| Battle of Rajmahal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofMughal invasion of Bengal | |||||||
_and_capture_of_Sultan_Da%2527ud_of_Bengal.jpg) 1590 miniature painting of the battle | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Bengal Sultanate | Mughal Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Daud Khan  Junaid Khan † Ismail Khan Kalapahad † Qutlu Khan †[2] | Akbar Muzaffar Khan Jahan Khan[1] Todar Mal[3] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 50,000[2] | 150,000 (during the first assault) 5,000cavalry reinforcement[4] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
TheBattle of Rajmahal (Bengali:রাজমহলের যুদ্ধ) took place between theMughal Empire and theKarrani Dynasty that ruled theSultanate of Bengal in the 16th century. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for the Mughals. During the battle, the last Sultan ofBengal,Daud Khan Karrani, was captured and later executed by the Mughals.
The battle of Rajmahal introduced the Mughal regime in Bengal. After the death of the last sultan ofHussain Shahi dynastyGhiyasuddin Mahmud Shah in 1538, the liberated sultanate of Bengal reached its end. Despite occupying the capital city ofGaur,Humayun, thesecond emperor of the Mughal Empire, was able to hold the control for only a short period of time. The founder of theSur Dynasty,Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun in theBattle of Chausa and took control over Bengal. Later, the Karrani dynasty emerged in Bengal. The last ruler of the Karranis, SultanDaud Khan Karrani refused to hailAkbar and clashed with the Mughals. Daud Khan was defeated by the Mughal generalMunim Khan at theBattle of Tukaroi.
On 12 April 1575, the Treaty of Katak concluded the malevolence between the two parties. Consequently,Daud Khan failed to hold control overBengal andBihar. Only the rights ofOrissa were left to him. The treaty however did not go on for long. Isa Khan, the chief of theBaro-Bhuians, expelled theMughal Navy fromBengal. After the death of the Mughal general Munim Khan, Daud Khan started a campaign to conquer the lost territory. He was able to conquer North and West Bengal.[4]
Akbar sent his generalKhan-i-Jahan Husain Quli Beg to conquer Bengal from Daud Khan. Daud Khan's generals wereKalapahar, Junaid and Qutlu Khan. Khan gathered about three thousand troops atTeliagarhi.[5]
The Afghans fought the Mughals at Teliagarhi. In the battle, the Mughals captured Teliagarhi. The Mughals then proceeded towardsRajmahal, which had been under siege for about four months by the Mughal general Husain Quli Beg. As an additional aid to the Mughals,Muzaffar Khan Turbati, the ruler of Bihar, came forward with five thousandcavalry and supplies by sea. Although the Mughals were ahead in terms of strength, they fell into climatic problems.
Then the battle took place between the combined forces of the Mughals and the Karranis in Rajmahal on 12 July 1576. Daud Khan, Junaid, Kalapahar and Qutlu Khan led the middle, left, right and front of the army respectively.[4]
The Karranis were defeated in this battle. Daud Khan was captured and killed. With the fall of the Karrani dynasty, the Bengal Sultanate came to an end and Bengal became asubah or province of the Mughal Empire.[6] However, under the leadership ofIsa Khan, theBaro-Bhuyans continued to resist the Mughals.[7] As a result, the Mughals could not get full control over Bengal until Isa Khan's death in 1599.[8]
