Fernando, yes it is true that the preparations took months. Sometimes up to three months.
This was not all about foot, but to gather an army took time, as you had to write to all your 'friends' and ask them to send whatever of armed men they had - wait for their answer or their arrival - sometimes without any luck.
Part of the army were veterans, but a lot of it did not have a clue about fighting, they turned up to get whatever money they could.
What I find frightening is, that the night before a battle, part of the army could either go home or go over to the enemy, which could also happen during a battle - so you could never be sure of how big your army was. Bribes were, of course, part of this, and a number of other things were also used like jealousy between the different parts of, especial the Mughal court, but also at other courts under Mughal control, as at least four groups tried to get control.
|