110-650: The Pindaris (Bhalse, Pasi, Maratha, Rohilla and Pathans) were irregular military plunderers and foragers in 17th- through early 19th-century Indian subcontinent who accompanied initially the Mughal Army , and later the Maratha Army , and finally on their own before being eliminated in the 1817–19 Pindari War . They were unpaid and their compensation was entirely the booty they plundered during wars and raids. They were mostly horsemen armed with spears and swords who would create chaos and deliver intelligence about
220-530: A Georgian slave who was purchased by Mahmud Gawan . Other historians mentioned him of Persian or Turkmen origin. Yusuf was originally a provincial governor of the Bahmani Sultanate ; in 1490, he attained de facto independence. In 1510, a Portuguese colonial expedition succeeded in conquering the Adil Shahi port of Goa . Ismail Adil Shah , Yusuf's son, and his successors embellished
330-589: A Marathi commentary of Sarangadeva 's Sangita Ratnakara kept in the museum of City Palace, Jaipur , which contains 4 paintings. But the most miniature paintings come from the time of Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II. One of the most celebrated painters of his court was Maulana Farrukh Hussain. The miniature paintings of this period are preserved in the Bikaner Palace, the Bodleian Library in Oxford,
440-471: A cosmopolitan city under their rule and attracted many scholars, artists, musicians, and Sufi saints from Rome, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Turkestan. The Adil Shahi kings were known for their tolerance towards Hindus and non-interference in their religious matters. They employed Hindus to high posts, especially as officers overseeing accounts and administration, whose documents were maintained in Marathi. Amongst
550-536: A fortress where all of them subsequently died. Bidar was the smallest of the five Deccan sultanates. The Sultanate was founded by Qasim Barid I , who was Georgian enslaved by Turks. He joined the service of Bahmani ruler Mahmud Shah Bahmani ( r. 1482–1518 ) as a sar-naubat (commander), and later became a mir-jumla (governor) of the Bahmani Sultanate. In 1492, he became de facto ruler of Bahmani, although Sultan Mahmud Shah Bahmani remained as
660-412: A grand scale, there is no one to carry out guerilla missions but regulars." He also emphasizes the importance for the use of regular units permanently attached to guerilla warfare activities, stating that they can play key roles in severing enemy supply routes. While the morale, training and equipment of the individual irregular soldier can vary from very poor to excellent, irregulars are usually lacking
770-583: A new city called Khadki (later Aurangabad ). After the death of Malik Ambar, his son Fath Khan surrendered to the Mughals in 1633 and handed over the young Nizam Shahi ruler Hussain Shah, who was sent as a prisoner to the fort of Gwalior. In a last stand, Shahaji , with the assistance of Bijapur, placed an infant scion of the Nizam Shahi dynasty, Murtaza, on the throne but acted as regent. In 1636, Aurangzeb,
880-427: A peasant guerilla force which in time transformed itself into a large regular force. This transformation was foreseen in the doctrine of " people's war ", in which irregular forces were seen as being able to engage the enemy and to win the support of the populace but as being incapable of taking and holding ground against regular military forces. Modern conflicts in post-invasion Iraq , the renewed Taliban insurgency in
990-403: A unit recruited from the people" were all examples of ways in which regular military units could be involved in irregular warfare. Mao argues that regular army units temporarily detailed for irregular warfare are essential because "First, in mobile-warfare situations, the coordination of guerilla activities with regular operations is necessary. Second, until guerilla hostilities can be developed on
1100-628: Is also worthy of mention. The Nizam Shahi rulers of Ahmadnagar enthusiastically patronised miniature painting, the earliest surviving of which are found as the illustrations of the manuscript Tarif-i-Hussain Shahi (c. 1565), which is now in the Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal , Pune. A miniature painting of Murtaza Nizam Shah (c. 1575) is in the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris, while another one
1210-529: Is another impressive monument of this period. The Kali Masjid of Jalna (1578) and the tomb of Dilawar Khan (1613) in Rajgurunagar also belong to this period. During the reign of Ahmad Shah I Bahri, his keeper of imperial records, Dalapati, wrote an encyclopedic work, the Nrisimha Prasada , where he mentioned his overlord as Nizamsaha . It is a notable instance of the religious tolerance of
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#17327654876801320-967: Is in the Raza Library in Rampur. The Running Elephant is in an American private collection, the Royal Picnic is in the India Office Library in London, and the Young Prince Embraced by a Small Girl , most likely belonging to the Burhan Nizam Shah II period, is in the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection of South Asian Works in the San Diego Museum of Art . The earliest notable architecture of
1430-671: Is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used. An irregular military organization is one which is not part of the regular army organization. Without standard military unit organization , various more general names are often used; such organizations may be called a troop , group , unit , column , band , or force . Irregulars are soldiers or warriors that are members of these organizations, or are members of special military units that employ irregular military tactics. This also applies to irregular infantry and irregular cavalry units. Irregular warfare
1540-446: Is to be used to refer to a specific group. Using one term over another can strongly imply strong support or opposition for the cause. It is possible for a military to cross the line between regular and irregular. Isolated regular army units that are forced to operate without regular support for long periods of time can degrade into irregulars. As an irregular military becomes more successful, it may transition away from irregular, even to
1650-519: Is warfare employing the tactics commonly used by irregular military organizations. This involves avoiding large-scale combat, and focusing on small, stealthy, hit-and-run engagements. The words "regular" and "irregular" have been used to describe combat forces for hundreds of years, usually with little ambiguity. The requirements of a government's chain of command cause the regular army to be very well defined, and anybody fighting outside it, other than official paramilitary forces, are irregular. In case
1760-732: The 2001 war in Afghanistan , the Darfur conflict , the rebellion in the North of Uganda by the Lord's Resistance Army , and the Second Chechen War are fought almost entirely by irregular forces on one or both sides. The CIA 's Special Activities Center (SAC) is the premiere American paramilitary clandestine unit for creating or combating irregular military forces. SAD paramilitary officers created and led successful units from
1870-646: The Battle of Talikota in 1565. After the battle, the empire broke up, and Bijapur seized control of the Raichur Doab . In 1619, the Adil Shahis conquered the neighbouring sultanate of Bidar , which was incorporated into their realm. Later in the 17th century, the Marathas revolted successfully under Shivaji's leadership, captured major parts of the sultanate, and its capital, Bijapur. The weakened sultanate
1980-568: The Bidar district in central India. The Pindaris were horsemen who were mostly armed with a talwar and a large spear. They were organised into groups called durrahs each of which had a leader and were organised into different castes and classes. Allegiances were usually hereditary but membership of each durrah could be interchangeable. The Pindaris were from a variety of traditional backgrounds, all of which appear to have been accepted within their society. In addition to their individual beliefs,
2090-560: The British Army . Prior to 1857 Britain's East India Company maintained large numbers of cavalry and infantry regiments officially designated as "irregulars", although they were permanently established units. The end of Muslim rule saw a large number of unemployed Indian Muslim horsemen, who were employed in the army of the EIC . British officers such as Skinner , Gardner and Hearsay had become leaders of irregular cavalry that preserved
2200-618: The CIA 's Special Activities Center . However at times, such as out of desperation, conventional militaries will resort to guerilla tactics, usually to buy breathing space and time for themselves by tying up enemy forces to threaten their line of communications and rear areas, such as the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry and the Chindits . Although they are part of a regular army, United States Special Forces are trained in missions such as implementing irregular military tactics . However, outside
2310-1106: The Chini Mahal , the Jal Mandir , the Sat Manzil , the Gagan Mahal , the Anand Mahal , and the Asar Mahal (1646), all in Bijapur, as well as the Kummatgi (16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Bijapur), the Panhala Fort (20 kilometres (12 mi) from Kolhapur ), and Naldurg Fort (45 kilometres (28 mi) from Solapur ). Persian artists of the Adil Shahi court have left a rare treasure of miniature paintings, some of which are well preserved in Europe's museums. The earliest miniature paintings are ascribed to
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#17327654876802420-621: The Confederate States of America . One could attribute the disastrous defeat of the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest to the lack of supporting irregular forces; only a few squadrons of irregular light cavalry accompanied the invasion of Germany when normally the number of foederati and auxiliaries would equal the regular legions. During this campaign the majority of locally recruited irregulars defected to
2530-670: The Deccan Plateau between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range that were created from the disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate and ruled by Muslim dynasties: namely Ahmadnagar , Berar , Bidar , Bijapur , and Golconda . The five sultanates owed their existence to the declaration of independence of Ahmadnagar in 1490, which was followed by Bijapur and Berar in the same year. Bidar became independent in c. 1492 , and Golconda in 1512. Although
2640-678: The Deccan Plateau . Around the same time, the Italian traveler Niccolao Manucci , in his memoir about the Mughal Empire, wrote about Bederia (Pidari), stating that "these are the first to invade the enemy's territory, where they plunder everything they find." According to Tapan Raychaudhuri et al., the Mughal Army "always had in its train the "Bidari" (as pronounced in Persian ), the privileged and recognized thieves who first plundered
2750-773: The East India Company , also utilized this 120,000 strong force to fight against the remaining Maratha forces and annex their remaining territories in what became known as the Third Anglo-Maratha War . From November 1817 until 1819, the British military force entered the Malwa and Maratha regions which were traditional Pindari strongholds; according to the Encyclopædia Britannica , the "Pindaris themselves offered little resistance; most of
2860-903: The Hmong tribe during the Laotian Civil War in the 1960s and 1970s. They also organized and led the Mujaheddin as an irregular force against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, as well as the Northern Alliance as an irregular insurgency force against the Taliban with US Army Special Forces during the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and organized and led the Kurdish Peshmerga with US Army Special Forces as an irregular counter-insurgency force against
2970-592: The OSS operators of World War II, which were tasked with inspiring, training, arming and leading resistance movements in German-occupied Europe and Japanese occupied Asia. In Finland, well-trained light infantry Sissi troops use irregular tactics such as reconnaissance, sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. The founder of the People's Republic of China , Mao Zedong actively advocated for
3080-607: The Peninsular War led by Spaniards against the French invaders in 1808 provided the first modern example of guerrilla warfare . Indeed, the term of guerrilla itself was coined during this time. As the Industrial Revolution dried up the traditional source of irregulars, nations were forced take over the duties of the irregulars using specially trained regular army units. Examples are the light infantry in
3190-764: The Shia foreigners, especially the Turks and Georgian population in Bidar, by the orders of the Bahmani Sultan. After the politically charged murder of Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri, and frustrated with the weakened Bahmani Sultan and the factionalised administration at Bidar, the outrated son, Ahmad Nizam Shah, the governor of Junnar, defeated the Bahmani army led by general Jahangir Khan on 28 May 1490, declared independence and established dynastic rule over Ahmadnagar. The territory of
3300-939: The Three Kingdoms period, the American Revolution , the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War , the Franco-Prussian War , the Russian Civil War , the Second Boer War , Liberation war of Bangladesh, Vietnam War , the Syrian Civil War and especially the Eastern Front of World War II where hundreds of thousands of partisans fought on both sides. The Chinese People's Liberation Army began as
3410-626: The Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, permanently weakening Vijayanagara in the Battle of Talikota . Notably, the alliance destroyed the entire city of Vijayanagara , with important temples being razed to the ground. In 1574, after a coup in Berar, Ahmadnagar invaded and conquered it. In 1619, Bidar was annexed by Bijapur. The sultanates were later conquered by the Mughal Empire : Berar was stripped from Ahmadnagar in 1596; Ahmadnagar
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3520-646: The Afaqi (foreign) faction (with a few exceptions), and in their place enrolled the Deccani Muslims to services. Consequently, he brought Sunni Muslims to power and ended Shia domination by dismissing them from their posts The Adil Shahis fought the Vijayanagara Empire , which lay to the south, across the Tungabhadra River , but fought the other Deccan sultanates as well. Four of the five sultanates combined forces to decisively defeat Vijayanagara at
3630-592: The Brahmin lineage might have been a genealogical topos rather than fact, which, along with military training, Persian education and conversion by patronage, was meant to share with the origin of the Bahmanid dynasty. He became the regent of Muhammad Shah Bahmani after the former had devised the execution of Mahmud Gawan . As the head of the Sunni Deccani party, Nizam-ul-Mulk lead the wholescale massacre of
3740-453: The British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Muśee Guimet in Paris, the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersberg, and the Náprstek Museum in Prague. Under the Adil Shahi rulers many literary works were published in Dakhani. Ibrahim Adil Shah II himself wrote a book of songs, Kitab-i-Nauras , in Dakhani. This book contains a number of songs whose tunes are set to different ragas and raginis . In his songs, he praised
3850-505: The British colonies. Francis Rawdon-Hastings , the Governor-General of British India , led an 120,000 strong force in early 19th-century against the Pindaris during the Third Anglo-Maratha War ; the campaign became known as the Pindari War . The term Pindar may derive from pinda , an intoxicating drink. It is a Marathi word that possibly connotes a "bundle of grass" or "who takes". They are also referred to as Bidaris in some historic texts, indicating that they originally came from
3960-452: The East India Company territories around the Guntur district , raiding 339 villages and taking an estimated £100,000 worth of loot. Some of the inhabitants of village Ainavolu committed suicide by throwing themselves into the flames of their burning houses. The British reacted, not only to the financial cost of these raids, but also to the loss of trust the inhabitants had in them as a protective power. They established military outposts south of
4070-403: The Germanic tribesmen led by the former auxiliary officer Arminius . During the decline of the Roman Empire , irregulars made up an ever-increasing proportion of the Roman military. At the end of the Western Empire, there was little difference between the Roman military and the barbarians across the borders. Following Napoleon 's modernisation of warfare with the invention of conscription ,
4180-504: The Hindu goddess Sarasvati along with Muhammad and Sufi saint Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gesudaraz. A unique tambur (lute) known as Moti Khan was in his possession. The famous Persian poet laureate Muhammad Zuhuri was his court poet. The Mushaira (poetic symposium) was born in the Bijapur court and later travelled north. Qutb Shahi rulers appointed Hindus in important administrative posts. Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah appointed Murari Rao as Peshwa , second to only Mir Jumla (prime minister). One of
4290-426: The Imad Shahi dynasty of the Berar Sultanate. He established the capital at Achalpur ( Ellichpur ), and Gavilgad and Narnala were also fortified by him. Upon his death in 1504, Imad-ul-Mulk was succeeded by his eldest son, Ala-ud-din. In 1528, Ala-ud-din resisted the aggression of Ahmadnagar with help from Bahadur Shah, Sultan of Gujarat. The next ruler of Berar, Darya, first tried to ally with Bijapur, to prevent
4400-434: The India Office Library and Shirin and Khusrau in the Khudabaksh Library in Patna most probably belong to the reign of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah. The 5 illustrations in a manuscript of the Diwan-i-Hafiz (c. 1630) in the British Museum, London, belong to the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah. The most outstanding surviving Golconda painting probably is the Procession of Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah Riding an Elephant (c. 1650) in
4510-516: The Indian Muslim elite, meant the destruction of a way of life more than a destruction of livelihood. The East Inia Company 's disciplined armies based on the well-drilled musketeer provided little employment and had little use for irregular cavalry. Many of these Indian Muslim cavalrymen, seeking employment, would join the Pindaris. These unemployed Muslim soldiers from the land of Awadh and Rohilkhand in Uttar Pradesh began ravaging and desolating central India, armed with twelve-foot long spears. With
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4620-408: The Jama Masjid at Gandikota . The Qutb Shahi rulers invited many Persian artists, such as Shaykh Abbasi and Muhammad Zaman, to their court, whose art made a profound impact on the miniature paintings of this period. The earliest miniature paintings were the 126 illustrations in the manuscript of Anwar-i-Suhayli (c. 1550–1560) in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The illustrations Sindbad Namah in
4730-438: The Kurdish Sunni Islamist group Ansar al-Islam at the Iraq-Iran border and as an irregular force against Saddam Hussein during the war in Iraq in 2003. Irregular civilian volunteers also played a large role in the Battle of Kyiv during the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Deccan sultanates The Deccan sultanates is a historiographical term referring to five late medieval to early modern Indian kingdoms on
4840-430: The Marathas block and reverse the Mughal era gains in South India as far as Gingee and Tiruchirappalli . Marathas adopted the Bidaris militia of the earlier era. Their Pindaris were not from any particular religion or caste. Most of the Pindari leaders who plundered for the Marathas were Muslims, such as Gardi Khan and Ghats-u-Din who were employed by the Maratha Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao . Other famed Pindari leaders in
4950-472: The Marathas. According to Randolf Cooper, the Pindaris who served the Marathas were a volunteer militia that included men and their wives, along with enthusiastic followers that sometimes swelled to some 50,000 people at the frontline of a war. They moved swiftly and performed the following duties: destabilize enemy's standing army and state apparatus by creating chaos; isolate enemy armed units by harassing them, provoke and waste enemy resources; break or confuse
5060-471: The Mughal viceroy of Deccan, finally annexed the sultanate to the Mughal empire, after defeating Shahaji. The Berar Sultanate was founded by Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk , who was born a Kannadiga Hindu , but was captured as a boy by Bahmani forces, which were on an expedition against the Vijayanagara empire, and reared as a Muslim. In 1490, during the disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate, Imad-ul-Mulk, then governor of Berar , declared independence and founded
5170-425: The Mughals, evolved this concept by encouraging the Pindaris not only to plunder the Muslim territories in the north but gather and deliver food to their regular army. The Maratha army never carried provisions, and gathered their resources and provisions from the enemy territory as they invaded and conquered more regions of the collapsing Mughal state. According to the historian Richard Eaton, plunder of frontier regions
5280-417: The Narmada River which contained the Pindaris and prevented any further raids. Ultimately, the British East India Company under the governorship of Lord Hastings became so frustrated with Pindari raids that they formed the largest military force they had ever assembled in India to launch a campaign against the Pindaris known as the Pindari War . Rawdon-Hastings, with the approval of the Court of Directors of
5390-410: The Nizam Shahi rulers of Ahmadnagar is the tomb of Ahmad Shah I Bahri (1509), at the centre of Bagh Rouza, a garden complex. The Jami Masjid also belongs to the same period. The Mecca Masjid, built in 1525 by Rumi Khan, a Turkish artillery officer of Burhan Nizam Shah I, is original in its design. The Kotla complex was constructed in 1537 as a religious educational institution. The impressive Farah Bagh
5500-403: The Nizam Shahi rulers. The ruined palace of Hauz Katora , 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Achalpur , is the only notable surviving Imad Shahi monument. The main architectural activities for the Barid Shahi rulers were building garden tombs. The tomb of Ali Barid Shah (1577) is the most notable monument in Bidar . The tomb consists of a lofty domed chamber, open on four sides, located in
5610-438: The Pindari raid on Sringeri Sharada Peetham in 1791. By the early 1800s, armed Pindari militia groups sought wealth for their leaders and themselves. There were an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Pindari militia during the "Gardi-ka-wakt" ("period of unrest") in north-central India around 1800–1815 CE, who plundered villages, captured people as slaves for sale, and challenged the authority of local Muslim sultanates, Hindu kingdoms, and
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#17327654876805720-469: The Pindaris had transformed from being involved in regional wars to looting for the sake of their own and their leaders' wealth. They conducted raids for plunder to enrich themselves, or to whichever state was willing to hire them. Sometimes they worked for both sides in a conflict, causing heavy damages to the civilian populations of both sides. They advanced through central India, Gujarat and Malwa, with protection from rulers from Gwalior and Indore . With
5830-521: The Pindaris in their war strategy. Deploying the Pindaris, they plundered the Mughal and Sultanate territories surrounding the Maratha Empire and used the plundered wealth to sustain the Maratha Army. The devastation and disruption by the Pindaris not only strengthened the Marathas, the Pindaris helped weaken and frustrate the Muslim sultans in preserving a stable kingdom they could rule or rely on for revenues. The Maratha strategy also embarrassed Aurangzeb and his court. The same Pindari-assisted strategy help
5940-481: The Pindaris worshipped Ramasah Veer, an ancient Pindari raider, as an icon. Pindari women would place small icons of horses in a shrine dedicated to Veer before the commencement of their raids, and the men would wear tokens stamped with his image. The Pindaris were of all classes but most of their important leaders were Muslims. They converted many of their children and the men whom they took as prisoners. Many Hindus also became converts to obtain honourable association with
6050-423: The Saltykov-Shtshedrine State Public Library in St. Petersberg. Their painting style lasted even after the dynasty was extinct and evolved into the Hyderabad style. The Qutb Shahi rulers were great patrons of literature and invited many scholars, poets, historians and Sufi saints from Iran to settle in their sultanate. The sultans patronised literature in Persian as well as Telugu , the local language. However,
6160-443: The Telangana region in 1518, after the disintegration of the Bahmani sultanate. Soon after, he declared his independence and took the title of Qutb Shah . The dynasty ruled for 175 years, until the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb 's army besieged and conquered Golconda in 1687. The rulers of the Deccan sultanates made a number of cultural contributions in the fields of literature, art, architecture, and music. An important contribution
6270-432: The United States, the term special forces does not generally imply a force that is trained to fight as guerillas and insurgents. Originally, the United States Special Forces were created to serve as a cadre around which stay-behind resistance forces could be built in the event of a communist victory in Europe or elsewhere. The United States Special Forces and the CIA's Special Activities Center can trace their lineage to
6380-428: The aggression of Ahmadnagar, but was unsuccessful. Later, he helped Ahmednagar on three occasions against Bijapur. After his death in 1562, his infant son Burhan succeeded him; but early in Burhan's reign Tufal Khan, one of his ministers, usurped the throne. In 1474, Murtaza I, Sultan of Ahmadnagar, annexed Berar to his sultanate. Burhan, Tufal Khan, and Tufal's son Shamshir-ul-Mulk, were taken to Ahmadnagar and confined to
6490-423: The basic training of irregulars. The regulars would only provide the core military in the major battles; irregulars would provide all other combat duties. Notable examples of regulars relying on irregulars include Bashi-bazouk units in the Ottoman Empire , auxiliary cohorts of Germanic peoples in the Roman Empire , Cossacks in the Russian Empire , and Native American forces in the American frontier of
6600-436: The capital at Bijapur with numerous monuments. Ibrahim Adil Shah I switched to a Deccani Muslim identity, and converted strongly to Sunni Islam , the religion of the Deccani Muslims. He deviated from the traditions of his predecessor and introduced many innovations in the political and religious policies, discontinuing previous Shia practices and restoring the exercise of the Sunni Islamic practices. He degraded most of
6710-453: The city , in the course of which not a single person from abroad was left alive. The killing spree lasted for three days. Good people like learned men and traders, who had assembled here in this period, were all slain, and their houses were destroyed." Jamal Khan also enforced the Mahdawi religion on the state. He was killed in the battle of Rohankhed in 1591 and soon Ismail Shah was also captured and confined by his father Burhan, who ascended
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#17327654876806820-400: The count of enemy troops, making the odds seem much worse than they were. This may be accidental; counts of friendly troops often came from official regular army rolls that exclude unofficial forces, while enemy strength often came from visual estimates, where the distinction between regular and irregular were lost. If irregular forces overwhelm regulars, records of the defeat are often lost in
6930-428: The courts of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, and Golconda—is another major cultural contribution of the Deccan sultanates. Architectural splendors of the Deccan such as Charminar and Gol Gumbaz belong to this period. A number of monuments built by the Deccan Sultanates are on a tentative list for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The religious tolerance displayed by the Nizam Shahi, Adil Shahi, and Qutb Shahi rulers
7040-432: The decline of the prestige of Maratha power in India, the Pindaris almost became supreme. After the arrival of the British East India Company among the chaos of a collapsed Mughal Empire and the weakening of the Maratha leadership, the Pindaris became a semi-independent power centred in the area just north of the Narmada River . By late 18th-century, the Maratha Empire had fragmented, the British colonial era had arrived and
7150-410: The earliest architectural achievements of the Qutb Shahi dynasty is the fortified city of Golconda , which is now in ruins. The nearby Qutb Shahi tombs are also noteworthy. In the 16th century, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah decided to shift the capital to Hyderabad , 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) east of Golconda. Here, he constructed the most original monument in the Deccan, the Charminar , in the heart of
7260-518: The enemy positions to benefit the army they accompanied. The majority of their leaders were Muslims , but also had people of all classes and religions. The earliest mention of them is found in the Mughal period during Aurangzeb 's campaign in the Deccan , but their role expanded with the Maratha armed campaigns against the Mughal Empire . They were highly effective against the enemies given their rapid and chaotic thrust into enemy territories, but also caused serious abuses against allies such as during
7370-450: The enemy ranks, the trained and armed contingents of the Marathas attacked the enemy army. The Marathas, in some cases, collected palpatti – a form of tax – from the hordes of their Pindari plunderers to participate with them during their invasions. The Pindaris were a major resource for the Marathas, but they also created problems when they raided and plundered the Maratha allies. Shivaji introduced extensive regulations to check and manage
7480-431: The enemy territory and everything they could find". The Deccan sultanates and Aurangzeb's campaign in central India deployed them against kingdoms such as Golconda , and in Bengal . The unpaid cavalry got compensated for their services by "burning and looting everywhere". The disintegration of the Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan led to the gradual disbandment of the Pindaris. These Muslim Pindaris were at that stage taken in
7590-447: The fellow Pindaris. The raids, called luhbur , would be conducted in the dry-season starting from late October. During the rainy season, the Pindari would stay with their families in their native lands around the Narmada River . The first clear mention of Pindaris in historical texts occurs in the works of the Persian historian, Firishta , who refers to them marching with the Mughal armies of Aurangzeb during his 1689 campaign in
7700-402: The five sultanates were all ruled by Muslims, their founders were of diverse origins: the Nizam Shahi dynasty, the ruling family of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, was founded by Malik Hasan Bahri , a Deccani Muslim of Brahmin origin; the Berar Sultanate by a Kannadiga Hindu Brahmin slave brought up as a Deccani Muslim; the Bidar Sultanate was founded by a Georgian slave; the Bijapur Sultanate
7810-628: The following criteria: By extension, combat forces that do not satisfy these criteria are termed "irregular forces". The term "irregular military" describes the "how" and "what", but it is more common to focus on the "why" as just about all irregular units were created to provide a tactical advantage to an existing military, whether it was privateer forces harassing shipping lanes against assorted New World colonies on behalf of their European contractors, or Auxiliaries, levies, civilian and other standing irregular troops that are used as more expendable supplements to assist costly trained soldiers. Bypassing
7920-586: The higher-level organizational training and equipment that is part of regular army. This usually makes irregulars ineffective in direct, main-line combat, the typical focus of more standard armed forces. Other things being equal, major battles between regulars and irregulars heavily favor the regulars. However, irregulars can excel at many other combat duties besides main-line combat, such as scouting , skirmishing , harassing , pursuing, rear-guard actions, cutting supply, sabotage , raids , ambushes and underground resistance . Experienced irregulars often surpass
8030-544: The historic literature include Namdar Khan, Dost Mohammad, Wasil Mohammad, Chitu, Khajeh Bush, Fazil Khan and Amir Khan. Similarly, Hindu leaders of Pindaris included the Gowaris, Alande, Ghyatalak, Kshirsagar, Ranshing and Thorat. Hindu ascetics and monks were another pool that volunteered as militia to save their temples and villages from the Muslim invaders but also disrupted enemy supply lines and provided reconnaissance to
8140-533: The influence of Shah Tahir , an Imam , he would establish Nizari Shi'ism as the state religion. Burhan Shah I died in Ahmadnagar in 1553. He left six sons, of whom Hussain succeeded him. After the death of Hussain Shah I in 1565, his son Murtaza (a minor) ascended the throne. While Murtaza was a child, his mother, Khanzada Humayun Sultana, ruled as a regent for several years. Murtaza Shah annexed Berar in 1574. On his death in 1588, his son Miran Hussain ascended
8250-553: The leaders surrendered, and their followers dispersed". In addition to the military action, the British East India Company also offered regular employment to some of the Pindari militia by converting them into a separate contingent of its own forces . A minority were given jobs as police and offered pensions or nawab positions along with land to their leaders such as Namdar Khan and Amir Khan. Chitu Khan, who
8360-438: The legitimacy of the army or its opponents is questioned, some legal definitions have been created. In international humanitarian law , the term "irregular forces" refers to a category of combatants that consists of individuals forming part of the armed forces of a party to an armed conflict, international or domestic, but not belonging to that party's regular forces and operating inside or outside of their own territory, even if
8470-409: The legitimate military and taking up arms is an extreme measure. The motivation for doing so is often used as the basis of the primary label for any irregular military. Different terms come into and out of fashion, based on political and emotional associations that develop. Here is a list of such terms, which is organized more or less from oldest to latest: Intense debates can build up over which term
8580-470: The logistical and communication lines of the enemy; gather intelligence about the size and armament of the enemy; raid enemy food and fodder to supply resources for the Marathas and deplete the same for the enemy. The Pindaris of the Marathas did not attack the enemy infantry, rather operated by picketing the civilians, outposts, trade routes and the territorial sidelines. Once the confusion had set in among
8690-550: The major architectural works in the Bijapur Sultanate, one of the earliest is the unfinished Jami Masjid , which was begun by Ali Adil Shah I in 1576. It has an arcaded prayer hall, with fine aisles, and has an impressive dome supported by massive piers. One of the most impressive monuments built during the reign of Ibrahim II was the Ibrahim Rouza which was originally planned as a tomb for queen Taj Sultana, but
8800-712: The middle of a Persian four-square garden. The Rangin Mahal in Bidar, built during the reign of Ali Barid Shah, is a complete and exquisitely decorated courtly structure. Other important monuments in Bidar from this period are the tomb of Qasim II and the Kali Masjid. An important class of metalwork known as Bidriware originated in Bidar. This metalwork consists of a black metal, usually a zinc alloy, inlaid with intricate designs in silver, brass, and sometimes copper. The Adil Shahi rulers contributed greatly to architecture, art, literature, and music, as Bijapur developed into
8910-558: The monsoon harvest season, on rural and urban settlements. Along with cash, produce and family wealth, these Pindari leaders took people as slaves for sale. They attacked regions under British control, the Hindu rajas , and the Muslim nawabs . In 1812 and 1813 the Pindaris conducted successful plundering raids on Mirzapur and Surat which were located in areas controlled by the British. In 1816, they undertook an extensive expedition into
9020-583: The most important contribution of the Golconda Sultanate in the field of literature is the development of the Dakhani language. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah was not only a great patron of art and literature but also a poet of a high order. He wrote in Dakhani, Persian, and Telugu and left an extensive Diwan (collection of poetry) in Dakhani , known as Kulliyat-i-Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah . Apart from
9130-598: The new Indian Army that was organized following the great Indian Rebellion of 1857. Before 1867, military units in Canada consisted of British units of volunteers. During French rule, small local volunteer militia units or colonial militias were used to provide defence needs. During British control of various local militias, the Provincial Marine were used to support British regular forces in Canada. Use of large irregular forces featured heavily in wars such as
9240-601: The new city. This monument, completed in 1591, has four minarets, each 56 metres (184 ft). The construction of the Mecca Masjid , located immediately south of the Charminar, was started in 1617, during the reign of Muhammad Qutb Shah, but completed only in 1693. The other important monuments of this period are the Toli Masjid , Shaikpet Sarai , Khairtabad Mosque , Taramati Baradari , Hayat Bakshi Mosque , and
9350-468: The nominal ruler. After Mahmud Shah Bahmani's death in 1504, his son Amir Barid controlled the administration of the Bahmani Sultanate. In 1528, with the flight of the last Bahmani ruler, Kalimullah, from Bidar, Amir Barid became practically an independent ruler. Amir Barid was succeeded by his son Ali Barid, who was the first to assume the title of shah . Ali Barid participated in the Battle of Talikota and
9460-592: The period of Ali Adil Shah I. The most significant of them are the paintings in the manuscript of Nujum-ul-Ulum (Stars of Science) (1570), kept in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, which contains about 400 miniature paintings. Two other illustrated manuscripts from the period of Ali Adil Shah I are Jawahir-al Musiqat-i-Muhammadi in the British Library, which contains 48 paintings, and
9570-443: The plundered wealth, they had also acquired cannons and more deadly military equipment to challenge local troops and law enforcement personnel. The Amir Khan-linked Pindaris, for example, brought 200 canons to seize and plunder Jaipur . According to Edward Thompson, the Pindaris led by Amir Khan and those led by Muhammad Khan had become nearly independent mobile satellite confederacy that launched annual loot and plunder campaigns, after
9680-463: The point of becoming the new regular army if it wins. Most conventional military officers and militaries are wary of using irregular military forces and see them as unreliable, of doubtful military usefulness, and prone to committing atrocities leading to retaliation in kind. Usually, such forces are raised outside the regular military like the British SOE during World War II and, more recently,
9790-486: The praise of God and the Prophet, he also wrote on nature, love and contemporary social life. Kshetrayya and Bhadrachala Ramadasu are some notable Telugu poets of this period. The Qutb Shahi rulers were much more liberal than their other Muslim counterparts. During the reign of Abdullah Qutb Shah , in 1634, the ancient Indian sex manual Koka Shastra was translated into Persian and named Lazzat-un-Nisa (Flavors of
9900-455: The regular army in these functions. By avoiding formal battles, irregulars have sometimes harassed high quality armies to destruction. The total effect of irregulars is often underestimated. Since the military actions of irregulars are often small and unofficial, they are underreported or even overlooked. Even when engaged by regular armies, some military histories exclude all irregulars when counting friendly troops, but include irregulars in
10010-535: The resulting chaos. By definition, "irregular" is understood in contrast to "regular armies", which grew slowly from personal bodyguards or elite militia. In Ancient warfare , most civilized nations relied heavily on irregulars to augment their small regular army. Even in advanced civilizations, the irregulars commonly outnumbered the regular army. Sometimes entire tribal armies of irregulars were brought in from internal native or neighboring cultures, especially ones that still had an active hunting tradition to provide
10120-582: The service of the Marathas. The inclusion of the Pindaris eventually became an indispensable part and parcel of the Maratha Army. As a class of freebooters in Maratha armies they acted as a "sort of roving cavalry...rendering them much the same service as the Cossacks for the armies of Russia ." The Pindaris would also later be used by kings such as Tipu Sultan . The Hindu Marathas, in their war against
10230-463: The sultanate was located in the northwestern Deccan, between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur. Initially, his capital was in Junnar . In 1494, the foundation was laid for the new capital of Ahmadnagar. Malik Ahmed Shah, after several attempts, secured the fortress of Daulatabad in 1499. After Malik Ahmed Shah's death in 1510, his son Burhan, a boy of seven, was installed in his place. In 1538, under
10340-575: The targeted predatory actions of the Pindari. During the Third Battle of Panipat , Vishwasrao was in command of thousands of Pindari units. From 1784, Shinde began recruiting large amounts of Indian Muslim cavalrymen from Mughal, Farrukhabad and Rohilkhand regions. At a time when the Marathas would mobilize 78,000 cavalry, 27,000 were Pindari Muslim cavalry. Most of the Pindaris in this time were from Uttar Pradesh and northern parts of Malwa . The decline of Muslim rule in northern india, for
10450-790: The territory is under occupation. The Third Geneva Convention of 1949 uses "regular armed forces " as a critical distinction. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a non-governmental organization primarily responsible for and most closely associated with the drafting and successful completion of the Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War ("GPW"). The ICRC provided commentary saying that "regular armed forces" satisfy four Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907) (Hague IV) conditions. In other words, "regular forces" must satisfy
10560-421: The throne as Burhan Shah II. He reinstated Shia Islam as the state religion. After the death of Burhan Shah, his eldest son Ibrahim ascended the throne. Ibrahim Shah died only after a few months in a battle with the Bijapur Sultanate. Soon, Chand Bibi , the aunt of Ibrahim Shah, proclaimed Bahadur , the infant son of Ibrahim Shah, as the rightful Sultan; and she became regent. In 1596, a Mughal attack led by Murad
10670-572: The throne; but his reign lasted only a little more than ten months, as he was poisoned. Ismail, a cousin of Miran Hussain was raised to the throne, but the actual power was in the hands of Jamal Khan, the leader of the Deccani group in the court. He led the massacre of foreign nobles at Ahmadnagar, causing all the Persian nobles to flee and take service at Bijapur, including the historian Firishta himself. "There were massacres ( qatl-e 'ām ) twice in
10780-533: The traditions of Mughal cavalry, which had a political purpose because it absorbed pockets of cavalrymen who might otherwise become disaffected plunderers. These were less formally drilled and had fewer British officers (sometimes only three or four per regiment) than the "regular" sepoys in British service. This system enabled the Indian officers to achieve greater responsibility than their counterparts in regular regiments. Promotion for both Indian and British officers
10890-404: The use of irregular military tactics by regular military units. In his book On Guerrilla Warfare , Mao described seven types of Guerilla units, and argues that "regular army units temporarily detailed for the purpose (of guerilla warfare)," "regular army units permanently detailed (for the purpose of guerilla warfare)," and bands of guerillas created "through a combination of a regular army unit and
11000-521: Was a Muslim of Jat origin born near Delhi , harbored violent anti-British feelings, saying he would "ravage and destroy the country of the English". Not given any clemency, he hid in a jungle where he was continuously tracked by authorities and eventually was killed by a tiger. Irregular military Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there
11110-617: Was a part of the strategy that contributed wealth and propelled the Sultanate systems in the Indian subcontinent. Plunder, along with taxes and tribute payments contributed to growing imperial revenues for the Mughal rulers. The Bidaris of the Aurangzeb's army and the Pindaris of the Maratha army extended this tradition of violence and plunder in their pursuit of the political and ideological wars. Shivaji , and later his successors, included
11220-551: Was completely taken between 1616 and 1636; and Golconda and Bijapur were conquered by Aurangzeb 's 1686–87 campaign. The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was founded by Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I , who was the son of Nizam ul-Mulk Malik Hasan Bahri , who was prominent in Bahmanid politics as the leader of the Deccani Muslim party at the court. Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri was a military slave, formerly a Hindu Brahmin from Vijayanagar originally named Timapa who converted to Islam, although
11330-542: Was conquered by Aurangzeb in 1686 with the fall of Bijapur, bringing the dynasty to an end. The dynasty's founder, Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk, migrated to Delhi from Persia with some of his relatives and friends in the beginning of the 16th century. Later he migrated south to the Deccan and served the Bahmani Sultan Mohammed Shah I . Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk conquered Golconda and became the governor of
11440-563: Was fond of poetry and calligraphy. The last ruler of the Bidar Sultanate, Amir Barid Shah III, was defeated in 1619, and the sultanate was annexed to the Bijapur Sultanate. Located in southwestern India, straddling the Western Ghats range of southern Maharashtra and northern Karnataka , the Bijapur Sultanate was ruled by the Adil Shahi dynasty from 1490 to 1686. The founder of the dynasty, Yusuf Adil Shah , may have been
11550-460: Was for efficiency and energy, rather than by seniority as elsewhere in the EIC's armies. In irregular cavalry the Indian troopers provided their horses under the silladar system. The result was a loose collection of regiments which in general were more effective in the field than their regular counterparts. These irregular units were also cheaper to raise and maintain and as a result many survived into
11660-401: Was founded by a foreigner who may have been a Georgian slave purchased by Mahmud Gawan ; and the Golconda Sultanate was of Iranian Turkmen origin. All the Deccan sultanates based their legitimacy as the successor states of the Bahmani Sultanate, and continued to use Bahmanid coins rather than issue their own coins. Although generally rivals, the sultanates did ally with each other against
11770-590: Was later converted into the tomb for Ibrahim Adil Shah II and his family. This complex, completed in 1626, consists of a paired tomb and mosque. Ibrahim II also planned to construct a new twin city to Bijapur, Nauraspur , whose construction began in 1599 but was never completed. The greatest monument in Bijapur is the Gol Gumbaz , the mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah, which was completed in 1656, and whose hemispherical dome measures 44 metres (144 ft) across. The other important architectural works from this period are
11880-485: Was repulsed by Chand Bibi . After the death of Chand Bibi in July 1600, Ahmadnagar was conquered by the Mughals, and Bahadur Shah was imprisoned. But Malik Ambar , and other Ahmadnagar officials, defied the Mughals and declared Murtaza Shah II as sultan in 1600 at a new capital, Paranda . Malik Ambar became prime minister and vakīl-us-saltanat of Ahmadnagar. Later, the capital was shifted first to Junnar and then to
11990-783: Was the centrepiece of a large palatial complex completed in 1583. Other monuments in Ahmednagar of the Nizam Shahi period are the Do Boti Chira (tomb of Sharja Khan, 1562), Damri Masjid (1568), and the tomb of Rumi Khan (1568). The Jami Masjid (1615) in Khirki ( Aurangabad ) and the Chini Mahal inside the Daulatabad fort were constructed during the late Nizam Shahi period (1600–1636). The tomb of Malik Ambar in Khuldabad (1626)
12100-455: Was the development of the Dakhani language, which, having started development under the Bahamani rulers, developed into an independent spoken and literary language during this period by continuously borrowing from Arabic-Persian, Marathi, Kannada, and Telugu. Dakhani later became known as Dakhani Urdu to distinguish it from North Indian Urdu . Deccani miniature painting—which flourished in
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