mughal army. It was used extensively by early Mughal rulers like Babur, who
used it to establish the Mughal Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Mughal
artillery consisted of heavy cannons, light artillery, grenadiers and raketies.
Heavy cannons were very expensive and heavy for transportation, and had to be
dragged by elephants into the battlefield.
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Navy: The navy was the weakest and poorest branch
of the Mughal military. The Empire did maintain warships, however they were
relatively small. The fleet also consisted of transport ships. The Navy's main
duty was controlling piracy, sometimes used in war.