Akbar victory over the battle of haldighati 21 June 1576 defeat of Rana Pratap

Truely said by someone :- History is always written by the vectors.

The third mighty king of mighty Mughal dynasty    Shahenshah Jalal- uddin-muhammad-"Akbar".

He extended his power and dominated over the entire Indian subcontinent and even some central Asian countries (India Pakistan Bangladesh Afghanistan Uzbekistan) due to his military, political, cultural, and economic dominance. He established a centralised system of administration and adopted a policy of marriage alliance and diplomacy. With his religious policies, he won the support of his non-Muslims public. Akbar the great gaved bountiful amount of respect to non muslim public and courtier, the rajput rulers of Rajasthan were always attacked by central Asian invaders,so just to protect them from the invaders and          bring them under his suzerainty Akbar launched a new policy for rajput Rulers

Mughal emperors policy on Rajput

Shahenshah Babur had no planned policy towards the Rajputs. He had to fight against Rana Sanga of Mewar and Medini Rai of Chanderi because this was necessary for the establishment and safety of his empire in India. On both the occasions, he declared Jihad, assumed the title of ghazi after his success.

Akbar was the first Mughal emperor who pursued a planned policy towards the Rajputs. Various factors participated in the formation of his Rajput policy. 

Akbar tried to befriend the Rajputs but at the same time desired to bring them under his suzerainty.

principles which Akbar the great pursued regarding Rajput rulers:

(i) Akbar captured strong forts of the Rajputs like the forts of Chittor, Merta, Ranthambhor, Kalinjar etc. This weakened the power of the Rajputs to offer him resistance.

(ii) Those Rajput rulers who either accepted his sovereignty or indulging into matrimonial relations with him voluntarily were left masters of their kingdoms. They were given high offices in the state and there was no interference in their administration. They were, however, asked to pay annual tribute to the emperor.

(iii) Those Rajput rulers who opposed him, were attacked and efforts were made to force them to accept his sovereignty. The case of Mewar (Rana Pratap)was the best example of it.

In 1562 the fort of Merta was captured which was administered by Jaimal, a mentor chief of the ruler of Mewar. In 1568 :- Chittor was snatched away from Mewar and, in 1569  Raja Surjan Rai was forced to surrender the fort of Ranthambhor. The same year, Raja Ram Chandra politely surrendered the fort of Kalinjar to Akbar the great.

After giving so much of regards and respect still there were some rulers who again and again disrespected Akbar's policy.After giving numerous proposal and warnings to  Rana Pratap of mewar, Akbar finally called for the battle.which was fought on the historic battlefield of haldighati in Rajasthan, it is mentioned in Akbarnama that Rana Pratap insulted his most trusted rajput general Man Singh and this act of Rana Pratap added fuel to fire to the Battle of haldighati.

It was the year 1572 when rana Pratap ascended to the throne after the death of his father Udai Singh II, and it was not long when he was defeated by Mughal emperor Akbar.

The site of the battle was a narrow mountain pass at haldighati near Gogunda in Rajasthan.

Rana Pratap forces  -3,000 cavalry             

                                  -400 Bhil archers.

Akbar the great forces -10,000

 The Mughals were led by Raja Man Singh of Amer (now Jaipur).

7 year old Mughal prince Salim ( future king Jahangir)

The mewar forces were led by Hakim Khan sir with his Afghans, Bhim Singh of Dodia and Ramdas Rathor (son of jaimal, (who defended chittor).

While both accounts differ significantly in total numbers, but one point is Crystal clear that the Mughal army outnumbered the Pratap troops by a factor of four to one. After initial successes by the Mewari army in battle, the tide slowly turned against them. 

Ranapratap was badly wounded and left his army alone and in between, he ran away from the battle.

Many historian quotes ranapratap as fugitive.

Mughal forces crushed and trampled Pratap forces which resulted to Mughal Victory

Mughals took 4 hours to defeat Pratap and won mewar 

When army commingled with army

They stirred up the resurrection-day upon earth.

Two oceans of blood shocked together:

The soil became tulip-coloured from the burning waves.

                               ------Abu'l-Fazl

                                   {Akbarnama}

rana Pratap and his family took refuge in the forest. During the struggle in the jungle, Maharana Pratap had nothing to eat and they had to eat rotis made of grass. One can’t image how it would have been to eat ghas ki roti. There was a time when Maharana Pratap daughter’s ghas ki roti was stolen by a cat and he felt terrible that he decided to surrender to Akbar, the Mughal king. Akbar was elated receiving the letter of Pratap’s surrender and asked his general Prithiraj to speak with Maharana Pratap. Prithiraj couldn’t believe the news about Maharana Pratap’s surrender and he then wrote an inspiring letter to Maharana Pratap to continue as a great king of mewar.

After the Battle of Haldighati, Emperor Akbar sent his soldiers through Mewar's north-west borders- Mandal, Madaria, Mohi and especially Dewair and 'thanas' were established there. During this period military campaigns were taken up under the leadership of Bhagwandas, Mansingh, Todarmal, Shahbaz Khan and others.

End of saga

The saga ended nearly 18 years after Maharana’s death. Over the years, due to several battles Mewar was damaged financially as well as in manpower. In 1615, Amar Singh I, eldest son and successor of Maharana Pratap, to avoid further loss entered into a treaty with Shah Jahan (on behalf of Jahangir). According to the treaty the Ruler of Mewar need not be bound to be present

at the Mughal court, instead a son or brother would serve the Mughals. Hence, Prince Bhim served Shah Jahan. Also, there won’t be any matrimonial relations between the Ranas of Mewar and Mughals. And the most important, the Chittorgarh fort would never be repaired as they feared of it being used in any future rebellion. Later, Jahangir as a goodwill gesture gifted Chittorgarh fort and the territories around Chittor to Amar Singh I.

MY POINT OF VIEW ON THIS TOPIC

In my view battle of haldighati was a good lesson for all those rebel and traitors of that great mughal era and one thing which I will love to add on is that by wearing tons of battle accessories like sword , spear and armor the battle is not won , the battle is won on the basis of strategies and tactics and the best example is the first battle of panipat in which the great mughal emperor Babar defeated Ibrahim Lodi,despite less in number he won the battle and established Mughal dynasty on the holy land of Hindostan.

Written by

Waris-e-nasal-taimuri

Danish changez Khan 

المغولي

#danishchangezkhan #danishwasikhan #mughalideology #mughalideologybydanish #warisenasaletaimuri #danishhistorian #mughalistaan