It may be interesting to the reader, to see the following statement of the native armies in the time of Akbar, in 1582, as given in the Ayeen Akbaree, by Abul Fazel, Prime Minister:—
| Province of | Cavalry. | Infantry. | Elephants. | Boats. |
| Agra | 50,600 | 477,570 | 221 | — |
| Allahabad | 11,375 | 237,870 | 323 | — |
| Bahar | 11,415 | 149,350 | — | 100 |
| Delhi | 18,275 | 125,400 | — | — |
| Oude | 1,340 | 31,900 | — | 23 |
| Ajmere | 8,000 | 38,000 | — | — |
| Bengal | 1,100 | 142,920 | 1,100 | — |
| ———— | ———— | ——— | —— | |
| Total | 102,105 | 1,203,010 | 1,644 | 123 |
Thus we find that the cavalry and infantry in the seven Soobahs of Agra, Ajmere, Allahabad, Bahar, Bengal, Delhi, and Oude amounted to 1,305,115; and if to these we add two others, viz., Lahore and Mooltan, the number of men will be increased to 1,965,116, or of cavalry alone, to 170,370, for
| Province of | Cavalry. | Infantry. |
| Lahore | 54,480 | 426,086 |
| Mooltan | 13,785 | 165,650 |
| ——— | ——— | |
| Total | 68,265 | 591,736 |
Making about 2,000,000 of fighting men from Lahore to Bengal: and if we estimate the population at that time (1582) at 35,000,000, there would have been one soldier out of every seventeen inhabitants.[56]
At present the population of the
| North Western Provinces is | 23,199,668 |
| Punjaub | 1,75,0000 |
| Bahar and Bengal | 24,000,000 |
| ————— | |
| Total | 48,949,668 |
According to Diodorus, Alexander heard that he was to be opposed on the banks of the Ganges by 20,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, 2,000 chariots and 4,000 elephants. Megasthenes mentions Alexander's visit to Sandrocottus, monarch of the Prasii, when encamped with an army of 400,000 men. When Aurungzebe died, in 1707, two of his sons took the field with 300,000 men each, which appear to have been the largest armies assembled within the last 150 years in India.
Sultan Baber, as I have before observed, in 1525, with 12,000 men and guns, defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the emperor of Delhi, who had 100,000 men and no guns. In the battle of Paniput, in 1761, when the Maharattas strove for the ascendancy over the Mahomedans, there were not above 150,000 men on either side. The infantry in Akbar's time were very indifferent soldiers. Elphinstone says:[57] "that it is mentioned in the Akbarnama that the chiefs of Scinde employed Portuguese soldiers in this war; and had also 200 natives dressed as Europeans." These were, therefore, the first Sepoys in India. The same learned author states,[58] under the year 1692, only about fifteen years prior to the death of Aurungzebe, that: "In spite of all Aurungzebe's boasted vigilance, the grossest abuses had crept into the military department. Many officers only kept up half the number of their men, and others filled their ranks with their menials and slaves."
Whatever credit, therefore, may be due to the statement of the number of troops in each Province in 1582, it is evident that in the year 1692, we should, by the like reasoning, have to reduce the royal standing army from 2,000,000 to 1,000,000 men. The cavalry was the most efficient force. The infantry, though ten times more numerous, yet we may reckon that not one-fourth were of much use in action. The cavalry in Akbar's time amounted to 170,000 men, and the infantry to about 1,800,000: but if 500,000 could take the field, it was probably the maximum; wherefore, if we were even to allow 700,000 men for all Hindoostan, from Cabool (for it had been made a Province) to Cape Comorin, the force would not greatly exceed many of the Continental armies. The East India Company's armies at one period numbered 302,797 men, including the royal regiments.[59]