Zamindari PIkemen are a type of melee infantry in Empire: Total War.
Description[]
These “feudal” troops are armed in traditional style and, while cheap, may not be as reliable as regular forces.
The zamindars, or landholders, recruit troops from among the peasantry farming the lands they manage. A life in the ranks is a little better than one toiling in the fields, and offers the chance of loot and excitement.
At first sight, the zamindar system has much in common with the medieval “feudal” idea, and this was how many Europeans saw the system. A zamindar would be given land to run as a tax farm, squeezing the peasants for all the revenue he could get. At the same time, the zamindari would have a place in a formal hierarchy, and were expected to contribute a contingent of troops to the army. This sounds like the feudal idea of providing men to an overlord, but it was based on financial, not fealty, principles. There were even landholders who were expected to supply elephant troops rather than cavalry and footmen. When the European trading companies took over tax collection, they often left the local landholders to collect taxes, after weeding out the most glaringly corrupt.
General Information[]
The Zamindari Pikemen are quite similar to their Western counterparts, Pikemen, possessing the ability to form pike squares and walls, giving them a large defensive bonus against cavalry. Unfortunately, they are not very useful beyond that, as they have no missile attack and have below average melee statistics. The Mughal empire makes extensive use of these units, to the point that there is at least one regiment in any of their armies.
Much like western pikemen, Zamindari pikemen use swords in close combat rather than their pikes, and generally use these to defend against an infantry charge as well. They only level their pikes against enemies when ordered to do so, and are still vulnerable to cavalry and infantry charges when caught unprepared.