Secret behind the desperate valour of Rajputs in battle : Opium

[Samandri]

While giving the read to Bernier's "Travels in the Mogol Empire", i learnt an interesting fact about Rajputs who were backbone or pillar of Mughal army. Francois Bernier was a French traveler who visited India in 1656 A.D and stayed there up to 1668. He tell us that,

".....From an early age they (Rajputs) are accustomed to the use of opium, and i have some times been astonished to see the large quantity they swallow. On the day of battle they never fail to double the dose, and this drug so animates , or rather inebriates them, that they rush into the thickest of the combat insensible of danger" (page 40 of translation)

Berneir gives us brief description of Rajputs when giving details about the decisive battle of Samugarh (part of war of succession between Aurangzeb/Murad and Dara), he tells us that only 600 out of 8,000 Rajputs survived this battle.

They were basically junkies , who used to dim down their sense of fear and danger by use of opium and in the process would die in large numbers if their chief was brave and stood his ground. Bernier also tell us about their exceptionally high devotion to their rulers, that if their chief is brave and well-led , Rajputs would die but would not abandon him to his enemies.

No wonder they got over-shadowed by others after decline of Mughal empire, when warfare got complicated with advent of Europeans and was not so much depended on this kind of valour.

The exceptionally high devotion of Rajputs to their rulers or chiefs put them in contrast to Afghans/Pashtuns, who were clannish and highly democratic , had/has tribal chiefs who has to sit in the round circle with other tribesmen in display of equity and has to show respect and commonality to earn the favours and support from his tribe. Pashtuns gathered around some one for national cause only if he had exceptionally high merits, leadership qualities and charisma. When Qasid of Humayun visited Sher Shah Suri , he found the latter digging trench with shovel along with other common soldiers. Sher Shah read the letter while siting on the ground. Babur, to win the support of Indo-Afghans, exempted them from bowing to him despite the protest of his Turki amirs. This haughty nature of individual Afghan and little respect for royalty and authority made them difficult to control and manage. Bhimsen tell us how on a small issue Diler Khan Daudzai became angry with his Afghan soldiers and ordered them to be fired at by his topKhana. The Afghan soldiers , instead of surrendering to their master, fought and as many as 600 Afghans gave up their lives. (Bhimsen, Tarikh-i-dilkusha, p-85)

 

[Bornubus]

Well this might be true for Rajasthani and Central Indian Rajputs but not for Pahari Rajputs - Dogra,Jamwal,Minhas,Jaswal Katoch and Negi etc.

It was also the Opium producing region,Bharatpur Rajasthan was famous for Opium.Jahangir himself was fond of opium along with his Mama Raja Man Singh.

And sometime,i found the accounts of these Europeans very amusing and outrageous like the one Mannuci who wrote that Shahjan had incestuous relationship with her own daughter Jahanara.

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

Rajputs despite their addiction to opium managed to secure some great decisive victories whose effects can be seen to this day.

First significant major Victory

Battle of Rajasthan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Arabs who defeated Persians, Afghans, Turks, Europeans and Chinese were defeated badly by combined forces of Gurjara-Pratihara Dynasty (Precursor of Rajputs) and South Indian kingdoms, despite having a technological edge (usage siege engines)

This defeat halted Eastern expansion of Arab empires.

Next is their significance resistance against Delhi Sultanate and contribution to its decline

The map in the middle epitomizes Rajput resistance, despite being surrounded in all directions by enemy, ability to hold their ground


Rajput resurgence under Rana Sanga contributed to further decline of Delhi Sultanate


Battle of Gagron - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Gagron - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Dholpur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Khatoli - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rajput Invasion of Gujarat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They further continued to give good resistance to Mughals

Battle of Haldighati - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Despite being at the Eastern gateway of India and being subjected to numerous invasions, subjugation, attempts of exterminations, they never gave up the identity to this day.

@Stag112
@AUSTERLITZ
your comments

 

[Sipahi]

Opium can be a minor factor but Rajputs as whole are brave.

 

[Samandri]

Rajputs were very brave, no doubt, but they excelled from other warrior classes (Turanis, Afghans, Sadaat-e-barha etc) in fight to the end and dying in large numbers un-necessarily in a lost battle, due to use of opium. Others would flee, when tides turned. Their trait of not deserting their leader and loyalty to him ,was ofcourse not effect of opium but a remarkable trait. Although they used to be cut down in large numbers in battles, they would also inflict great losses on Muslim armies, making them very formdible in early times, when hand-to-hand combat was prevalent.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Rajput weaknesses were -

1.Obsession with honour.This also leads to numerous last stands when a stronghold falls and hopeless pitched battles like haldighati unlike the marathas who if at a disadvantage will simply slip away.

2.Inability to unite -a united rajputana would be a great power in medieval india.The gurjara pratihara empire was able to completely defeat the arabs of sindh and reduce them to vassal status ,but after the breakup of that empire into various rajput clans they don't succeed again.

3.Limited economic base - they don't have control over the revenues of the gangetic plains nor the vast population like rulers of delhi and are thus almost invariably outnumbered by them in most later battles.

4.Overemphasis on shock tactics.Thus we see at first battle of tarain ghori's army is defeated decisively because he engages in melee combat with the rajput cavalry.He learns the lesson and in the second battle orders his cavalry to continously shoot arrows incessantly at the rajputs but refuse melee combat till the enemy formation is weakened and disrupted from heay losses and rajputs are unable to counter this horse archery tactic.This also makes their tactics more rigid and less fluid than the central asian ones.

5.Bad logistics - Rajput logistics generally employed banjara oxen carriers ,wholly inferior to the mobile baggage camels employed by the turks,afghans and mughals.

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

Rajput weaknesses were -

1.Obsession with honour.This also leads to numerous last stands when a stronghold falls and hopeless pitched battles like haldighati unlike the marathas who if at a disadvantage will simply slip away.

2.Inability to unite -a united rajputana would be a great power in medieval india.The gurjara pratihara empire was able to completely defeat the arabs of sindh and reduce them to vassal status ,but after the breakup of that empire into various rajput clans they don't succeed again.

3.Limited economic base - they don't have control over the revenues of the gangetic plains nor the vast population like rulers of delhi and are thus almost invariably outnumbered by them in most later battles.

4.Overemphasis on shock tactics.Thus we see at first battle of tarain ghori's army is defeated decisively because he engages in melee combat with the rajput cavalry.He learns the lesson and in the second battle orders his cavalry to continously shoot arrows incessantly at the rajputs but refuse melee combat till the enemy formation is weakened and disrupted from heay losses and rajputs are unable to counter this horse archery tactic.This also makes their tactics more rigid and less fluid than the central asian ones.

5.Bad logistics - Rajput logistics generally employed banjara oxen carriers ,wholly inferior to the mobile baggage camels employed by the turks,afghans and mughals.

Also to add, unlike Maratha they showed no intention of expansion.

Traditionally Indian empires(except Maratha and Chola) never took the fight to enemy territory rather were complacent with defending their turf.

 

[Samandri]

Also to add, unlike Maratha they showed no intention of expansion.

Traditionally Indian empires(except Maratha and Chola) never took the fight to enemy territory rather were complacent with defending their turf.

Vijayanagar repeatedly invaded Bahmani sultanate but they were successfully repulsed and faced counter-invasions by Muslims. So they did try to expand northward, but Bahmanis were militarily too strong for them.

 

[axisofevil]

Well this might be true for Rajasthani and Central Indian Rajputs but not for Pahari Rajputs - Dogra,Jamwal,Minhas,Jaswal Katoch and Negi etc.

It was also the Opium producing region,Bharatpur Rajasthan was famous for Opium.Jahangir himself was fond of opium along with his Mama Raja Man Singh.

And sometime,i found the accounts of these Europeans very amusing and outrageous like the one Mannuci who wrote that Shahjan had incestuous relationship with her own daughter Jahanara.

Whats outrageous about the comment on incestuous relationship? That shit stills goes in the world and in India......

Vijayanagar repeatedly invaded Bahmani sultanate but they were successfully repulsed and faced counter-invasions by Muslims. So they did try to expand northward, but Bahmanis were militarily too strong for them.

The south Indian Emperor Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire defeated the last remnant of Bahmani Sultanate power after which the Bahmani Sultanate collapsed.[9] After 1518 the sultanate broke up into five states: Nizamshahi of Ahmednagar, Qutubshahi of Golconda (Hydrabad), Baridshahi of Bidar, Imadshahi of Berar, Adilshahi of Bijapur. They are collectively known as the "Deccan Sultanates".

 

[Shekhawat Rajput]

Rajput weaknesses were -

1.Obsession with honour.This also leads to numerous last stands when a stronghold falls and hopeless pitched battles like haldighati unlike the marathas who if at a disadvantage will simply slip away.

2.Inability to unite -a united rajputana would be a great power in medieval india.The gurjara pratihara empire was able to completely defeat the arabs of sindh and reduce them to vassal status ,but after the breakup of that empire into various rajput clans they don't succeed again.

3.Limited economic base - they don't have control over the revenues of the gangetic plains nor the vast population like rulers of delhi and are thus almost invariably outnumbered by them in most later battles.

4.Overemphasis on shock tactics.Thus we see at first battle of tarain ghori's army is defeated decisively because he engages in melee combat with the rajput cavalry.He learns the lesson and in the second battle orders his cavalry to continously shoot arrows incessantly at the rajputs but refuse melee combat till the enemy formation is weakened and disrupted from heay losses and rajputs are unable to counter this horse archery tactic.This also makes their tactics more rigid and less fluid than the central asian ones.

5.Bad logistics - Rajput logistics generally employed banjara oxen carriers ,wholly inferior to the mobile baggage camels employed by the turks,afghans and mughals.

well I think all you said was good enough except that Maratha comment.Marathas couldn't slip away in 1761 how long can you get away fighting like cowards?

Also to add, unlike Maratha they showed no intention of expansion.

Traditionally Indian empires(except Maratha and Chola) never took the fight to enemy territory rather were complacent with defending their turf.

here I don't agree with you.Marathas took the fight to delhi,their sworn enemies and conquered them.Abdali was an unexpected foe for them

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

well I think all you said was good enough except that Maratha comment.Marathas couldn't slip away in 1761 how long can you get away fighting like cowards?

Marathas after the death of bajirao I moved away from their original guerilla(Ganivi Karma) style warfare and transformed into a more traditional army type with lumbering baggage train,artillery etc.Cowards is a strong word,man is the apex predator of this planet..why?Not because he has the most strength or muscle or claws or teeth,but because he has brains..if u deliberately hinder your most effective weapon i.e brains and then blame other side for using it you have only yourself to blame.Turks too could be called cowards by that account .most of the damage in the early battles were done by horse archers.Same for mongols..but they won a world empire that way.
Marathas used common sense..they knew they didn't have manpower or economic resources for a straight fight..instead of stand and die like rajputs,heroic no doubt but mostly ineffective to achieve concrete results.They ran away when at a disadvantage and won.Marathas at the early stage had no artillery,this made it very difficult for them to fight pitched battle with mughals.Rana pratap succeeded when he used hit and run tactics not the suicide action at haldighati against impossible odds.Also it cant be forgotten that despite their superb resistance against the sultanate ,from time of akbar except mewar most of the rajputs switched their allegiance to the mughal side,in effect becoming a tool for the mughal emperors.

Also panipat in itself didnt end the marathas,by 1771 just a decade later marathas returned to north india under mahadji scindia ,occupied delhi,turned the emperor into a puppet and until his death in 1890s scindia dominated most of north india.It was only after death of scindia and nana fadanvis and breakup of the maratha confederacy and under commanders like wellesley british finally crushed maratha power in 2nd anglo martha war.

 

[wiseone2]

well I think all you said was good enough except that Maratha comment.Marathas couldn't slip away in 1761 how long can you get away fighting like cowards?


here I don't agree with you.Marathas took the fight to delhi,their sworn enemies and conquered them.Abdali was an unexpected foe for them

he mentions Marathas as an exception

 

[Sam_Bajwa]

Marathas after the death of bajirao I moved away from their original guerilla(Ganivi Karma) style warfare and transformed into a more traditional army type with lumbering baggage train,artillery etc.Cowards is a strong word,man is the apex predator of this planet..why?Not because he has the most strength or muscle or claws or teeth,but because he has brains..if u deliberately hinder your most effective weapon i.e brains and then blame other side for using it you have only yourself to blame.Turks too could be called cowards by that account .most of the damage in the early battles were done by horse archers.Same for mongols..but they won a world empire that way.
Marathas used common sense..they knew they didn't have manpower or economic resources for a straight fight..instead of stand and die like rajputs,heroic no doubt but mostly ineffective to achieve concrete results.They ran away when at a disadvantage and won.Marathas at the early stage had no artillery,this made it very difficult for them to fight pitched battle with mughals.Rana pratap succeeded when he used hit and run tactics not the suicide action at haldighati against impossible odds.Also it cant be forgotten that despite their superb resistance against the sultanate ,from time of akbar except mewar most of the rajputs switched their allegiance to the mughal side,in effect becoming a tool for the mughal emperors.

Also panipat in itself didnt end the marathas,by 1771 just a decade later marathas returned to north india under mahadji scindia ,occupied delhi,turned the emperor into a puppet and until his death in 1890s scindia dominated most of north india.It was only after death of scindia and nana fadanvis and breakup of the maratha confederacy and under commanders like wellesley british finally crushed maratha power in 2nd anglo martha war.

well said mate.

 

[ebrahym]

that Shahjan had incestuous relationship with her own daughter Jahanara.

because of his reputation
i wont be doubting it

 

[third eye]

until his death in 1890s scindia dominated most of north india.It was only after death of scindia and nana fadanvis and breakup of the maratha confederacy and under commanders like wellesley british finally crushed maratha power in 2nd anglo martha war.

You sure you have the dates right ?

The second Anglo Maratha war was 1803–1805, In September 1803, Scindia forces lost to Lord Lake at Delhi and to Lord Wellesley at Assaye .

On 30 December 1803, the Scindia signed the treaty of Surji - Anjangaon with the British after Assaye and Battle of Laswari and ceded to the British Rohtak, Gurgaon, Ganges-Jumna Doab, the Delhi-Agra region, parts of Bundelkhand, Broach, some districts of Gujarat and the fort of Ahmmadnagar..