Tales from later Mughals

kettledrums everything would be for the soldiers. In the
battlefield, the leader of the defeated army became a target
for the soldiers because of his costly dress and weapons. He
was immediately killed and his personal belongings were
taken way.
After victory, soldiers were allowed to plunder the
cities. On these occasions no mercy was shown to the
common people. Soldiers captured women and children and
killed the men folk. They tortured people to make them
surrender their hidden treasures. It was a common practice
that whenever the army marched the soldiers looted the
villages they passed through and carried off the farmers`
cattle and produce by force. Villagers, on hearing the
advance of an army, generally fled to forests or mountains in
order to save their honour and life and came back when all
was over.
This created hostility between peasants and soldiers
and when soldiers fled from the battlefield after defeat they
were harassed and looted by peasants. This happened in the
case of the third battle of Panipat; when Marhatta soldiers
escaped after their defeat they were deprived of their horses
and belongings by villagers. Mir Taqi Mir in his
autobiography portrays their dismal condition - how these
soldiers wandered around helplessly. Sometimes, as a result
of looting, victory changed into defeat. The defeated army
took advantage of the fact that the victors were distracted by
their plundering; they seized the chance, attacked and
defeated them.
When big and heavily populated cities were captured
they were looted systematically. Moneylenders (sahukars),
businessmen, and nobles were forced to pay heavily. For
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