Mughal and Late Mughal Equine Veterinary Literature: Tarjamah-i-Saloter-i-Asban and Faras-Nama-i-Rangin

The Mughal warfare was centred on the mobile force of the cavalry. Therefore, good horses, especially foreign and imported horses like the Arabian, Persian, Turki and Tazi horses played a significant role at the Mughal court and also in the social arena located outside it. Horses were acknowledged as the delightful carriage of the kings, princes, nobles and warriors. Mounting over a qualitative horse carried the notion of pride, prestige, and social status, and even raising the status of the owner outside the royal court. Apart from their importance as the ‘resource’ and the ‘unit of state formation’, good horses also defined mechanisms of power and authority of the owners