The Indian Frontier: Horse and Warband in the Making of Empires

352 Pages·2018·7.165 MB·English

by  Jos J L Gommans

THE INDIAN FRONTIER
The work of Jos Gommans uniquely knits together the deep structures of
human and animal ecology and environmental studies with the history of
tribes, states and armies across the Eurasian world through the centuries. Many
of his important articles were hitherto hard to obtain, as they were scattered
across many books and journals through the decades. This volume makes these
conveniently accessible. It is a treasure trove of large ideas and important
interdisciplinary insights that should interest historians and social scientists
alike.
Sumit Guha
Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial
Professor in History, University of Texas at Austin
“From biological to mercantile, military and finally political power, Jos
Gommans explores the intersection between humans, horses, war-bands and
weapons. These fascinating essays chart the fertile ground between commerce
and conquest on the moving frontiers of pre-colonial South Asia.”
Nile Green
Professor of History
University of California, Los Angeles
This omnibus brings together some old and some recent works by Jos Gommans
on the warhorse and its impact on medieval and early modern state-formation
in South Asia. These studies are based on Gommans’ observation that Indian
empires always had to deal with a highly dynamic inner frontier between
semi-arid wilderness and settled agriculture. Such inner frontiers could only
be bridged by the ongoing movements of Turkish, Afghan, Rajput and other
warbands. Like the most spectacular examples of the Delhi Sultanate and the
Mughal Empires, they all based their power on the exploitation of the most
lethal weapon of that time: the warhorse. In discussing the breeding and trading
of horses and their role in medieval and early modern South Asian warfare,
Gommans also makes some thought-provoking comparisons with Europe and
the Middle East. Since the Indian frontier is part of the much larger Eurasian
Arid Zone that links the Indian subcontinent to West, Central and East Asia,
the final essay explores the connected and entangled history of the Turko-
Mongolian warband in the Ottoman and Timurid Empires, Russia and China.
Jos J.L. Gommans holds the chair of Colonial and Global History at the
University of Leiden. His major publications include The Rise of the Indo-Afghan
Empire, c.1710-1780 (Leiden, 1995; Delhi, 1999; 2017) and Mughal Warfare:
Indian Frontiers and High Roads to Empire, 1500-1700 (London, 2002).
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group
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THE INDIAN FRONTIER
Horse and Warband in the Making of Empires
JOS GOMMANS
~~ ~~o~!~;n~~;up
NEW YORK AND LONDON
Firstpublished2018
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Bangladesh,Afghanistan,PakistanorBhutan)
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MANOHAR
In memory of
J. C. HEESTERMAN
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Contents
List of Illustrations 9
List of Original Publications 11
Note on Transliteration 13
Introduction 15
1. The Horse Trade in Eighteenth-century South Asia 25
2. The Silent Frontier of South Asia, c. ad 1100-1800 51
3. The Eurasian Frontier after the First Millennium ad:
Reflections Along the Fringe of Time and Space 78
4. Warhorse and Post-Nomadic Empire in Asia,
c. 1000-1800 99
5. The Embarrassment of Political Violence in
Europe and South Asia, c. 1100-1800 130
6. Indian Warfare and Afghan Innovation
during the Eighteenth Century 157
7. Warhorse and Gunpowder in India, c. ad 1000-1850 183
8. Slavery and Naukari among the Bangash
Nawabs of Farrukhabad 209
9. The Warband in the Making of Eurasian Empires 249
Index 331
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Illustrations
PLATES
1. Muhammad Khan Bangash, c. 1730.
2. Nawab Amir al-Umara Zabita Khan by Son of Ganga Ram,
Mihr Chand, Faizabad, c. 1770.
3. Battle of Panipat 1761. Faizabad, c. 1770.
4. Four Afghan Steeds: The Afghan envoy to Beijing presented
the Qing emperor with four horses.
5. Tomb of Ali Muhammad Khan Rohilla in Aonla (UP).
6. Tomb of Muhammad Khan Bangash in Farrukhabad (UP).
7. Tomb of Najib al-Daula in Najibabad (UP).
8. Two Yusufzai infantrymen.*
9. Two Rohilla men.*
10. Kabuli horseman in chain mail holding a lance.*
11. Yusufzai horseman.*
12. Rohilla horseman, watercolour by Sita Ram.
13. Watercolour of Patthargarh Fort in Najibabad by
Sita Ram (1814-15).
14. Watercolour of the tomb of Hafiz Rahmat Khan in Bareilly by
Sita Ram (1814-15).
* British Library London: Add.Or.1347-96
50 drawings bound into a volume; 31 depicting people of the Punjab and
neighbouring areas, 11 depicting infantry and cavalry of the Punjab and its
environs and 8 depicting rulers of the Punjab and their ministers as well as
princes of the Punjab Hill states. By an Indian artist, probably at Amritsar,
1838-9. The majority inscribed with titles in Persian characters and in English.
Water-marks of 1837 (e.g. Add.Or.1348).