Wow! It looks so real!

I read the following account last night. Not strictly a Mogul camp, but very like it. " Fond of a wandering life, the Mahrattas seem most at home in the camp ; the bazaars being supplied with necessaries for the soldiers, and such luxuries as those in a higher station require, they know no wants, and are subject to few restraints ; surrounded by their wives and children, they enjoy the pleasures of domestic life; and many of the principal officers keep cheetas, greyhounds, and hawks, trained to hunting, for their amusement on a march, or when encamped in a sporting country." " Not only the officers and soldiers, but in general the followers of the camp, have their wives and families with them during the march. The women frequently ride astride with one or two children on a bullock, an ass, or a little tattoo horse, while the men walk by the side. On reaching the encampment, the fatigued husband lies down on his mat, and the wife commences tier duties. She first shampoos her husband, and fans him to repose; she then shampoos the horse, rubs him down, and gives him provender; takes some care of the ox which has carried her stores, and drives off the poor ass to provide for himself. She next lights a fire, dresses rice and curry, or kneads dough for cakes, which are prepared and baked in a simple manner. When the husband awakes, his repast is ready ; and having also provided a meal for herself and children, the careful matron occupies the mat, and sleeps till day-break, when all are in motion, and ready for another march." "Of the Mahratta cavalry, those soldiers who have neither female companions nor servants to attend them, on finishing the march immediately shampoo their own horses, by rubbing the limbs, and bending the joints; which not only refreshes the animals, but enables them to bear fatigue with a smaller quantity of food than would be otherwise necessary." " Besides the married women, a number of dancing girls and tolerated courtezans attend the camp. Some of the former officiate as choristers in the sacred tents dedicated to the Hindoo gods ; many belong to the officers, and others form a common cyprian corps. Children of both sexes accompany the army in the severest marches; they know no home but the camp. " The number and variety of cattle necessarily attendant on an Asiatic army is astonishing. There were at least two hundred thousand in the Mahratta camp of every description. The expense of feeding these animals, as also the difficulty of procuring provender, is very great, and their distress for water, in a parched country and a sultry climate, often fatal." "The Peshwa, having drawn to his camp everything of the nature of soldiery that he had any reason to expect, but relying on the English battalion more than on any part of his army, began a movement toward those whom he regarded as his rebel subjects. The dry season being far advanced, and consequently the water in the wells and tanks greatly reduced, the army seldom remained a night in a place without completely exhausting it, leaving the inhabitants to the resources of a " heaven of brass over them, and an earth of iron under them." In some of the positions, all that was contained in these reservoirs was far from sufficing the army itself. Some of the tanks were reduced to the state of a nauseous puddle, in a very short time, by the foremost of the innumerable quadrupeds crowding impetuously into the water." " Heat and dust pervaded the camp ; fetid smells and swarms of flies, rendered it inconceivably offensive. I can easily suppose the plague of flies was not one of the smallest judgments inflicted on Egypt; few things, not venomous, could be more troublesome than these insects ; they entirely covered our food, filled the drinking vessels, " From Fosteriana, consisting of thoughts, reflections, and criticisms, of John ... page 291 By John Foster and made it difficult to distinguish the colour of a coat."

A brilliant visual description....reminds me of Broughton's - Letters from a Mahratta Camp.

Incredible horizon perspective. looked upon a tall hill.

Beautiful !!

In support of the fine picture of a Mughal encampment (near my hometown) posted by Subbiah, and the elaborate description of a Marhatta camp by Nick Balmer, I now describe the camp of the 'Great Mogol'. Francois Bernier has left a wonderful description of the camp of Aurangzeb in letters written to M. de Merveilles in France in1664. After attending to important state business (such as the imprisonment of his father Shah Jahan in Agra and neutralization of his 3 brothers), Aurangzeb needed a little, well-deserved vacation and chose to visit Kashmir with his co-conspiring sister, Roshan Ara Begum. I present some excerpts from these well-written letters. "The King left this city (Delhi) on the 6th of December at 3 o'clock in the afternoon; a day and hour chosen by the astrologers... He is attended not only by the 35,000 cavalry which at all times compose his body-guard, and by infantry exceeding 10,000 in number, but likewise by heavy artillery and light infantry. The heavy artillery consists of 70 pieces...Many of these cannon are so ponderous that 20 yoke of oxen are necessary to draw them along, often requiring the aid of elephants to push them. The light infantry is composed of 60 small field-pieces, all of brass; each mounted on a small carriage of neat construction and beautifully painted, and drawn by two handsome horses driven by an artilleryman.These field-pieces travel at a quick rate so that they may be ranged in front of the royal tent to fire a volley as a signal to the troops of the King's arrival". "I am also happy at the idea of not being any longer exposed to the danger of eating the bazar bread of Delh which is often badly baked and full of sand and dust. I may hope, too, for better water (Ganges water laden on camels) than that of the capital, the impurities of which exceed any power of description; as it is accessible to all persons and animals, and the receptacle of every kind of filth. Fevers most difficult to cure are engendered by it, and worms (Filaria, the Guinea-worm) are bred in the legs which produce violent inflammation attended with much danger". "This is slow and solemn marching what we call 'a la Mogole'. Lahore is about 15 days' journey and we have been nearly two months on the road. Whenever the King travels in military pomp he has always two separate bodies of tents. One of these camps being constantly a day in advance of the other, the King is sure to find a camp fully prepared for his reception. The two Pesh-khanas (camps) are nearly equal, and to transport one of them the aid of more than 60 elephants, 200 camels, 100 mules, and 100 men-porters is required....The first and the largest tent erected is named Aam-khass; being the place where the King and the nobility keep the Mokam.... The second tent is called the ghosal-khana, or the place of bathing. It is here that all the nobility meet to pay their obeisance to the King....Still deeper in the square is the third tent called Kaluet-khana, the retired spot or the place of the privy council. Only principal ministers have access to this tent.... You will easily conceive that there is something very striking and magnificient in these royal quarters, and this vast assemblage of red tents, placed in the centre of a vast army, produces a brilliant effect when seen from some neighboring eminence". "I cannot avoid dwelling on this pompous procession of the Seraglio... Stretch imagination to its utmost limits, and you can conceive no exhibition more grand and imposing than when Roshan Ara Begum, mounted on a stupendous Pegu elephant, and seated in a Mikdember, blazing with gold and azure, is followed by 5 or 6 other elephants with Mikdembers nearly as resplendent as her own, and filled with ladies attached to her household. Close to the princess are the chief eunuchs, richly adorned and finely mounted, each with a wand of office in his hand; and surrounding her elephant, a troop of female servants, Tartars and Kashmiris, fantastically attired and riding handsome horses... If I had not regarded this display of magnificence with a sort of philosophical indifference, I should have been apt to be carried away by such flights of imagination as inspire most of the Indian poets, when they represent the elephants as conveying so many goddesses concealed from the vulgar gaze". "As to the number of people, it is not easy to determine this accurately. I may venture to state that in this march, there are at least 100,000 horsemen, and more than 150,000 animals, comprising horses, mules and elephants; besides these, there cannot be less than 50,000 camels and nearly as many oxen or horses employed to carry wives and children, the grain and other provisions.... The whole population of Delhi, the capital city, is in fact collected in the camp, because deriving its employment and maintenance from the court and army, it has no alternative but to follow them in the march or perish from want during their absence". Some vacation that was! "

Thanks Asad Ahmed for this excellent post.

Thanks Asad Ahmed.

awsome!

Splendor and royality so well described .

wonderful always so nformative and interesting pictures