Military reforms of Sher Shah Suri

[Samandri]

Sher Shah Suri (also Sher Khan) realized the need of a strong army and in his fight against the Mughals he relied mostly on the Afghans whom he invited from different parts of the country and employed them to positions suitable to everybody’s ability. He declared he would kill every Afghan who refused to be a soldier. He was also very careful of his Afghans in action,, that their lives might not be uselessly sacrificed. When the Afghans heard that Sher Khan was eagerly desirous of patronizing their race, they entered into his service from all directions.

Sher Shah always kept 150,000 cavalry, and 25,000 footmen, either armed with match-locks or bows, present with him, and on some expeditions took even more with him. There were also 5,000 elephants in his elephant-sheds. And in every place where it served his interests he kept garrisons; e.g., in the fort of Gwalior he kept a force to which were attached 1,000 match-lock men. In Bayana he kept a division, besides a garrison of 500 match-locks ; in antambhor another division besides 1,600 match-lock men ; in the fort of Chitor, 3,000 match-lock men; in the fort of Shadmabad or Mandu was stationed Suja'at Khan with 10,000 horse and 7,000 match-locks. He had his jagirs in Hindia and Malwa. In the fort of Raisin a force was stationed together with 1,000 artillery men ; and in the fort of Chunar, another force also with 1,000 matchlock men ; and in the fort of Rohtas, near Bihar, he kept Ikhtiyar Khan Panni, with 10,000 match-lock men : and Sher Shahkept treasures without number or reckoning in that fort. . . ( Similarly, at Nagor, Jodhpur, Ajmir, Lucknow, Kalpi, etc. ) The kingdom of Bengal he divided into parts, and made Kazi Fazilat Amir of that whole kingdom.

Prof. Qanungo observes that to Sultan Alau-d din Khilji belongs the credit of organising the Indian army on a new model.He created an army recruited directly by the central government, paid in cash from the State treasury, officered by nobles of the Sultan's own choice. Sher Shah introduced Dagh and Chehra system. The corruption was checked by the dagh ( branding ) system. Every soldier had his chehra (face) recorded and his horse branded with imperial sign. Akbar also followed these practices and organized the army on efficient lines with some changes as he introduced mansabdari system.

The armies of the Lodhis were of the clannish feudal type, consisting of the quotas of various tribal chiefs enjoying jagirs for service. Sher Shah revived the system of Alau-d din Khilji and trans- formed the army 'into a truly Imperial institution. The soldier obeyed his immediate commanding officer, not as his personal chief, but as the Emperor's servant. The Emperor combined in himself the functions of the Commander-in-Chief and the Pay-Master-General. l . . In order to take away from the mili- tary character of the administration, Sher Shah took care that in normal times of peace, the military should remain in the background, only as the support of the civil authority. 2

Among the rules which Sher Shah promulgated, is the branding of horses. And he said he ordered Branding of Horses: it on this account, that the rights of the chiefs and the soldiers mightbe distinct, and that the chiefs might not be able to defraud the soldiers of their rights; and that every one should maintain soldiers according to his rank (mansab) and not vary his numbers. " For," said he, " in the time of Sultan Ibrahim, and afterwards, I ob- served that many base nobles were guilty of fraud and false- hood, who at the time their monthly salary was assigned to them, had a number of soldiers ; but when they had got pos- session of their jagirs, they dismissed the greater number of their men without payment, and only kept a few men for in- dispensable duties, and did not even pay them in full. Nor did they regard the injury to their master's interests, of the ingratitude of their own conduct ; and when their lord ordered a review or assembly of their forces, they brought strange men and horses, and mustered them, but the money they put into their own treasuries. In time of war they would be defeated from paucity of numbers ; but they kept the money, and when their master's affairs became critical and disordered, they, equipping themselves with this very money, took service elsewhere ; so, from the ruin of their master's fortunes, they suffered no loss. When I had the good fortune to gain power, I was on my guard against the deceit and fraud of both soldiers and chiefs, and ordered the horses to be branded, in order to block up the road against these tricks and frauds, so that the chiefs could not entertain strangers to fill up their ranks." Sher Shah's custom was this that he would not pay their salary unless the horses were branded, and he carried it to such an extent that he would not give anything to the sweepers and women servants about the palace without a brand, and they wrote out descriptive rolls of the men and horses and brought them before him, and he himself compared the rolls when he fixed the monthly salaries and then he had the horses branded in his presence.



1. Qanungo, op. cit., pp. 361-63.
2, Ibid., p. 353.
Mughal Empire In India 1526 1761 Part I"
Military reforms of Sher Shah Suri | History of Pashtuns

 

[Mike_Brando]

Sher Shah Suri was perhaps the greatest ruler in the 16th Century Indian Sub-Continent.It was his sheer bad luck that he died pre-maturely during the siege of Kalinjar.It's a pity that his successors were not competent enough to rule the empire that he created within a span of only 5 years.If he had lived for a few decades more he would have for certain created the largest empire in the Indian Sub-Continent history.He was not only an exceptional Military leader but also an extremely efficient Administration.Jalaluddin Akbar later on followed many of his administrative reforms during his reign including the land reform laws which was created by him.

 

[Sulman Badshah]

Sher shah suri was visionary and development oriented leader .... He was way better then Mughals

 

[Kompromat]

I think Sher Shah Suri built a highway (not to be confused with modern highways) connecting major cities in Punjab.

 

[VCheng]

I think Sher Shah Suri built a highway (not to be confused with modern highways) connecting major cities in Punjab.

He built the the Shah-Rah-e-Azam, which later became the Grand Trunk Road (the famed GT Road) that went from Calcutta to Kabul, and across northern Punjab.

 

[Samandri]

I think Sher Shah Suri built a highway (not to be confused with modern highways) connecting major cities in Punjab.

Grand trunk road from Bengal ocean shore to Punjab. Another major road was built from Agra to Jodhpur. Another was built from lahore to Multan. Along all these roads, he built 1700 serais were built with separate lodgings for hindus and muslims. At the each of road, trees were grown for shade and wells were dug for comfort of travellers. The army was tasked of patrolling the road, to provide security to the merchants and any one travelling on the road, this increased trade. At each serai along the road, two horses were available for carrying news on daily basis, 3400 horses total for postal service and intelligence.

 

[Samandri]

Sher shah's son islam shah was also a capable one , an efficient administrator , ruled with iron fist. Islam shah's rule from 1545 to 1553 was very stable one but he also died prematurely and after him we see four suri kings contesting for throne between 1553 to 1555, its because islam shah's son was too young, 12 years old and he was murdered by a relative. Islam shah's grip on empire was so strong that humayun cancelled the invasion upon reaching jehlum and waited further. Upon death of islam shah, humayun took advantage of ensueing choas and defeated each of the four suri kings, already weakened by civil war.

 

[ghoul]

He was a good administrator and nothing else. He beat a 20 year old Hamayun via treachery, and Babur treated him like a dog. He swore upon Quran that he would not attack Hamayun's army when crossing the river, but even a promise on quran wasn't anything for this munafiq. He used rogue tactics against many of his foes, like he forged fake letters when faced of against the rathores of rajasthan. His tactical genius also wasn't as good as Babur's, Akbar's and Aurangzeb's. By far the best general sub-continent ever had was Aurangzeb, but too bad he didn't continue the mughal policy of secularism.

As for Sheh Shah's military prowess, he and his son met disaster in Potohar when faced off against the Gakhar warriors. He spent a huge sum on building a useless fort yet lost a lot of his soldiers, a lot of whom got captured. The Gakhars fortresses of Mirpur were just too much for his soldiers, and even after trying to beat the Gakhars for 25 years, they failed. His first expedition sent against them was completely destroyed near paharwala in Rawalpindi by the local Gakhars. They managed to kill the main Gakhar leader, Sultan Sarang only to have his brother Kamal Khan take over the Gakhar leadership.

 

[INDIC]

I think Sher Shah Suri built a highway (not to be confused with modern highways) connecting major cities in Punjab.

The Grand Trunk road, he actually renovated the ancient Uttarapatha road that ran from Tamralipti Port to Takshashila joining the silk route.

 

[Samandri]

He was a good administrator and nothing else. He beat a 20 year old Hamayun via treachery, and Babur treated him like a dog. He swore upon Quran that he would not attack Hamayun's army when crossing the river, but even a promise on quran wasn't anything for this munafiq. He used rogue tactics against many of his foes, like he forged fake letters when faced of against the rathores of rajasthan. His tactical genius also wasn't as good as Babur's, Akbar's and Aurangzeb's. By far the best general sub-continent ever had was Aurangzeb, but too bad he didn't continue the mughal policy of secularism.

As for Sheh Shah's military prowess, he and his son met disaster in Potohar when faced off against the Gakhar warriors. He spent a huge sum on building a useless fort yet lost a lot of his soldiers, a lot of whom got captured. The Gakhars fortresses of Mirpur were just too much for his soldiers, and even after trying to beat the Gakhars for 25 years, they failed. His first expedition sent against them was completely destroyed near paharwala in Rawalpindi by the local Gakhars. They managed to kill the main Gakhar leader, Sultan Sarang only to have his brother Kamal Khan take over the Gakhar leadership.

Rohtas fort was not built against ghakkars but to stop humayun from coming back. As for as ghakkars are concerned, they were defeated and destroyed first by sher shah, then by his son islam shah....sher shah getting defeated at the hands of ghakkars and facing "25" years long "gurella war" from gakkars, is fictional and nationalistic account, can not be called history.
As for as "daghabazi" is concerned, ghakkars switched allegiance from lodhi afghans to mughals and then back to durrani afghans. Not a big deal but you are making it in case of sher shah. So have a look at your ghakkars, they were allies of mughals, gave daughters to mughals yet betrayed them to durranis. Abdali gave them khanpur jagir

 

[ghoul]

Rohtas fort was not built against ghakkars but to stop humayun from coming back. As for as ghakkars are concerned, they were defeated and destroyed first by sher shah, then by his son islam shah....sher shah getting defeated at the hands of ghakkars and facing "25" years long "gurella war" from gakkars, is fictional and nationalistic account, can not be called history.
As for as "daghabazi" is concerned, ghakkars switched allegiance from lodhi afghans to mughals and then back to durrani afghans. Not a big deal but you are making it in case of sher shah. So have a look at your ghakkars, they were allies of mughals, gave daughters to mughals yet betrayed them to durranis. Abdali gave them khanpur jagir

Lol at "destroyed". You're a funny guy. If you consider ain-e-akbari fictional then I can only laugh at you. All this "25 years, and selling afghanis into bazaars" is validated by Ain-e-Akbari, and Gakhar's own records. Even your niazis begged Gakhars for asylum when hunted by Islam Shah, so much for their "destruction". Besides if they were "destroyed" by Sher Shah, why did Islam Shah need to destroy them again? And Rohtas fort was pretty much built to control the Gakhars, but Sher Shah himself didn't even face them even when they taunted sher shah's name.

And they didn't support Abdali, just granted him a safe passage. They defected to Nadir Shah's side though. As for giving daughters, they gave 2 wives to the mughals. What's wrong with marrying with them? They were muslims and allies of Gakhars. And it wasn't under duress that Gakhars gave them their daughters for marriage unlike some people. And one Gakhar of Khanpur even took the daughter of the king of afghanistan as his wife. Gakhars gave daughters to Mughals, and Afghanis gave them their daughters so what's the big deal?

And they didn't support Lodhi. Sultan Hathi Gakhar killed his own cousin Tatar because he supported the Lodhis. Afghanis have always gotten their arse kicked in Potohar ever since the time of Muhammad of Ghaur, who was the first foreign invader ever killed in sub-continent. And Abdali didn't give them Khanpur Jagir lol. They conquered it themselves, then got defeated by the Sikhs and Dogras, and then reconquered it again from the local barsaati maindaks who tried their luck when the Khanpur royals were in a dogra prison. Abdali merely recognized their jaagir otherwise it would have been war time. The Gakhars made their own currency in that time period and took territory as far as Chenab.

 

[Samandri]

@ghoul
1- Abu fazal of ain-i-akbari has every reason to write "ghakkars bravely and proudly fought against afghans", he was darbari of mughals and didnt write favourably about his afghan enemies who are still at war with them. Ghakkars were part of mughal harem so abu fazal has to praise them for some thing.
2- Nothing wrong with providing wives to mughals on contineous basis but just other day you were making fun of indian rajputs for that. Now mughals really needed rajasthani rajputs against afghans but they didnt need numerically insignificant fake rajputs like ghakkars for matrimonial alliance. Ghakkars needed mughal protection and for that their chiefs provided wives to mughal harem.
3- Abu fazal mention awans and janjuas as conquered people by afghans. But so were ghakkars. They were first tributory of khan khaju of yousafzais then became subjugates of lodhis. In 18th century, they became servants of durranis. They were gifted khanpur for their services.
4- potoharis were worshippers of rising sun. First ghakkars were under yousafzais and lodhis, then switched sides to mughals. When powerful nadir shah invaded, they switched sides and assissted nadir shah against their mughal lords. When afghans became powerful, they owed allegiance to them. Abdali even rewarded them khanpur for their services and loyalty. When sikhs became powerful, they switched from afghans to sikh side. Other potohari tribes did the same. When british became powerful, they betrayed sikhs and became loyal to british. Oppurtunist bunch.

 

[ghoul]

@ghoul
1- Abu fazal of ain-i-akbari has every reason to write "ghakkars bravely and proudly fought against afghans", he was darbari of mughals and didnt write favourably about his afghan enemies who are still at war with them. Ghakkars were part of mughal harem so abu fazal has to praise them for some thing.
2- Nothing wrong with providing wives to mughals on contineous basis but just other day you were making fun of indian rajputs for that. Now mughals really needed rajasthani rajputs against afghans but they didnt need numerically insignificant fake rajputs like ghakkars for matrimonial alliance. Ghakkars needed mughal protection and for that their chiefs provided wives to mughal harem.
3- Abu fazal mention awans and janjuas as conquered people by afghans. But so were ghakkars. They were first tributory of khan khaju of yousafzais then became subjugates of lodhis. In 18th century, they became servants of durranis. They were gifted khanpur for their services.
4- potoharis were worshippers of rising sun. First ghakkars were under yousafzais and lodhis, then switched sides to mughals. When powerful nadir shah invaded, they switched sides and assissted nadir shah against their mughal lords. When afghans became powerful, they owed allegiance to them. Abdali even rewarded them khanpur for their services and loyalty. When sikhs became powerful, they switched from afghans to sikh side. Other potohari tribes did the same. When british became powerful, they betrayed sikhs and became loyal to british. Oppurtunist bunch.

1. Both Ferishta and Abu Fazal said the same thing about them except Ferishta was anti-Gakhar rather. And the first Gakhar woman to marry a mughal was the daughter of sultan Said. No Gakhar mughal intermarriages took until Jahangir, hence your harem comment is again factually inaccurate. And they needed protection from whom? The pakhtuns? Lol. Sultan Muqarrab defeated both the Yousafzais and Bhangi Khel Khattaks.

2. Indian rajputs were hindus. Gakhars were muslim. There is nothing wrong with intermarrying with strong allied muslim clans. Gakhars are not rajputs. Akbar sent Kamal Khan Gakhar to subjugate the tribes of Bajaur, and also used them to capture mirza Hakim. Gakhars always formed a strong backbone of Mughal army in the northern zone. The Afghans worked for mughals and didn't rebel until Aurangzeb, when they were easily defeated.

3. Show me one reference of Abu Fazal mentioning awans and janjuas as conquered people. That "Pakistan army is martial" article was factually incorrect. Janjuas were independent people in the time of Babur, and were defeated by Hamayun but reconciled with Akbar again and were independent up till the time of Ranjit Singh. So were Awans an independent people. Ain-e-Akbari distinctly tells which regions were ruled by Janjuas and which by Awans.

As for subjugation, again, total bullshit. Janjuas joined Babur against Lodhi, Hathi Gakhar killed Tatar Khan Gakhar for being cozy with lodhis. Potohar couldn't be subjugated by any Delhi sultan despite repeated attempts. Khanpur jagir was their Jagir since Sultan Sarang. Abdali merely accepted their claims, there was no gifting involved. Who the hell was Kanju? Some fictional person like King Arthur? Lol. Yousafzais had no presence in Potohar, and had no capability to fight the local tribes.

4. Wrong again. Potohar was always in a rebellion against the Delhi sultanates. They sided with Nadir Shah because you sometimes have to make strategic decisions as a nation. Mughals became weak and corrupt, hence the Gakhars defected. Abdali merely recognized their claims on Khanpur. No Potohari joined his army like they joined Nadir Shah's, whose dog Abdali was.

 

[Samandri]

Ghakkars didnt defeated yousafzais, they didnt have the military power to take on their former masters. Kamal khan ghakkar was underling, subordinate of zain khan koka and zain khan koka was defeated by yousafzais. Birbal was also defeated while man singh achieved successes in some battles but had to retreat finally. Ghakkars were nobodies, just small level underlings of mughal commanders. Later they became loyal dogs of nadir shah, durranis, sikhs and british. Khanpur was awarded to them by afghans for their service. Before that, they had no presence in hazara. Sir abbot writes that compared to tarbulent pashtun tribes of hazara, "mild" ghakkars of khanpur were very interested in befriending sikhs but hari singh didnt distinguish between foes and friends. So ghakkars of khanpur were trying to suck up to hari singh, par uss ney chara nahi dala.

 

[ghoul]

Ghakkars didnt defeated yousafzais, they didnt have the military power to take on their former masters. Kamal khan ghakkar was underling, subordinate of zain khan koka and zain khan koka was defeated by yousafzais. Birbal was also defeated while man singh achieved successes in some battles but had to retreat finally. Ghakkars were nobodies, just small level underlings of mughal commanders. Later they became loyal dogs of nadir shah, durranis, sikhs and british. Khanpur was awarded to them by afghans for their service. Before that, they had no presence in hazara. Sir abbot writes that compared to tarbulent pashtun tribes of hazara, "mild" ghakkars of khanpur were very interested in befriending sikhs but hari singh didnt distinguish between foes and friends. So ghakkars of khanpur were trying to suck up to hari singh, par uss ney chara nahi dala.

Ok whatever helps you sleep at night. And lol at Yousafzais being their former masters. Hahaha! What's next? Afghanis invaded Atlantis?

And you got the whole history of Khanpur wrong, so no point in arguing with you any further. And if Gakhars were as weak as you then your own king wouldn't give them his daughter. Nuff said.