Introduction

This chapter presents some of research on the warhorse and its impact on medieval and early modern state-formation in South Asia and beyond. Most of the contributions were published following the defence of PhD thesis at the University of Leiden in 1993, which was itself published a year later as The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire, circa 1710–1780. The chapter focuses on the neglected history of two Afghan cases of so-called Mughal successor-states in northern India: Rohilkhand and Farrukhabad. It demonstrates that, even the mighty Mughal Empire should be considered a post-nomadic empire which, the ongoing dependence on warhorses, built its power on a network of imperial highways bridging the empire's various inner frontiers between raiyati and mawas, settled fields and wilderness. The chapter explores the innovative and decisive nature of the camel artillery deployed by the Afghan army during the battle of Panipat in 1761.