Akbar included a large number of Baheliyas and their commander was known as Hazaari.

 Baheliya was one such community which had emerged as an important one in the fourteenth century during the reign of Muhammed bin Tughlak in Delhi.  Since they were mainly concentrated in the region lying between Chunar and Banaras on the bank of the Ganga they used to be recruited from there and many were also given the ownership of twenty seven villages each as gifts. William Crooke informs us in his book that people who were hired as security guards of Akbar included a large number of Baheliyas and their commander was known as Hazaari.⁵ In 1772 when the Mughals conceded to the British many of them joined the British army. Along with the Baheliyas the Pasis who numbered nearly 1.2 million at that time also built up a reputation of being a courageous, brave and valiant community. ⁶ Posing a challenge to the laws, rules and orders of the East India Company they worked as the stick wielders, watchmen and security guards of the landlords and local kings and made a name for themselves as a stalwart martial community. Sleeman, who was on a capturing spree in that region in 1857, described the heroic Pasis by saying that many of them had formed their own armies and had acquired a considerable amount of land and property by committing robberies, murders and working as mercenary soldiers for small kings. ⁷ The chivalry of the Pasis has also been described in the folk epic Alha-Udal.⁸ Before that, in 1678 in the Bundelkhand region the army of the king of Chhatrasaal included, in addition to higher castes like Rajputs, Brahmins and Baniyas.