How to feed an Indian army?

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

Yes it is an interesting link Shayde. When I was in the army, a 'century' ago, I remember the C-rations, I dont remember any A or B-rations....

In my army time 'half century' ago, when we were out in the field we were given ration 20, which was miserable, and later on they introduced ration 30, rather more decent.

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

...Without knowing it, I would think each Indian soldier, at the time, cooked for himself ...

Speaking of which ...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3550905/

[Jens Nordlunde]

Fernando - I may not be remembering correctly, as it could be half a century ago since I was in the Army.
Interesting article, although I think that the logistic then made it a bit different - the foot as well.

[bhushan_lawate]

Hi All,

A rather interesting topic for discussion and we can only "try" to guess the situations of the times in which these wars happened.

I can cite the information from the 1660's when ShahistaKhan who was the uncle of Aurangzeb marched to the Deccan to vanquish Shivaji.

It is documented that he had two sets of his tents etc. and while he was staying at one place the other would be on march and set up at the next point of staying.

Apparently his army marched a mere 10 miles odd a day and took months together to reach from Delhi to Pune where he established his base. Also, on his way the local rulers/feudal Lords joined his army on the instructions/directions from the Mughal court as they were also the subsidiaries of the Mughal Emperor and had to do the bidding of the Emperor.

Large cooking pots (Hundis) were set up on camel drawn carriages in which "Biryani" was cooked while on the move and soldiers were fed. in fact, Biryani was preferred as it was easy to cook and could last for days.

Also, the villages and chiefs enroute had instructions of providing all the necessary materials and food grains etc. to the marching armies.

This army was about 100,000 strong and had heavy cannons, elephants, camels, horses and lot of non-combat individuals like family members, cooks, dancers etc.

on the contrary the Maratha armies had only horsemen and infantry and carried dry rations to make flat breads and rice and ate it with assorted meat or vegetables.

However, most invading armies from Delhi to Deccan resorted to plundering and forcefully taking things away on their way from the villages and cities they passed through.

Hopefully this will help get some insights on the way armies moved in those times.

[fernando]

What a splendid input, Bhushan. I am certain that Jens will appreciate it.
Many answers to questions that were yet unanswered or passive of uncertainty.
Also worthy of note is that, in cases where the answer was not one of either solutions ventured but actually both practices having occurred.
Very good material indeed; thanks a lot for sharing.

[Jens Nordlunde]

Bhushan, very interesting that they were cooking while travelling - I did not know this.


In 1472(?) it did not rain in Deccan for two years, and many people and animals died, while other moved to other parts of India. Then the rain came, at last, but then there was hardly any people left to take care of the agriculture.
Should an army decide to move through such a country, it would mean very long lines of delivery.

[fernando]

In context, some loose notes extracted from Mughals at War: Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500 - 1605 A Dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Andrew de la Garza.

... While at rest ... The soldiers were fed as units in large field canteens by a small army of cooks who were led by a mir bakawal, or Master of the Kitchen....
... A special supplementary tax was assessed on all agricultural holdings, and the proceeds from this fee, often including payments of foodstuffs in kind, were used to stock thanas, or supply depots distributed throughout the Empire. These supplies could be used in response to civilian disasters like droughts and floods, but they were most commonly used to provision armies encamped nearby or passing through en route to the frontier. Keeping all of the Emperor’s men fed required extensive planning and attention to detail. The “Master of the Kitchen” was not simply a ceremonial post...
... At the beginning of every quarter, they… collect whatever they think will be necessary… sukhdas rice from Bahraich, dewzirah rice from Gwaliar, jinjin rice from Rajori and Nímlah… ducks, water-fowls, and certain vegetables from Kashmir… The sheep, goats, fowls and ducks… are fattened by the cooks...
... A place is also told off as a kitchen garden, that there may be a continual supply of fresh greens...
... Of course the quality of fare enjoyed in peacetime and by the highest ranking officers was not always available to ordinary troops. During extended operations they often had to rely on much more basic iron rations. As one observer noted during adifficult campaign, “the horseman as well as the infantry soldier supports himself with a little flour kneaded with water and black sugar, of which they make small balls, and in the evening… they make khichari, which consists of rice cooked with grain… in water with a little salt.”...
...while the Mughal army may have been in some sense a “nomadic” institution, it had evolved far beyond its distant tribal origins or even the ad-hoc, patchwork organization of the early days under Babur. It was an army of “professional soldiers depending on the logistical and financial
assistance of professional transporters, bankers and merchants.” For this reason it rarely had to rely on foraging and plunder...

All this for a universe of more than 100,000 horse soldiers in their front line forces and as many as 400,000 with the inclusion of allies, local militias, and mercenaries.

.

[Jens Nordlunde]

Fernando, thank you for the link, it looks very interesting, and I have, of course, had a look at chapter 6. Will read it closely when I have better time.
It is interesting to read that Babur and Akbar, even then knew how important it was to keep the soldiers well fet. The section about the medecine is also very interesting, and was one which I would have taken up later - but now we have the answer.