Army of the Mughal Empire

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The army of the Mughal Empire was the military force by which the Mughal emperors established and expanded their empire. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, were in the cavalry-based armies of central Asia, its essential form and structure was established by the third emperor, Akbar. The regular forces were mainly recruited and fielded by Mansabdar officers. During the 17th century, the army became the earth's largest, numbering 911,400–4,049,097 infantry (zats) and 342,696–15,000,000 cavalry (Swari). Alternatively, according to the Abul Fazl's census, the size of the army was roughly about 4.4 million, with less than half a million trained as cavalry; while modern Indian historians estimate 26 million. The Mughal dominated India, employing superior engineering and logistic mastery. Historians compared the Mughal army with that of the Roman Empire or the United States Armed Forces in terms of force projection. In logistical superiority, the Mughals were comparable with the...

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