Number of Military Soldiers in Garhwal in Pal /Shah Era

Administration, Social and Cultural Characteristics History of Garhwal in Shah Dynasty -28 

History of Garhwal including Haridwar (1223- 1804 AD) –part -217     

   History of Uttarakhand (Garhwal, Kumaon and Haridwar) -465 

                        By: Bhishma Kukreti (A History Research Student)

  According to available historical records, following numbers of soldiers were in Garhwal Kingdom at various times –

1-Jesuit traveler Antonio de Andrade stated (1623) that there were eighty thousand soldiers including cavalries.

2-in 1624, in Shyam Shah period, there were 12000 soldiers with 11000 guns and twenty canons  in first battalion for Tibet attack, second battalion had 20, 000 soldiers and third battalion had lesser soldiers. According to Father Azevedo, the Garhwal Kingdom army was having 40,000 soldiers.

3- According to Maularam, when in 1635, Mahipat Shah attacked on Kumaun, there were one and quarter lakh soldiers in Garhwal Army.

4- When Pradip Shah attacked on Kumaon in 1755, there were one and quarter lakh soldiers in Garhwal Army.

5- According to copper plate inscription to Shivdev Joshi by Kumaon King Deepchand, there were three and half lakh soldiers in Garhwal Army.

6- According to Hardwicke in 1796, there were permanent 1000 soldiers in Shrinagar, and other 4000 were in other parts. There were six thousand soldiers in Langurgadh in 1792.

   Definitely, it was not possible to have 1, 00, 000 or more soldiers in Garhwal Kingdom. There were 100000 or 150000 able or healthy men in Garhwal. That means the numbers of soldiers would be between thirty and forty thousand only.   

  Usually, Thokdar used to keep less soldiers but would boost (lied) the numbers before the King.When King used to see the numbers, Thokdar used to call soldiers from other Thokdars.

When needed Thokdar used to call Padhan and they used to send men with wood rods.

Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti Mumbai, India, bckukreti@gmail.com26/10/2014

History of Garhwal – Kumaon-Haridwar (Uttarakhand, India) to be continued… Part -466

(The History of Garhwal, Kumaon, Haridwar write up is aimed for general readers)

History of Garhwal from 1223-1804 to be continued in next chapter ….

History of Characteristics of Garhwal Kings Shah dynasty, to be continued

XX                     

Notes on South Asian Modern Period  History of Garhwal;  South Asian Modern Period   History of Pauri Garhwal; South Asian  Modern Period  History of Chamoli Garhwal;  South Asian Modern Period   History of Rudraprayag Garhwal;  South Asian Modern  History of Tehri Garhwal; South Asian Modern  History of Uttarkashi Garhwal;  South Asian Modern Period   History of Dehradun, Garhwal;  Modern  History of Haridwar ; South Asian Modern Period   History of Manglaur, Haridwar;  South Asian Modern Period   History of Rurkee Haridwar ;  South Asian Modern Period   History of Bahadarpur Haridwar ; South Asian Modern Period History of Haridwar district, South Asian History of Bijnor old Garhwal