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Battle of Haldighati

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There have been a lot of talks going on regarding who won the Battle of Haldighati. While some want to change what we read and say that the Maharana won it, many oppose the point with a Mughal victory. Here, I compile every account I found of the Battle and its Aftermath and make my unbiased conclusion on the topic.

PS. The dates vary from book to book; I gave the ones I found in most sources.

The Background: Relation with Mughals

Mewar was one of Rajputana's strongest individual kingdoms, along with the likes of Marwar and Kacchawar (Jaipur). Long before the Mughals under Akbar, Mewar under Rana Sangram Singh had successfully managed to keep the "Turk Invaders" under Babar at bay, fighting 17 wars, big and small. The relationship was further questioned when, during the invasion from Saurashtra, Sanga's widow, Rani Karnavati, had written to Mughal Emperor Humayun for help, sending him a rakhi. Contrary to popular belief, Humayun had rested on his way from Gaur (Bengal) to Chittorgarh, which forced the Rani to commit Jauhar. Humayun, however, won back the fort later and gave it to Rana Vikramaditya, forcing him to accept Mughal supremacy. Things changed in Agra for Humayun after that. Chittor too fell shortly to Banbir, Vikramaditya's uncle, who assassinated him.  Jalaluddin Mohammad, Humayun's son, came to the throne in 1556 when Mewar was again a stronghold under Rana Udai Singh II. Akbar had invaded and won Mewar's glorious fort of Chittorgarh in 1568. He had taken over other Rajput provinces either by war or by alliance. His Rajput Policy was working wonders. During this time, with a few lesser-known provinces, the Rana of Mewar, Udai Singh II, had refused Mughal supremacy or alliance. The results were very bad for Mewar. From 1568 to Udai Singh's death, the Mughals occupied half of Mewar through their encampments. The Siege of Chittorgarh saw many Mewari Bravehearts doing Saka or Jauhar, while 30,000 civilians were brutally killed in a massacre. In 1572, Udai Singh died, leaving the throne and struggling with his heir, Rana Pratap Singh.

The Rana's Early Reign:

After shifting his capital from Udaipur (Gogunda) to Kumbhalgarh (Kelwara), Rana Pratap Singh extended his hand of friendship to the Princes of Gwalior, which had fallen to the Mughals in 1567, and to Sirohi, which also fell to Mughal dominance in 1572. On his accession, he had been in a war with Marwar in 1573. While most accounts suggest the war was led by Rao Maldeo Rathore's fifth son, Rao Udai Singh II, also known as Mota Raja, some suggest this war was fought by Rao Maldeo himself. Mewar won this war, and Marwar surrendered to Mewar's terms that in case of a third-party war (Mughals in this case), Marwar will not help Mewar's enemy states. This was the first success attributed by historians to Rana Pratap officially. Even though he was the commander of an army that had successfully driven the Mughals out of Kumbhalgarh during the Chittor Siege, these were officially attributed to his father's reign.

The Battle of Haldighati:

Man Singh of Amer had been posted at Salumber, which was a Mewar province, before the Chittorgarh siege after his expedition to Dungarpur. He was ordered by the Mughal Emperor Akbar to march to Udaipur ( or Gogunda) to meet the Rana in person and offer him a peace treaty with the Mughals. He arrived at Gogunda on June 1573, most probably to know that the capital and the royal family had shifted to Kumbhalgarh. His father, Raja Bhagwan Das, was sent to Rana's court in October 1573 to talk peace with Rana Pratap Singh and offer him the Mughal Alliance. Rana Pratap Singh had received the Rajput king with great hospitality and eventually rejected his treaty with dignity. The next peace attempt had arrived around December of the same year or early in 1574, and this time it was Raja Toran Mal who went back impressed, even praising the Rana for his Rajput values. A disappointed Akbar now decided to send Maan Singh again. Around the middle of 1574, Maan Singh arrived at the Udai Sagar Lake district near Udaipur, and the Rana sent his son Kunwar Amar Singh, a mere 16 years old, to his attendance. Disappointed with this, Raja Maan Singh had a word exchange with the young prince, who ended up questioning his pedigree. This led Maan Singh to challenge Mewar to war and leave them humiliated.

Man Singh, however, had to wait for the war as Akbar had sent his troops on an expedition to Gaur (Bengal). Meanwhile, Mewar was preparing for war. On 29th October 1574, 300 horses and soldiers were stationed at Dhol Village in the Kumbhalgarh district by the Rana. This village was near the Haldighati Pass. The Rana also ordered the evacuation of villagers and townsmen from Kumbhalgarh, Kelwara, Dhol, Lohsingh, Khamour, Molela and adjacent villages. The evacuation went on till the end of 1575.

Meanwhile, after settling the troubles with Jodhpur in 1575, Akbar reluctantly sent his army to Man Singh, who was now stationed at Ajmer. On the 3rd of April, 1576, Maan Singh left Ajmer with the notable chiefs namely, Asaf Khan, Mehtar Khan, Sayyid Ahmed, Sayyid Haseem Berha, Badayoni, Raja Jagannath Kachawara (uncle to Maan Singh), and Rai Loh Karan ( who was assumed to be Mewar's prince and brother to the Rana). They had arrived at the Mandalgarh border and camped there for two months. It was during these two months that Rawat Shakta Singh Chundawat joined Maan Singh. The Mughal army settled at Mandalgarh, hoping the Rana would come down from the hills and declare war. But the Rana remained intact in the hills, forcing the Mughal Army to move in further.

The Mewari army had camped at Lohsingh village, about 8miles8 miles from Haldighati. Maan Singh was forced to move to Khamor and encamp at Modela, on the other side of the Banas River. There was now a distance of 10 miles between the two camps. 

The Mewar Army consisted of about 5000 men, including 3000 horses and riders, 2000 footmen and 100 pikemen. The notable names of Mewari Soldiers were Commander Hakim Khan Suri, who was nephew to Sher Shah Suri, Krishna Das Chundawat of Salumber ( His father Sai Das Chundawat did Saka at Chittor) Bhim Singh of Sardargarh ( A childhood friend to Rana) Rawat Sanga of Deogarh, Ram Das Rathore of Badnore (son of Jaimal) Ram Shah Tanwar of Gwalior and his three sons, Maan Singh Jhalla of Bari Sadri, Maan Singh Songara ( Son of Akhai Raj if Jhallore, maternal uncle to the Rana) Rana Punja Bhil, Purohit Gopinath, Purohit Jagannath, Ratan Chand, the Charans of Soniyana, Keshwa and Jaiso, Bhama Shah and his brother Tarachand, and the heir Kunwar Amar Singh.

Man Singh and his Mughal troops moved from Molela to Badshah Bagh in June 1576, with 4000 men. But with the attacking troops of Rana's men, Ghazi Khan, Asaf Khan and Man Singh were forced to flee 12 miles away to another encampment. The war was later successfully led by the Sayyids of Barha under Mihtah Khan. 


On 21st June 1576, the armies again met at Khun ki Talai, or Rakht Talai, the plains below the forests of the pass of Haldighati. The Mughal army killed Maan Singh Jhalla, wearing Rana Pratap's turban, assuming him to be the Rana, as Pratap managed to survive, but his horse Chetak died around 5km from the Banas River. The Mughals, on the 23rd of June, marched to Gogunda and occupied it. Later, Man Singh led a siege of Kumbhalgarh and stayed there from September to December 1576 before marching back to Agra. Thinking the Rana dead, the Mughals now concentrated on Deccan, while the Rana used this opportunity to win back major parts of the lost Mewar by guerrilla tactics. The rumours of his being alive spread like wildfire, and soon Akbar sent Shahbaz Khan to Kumbhalgarh to reattack the fort on 3rd April 1578. However, Shahbaz Khan could not find the Rana, who was staying in the forests and had moved to Dholan on 16th June 1580 after a successful war with the uprising of the Rathores of Chappan. By now, the Mughal stronghold at 17 major encampments was removed by the Rana, with no news arriving at Agra for the same. If it were for Mughal negligence or Rana's spies at Akbar's service, no one knows.

The Battle of Dewair:

The Dussera of 1581 marked a very important phase for the reign of Pratap as the freedom fighter for Mewar. He led an army against Shahbaz Khan at Dewair, 45 km from Kumbhalgarh near the previous battlefield of Haldighati. The battle was led by Bahlol Khan and Shahbaz Khan against Mewar. The Mughals, who were still unsure of whether it was Pratap or his son Amar Singh leading the battle, had clearly underestimated the Mewar troops. This battle is also sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of Haldighati, but it was fought at Dewair. A memorial for the Mewari soldiers who had lost their lives still stands in the small province of Rajsamand. This is the very famous war where Rana Pratap Singh cut the Mughal Commander Bahlol Khan in half. No evidence of this battle had been found in major book sources from both the Mughals and Rajputs, and this battle was often dismissed as folklore by Historians previously. Recently, proof of such a war has been found ( resources are unknown to me), and it is confirmed that the Mewaris won this battle against the Mughals. Maan Singh, who was then stationed at Achalgarh (Mt. Abu), refused to take part in any battle at Mewar anymore. In the following year, 1582, the Rana had won back Kumbhalgarh and restored it to its former glory, forcing the Mughals to leave their 36 encampments in the state of Mewar. This war was won by the Mewaris against all odds. 

The Conclusion:

The battle of Haldighati is often described as " No loss so glorious and no victory so shameful". Man Singh and his 20,000 men had struggled against the Rana's mere 5000 with a clear lack of leadership and planning that the Rana had executed brilliantly. Outnumbered by the Mughals, this war ended in a loss, but I will call this a victory of no use to the Mughals, whose aim was to gain Mewar by killing the Rana. They thought they had killed him without even confirming the same, and found no traces of him or his family while he struggled in the jungles for the next 5 years. Glorifying this battle as a Mewari win will not glorify Maharana Pratap and his struggles and leadership. It was after this war that he used his little resources, sacrificed all luxury, starved his family and stayed in hardship in the forests with the Bhils to free his Mewar. His war of independence that had inspired many like Shivaji and Bose would become meaningless if people argue towards a Mewar victory at Haldighati. However, sadly, the Battle of Dewair, finding no mention in any textbook, is a shame and an ill attempt to glorify the Mughals. Because this war was Mewar's success at independence and also a major turning point in Pratap's journey from a Rana to a Maharana. Another common misconception is that it was a Hindu king fighting Muslim dominance. No. Maharana Pratap Singh and Mewar's army had as many Muslim soldiers as the Mughals had Hindus. It was not a religious war. Both the rulers were secular in nature, with the Maharana's army being led by Hakim Khan Suri, while the Mughal army was led by Maan Singh. Also, a majority of Mewaris were Jains, including Bhama Shah, who donated all his wealth to the Rana for preparing an army for the Battle of Dewair. Such misconceptions arrive due to the lack of focus of our textbooks on the actual war that Mewar did win over the Mughals, the second battle of Haldighati/Dewair and not the first.  

I, as an admirer of Maharana Pratap, find his struggles between 1576 and 1581 the best part of his reign that shows his great leadership, skilful tactics, his magnificent character and the true growth of Mewar towards freedom. 

However, a few incompetent descendants after the great king, and a few unsuccessful treaties had made the Ranas of Mewar weak once again to Mughal dominance until Rana Raj Singh won against the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb with his tripartite alliance with Jodhpur and Jaipur. 





Bibliography:

  • Maharana Pratap by B.S.Rana
  • Maharana Pratap by Rima Hooja
  • War Strategy of Maharana Pratap by Dr L.P. Mathur
  • Mewar and the Mughals
  • Annals of Mewar as translated from James Todd by R.Nath
  • Akbarnama
  • Mughal Empire by R.C. Majumder
  • Rana Protap: A Play by D.L.Ray
  • Jahangirnama
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