Army of the Mughal Empire

The army of the Mughal Empire was the military force by which the Mughal emperors established and expanded their empire. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, were in the cavalry-based armies of central Asia, its essential form and structure was established by the third emperor, Akbar. The regular forces were mainly recruited and fielded by Mansabdar officers.

During the 17th century, the army became the earth's largest, numbering 911,400–4,049,097 infantry (zats) and 342,696–15,000,000 cavalry (Swari). Alternatively, according to the Abul Fazl's census, the size of the army was roughly about 4.4 million, with less than half a million trained as cavalry; while modern Indian historians estimate 26 million.

The Mughal dominated India, employing superior engineering and logistic mastery. Historians compared the Mughal army with that of the Roman Empire or the United States Armed Forces in terms of force projection. In logistical superiority, the Mughals were comparable with the British Army during the Victorian Era. Historian Stephen Morillo claimed that Western scholarship generally overlooked the destructive scale of Asian empires such as the Mughal, not unlike the Roman Empire.

British historian Jeremy Black claimed that the Mughal army's struggles until their decline in the wake of Nader Shah's invasion of India reflected Asiatic military development in the 17th century. Black's evaluation contrasted with other historians who claimed that Asian empire militaries during the 17th century were influenced by the Military Revolution in Europe. This period coincided with the costly Deccan wars, which substantially damaged the Mughal army.

Historians such as Irfan Habib and Farhat Hasan claimed that Mughal cavalry was unmatched in South Asian conflicts. Its superiority in discipline and shock charge were a staple of its success. By the 16th-17th century, Mughal horses were imported, mostly from Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and Central Asia.

Due to their adoption of gunpowder warfare, historians Marshall Hodgson and colleague William H. McNeill termed the Mughals a gunpowder empire. The Mughal army employed heavy cannons, light artillery, grenades, rockets, and heavy mortar among other weapons. Heavy cannons were expensive and difficult to transport, and had to be dragged by elephants and oxen.

The Mughal naval forces were named the Amla-e-Nawara. In Dhaka, the Mughal naval fleet contained 768 ships with 933 foreigner crews of Portuguese origin and 8,112 artillery personnel. They maintained fleets of warships and transport ships.