Description
The Mughal Empire was one of the great powers of the early modern era. It eventually grew to include almost the entirety of South Asia, from Afghani- stan to the southern tip of India and from the Indus River to the frontiers of Burma. It accounted for more than a fifth of the world’s total economic output. This great expansion in both political and economic wealth was due in large part to success on the battlefield. The Mogul Empire was a conquest state dominated by its military elite, with a government where military and civilian administration were closely interconnected. It devoted a substantial portion of its total resources to expansion and defense. War and readiness for war were essential elements in the shaping of the Mughals’ political, social and cultural identity. Despite these basic facts there have only been a handful of books dedicated to Mirza Mughal military history ever written, 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 Mughal kings and their enemies actually fought.