Then too the men and horses
often proved useless for severe service. When the reserves were
mustered the knights dressed up harmless private citizens as soldiers
or hired them for the occasion and after the muster was over, let them
go again. In the same way the horses brought forward for the muster
were taken back into private service immediately afterwards and were
replaced by worthless animals for the imperial service. This evil too
was abolished at one stroke, by taking an exact personal description
of the soldiers presented and by branding the heads of horses,
elephants and camels with certain marks. By this simple expedient it
became impossible to exchange men and animals presented at the muster
for worthless material and also to loan them to other knights during
muster.
The number of men able to bear arms in Akbar's realm has been given as
about four and a half millions but the standing army which was held at
the expense of the state was small in proportion. It contained only
about twenty-five thousand men, one-half of whom comprised the cavalry
and the rest musketry and artillery; Since India does not produce
first class horses, Akbar at once provided for the importation of
noble steeds from other lands of the Orient which were famed for horse
breeding and was accustomed to pay more for such animals than the
price which was demanded.
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