Mewar–Mughal conflicts
| Mewar–Mughal conflicts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mughal–Rajput wars | |||
 | |||
| |||
| Belligerents | |||
| Kingdom of Mewar | |||
| Commanders and leaders | |||
|
Babur Humayun Akbar the Great Jahangir Shah Jahan Aurangzeb Bahadur Shah I Farrukhsiyar  Jai Singh I Roop Singh |
Rana Sangha X Udai Singh II Jaimal Rathore † Maharana Pratap (WIA) Amar Singh I  Jagat Singh I Raj Singh I X Jai Singh Amar Singh II Sangram Singh II | ||
Mewar–Mughal conflicts were a series of military engagements between the Sisodiya dynasty of Mewar and the Mughal Empire. The two powers came in contact when Babur was invited by Rana Sangha to invade India to defeat the Delhi Sultanate. However after defeating Ibrahim Khan Lodi at Panipat instead of returning to Kabul Babur marched towards Agra adopting hostilities towards Sangha. The conflict erupted with Sangha's victory in the Battle of Bayana. The struggle which lasted for centuries changed the dynamics of modern day India.
The conflict started in the reign of Rana Sangha against Babur at the Battle of Bayana and Battle of Khanwa. The conflict took a significant pause during the reign of Humayun as he was occupied with Sher Shah Suri who nearly wiped out Mughal Empire from India. The conflicts resumed during the reign of Akbar the Great who conquered the majority of Mewar by defeating Udai Singh II and his son Maharana Pratap. The struggle was continued by Amar Singh I who eventually surrendered to Mughals and ruled Mewar as a vassal. The conflict was continued by his successors.
Background
[edit]In 1526 Rana Sangha invited Babur to invade India to defeat the Delhi ruler Ibrahim Khan Lodi. Babur defeated Lodi at Panipat however the expected help from Rana Sangha never came. Babur then establishing the Mughal Empire began to worry Rana Sangha. Sangha in order to protect his position declared war against the Mughal Emperor Babur. The two sides met at Bayana starting the centuries-long conflict between the two.[1]
Phases
[edit]Under Babur and Humayun
[edit]In 1526, Babur invaded Hindustan (India) after being invited by Rana Sangha.[2] After victory over the Delhi ruler Ibrahim Khan Lodi his forces faced a stiff resistance from Rana Sanga in the Battle of Bayana, but defeated Rana in the Battle of Khanwa in 1527. Emperor Babur died of natural causes in 1530. The hostility between Rajput Confederacy and the Mughal Empire still continued.[3]
Under Akbar the Great
[edit]Babur's grandson Emperor Akbar faced heavy resistance from Rana Udai Singh II and Maharana Pratap. But the Mughal Army under Akbar the Great achieved numerous victories against the Rajput army. Most prominently in 1576 Akbar achieved a decisive victory in the Battle of Haldighati led by Man Singh I, a Rajput general of the Mughal Empire.[4]
Under Jahangir
[edit]Jahangir sent armies under various Mughal commanders to subdue Amar Singh I from 1606–1613 however all of these commadars met with failure in the hands of Amar Singh I .[5][6] In 1613, Jahangir himself came to Rajputana to supervise the campaign. His son Khurram led the campaign on the ground. The Rajputs were easily able to seek refuge in the hilly tracks of Rajputana and the Mughals largely failed to penetrate the area. They were finally able to penetrate it in 1614 when they engaged with the Mewar forces and established outposts. Many attempts were made by Jahangir to reach a settlement with the Maharana and the final attempt in 1615 succeeded when Amar Singh agreed to meet with Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan).[7]
The long war had depleted Amar Singh's resources and thus he prepared to submit. His step caused the 48 year long war of attrition to come to an end. There were strict guidelines from the Jahangir's side to Khurram to treat him honourably as Jahangir notes:[8]
he took his head and placed it on his breast and consoled him in such a manner as to comfort him.
In 1615, Amar Singh submitted to the Mughals.
.jpg?lang=en)
Under Shah Jahan
[edit]Jagat Singh I started repairing the Chittorgarh Fort which wasn't approved by the Mughals. [9]Shah Jahan sent a force to invade Mewar however Maharana was able to come to terms with the Emperor. The repairs were continued by his son Raj Singh I hence Shah Jahan sent Dara Shikoh to Mewar. Dara Shikoh after failing to handle the situation sent Saadullah Khan to invade Mewar, on his arrival he besieged Chittor. Raj Singh I sued for peace however Saadullah Khan not only plundered Mewar but also demolished the fortifications of Chittor Fort done by Raj Singh I.[10]
Under Aurangzeb
[edit]Rana of Mewar sided with the rathores in the Marwar rebellion of 1679. Aurangzeb sent a force under Muhmmad Akbar and Azam Shah to invade Mewar. Mewar had some initial victories but due to the assissination of Raj Singh I and peace with Jai Singh in which Jai Singh agreed to be a vassal, pay Jaziya and sent a contingent of Mewar army to support the Emperor against the Marathas in the Deccan wars. Jai Singh also surrendered the Parganas of Mandal, Pur, Bedsore and Malwa to Mughals. Even tho Mughals bestored Chittor, Mandalgarh and other territories to Maharana the Nominal control of these Parganas remained under Mughals.[11][12]
Later Mughal conflicts
[edit]Shortly after Aurangzeb's death, during the Rajput rebellion of 1708–10, the now weakened Mughals were forced to accept a humiliating peace treaty with the Rajput Rajas. The Rajputs forced the Mughals to make them governors of Malwa, Sindh and Gujarat. The Battle of Bandanwara was fought between Mewar and Mughal forces in 1711 AD, between Hurda and Bandanwara, near Khari river in Bhilwara district, Rajasthan. Rajput forces defeated the Mughals in the conflict resulting in the death of Ranzbaz Khan Mewati.
Battles
[edit]Mewar–Mughal wars
[edit]Rana Sanga led the Rajput army and besieged the fortress of Bayana held by the Afghans under Nizam Khan in February 1527. Mughal Emperor Babur sent a Mughal contingent under Mir Abdul Aziz, which was defeated by Rana Sanga.[13]
The Rajput Confederacy under Rana Sanga was defeated by Babur in 1527. This was the largest battle ever between the Mughals and the Rajputs involving a total of more than 150,000 soldiers and resulted in massive territorial expansions for the Mughal Empire.
Akbar the Great led the Mughal army in besieging the famed Chittorgarh fort in 1567, which was then under the command of Jaimal Rathore and Patta Singh Sisodia, commanders of Udai Singh II . The siege went on for four months, with the fortress walls being breached after the death of Jaimal, ensuring that the Mughals emerged victorious
The Mughal army under the command of Man Singh I defeated Maharana Pratap's Mewari army in the field of Haldighati in 1576. Gogunda was annexed by the Mughals
After the defeat at Haldighati, Maharana Pratap fled to his then capital Kumbhalgarh. The Mughals took position at the foot of the fort. After a brief fight Maharana Pratap fled from the fort, the rajputs held the fort for some time however it was eventually captured by the Mughal forces in April 1578.
- Shahbaz Khan's invasions of Mewar
Shahbaz Khan's campaigns in Mewar comprised a sequence of battles through which the Mughals effectively subdued key regions of Mewar. These strategically crucial areas encompass, Mandalgarh,Chittorgarh, Gogunda, Udaipur, and Central Mewar. The Mughal victories solidified their control over these significant parts of Mewar, in the process signifying a pivotal conquest in the expansion of the Mughal Empire's domain in India.[14]
Both Amar Singh I and Asaf Khan claimed victory in an indecisive battle.
- Mughal conquest of Mewar
Amar Singh I surrendered to Shah Jahan in 1615. The Mughals achieved victory the following year in 1616[15]
- Mughal invasion of Mewar (1643)
Shah Jahan in 1643 sent an army under Sadullah Khan to invade Mewar. Through negotiations, Jagat Singh was able to placate the emperor.[16]
- Siege of Chittor (1654)
Mughals decided to invade Mewar due to the repair of the Chittor Fort done by Raj Singh I. Dara Shikoh ordered Mughal commander Saadullah Khan to lay siege to the fort. Despite Raj Singh I suing for peace the Mughals demolished the Chittor Fort which was recently repaired by the Rana.
- Mughal invasion of Mewar (1679)
Aurangzeb sent a force under Muhammad Akbar and Azam Shah to invade Mewar. The invasion resulted in the assissination of Raj Singh I and peace with Jai Singh in which Jai Singh agreed to be a vassal, pay Jaziya and sent a contingent of Mewar army to support the Emperor against the Marathas in the Deccan wars. Jai Singh also surrendered the Parganas of Mandal, Pur, Bedsore and Malwa to Mughals. Even tho Mughals bestored Chittor, Mandalgarh and other territories to Maharana the Nominal control of these Parganas remained under Mughals.[17][18]
Sangram Singh II of Mewar along with other Rajput chiefs defeated the imperial Mughal army
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Hindustan), Babur (Emperor of (1996). The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor. Freer Gallery of Art. p. 427. ISBN 978-0-19-509671-2.
- ^ Hindustan), Babur (Emperor of (1996). The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor. Freer Gallery of Art. p. 427. ISBN 978-0-19-509671-2.
- ^ Haig, Wolseley (1925). Cambridge History Of India Vol. 2. pp. 322–323.
- ^ Chandra, Satish (2005). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II. Har-Anand Publications. p. 243. ISBN 978-81-241-1066-9.
- ^ SRIVASTAVA, ASHIRBADI LAL (1986). THE MUGHAL EMPIRE (1526-1803 A.D). SHIVA LAL AGARWAL,AGRA. p. 269.
- ^ Somānī, Rāmavallabha (1976). History of Mewar, from Earliest Times to 1751 A.D. Mateshwari Publications. pp. 248–250.
- ^ R. C. Majumdar, General Editor (1974). History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume 07, The Mughul Empire. Public Resource. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 341.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ Eraly, Abraham (2007-09-17). Emperors Of The Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls. Penguin Books Limited. p. 323. ISBN 978-93-5118-093-7.
- ^ Rima Hooja. A History Of Rajasthan. p. 915.
- ^ Somānī, Rāmavallabha (1976). History of Mewar, from Earliest Times to 1751 A.D. Mateshwari Publications. pp. 272–292.
- ^ Somānī, Rāmavallabha (1976). History of Mewar, from Earliest Times to 1751 A.D. Mateshwari Publications. pp. 300–305.
- ^ Chandra Satish (1978). Medieval India P-ii. Ncert. p. 225.
- ^ Chandra, Satish (2005). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II. Har-Anand Publications. p. 33. ISBN 978-81-241-1066-9.
- ^ Somānī, Rāmavallabha (1976). History of Mewar, from Earliest Times to 1751 A.D. Mateshwari Publications. pp. 278–280.
- ^ Nicoll, Fergus (2018-04-13). Shah-Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Emperor. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. p. 107. ISBN 978-93-87326-95-8.
- ^ Rima Hooja. A History Of Rajasthan. p. 915.
- ^ Somānī, Rāmavallabha (1976). History of Mewar, from Earliest Times to 1751 A.D. Mateshwari Publications. pp. 300–305.
- ^ Chandra Satish (1978). Medieval India P-ii. Ncert. p. 225.