HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The siege of Chittorgarh (23 October 1567 – 23 February 1568) was the military expedition of the
Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
under
Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
against the
Kingdom of Mewar The Kingdom of Mewar was an independent Hindu kingdom that existed in the Rajputana region of the Indian subcontinent and later became a dominant state in medieval India. The kingdom was initially founded and ruled by the Guhila dynasty, foll ...
that commenced in 1567 during which the Mughals successfully captured the fort of Chittorgarh after a hard-pressed siege which lasted for several months. Akbar under his expansionist policy, besieged the strategic Sisodia capital of Chittor in October 1567 and further gave a religious colour to the struggle by declaring it as a Jihād against the
infidels An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligion, irreligious people. Infidel is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical term in Ch ...
. On Akbar's advance, Sisodia ruler Rana Udai Singh moved to the mountainous principality of his kingdom (on the advice of his war councils) and placed the fort under the command of Jaimal Rathore. After over four months of seesaw action during which the Mughal forces suffered heavy casualties, the battle eventually broke the deadlock when Jaimal succumbed to a musket shot of Akbar on 22 February 1568. The fort was captured the next morning on the day of
Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...
after a gallant resistance by the Rajputs. The conquest of Chittor was proclaimed by Akbar as the victory of
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
over
infidels An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligion, irreligious people. Infidel is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical term in Ch ...
. After the subjugation of the fort, Akbar ordered a general massacre of Chittor's population in the course of which 30,000 Hindu civilians were slaughtered and a large number of women and children were enslaved. Akbar placed the fort under his general Asaf Khan and returned to
Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...
.


Background

In 1567,
Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
after putting down the revolts of Uzbeks, turned his attention towards the Rajput states of Rajasthan. The
Kachhwaha The Kachhwaha is a Rajput clan found primarily in India. They claim descent from the Suryavanshi (Solar) dynasty. Etymology According to Cynthia Talbot, the meaning of word ''Kachhwaha'' is tortoise. Origin There are numerous theories on ...
ruler
Bharmal Raja Bharmal, also known as Bihari Mal, and Bihar Mal (1498 – 27 January 1574), was the 23rd ruler of Jaipur State, Amber, which was later known as Jaipur. He was a ruler of the Kachhwaha clan. His daughter, Mariam-uz-Zamani was the chief ...
already accepted his supremacy by sending his daughter Harka Bai into the Mughal Harem, although all other families except Amber were still hostile towards the Mughals. Thus, Akbar undertook a vigorous expansionist policy to bring them under his sway. Due to the political importance of Chittor for a stable route to
Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...
and
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
and for further inroads into the Deccan, Akbar advanced with a vast army and artillery from his capital
Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...
and besieged the fort on 23 October 1567. The contemporary Persian chronicles and his courtiers, also blamed Rana Udai Singh for providing refuge to the Afghan rebel Baz Bahadur as a reason of their invasion. On hearing about Akbar's encroachment into his territory, Udai Singh along with the royal family on the advice of his war councils and ministers fled to the western belt of Mewar in his newly established city of Udaipur. Some later writers accused him of cowardice and being an unworthy heir of
Rana Sanga Sangram Singh I (12 April 1482 – 30 January 1528), most commonly known as Rana Sanga, was the Rana of Mewar, Maharana of Mewar from 1509 to 1528. A member of the List of Ranas of Mewar, Sisodia dynasty, he controlled parts of present-day Ra ...
, although no contemporary Persian author gave such an impression. Udai Singh placed the fort under the command of Jaimal Rathore with 8,000 cavalry and some musketeers. When Akbar learnt of Udai Singh's escape, he dispatched a force under Hussain Kuli Khan towards
Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...
to capture him, although he failed to capture the Rana and returned after plundering Udaipur and its surrounding districts. After the failure of Hussain Quli Khan, Akbar sent another contingent under Asaf Khan to capture Udai Singh. While he too failed to capture the Rana, though, he sacked the wealthy town of Rampura (renamed it Islampur) which guarded the southern flank of Chittor. According to
Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
, the Mughal troops returned with enormous spoils and "sent many worthless infidels to the abode of perdition".


Siege

Initially, the Mughals tried to attack the fortress directly but the citadel was so sturdy that the only options available to the Mughals were to either starve out the occupants of the fort or to somehow reach the walls and sap beneath them. After initial aggressive attempts at reaching the wall failed, Akbar ordered a complement of 5,000 expert builders, stonemasons, and carpenters to construct ''sabats'' (approach trenches) and mines to reach the walls. Two mines and one sabat were constructed after significant casualties while three batteries bombarded the fort. A large siege cannon was also cast to breach the walls once the sabat reached the objective. Fifty-eight days after the siege began, the imperial sappers finally reached the walls of Chittorgarh. The two mines were exploded and the walls were breached at the cost of 200 of the assault force. But the defenders soon sealed the opening. Akbar then steadily brought his siege cannon closer to the walls under the cover of the sabat. Finally, on 22 February 1568, the Mughals were able to breach the walls at several locations simultaneously to begin a coordinated assault. While Jaimal was repairing the damage to the fort at night, Akbar killed Jaimal through a musket shot which shattered the morale of the defenders who considered the day lost. On the night of 22 February 1568, several Rajput women at various places inside the fort committed
Jauhar Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar, was a Hindu Rajput practice of mass self-immolation by women and girls in the Indian subcontinent to avoid capture, sex slavery, enslavement, and rape when facing certain defeat during a war. Some repo ...
(self-immolation by fire) to protect their honour from the Mughals. Thus, on 23 February 1568 on the day of Hindu festival of
Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...
, the Rajputs dressed in saffron garments opened the gates for the last stand (Sakha) under the leadership of Patta Chundawat and eventually by night, the fort was captured by the Mughals after a gallant resistance. The siege also resulted in heavy casualties on the Mughal side, where two hundred of them were killed every day. The contemporaneous Persian accounts mentioned several instances during the siege where Akbar himself barely evaded death.


Aftermath

After capturing the fort on 23 February 1568, Akbar ordered a general massacre of Chittor's population in which 30,000 Hindu civilians inside the fort who were largely non-combatants were slaughtered. After the mass slaughter, many women and children were enslaved followed by desecration of many
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
and Jain temples on Akbar's order. Akbar who earlier gave a religious colour to the conflict by declaring it as a Jihād, subsequently proclaimed the conquest of the fort as the victory of
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
over
infidels An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligion, irreligious people. Infidel is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical term in Ch ...
. The Mughal soldiers who died in the combat were hailed as Ghazis by Akbar. He also issued a victory letter on 9 March 1568 where he addressed his governors of
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
about the campaign (quoted by Andre Wink) Akbar stayed at Chittorgarh for three days before leaving for the shrine of
Moinuddin Chishti Mu'in al-Din Hasan Chishti Sijzi (; February 1143 – March 1236), known reverentially as Khawaja Gharib Nawaz (), was a Persians, Persian Islamic scholar and Sufism, mystic from Sistan, who eventually ended up settling in the Indian subcontin ...
(barefooted), as part of his oath to visit the shrine after the conquest of Chittor. Akbar handed the charge of the fort to his trusted general Asaf Khan and returned to Agra. On returning to
Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...
, Akbar erected the statues of Jaimal and Patta outside his fort either to honour their doughty resistance or to humiliate them as his doorkeepers. Akbar, also commented upon them in his victory letter. (translated by Ishtiyaq Ahmad Zilli) The violent fate of Chittor turned out to be a watershed in Akbar's conquest of the north Indian plain and in his relations with the Rajput states. The reduction of Chittor, brought almost all of the leading Rajput kingdoms under his sway who were hostile towards him prior to the battle. However,
Udai Singh II Udai Singh II (4 August 1522 – 28 February 1572) was the List of Ranas of Mewar, 12th Maharana of the Kingdom of Mewar and the founder of the city of Udaipur in the present-day state of Rajasthan, India. He was the fourth son of Rana SangaTo ...
, the Rana of Mewar, continued to remain at large until his death four years later.


Traditions

The Jauhar of 1568 is a part of the regional legend and is locally remembered on the Hindu festival of
Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...
(on the day Chittor was sacked) as a day of Chittorgarh massacre by Akbar, with "the red colour signifying the blood that flowed that day".


In popular culture

Mughal conquest of Chittor was part of
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
television series '' Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap'' based on the life of
Maharana Pratap Pratap Singh I (9 May 1540 – 19 January 1597), popularly known as Maharana Pratap (), was king of the Kingdom of Mewar, in north-western India in the present-day state of Rajasthan, from 1572 until his death in 1597. He is notable for leadi ...
. The series depicted the besieging of the fort in over fifty episodes titled ''Chittor par Sankat''.


See also

* Siege of Chittorgarh (1303)


Footnotes


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siege of Chittorgarh Chittorgarh Chittorgarh Chittorgarh Chittorgarh Kingdom of Mewar 1567 in India 1568 in India Chittorgarh district Conflicts in India Chittorgarh Fort 16th century in the Mughal Empire