This is further to a small note on a similar topic that I wrote some time ago. In the year 1783, around the time when the Mysoreans were besieging Bednore and Mangalore Tipu made his first attempt at the reorganization of the army. This was evidently done on a set European pattern with inputs from the French who were already allied with the Mysorean army in a large way by then.

The infantry was organised into various brigades called Cushoons each under a Sipahdar correponding to a Brigadier-General in European service.

1. The Sipahdar had a Bakshi and two Mutsaddis to assist him in the accounts and civil administration of the brigade in addition to himself being in charge of it’s military affairs.
2. To help him on the reporting side there was a Brigade-Major termed here as Sar-yusaqchi.
3. Each Kushun had 4 Risalas or Regiments of Infantry which was placed under the charge of a Risaldar equivalent to a Colonel.
4. The Risala in turn was divided into 4 Jouqs each under a Jouqdar, corresponding to a Captain in charge of a Company.
5. Next in rank were the sarkheils (adjutant), jamadars (assistant quartermaster), dafadars (sergeant) and the yusakchi.

The duty of the sipahdar was to look after the conduct of the officers and men belonging to his Cushoon. He could promote the Juqdars and other junior officers to higher ranks as well as punish them by court martial. In case a risaldar deserved punishment or reward, his case was to be reported to the Sultan himself. The sipahdar, with the bakshi and mutsaddis were required to take the muster-roll of the troops once every month and inspect their weapons. Then he was supposed to submit a report jointly with the bakshi. He was supposed to see that his cushoon was well supplied with arms and ammunition, guns kept clean and that parade was held regularly. If he faced any difficulty, he was to consult his risaldars and take their opinions in writing. If their views differed from his own, the decision was to be taken by mutual agreement.

The bakshi was to prepare a salary statement for his cushoon’s troops at the end of each month and after obtaining the money from the government, to distribute it on the first of every month in the presence of the sipahdar.

The risaldar was to hold the parade of his troops every day of the week except on thursdays which was the weekly holiday.

The sar-yusaqchi was to visit his risala everyday in order to find out the condition of the army and submit a report to the sipahdar, Jaish kacheri of the huzur and finally to the Sultan in that order.

The yusaqchi was to wander about the risala finding the condition of soldiers and equipment and then report to the risaldar and sipahdar. He also acted as a courier carrying orders from the commander to their subordinates during wartime. Always present at parade to see if it was done regularly and properly, he was eligible to be promoted to the post of Jouqdar if he merited the advancement and was also liable to be demoted to the post of sarkheil if he committed an impropriety.

So this list above gives us an idea of the ranks and corresponding responsibilities of the upper layers of the Mysorean infantry organisation. But what of the organization at the lowest level?  A copy of the Mysorean military manual, the Fath-ul Mujahideen in the British Library collection gives us a glimpse into the constitution of the Jouq – the smallest effective fighting unit in the Mysorean army, equivalent to a company in any army today.

The Jouq is Arabic for ‘Group of people’ and is pronounced the way you would pronounce ‘joke’.  A Jouq was made of 121 men who were constituted as ranks of the following :

RANK                                                                         No. OF MEN

Jouqdar                                                                       – 1

Sarkheil                                                                       – 2

Jamadar                                                                      – 8

Duffadar                                                                      – 7

Standard bearer                                                         – 1

Drummer                                                                    – 2

Pukhaly                                                                        – 1

Camp Colourman                                                       – 7

Washerman                                                                 –  1

Barber                                                                           –  1

Sipahis                                                                          –   90

—————                                                         ——————–

Grand Total                                                                 – 121   Men

The Jouqdar commanded a Jouq consisting of more than a 100 men. His duties were as follows :

1. He was to take a survey of his company once in every fifteen days.
2. When on guard, he was to take care that his men were constantly at their post, with the exception of two hours in the twenty-four, during which they were allowed to attend to their own concerns.
3. He was to report to his Risaldar the conduct of the officers under him ; to point out those who were deserving of punishment or removal, and to recommend such as merited advancement,
4. He was to appoint a Jumadar who was to have the immediate superintendance of the arms and accoutrements of the company, which he was carefully to inspect and to keep in proper condition.
5. Whatever part of his company might be on guard, or on other duty, he was to visit the same once in twenty-four hours, and to see that the sentinels and others were alert and vigilant.
6. In case of being guilty of any neglect of duty, his sword was to be taken from him, and lodged in the guard, till such time as the charge against him should be duly enquired into : nor was the same to be restored to him without the orders of the Sarkar.

The Sarkheil was responsible to see that the guards on duty during the day and the night did their duties properly.

The Jamadar was a senior sipahi who would reach that position after about 10 years and would look after the inventory of the company.

The Duffadar was incharge of posting sentries on guard as well as acquainting himself with vantage position in the camp to be guarded as well points of entry and exit.

The standard bearer carried the colors or the flags of the company he belonged to.

The drummer was the one responsible for keeping time with the drum while at march.

The Pukhaly was the man who would fill his container (Pukhal) with water for distribution in the Jouq.

The camp colourmen were the soldiers who assisted in laying out the lines of encampment, placing the colors for their company so they could locate the area assigned to them. Camp colour-men also had the responsibility of carrying the company colors to the exercise field and ensuring they were placed in the proper position to guide their company in forming up during marching and maneuvers.

The barber would not only give the men haircuts and shaves but would also ensure the men were fighting fit by use of massages and other therapeutic cures.

The Sipahis also called yuzukchies in the manual were the rank and file of the army and carried firelocks and exercised every day with them.

This reorganisation of an Indian army to a European model was unprecedented for that time and contributed in no small measure to the success of Mysorean armies across South India. A question that comes to our mind now is if this model was copied by Tipu’s contemporaries also? We will be disappointed here.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the responses of  Indian rulers to the European regimental system ranged all the way from full adoption to complete rejection. While Tipu Sultan’s forces had uniforms, an officer corps, insignia, training manuals and an order of battle comparable to any European army of the day,  he had also suppressed the Palegars or feudal Lords and initiated direct recruitment of soldiers to a permanently standing army dispensing the old system of Palegars sending their fightingmen to the king when called upon to.

No other Indian ruler of  the late eighteenth century went that far. For example, Mahadji Shinde’s infantry battalions  approximately 8,000 men under the Frenchman, De Boigne were mixed with 20,000 cavalry raised by the older feudal levy system. Some rulers, such as Hyderabad and Oudh, simply hired European units and kept them separate from the rest of the army. Others, such as the Peshwa, failed at hiring European units and employed Muslims trained in the new system. Still other rulers, such as Mulhar Rao Holkar in the 1760s, developed only artillery and did not hire Europeans or attempt to raise European-style infantry. Many rulers, such as the Bhonsles of Nagpur, chose completely to ignore the new system and continued to recruit cavalry on the older system throughout the eighteenth century.

The Mysorean infantry did not fight in isolation. Each cushoon had a jouq of rocketmen, 2 jouqs of matchlockmen, 2 jouqs of khalasies (lascars), drivers, etc very similar to todays infantry regiments being supported by batteries of artillery as well as air support. After sometime Tipu reorganized his army and as a result, the bakshi, who was earlier merely a paymaster now became the most important officer in the army even supervising the sipahdar himself. This demonstrated the primacy Tipu gave to financial prudence by ensuring no leakage or misappropriation of resources by military commanders at the cost of the fighting sepoy that was so common in contemporary Indian armies and at times European armies also then. No wonder a sipahi in Tipu’s service earned a monthly pay of about 10 Silver rupees each month while the Maratha pay scale for an infantryman was only Rs. 7  and the East India Company scale was Rs. 9. This required a long-term Mysorean commitment  to a substantial regular flow of cash requiring a tax-collecting and
credit structure beyond the means and in most cases imagination of other Indian powers.

But then, in the end it was this effort on Tipu Sultan’s part of matching the Europeans arm for arm, tactic for tactic that made him their inveterate enemy. As Stewart Gordon writes in his thesis on the adoption of  European style military forces by 18C Indian rulers – “If we track the survival of states as princely states into the nineteenth century, some of the militarily adaptive states like Shinde survived, some like Tipu did not. Likewise, hundreds of the smaller states based on cavalry and familial entrepreneurship survived as princely states in the nineteenth century. If anything, many more of the states based on watan (feudal levies) and cavalry survived because they threatened British colonial power far less than larger states with infantry forces, such as Ranjit Singh’s Punjab or Tipu’s Mysore.”

References:

1. Fath-ul Mujahideen, British Library Collection; London

2. History of Tipu Sultan, Mohibbul Hasan

3. Tipu Sultan’s Mysore, An economic study: M H Gopal

4. The Anglo-Maratha Campaigns and the contest for India, Randolf G.S. Cooper

5. The limited adoption of European-style military forces by eighteenth century
rulers in India, Stewart Gordon