Military innovations

Akbar was accorded the epithet the Great due to his many accomplishments,among which was his record of unbeaten military campaigns that both established and consolidated Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent. The basis of this military prowess and authority was Akbars skillful structural and organisational calibration of the Mughal army.The Mansabdari system in particular has been acclaimed for its role in upholding Mughal power in the time of Akbar. The system persisted with few changes down to the end of the Mughal Empire, but was progressively weakened under his successors.Organisational reforms were accompanied by innovations in cannons, fortifications, and the use of elephants.Akbar also took an interest in matchlocks and effectively employed them during various conflicts. He sought the help of Ottomans, and also increasingly of Europeans, especially Portuguese and Italians, in procuring firearms and artillery.Mughal firearms in the time of Akbar came to be far superior to anything that could be deployed by regional rulers, tributaries, or by zamindars.Such was the impact of these weapons that Akbars Vizier, Abul Fazl, once declared that with the exception of Turkey, there is perhaps no country in which its guns has more means of securing the Government than [India].The term Gunpower Empire has thus often been used by scholars and historians in analysing the success of the Mughals in India. Mughal power has been seen as owing to their mastery of the techniques of warfare, especially the use of firearms encouraged by Akbar.