Here is the unit pack intended for late classical and medieval Islamic invaders to India. In Bakuel's own words:
Now here goes the unit list,
Spoiler :
The Islamic invasion of India begin as incursions or raids under the Umayyads starting with a raid around 664 AD led by Mohalib into Southern Punjab. Now, Islam had already been in contact with India before this time, Arabic merchants had been traveling to India for centuries by ship and they would have carried their new religion with them after it was founded. Supposedly the first Islamic mosque in India is the Cheraman Perumal Juma Masjid on the Malabar Coast was built during the time of the Prophet Muhammad, but no one knows for sure.
Later Muhammad bin Qasim would begin a campaign to conquer the Sindh and Punjab in 710 AD. His success would establish a foothold in the India for Islamic rulers. Early attempts to push eastward would be met with ferocious opposition and the early Arabic Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates would not be successful. Muhaamad bin Qasim would be defeated during his attempt to push east. The last major attempt of the Caliphates would lead to the Battle of Rajasthan which would lead to an Arab defeat by the early Rajputs. Islamic rule would be confined to Sindh until the later Turkic and Persian dynasties such as the Ghaznavids and Ghurids who would push past the Indus river into North Western India. It would be the Ghurids who would lay the foundation for the Delhi Sultanate. Qutb-ud-din Aibak was a Ghulam/Mamluk slave of the Ghorid sultan Muhammad Ghauri. After his death and as the empire fell into chaos and the Persian parts of the empire were conquered by the Khwarazmians, Qutbuddin would establish the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1527) from (of course) Delhi and rule over a large part of the Northern Plains of India.
The Delhi Sultanate has a somewhat troubled history, having some five dynasties during it's three century history. Qutbuddin himself would die from a polo accident in 1210 only ruling four years and his dynasty (generally known as the Mamluk or Ghulam Dynasty) would only last for 90 years and the next dynasty, the Khiljis would only last 40. Their only real major achievements were fending off the Mongols and keeping them from gaining a foothold in India. The Mamluks seem to be good at that. Between 1290 and 1327 Mongol invasions were defeated nine times. Much like the Mamluks in Egypt, the victories against the Mongols should be treated as a watershed moment in Indian history as Delhi, much like Cairo, would begin to grow as a center of Islamic culture and learning as it escaped the destruction of the Mongol conquests.
The next dynasty would become the most influential and have a massive affect on the history of the whole Indian subcontinent, both North and South even though it would be short lived. The Turkic Tughluq dynasty's (1320-1388) first ruler would be Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, a former general of the Khilji who rebelled and became sultan mainly due to the unpopularity of Khurso Khan, the last Khilji Sultan. He only ruled for five years but he was somewhat capable. He died of heat apoplexy in 1325 and his son took the throne. Muhammad ibn Tughluq (1325-1351). Muhammad is one of the most interesting personalities of the Delhi Sultanate, and I would say, of Islamic history in general. Muhammad was a scholar, great intellect, and reformer. His only fault is that most of his reforms failed. Military wise he was as capable of his father and continued the conquests even further, even pushing into southern India. Even though the Sultanate would only rule southern India for a small period, it would have a drastic effect on the military history of that region and force the Dravidian states to stop relying on levies and move onto professional latter medieval armies. But more on that when we get there. He managed to defeat the Mongol ruler Tarmashirin at the very gates of Delhi, saving the sultanate from the Mongol menace just as the former sultans did. However, on the domestic front, Muhammad had some strange and creative intellectual ideas on the way things should be run. This of course turned out badly.
Now, up to now the Delhi Sultanate was a very loosely ruled "empire" (if it can even be called that) the real authority of the sultanate only really included the city of Delhi and the surrounding areas. Away from these places Muslim and Hindu emirs and princes ruled with great autonomy in the provinces and nominally paid service to Delhi. The Muslims could be called open to offer up troops to fight Hindus and Mongols, while the Hindus could be called open to offer up troops to fight Muslims and Mongols. It was a system that worked most of the time. However, Tughluq wanted a more efficient and centralized system of government with direct rule. This system would be much more modern and efficient, but of course it only made him very unpopular with the princes and emirs.
To help rule his new gains in Southern India, Muhammad decided to move the capital to site of Dawlatabad in the Deccan. This location was much more central and from there one could much more easily rule the whole sub-continent. However, it was executed in a heavy handed manner and he basically forced the whole city of Delhi to pack up their bags and move. After only two years, the move proved so unpopular that he decided to just go ahead and pack up everything and move it back. But it was a good idea on paper right? Naturally the constant moving put a lot pressure on the lower and middle class populations of Delhi and Ibn Battuta is said to have said the city was like a ghost town when he moved through.
He was tolerant when it came to religion and allowed Hindus and Jains to settle in Delhi and allowed the building of Hindu temples. While this may seem nice and modern, it only served to anger the Muslims in and around Delhi whose support the Sultanate really needed.
He is also said to have experimented with token currency. Another modern invention probably influenced by the currency of China. As you may have guessed by now, it was another failure.
The humorous thing about Muhammad is that his conquest of Southern India generated a lot of wealth and plunder as the region was very rich, if he had just focused on conservative policies after his conquests he could have probably run the empire on cruise control and died in peace. Instead, his policies caused widespread rebellion and unrest and in the latter years of his rule he had to fight against uprisings and rebellions. He became quite paranoid and tyrannical and responded harshly to any criticisms against his policies. I believe that the black plague may have also hit India during Muhammad's rule or still have been active when he came into power, but finding good sources on the effects of the plague on India is rather hard. If it did, Muhammad's disastrous policies would be even more ill-timed.
The next sultan, Muhammad's cousin Firuz (1351-1388) reversed most of his policies and attempted to fix some of his mistakes. Sadly, this was met with limited success. His attempts to please devout Muslims by destroying Hindu temples only angered the Hindu majority of the sultanate. The balancing act that early dynasties had maintained between Hindus and Muslims was destroyed by Muhammad, his cousin's attempts to fix them only pushed it too far into the other direction. After the death of Firuz, the country fell into civil war as Hindu and Muslims rulers struggled for control. This left the Sultanate open to the biggest threat of the latter medieval period, Tamerlane and he would succeed to do what his Mongolic ancestors had failed.
Tamerlane or Timur Leng is, as you probably already know, one of the great jerks of history. Unlike the Mongols, widespread peace did not follow his conquests and his habit of massacring even cities that surrendered made it so he had to put down multiple rebellions throughout his empire due to his unpopularity. It is said that when Tamerlane attacked the Mamluks of Egypt the Mamluk sultan prepared to meet him in battle before Damascus, however a rebellion in Egypt made him return home and abandon the region. The city of Damascus agreed to surrender to Tamerlane and paid him the ransom he requested. However, once inside of the city walls, Tamerlane increased the ransom ten fold and when the citizens protested he ordered the city sacked and had them massacred, sparing only the artisans who he sent back to his capital of Samarqand.
However, Tamerlane's most famous tale of destruction took place against the Sultanate of Delhi, in 1398 Tamerlane invaded northern India and easily defeated the army which had been weakened by a decade of civil war following the death of Firuz. Timur ordered the execution of tens of thousands of Hindu captives before and after the battle of Delhi, with thousands being skinned alive. The city was sacked and it took several days for this to be finished. Afterwards it was set alight and left a smoldering ruin. Descendents of the Tughluq dynasty continued to claim sovereignty in Delhi, but the dynasty would fade away ten years later. It would take a century for Delhi to build back up it's power but it would never be as great again.
The next two dynasties were lack luster, the Sayyid Dynasty (1414-1451) would rule shortly with four different sultans in a thirty seven year period. The last, Ala-ud-Din Alam Shah, after twice defending Delhi from the Pashtun Warlord Bahlul Khan Lodi, he retired and wisely abdicate the throne of the Sultanate to Bahlul Khan Lodi and lived out his life in peace. Though obscure, Alam Shah is a personal hero of mine and portrays someone who is savvy enough to get away while the going is good.
Bahlul Khan Lodi established the Lodi dynasty of Delhi (1451-1526) which would make the Delhi sultanate a somewhat respectable power again. However, by the time of the last sultan, Ibrahim Lodi (1489-1526) took the throne, the sultanate was in financial ruin. Trade routes had changed. It should be noted that Northern India was never as trade route centered as Southern India and most of the time was a poorer. However, the Mongol invasions and the Delhi sultans successes of defending northern India against them had made the land into a immigration spot for skilled Islamic refugees such as scholars and artisans. Also, paradoxically, they were able to benefit from the Mongolian's overland trade routes as Delhi was only a relatively small detour. However, by the beginning of the sixteenth century, these overland trade routes were beginning to dry up. Europeans were entering the Indian ocean and most of the wealth was to be had to the south. The Lodi dynasty would be weakened by finical troubles as well as civil war. Ibrahim's uncle, Alam Khan, as well as the Janjua Rajputs, would join forces with Babur. Babur would also employ new ottoman style drilled matchlock men in his army which was a new method of warfare in India. At the Battle of Panipat in 1526, Ibrahim would die along with 20,000 of his men bringing a end to the Lodi Dynasty and the Delhi Sultanate period and leading to the ascension of the Mughals.
New trade routes and new methods of warfare, the latter Delhi Sultanate can be viewed as a causality of a changing world and it makes a perfect place to end our pack.
The armies of the Muslims of India were very varied, however, at least starting with the Ghorids they were mainly heavy cavalry based with light cavalry support. All would, of course, be armed with lances/spears, bows, swords and maces as principle weapons. The heavy cavalry was relied on a charge to break infantry.
At least starting with the Khiliji dynasty, the Sultanate of Delhi's army was composed of three main parts. The first part was the standing army which was the Sultans own personal army. This one was made up primarily of heavily armored cavalry to, as one can imagine, sally forth quickly and respond to rebellions in the provinces if needed. The second part was made up of troops employed by Hindu and Islamic princes and emirs which could be relied on depending on who the war was against. These troops could, in theory, be called open for inspection but this was rarely done as the princes and emirs couldn't be relied upon to follow the order. The third was based off of the Ghazi or holy warriors who joined the army to make war on the Hindus, these wouldn't be paid and would instead take a share of the plunder.
As you can probably guess, as far as quality, the Sultan only had his own troops to rely on as the rest had drastic differences in moral and training between them.
Later Muhammad bin Qasim would begin a campaign to conquer the Sindh and Punjab in 710 AD. His success would establish a foothold in the India for Islamic rulers. Early attempts to push eastward would be met with ferocious opposition and the early Arabic Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates would not be successful. Muhaamad bin Qasim would be defeated during his attempt to push east. The last major attempt of the Caliphates would lead to the Battle of Rajasthan which would lead to an Arab defeat by the early Rajputs. Islamic rule would be confined to Sindh until the later Turkic and Persian dynasties such as the Ghaznavids and Ghurids who would push past the Indus river into North Western India. It would be the Ghurids who would lay the foundation for the Delhi Sultanate. Qutb-ud-din Aibak was a Ghulam/Mamluk slave of the Ghorid sultan Muhammad Ghauri. After his death and as the empire fell into chaos and the Persian parts of the empire were conquered by the Khwarazmians, Qutbuddin would establish the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1527) from (of course) Delhi and rule over a large part of the Northern Plains of India.
The Delhi Sultanate has a somewhat troubled history, having some five dynasties during it's three century history. Qutbuddin himself would die from a polo accident in 1210 only ruling four years and his dynasty (generally known as the Mamluk or Ghulam Dynasty) would only last for 90 years and the next dynasty, the Khiljis would only last 40. Their only real major achievements were fending off the Mongols and keeping them from gaining a foothold in India. The Mamluks seem to be good at that. Between 1290 and 1327 Mongol invasions were defeated nine times. Much like the Mamluks in Egypt, the victories against the Mongols should be treated as a watershed moment in Indian history as Delhi, much like Cairo, would begin to grow as a center of Islamic culture and learning as it escaped the destruction of the Mongol conquests.
The next dynasty would become the most influential and have a massive affect on the history of the whole Indian subcontinent, both North and South even though it would be short lived. The Turkic Tughluq dynasty's (1320-1388) first ruler would be Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, a former general of the Khilji who rebelled and became sultan mainly due to the unpopularity of Khurso Khan, the last Khilji Sultan. He only ruled for five years but he was somewhat capable. He died of heat apoplexy in 1325 and his son took the throne. Muhammad ibn Tughluq (1325-1351). Muhammad is one of the most interesting personalities of the Delhi Sultanate, and I would say, of Islamic history in general. Muhammad was a scholar, great intellect, and reformer. His only fault is that most of his reforms failed. Military wise he was as capable of his father and continued the conquests even further, even pushing into southern India. Even though the Sultanate would only rule southern India for a small period, it would have a drastic effect on the military history of that region and force the Dravidian states to stop relying on levies and move onto professional latter medieval armies. But more on that when we get there. He managed to defeat the Mongol ruler Tarmashirin at the very gates of Delhi, saving the sultanate from the Mongol menace just as the former sultans did. However, on the domestic front, Muhammad had some strange and creative intellectual ideas on the way things should be run. This of course turned out badly.
Now, up to now the Delhi Sultanate was a very loosely ruled "empire" (if it can even be called that) the real authority of the sultanate only really included the city of Delhi and the surrounding areas. Away from these places Muslim and Hindu emirs and princes ruled with great autonomy in the provinces and nominally paid service to Delhi. The Muslims could be called open to offer up troops to fight Hindus and Mongols, while the Hindus could be called open to offer up troops to fight Muslims and Mongols. It was a system that worked most of the time. However, Tughluq wanted a more efficient and centralized system of government with direct rule. This system would be much more modern and efficient, but of course it only made him very unpopular with the princes and emirs.
To help rule his new gains in Southern India, Muhammad decided to move the capital to site of Dawlatabad in the Deccan. This location was much more central and from there one could much more easily rule the whole sub-continent. However, it was executed in a heavy handed manner and he basically forced the whole city of Delhi to pack up their bags and move. After only two years, the move proved so unpopular that he decided to just go ahead and pack up everything and move it back. But it was a good idea on paper right? Naturally the constant moving put a lot pressure on the lower and middle class populations of Delhi and Ibn Battuta is said to have said the city was like a ghost town when he moved through.
He was tolerant when it came to religion and allowed Hindus and Jains to settle in Delhi and allowed the building of Hindu temples. While this may seem nice and modern, it only served to anger the Muslims in and around Delhi whose support the Sultanate really needed.
He is also said to have experimented with token currency. Another modern invention probably influenced by the currency of China. As you may have guessed by now, it was another failure.
The humorous thing about Muhammad is that his conquest of Southern India generated a lot of wealth and plunder as the region was very rich, if he had just focused on conservative policies after his conquests he could have probably run the empire on cruise control and died in peace. Instead, his policies caused widespread rebellion and unrest and in the latter years of his rule he had to fight against uprisings and rebellions. He became quite paranoid and tyrannical and responded harshly to any criticisms against his policies. I believe that the black plague may have also hit India during Muhammad's rule or still have been active when he came into power, but finding good sources on the effects of the plague on India is rather hard. If it did, Muhammad's disastrous policies would be even more ill-timed.
The next sultan, Muhammad's cousin Firuz (1351-1388) reversed most of his policies and attempted to fix some of his mistakes. Sadly, this was met with limited success. His attempts to please devout Muslims by destroying Hindu temples only angered the Hindu majority of the sultanate. The balancing act that early dynasties had maintained between Hindus and Muslims was destroyed by Muhammad, his cousin's attempts to fix them only pushed it too far into the other direction. After the death of Firuz, the country fell into civil war as Hindu and Muslims rulers struggled for control. This left the Sultanate open to the biggest threat of the latter medieval period, Tamerlane and he would succeed to do what his Mongolic ancestors had failed.
Tamerlane or Timur Leng is, as you probably already know, one of the great jerks of history. Unlike the Mongols, widespread peace did not follow his conquests and his habit of massacring even cities that surrendered made it so he had to put down multiple rebellions throughout his empire due to his unpopularity. It is said that when Tamerlane attacked the Mamluks of Egypt the Mamluk sultan prepared to meet him in battle before Damascus, however a rebellion in Egypt made him return home and abandon the region. The city of Damascus agreed to surrender to Tamerlane and paid him the ransom he requested. However, once inside of the city walls, Tamerlane increased the ransom ten fold and when the citizens protested he ordered the city sacked and had them massacred, sparing only the artisans who he sent back to his capital of Samarqand.
However, Tamerlane's most famous tale of destruction took place against the Sultanate of Delhi, in 1398 Tamerlane invaded northern India and easily defeated the army which had been weakened by a decade of civil war following the death of Firuz. Timur ordered the execution of tens of thousands of Hindu captives before and after the battle of Delhi, with thousands being skinned alive. The city was sacked and it took several days for this to be finished. Afterwards it was set alight and left a smoldering ruin. Descendents of the Tughluq dynasty continued to claim sovereignty in Delhi, but the dynasty would fade away ten years later. It would take a century for Delhi to build back up it's power but it would never be as great again.
The next two dynasties were lack luster, the Sayyid Dynasty (1414-1451) would rule shortly with four different sultans in a thirty seven year period. The last, Ala-ud-Din Alam Shah, after twice defending Delhi from the Pashtun Warlord Bahlul Khan Lodi, he retired and wisely abdicate the throne of the Sultanate to Bahlul Khan Lodi and lived out his life in peace. Though obscure, Alam Shah is a personal hero of mine and portrays someone who is savvy enough to get away while the going is good.
Bahlul Khan Lodi established the Lodi dynasty of Delhi (1451-1526) which would make the Delhi sultanate a somewhat respectable power again. However, by the time of the last sultan, Ibrahim Lodi (1489-1526) took the throne, the sultanate was in financial ruin. Trade routes had changed. It should be noted that Northern India was never as trade route centered as Southern India and most of the time was a poorer. However, the Mongol invasions and the Delhi sultans successes of defending northern India against them had made the land into a immigration spot for skilled Islamic refugees such as scholars and artisans. Also, paradoxically, they were able to benefit from the Mongolian's overland trade routes as Delhi was only a relatively small detour. However, by the beginning of the sixteenth century, these overland trade routes were beginning to dry up. Europeans were entering the Indian ocean and most of the wealth was to be had to the south. The Lodi dynasty would be weakened by finical troubles as well as civil war. Ibrahim's uncle, Alam Khan, as well as the Janjua Rajputs, would join forces with Babur. Babur would also employ new ottoman style drilled matchlock men in his army which was a new method of warfare in India. At the Battle of Panipat in 1526, Ibrahim would die along with 20,000 of his men bringing a end to the Lodi Dynasty and the Delhi Sultanate period and leading to the ascension of the Mughals.
New trade routes and new methods of warfare, the latter Delhi Sultanate can be viewed as a causality of a changing world and it makes a perfect place to end our pack.
The armies of the Muslims of India were very varied, however, at least starting with the Ghorids they were mainly heavy cavalry based with light cavalry support. All would, of course, be armed with lances/spears, bows, swords and maces as principle weapons. The heavy cavalry was relied on a charge to break infantry.
At least starting with the Khiliji dynasty, the Sultanate of Delhi's army was composed of three main parts. The first part was the standing army which was the Sultans own personal army. This one was made up primarily of heavily armored cavalry to, as one can imagine, sally forth quickly and respond to rebellions in the provinces if needed. The second part was made up of troops employed by Hindu and Islamic princes and emirs which could be relied on depending on who the war was against. These troops could, in theory, be called open for inspection but this was rarely done as the princes and emirs couldn't be relied upon to follow the order. The third was based off of the Ghazi or holy warriors who joined the army to make war on the Hindus, these wouldn't be paid and would instead take a share of the plunder.
As you can probably guess, as far as quality, the Sultan only had his own troops to rely on as the rest had drastic differences in moral and training between them.
Now here goes the unit list,
Spoiler :
Indian Pre-Mughal Light Infantry (Brown Coat) (Osprey, DBA)
Indian Pre-Mughal Light Infantry (Blue Coat) (Osprey, DBA)
Indian Pre-Mughal Light Infantry (Osprey, DBA)
Indian Pre-Mughal Crossbowman (Osprey, DBA)
Indian Pre-Mughal Spearman (Osprey, DBA)
Indian Pre-Muhgal Bowman (Osprey, DBA)
These are your basic Muslim infantrymen. Basic and generic they could be used for any number of different things including filling in even as Persians. The Ghorids and the Delhi sultanate used the crossbow, though not as much as East Asia or Europe.
Indian Pre-Mughal Heavy Infantry (Early) (DBA, Osprey)
Pre-Muhgal Heavy Cavalry Early (DBA, Osprey)
These are two very early Islamic invaders, probably from the time of the Caliphates. I felt like the early Islamic campaigns in India needed some representation. They are probably Arabic or early Islamic Turkish or Persian converts. It is said that most of the invading army of the Umayyads was composed of new converts to Islam and the invasions were a attempt to use the surplus troops.
Indian Pre-Mughal Maceman (Broken Crescent)
Indian Pre-Mughal Horsearcher (Broken Crescent)
Indian Pre-Mughal Heavy Infantry (Chainmail Gold Plate) (Osprey)
Indian Pre-Mughal Heavy Cavalry (Osprey)
Indian Pre-Muhgal Heavy Cavalry (Chainmail Gold Plate) (Osprey)
Indian Pre-Mughal Horsearcher (Turkic) (Broken Crescent)
Indian Pre-Mughal Archer (Turkic) (Broken Crescent)
Indian Pre-Muhgal Archer (Armored Turk) (Broken Crescent, Osprey)
Indian Pre-Mughal Horsearcher (Armored Turk) (Broken Crescent, Osprey)
These models are the more heavily armored ones. The armor of the Delhi Sultanate was very similar to Persia and Turkic styles. The Maceman and Horsearcher are based off of a Broken Crescent model which is similar to some Osprey art. The Heavy Cavalry is based off of a Osprey which is from the late post-Timurids period of the Sultanate, while much of the other models could be used throughout the period of the Sultanate without major incident. The Turks are in because of the fact that the Sultanate could easily acquire Turkic mercenaries. Also because it has been awhile since I made any Turkic units.
Indian Pre-Mughal Light Infantry (Blue Coat) (Osprey, DBA)
Indian Pre-Mughal Light Infantry (Osprey, DBA)
Indian Pre-Mughal Crossbowman (Osprey, DBA)
Indian Pre-Mughal Spearman (Osprey, DBA)
Indian Pre-Muhgal Bowman (Osprey, DBA)
These are your basic Muslim infantrymen. Basic and generic they could be used for any number of different things including filling in even as Persians. The Ghorids and the Delhi sultanate used the crossbow, though not as much as East Asia or Europe.
Indian Pre-Mughal Heavy Infantry (Early) (DBA, Osprey)
Pre-Muhgal Heavy Cavalry Early (DBA, Osprey)
These are two very early Islamic invaders, probably from the time of the Caliphates. I felt like the early Islamic campaigns in India needed some representation. They are probably Arabic or early Islamic Turkish or Persian converts. It is said that most of the invading army of the Umayyads was composed of new converts to Islam and the invasions were a attempt to use the surplus troops.
Indian Pre-Mughal Maceman (Broken Crescent)
Indian Pre-Mughal Horsearcher (Broken Crescent)
Indian Pre-Mughal Heavy Infantry (Chainmail Gold Plate) (Osprey)
Indian Pre-Mughal Heavy Cavalry (Osprey)
Indian Pre-Muhgal Heavy Cavalry (Chainmail Gold Plate) (Osprey)
Indian Pre-Mughal Horsearcher (Turkic) (Broken Crescent)
Indian Pre-Mughal Archer (Turkic) (Broken Crescent)
Indian Pre-Muhgal Archer (Armored Turk) (Broken Crescent, Osprey)
Indian Pre-Mughal Horsearcher (Armored Turk) (Broken Crescent, Osprey)
These models are the more heavily armored ones. The armor of the Delhi Sultanate was very similar to Persia and Turkic styles. The Maceman and Horsearcher are based off of a Broken Crescent model which is similar to some Osprey art. The Heavy Cavalry is based off of a Osprey which is from the late post-Timurids period of the Sultanate, while much of the other models could be used throughout the period of the Sultanate without major incident. The Turks are in because of the fact that the Sultanate could easily acquire Turkic mercenaries. Also because it has been awhile since I made any Turkic units.
