Tales from later Mughals

handling serious matters. Otherwise there were no
privileged or unprivileged classes in the army. All were
equal,
These military adventurers were getting offers from
rulers as well as nobles. The reason was that war became
the only solution for all political disputes. Rulers of petty
states fought to keep their borders intact while others tried
to seize the land to extend their own territories. There were
also wars of succession and each claimant made attempts to
get a strong army to fight for his success. The nobility kept
their own army to protect their families and properties in
chaotic situations where armed gangs roamed wild and
looted and plundered at will.
Another characteristic of private armies was that the
soldiers made no discrimination on the basis of caste and
creed. Hindus and Muslims fought together for money
against their co-religionists. They were not concerned with
who was right or wrong. They fought on the side which paid
them. The concept of loyalty had also lost its value. They
betrayed their patron if he did not accede to their wishes.
Sometimes they changed sides and fought against their
former benefactor with the same zeal as when they were in
his service. In many cases it happened that the father was on
one side and his son on the other.
It was the responsibility of the leader to keep his
soldiers busy and pay them. If he did not get any offer, his
army started to act independently and raided villages and
plundered them. But in spite of this, these soldiers could
never accumulate enough wealth to become independent
enough to leave the profession and spend the rest of their
107