| Siege of Chittorgarh (1567–1568) | |||||||||
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| Part ofMughal–Rajput wars | |||||||||
 Miniature painting of a mine exploding during the siege of Chittorgarh in theAkbarnama,c. 1590–95. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Mughal Empire | Mewar Kingdom | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Akbar Asaf Khan Jalal Khan † Alam Khan † Quazi Ali Baghdadi † Adil Khan † Abdul Majid Khan † Wazir Khan † Mir Qasim † Hussain Quli Khan † Imteyaz Khan Syed Jamaluddin Barha † | Jaimal Rathore † Patta Chundawat † Ishwar Das Chauhan † Rawat Sai Das Chundawat † Kalyan Singh Rathore (Kalla) † Ballu Solanki † Dodiya Thakur Sanda † Rawat Sahibkhan Chauhan † Raj Rana Surtan Singh Jhala † Udaibhan † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 80,000+ | 7,000–8,000 cavalry and musketeers | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Heavy (around 25,000) | Heavy (8,000) | ||||||||
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Thesiege of Chittorgarh (23 October 1567 – 23 February 1568) was the military expedition of theMughal Empire underAkbar against theKingdom of Mewar 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 ofChittor in October 1567 and further gave a religious colour to the struggle by declaring it as aJihād against theinfidels. On Akbar's advance, Sisodia rulerRana Udai Singh moved to the mountainous principality of his kingdom (on the advice of his war councils) and placed the fort under the command ofJaimal 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 ofHoli after a gallant resistance by the Rajputs. The conquest of Chittor was proclaimed by Akbar as the victory ofIslam overinfidels.
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 generalAsaf Khan and returned toAgra.
In 1567,Akbar after putting down the revolts of Uzbeks, turned his attention towards the Rajput states of Rajasthan. TheKachhwaha rulerBharmal already accepted his supremacy by sending his daughterHarka Bai into theMughal 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.[1] Due to the political importance ofChittor for a stable route toMalwa andGujarat and for further inroads into the Deccan, Akbar advanced with a vast army and artillery from his capitalAgra and besieged the fort on 23 October 1567.[2][3] The contemporary Persian chronicles and his courtiers, also blamedRana Udai Singh for providing refuge to the Afghan rebel Baz Bahadur as a reason of their invasion.[4]
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 ofRana Sanga, although no contemporary Persian author gave such an impression.[5] Udai Singh placed the fort under the command ofJaimal Rathore with 8,000 cavalry and some musketeers.
When Akbar learnt of Udai Singh's escape, he dispatched a force under Hussain Kuli Khan towardsUdaipur to capture him, although he failed to capture the Rana and returned after plundering Udaipur and its surrounding districts.[6] After the failure of Hussain Quli Khan, Akbar sent another contingent underAsaf 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 toAkbar, the Mughal troops returned with enormous spoils and "sent many worthless infidels to the abode of perdition".[7]
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 andsap beneath them.[8] After initial aggressive attempts at reaching the wall failed, Akbar ordered a complement of 5,000 expert builders, stonemasons, and carpenters to constructsabats (approach trenches) and mines to reach the walls.[8] Twomines 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.[9]
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.[9][a]
Rao Jaimal of Badnore and Rao Fatta ofKelwa defended the fort under Maharana Udai Singh II. During the attack, Fatta was a minor, still his mother Karmadevi ordered him to fight in the battle. She then herself participated in the battle along with her daughter Karmavati and daughter-inlaw Kamladevi. Karmadevi protected the fort from the rear side with her daughter and daughter-in-law only and were killed in battle.[11]
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On the night of 22 February 1568, several Rajput women at various places inside the fort committedJauhar (self-immolation by fire) to protect their honour from the Mughals.[12] Thus, on 23 February 1568 on the day of Hindu festival ofHoli,[13] 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.[14][15]
The siege also resulted in heavy casualties on the Mughal side, where two hundred of them were killed every day.[16][17] The contemporaneous Persian accounts mentioned several instances during the siege where Akbar himself barely evaded death.[18]
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[19] followed by desecration of manyHindu andJain temples on Akbar's order.[20][21][22][23]
Akbar who earlier gave a religious colour to the conflict by declaring it as aJihād, subsequently proclaimed the conquest of the fort as the victory ofIslam overinfidels. The Mughal soldiers who died in the combat were hailed asGhazis by Akbar. He also issued a victory letter on 9 March 1568 where he addressed his governors ofPunjab about the campaign[24][25] (quoted byAndre Wink)
We, as far as it is within our power, remain busy in Jihad and owing to the kindness of the superior Lord, who is the promoter of our victories, we have succeeded in occupying a number of forts and towns belonging to the infidels and have established Islam there. With the help of our bloodthirsty sword we have erased the signs of infidelity from their minds and have destroyed temples in those places and also all over Hindustan:-
Akbar stayed at Chittorgarh for three days before leaving for the shrine ofMoinuddin Chishti (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 generalAsaf Khan and returned to Agra.[27][28]
On returning toAgra, Akbar erected the statues of Jaimal and Patta outside his fort either to honour their doughty resistance[29] or to humiliate them as his doorkeepers.[30] Akbar, also commented upon them in his victory letter. (translated byIshtiyaq Ahmad Zilli)[31]
Fearful of the approach of the imperial standards he (Udai Singh) left his uncle Sahidas, Jaimal, Udaibhan and Patta who are renowned for their valour among the infidels, may Allah forsake them and lead them to the abode of Perdition, and who are considered to be equal to a thousand horsemen in intrepidity and power:-
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.[32] The reduction of Chittor, brought almost all of the leading Rajput kingdoms under his sway who were hostile towards him prior to the battle.[33] However,Udai Singh II, the Rana of Mewar, continued to remain at large until his death four years later.[34]
The Jauhar of 1568 is a part of the regional legend and is locally remembered on the Hindu festival ofHoli (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".[35]
Mughal conquest of Chittor was part ofSony television seriesBharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap based on the life ofMaharana Pratap. The series depicted the besieging of the fort in over fifty episodes titledChittor par Sankat.[36]
The subsequent sack of Chittor was accompanied by a massacre of the surviving populace of some 30,000 non-combatantsmany of whom were peasants from surrounding areas who had sought shelter within the fort
The conquest of the fortress of Chitor was proclaimed by Akbar himself as the victory of Islam over infidels. fathnama or "declaration of victory" issued on March 9, 1568, conveying the news of this conquest to the officials of the Panjab, is full of professions of intolerance and couched in the most aggressive language of Islamic orthodoxy. "As directed by the word of God, "Akbar announced in this document, "we, as far as it is within our power, remain busy in jihad and owing to the kindness of the superior Lord, who is the promoter of our victories, we have succeeded in occupying a number of forts and towns belonging to the infidels and have established Islam there. With the help of our bloodthirsty sword we have erased the signs of infidelity from their minds and have destroyed temples in those places and also all over Hindustan"(Khan, note16)
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