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Siege of Chittor (1654)
| Siege of Chittor (1654) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mughal–Rajput wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Kingdom of Mewar | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Prince Dara Shikoh Saadullah Khan Jai Singh I |
Raj Singh I  | ||||||||
Siege of Chittor also known as Mughal invasion of Mewar or Mughal invasion of Chittor was a conflict between Mughals under Prince Dara Shikoh and rajputs under Raj Singh I. 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 suing for peace the Mughals demolished the Chittor Fort which was recently repaired by the Rana.
Background[edit]
During the latter part of Maharana Jagat Singh I's reign and the initial years of Maharana Raj Singh I, relations with the Mughal Empire became strained without any overt conflict. In 1653, Emperor Shah Jahan gave Raj Singh I formal recognition with honors and a mansab of 5000 zat and sawar. But tensions increased when Raj Singh restarted fortifications at Chittor in contravention of an earlier treaty. Additional strain resulted from his unauthorized journey in Malwa with the troops, diminished support for the Kandahar campaign, and giving sanctuary to a fugitive Mughal officer. These moves angered the Emperor, who weighed direct intervention.[1]
Prelude[edit]
No significant reconstruction was done. Likewise, the case of the reduction of troops because of the Kandhar campaign is not valid. The delay of the Emperor in acknowledging the new Maharana for six months and his instruction on 18 September 1654 CE to Jai Singh I to advance towards Ajmer indicate a probable intention to take action against Mewar.[1]
The Maharana replied by sending a mission of the leading nobles headed by Chauhan Ramchandra of Bedla, Jhala Raghodas, Rathor Sanwaldas, and Purohit Garibdas, who sat with the Emperor on 4 October 1654 CE at Khalilpur. They requested him to cancel the proposed invasion and invited Prince Dara Shikoh's intervention.[1]
Siege[edit]
In 1654, the Mughal Emperor dispatched a vast army headed by Sadullah Khan, along with a number of Mansabdars and 1,500 musketeers, to Chittor.[2] Reinforcements had been planned for, with Sayyasta Khan ordered to maintain his forces prepared and Prince Aurangzeb ordered to post his son Sultan Mahmud at Mandsaur with 1,000 soldiers. The Mughal force marched through Mewar, carrying out raids prior to entering Chittor on October 27 and establishing a siege.[3]
Maharana Raj Singh I preempted direct confrontation by withdrawing troops and dispatching Bhatta Madhusudan to negotiate with Sadullah Khan.[4][5] Their conversation is preserved in the Raj Prashasti Mahakavya, wherein the Mughal commander castigated the Maharana for harbouring fugitive nobles and rebuilding Chittor's defenses. While a few historians have doubted the genuineness of this account, it is quite likely that simultaneous negotiations were conducted to prevent annihilation.[6]
Sadullah Khan, dissatisfied with the envoy, commanded the dismantling of the fort's repairs. Mughal troops finished demolishing it in 15 days with laborers armed with minimal tools. The work seemed to have been undertaken with great haste.[1]
Reference[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Somani, Ram Vallabh (1976). History of Mewar: from earliest times to 1751 A.D. C.L. Ranka, Jaipur. pp. 272–273.
- ↑ Hooja, Rima (2006). A History of Rajasthan. Rupa & Company. pp. 616–617. ISBN 978-81-291-0890-6.
- ↑ Mathur, R. S. (1985). Relations of Hadas with Mughal Emperors, 1568-1720 A.D. Deputy Publications. p. 130.
- ↑ Gupta, R. K.; Bakshi, S. R. (2012). Dalit Literature: Our Response. Sarup & Sons. p. 37. ISBN 978-81-7625-841-8.
- ↑ Mathur, Vijay Kumar (2000). Marvels of Kishangarh Paintings: From the Collection of the National Museum, New Delhi. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. p. 9. ISBN 978-81-86050-43-9.
- ↑ Sharma, Gopi Nath (1970). Rajasthan Studies. Lakshmi Narain Agarwal. p. 36.