Raja Puran Mal (r. 1529-1542) was a

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

ruler of

Chanderi Chanderi, is a town of historical importance in Ashoknagar District of the state Madhya Pradesh in India. It is situated at a distance of 127 km from Shivpuri, 37 km from Lalitpur, 55 km from Ashok Nagar and about 46 km f ...

and Raisen, present-day town in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, India, during the

Mughal period The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and the

Suri dynasty The Sur Empire ( ps, د سرو امپراتورۍ, dë sru amparāturəi; fa, امپراطوری سور, emperâturi sur) was an Afghan dynasty which ruled a large territory in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent for nearly 16 year ...

. He was the son of Raja

Silhadi Raja Shiladitya, also called Silhadi Tomar (died 1532), was a Ror chieftain of northeast Malwa in the early decades of 16th century India. He recruited Sanga of Mewar as an ally and Sanga helped him and Medini Rai in various battles and in conq ...

and princess of

Mewar Mewar or Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasthan, Neemuch and Man ...

, Rani Durgavati. He defeated

Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...

Mughal army The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, ...

at Chanderi in 1529 and occupied the Chanderi Fort. Negotiations were made after

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

's attack on the fort in 1542 but Puran Mal was killed by conspiracists.

Conflict with Babur

Babur attacked India in 1527 and Rajput kings of Rajasthan under the leadership of Rana Sanga of Mewar failed to stop him in Battle of Khanwa. The defeat of Rajput kings in Khanwa allowed Babur to capture a great portion of Indian territory, which included Chanderi. He is also noted to treat Hindus of Chanderi poorly. This was supposedly the reason why Puran Mal attacked Chanderi in 1529, defeated Mughal army of Babur and captured Chanderi fort. After this defeat, the Mughals left Chanderi and Puran Mal took over the control of Chanderi.

Conflict with Sher Shah Suri

The Mughal Empire was defeated by Sur Empire of Sher Shah Suri. In 1542, Sher Shah added Malwa to his empire. During this campaign, he ordered his amir Shujaat Khan to bring Puran Mal to his presence. Shujaat Khan conducted Puran Mal, who had taken with him 6,000 horsemen before Sher Shah, who at once presented his new ally with a hundred horses and a hundred splendid robes of honour and then sent him home. Puran Mal set out for the return journey to Raisen leaving his brother Chaturbhuj in the service of Sher Shah. This arrangement soon went away. In 1543, a year after the understanding between the Afghan sultan and the Puran Mal, Sher Shah took Chanderi from Puran Mal and then laid siege to his stronghold Raisen. As his motive for this campaign Sher Shah is said to have given vent to his anger against Puran Mal, ‘who had made captives of the families of Muslims in Chanderi’, had forcibly made their daughters to be the dancing-girls and had not co-operated with his son. The siege continued for six months with the fort coming under heavy bombardment. Artillery proved to be the deciding factor and Puran Mal had to negotiate once again with Sher Shah. The negotiations were soon successful. Sher Shah granted to Puran Mal the iqta of Benares.

Death

A little afterwards the negotiation, a number of Muslim women of Chanderi presented themselves before Sher Shah on the road-side and complained to him about Puran Mal. ‘He has killed our husbands’, they said, ‘put in chains our daughters whom he caused to dance along with the dancing-girls and has seized all our lands and earthly possessions.’ They threatened to accuse the sultan on the day of resurrection if he did not revenge them and, when he reminded them of the ‘oaths and vows’ that had been taken to guarantee the safety of the infidel, they told him to consult the ulema of his camp. Apparently Sher Shah simply had to comply with this. The ulema got together and issued a fatwa deciding that Puran Mal deserved death. The camp of the sultan’s new ally was now surrounded by elephants and troops. Seeing this, Puran Mal went into his tent and severed the head of his beloved wife, namely, Ratnavali, brought it before his dear and near ones and ordered them likewise to slay their families. In the ensuing fight, 10,000 Rajput soldiers laid down their lives fighting. Abul Fazl denounces Sher Shah for his dishonesty and calls the ulema misguided men.

References

{{Authority control Medieval India Hindu monarchs History of Madhya Pradesh