Mughal–Rajput Wars

The Mughal–Rajput Wars were a series of battles fought between the Rajput Confederacy and the Mughal Empire which started with the Timurid ruler Babur's invasion of northwestern India and the head of the Rajput confederacy Rana Sanga's resistance to it. In 1526, when Babur invaded Hindustan, he faced stiff resistance from Rana Sanga in the Battle of Bayana, but defeated Rana in the Battle of Khanwa in 1527. The wars were, however, continued by the Rajput states,[2] also by the descendants of both Rana Sanga and Babur. Babur's grandson Emperor Akbar the Great faced heavy resistance from Rana Udai Singh II and Rana Pratap.[3] But in 1576 Akbar achieved a decisive victory in the Battle of Haldighati led by Man Singh I, a Rujput descent turned ally of the Mughal Empire. The victory led to tremendous gains for the Mughal Empire. Subsequently Mughals and Rajputs established a peaceful relation with Emperor Akbar accepting many Rajput leaders into Mughal court and giving them top political positions.[4]

Mughal–Rajput Wars
Date1526–1779
Location
Modern day Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand
Result
  • Expansion of Mughal influence in Northern India after Khanwa in 1527 and continued Mughal conquest of many Rajput territories.
  • Many Rajput nobles joined the Mughal court during Akbar's reign and gained influence in Mughal politics in a period of peace and harmony.
  • Major rebellions during Aurangzeb's reign of religious intolerance, and after his death in 1707, Rajputs had a stream of success, regaining their independence.
Belligerents
Mughal Empire

Rajput Confederation

Commanders and leaders
Babur
Humayun
Akbar
Jahangir
Shah Jahan
Aurangzeb
Bahadur Shah I
Farrukhsiyar		 Rana Sanga
Medini Rai
Prithviraj Singh I
Maldeo Rathore
Udai Singh II
Pratap Singh I
Chandrasen Rathore
Amar Singh I
Durgadas Rathore
Raj Singh I
Sangram Singh II
Raja Ajit Singh
Jai Singh
Sawai Jai Singh[1]

The peace established during the time of Emperor Akbar was broken by the religious intolerant policies of his great grandson Aurangzeb. In 1679, the States of Mewar and Marwar rebelled against Aurangzeb. While a peace treaty was signed with Mewar after a year, war with Marwar went on until the death of Aurangzeb and concluded with the capture of Marwar by Rathore forces following Aurangzeb's death.[5]

Since the time of Emperor Aurangzeb his hardline Islamism policies isolated his non-Muslim allies and the power of the Mughal Military had greatly diminished by the time of his death in 1707. Shortly after his death, during the Rajput rebellion of 1708–10, the 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[6] In later years the declining Mughal Empire tried to collect taxes in Rajputana during the late 18th century, however they were met with resistance in every town and village, leading to unsuccessful invasions by the Mughal generals. These campaigns affected the Mughal Empire financially and caused arrears and the disbanding of large amounts of troops. The Mughal capital itself was affected, leaving only a few retainers to guard the palace and man the artillery.[7]

Battles

Early Mughal-Rajput Wars (1527–1616)
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 Abdil Aziz, which was defeated by Rana Sanga.[8][9]
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.[10]
Babur besieged and captured Chanderi Fort in Malwa and its ruler Medini Rai was defeated and killed.
  • Siege of Bikaner
Rao Jaitsi of Bikaner successfully defended his capital and defeated a Mughal army under Kamran, brother of Mughal emperor Humayun.[11]
Akbar 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. The siege went on for four months, with the fortress walls being breached after the death of Jaimal, ensuring that the Mughals emerged victorious.[12]
Rao Surjan Hada had to surrender Ranthambore Fort to Akbar after the latter successfully put the fort under siege.
The Mughal army under the command of Man Singh defeated Maharana Pratap's Mewari army in the field of Haldighati in 1576. Gogunda was annexed by the Mughals.[13][14]
Both Amar Singh I and Asaf Khan claimed victory in an indecisive battle. III in 1606

Later Mughal-Rajput Wars (1679–1779)
  • Rajput War (1679–1707) – A war between the Rathores and the Mughals that lasted for almost 30 years. The war was a result of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's religious intolerant policies that broke years long peace between the Mughals and the Rajputs.
    • Battle of Khanana (1681–1687) – Rathore rebels under Veer Durgadas Rathore defeated Mughal force. This battle resulted in major victory for Rathores. Kumpawat rathores captured Siwana town from Mughals. Mughal Commander Purdil Khan was killed in this battle.[15]
    • Battle of Ajmer (1690) – Veer Durgadas Rathore defeated Safi khan.
    • Battle of Jodhpur (1707) – Veer Durgadas Rathore took advantage of the disturbances following the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 to seize Jodhpur and eventually evict the occupying Mughal force out of Marwar.[16]
  • Rajput Rebellion 1708-1710[17]
    • July 1708 – Jai Singh and Ajit Singh storm Amber and Jodhpur and retake their capitals from the Mughal garrisons.[18]
    • 4–7 October 1708 – Battle of Kama – Ajit Singh Kachwaha, the Rajput zamindar of Kama defeated the combined armies of Mughal and Jats. The Mughal-Jat army numbered 18,000 while the Kachwahas had 10,000 horsemen. After a bitter fight the Mughal Fauzdar Raza Bahadur was killed and the injured Churaman retreated to Thun.
    • October 1708 – Sayyid Hussain Barha of Mewat and Churaman Jat defeated near Sambhar by the Rathore–Kachhwaha army. Barha shot dead with his two brothers.[1]
    • January 1710 – Mir Khan of Narnaul with 7000 Mughal troops and Churaman Jat with 6000 Jats effectively checked by Gaj Singh Naruka at Javli.[1]
    • 24 March 1710 – Battle of Tonk – Muhammad Khan of Tonk defeated by the Rathor–Kachwaha army.[1]
  • Battle of Bandanwara
Sangram Singh II of Mewar along with other Rajput chiefs defeated the imperial Mughal army[19]
The Battle of Gangwana was a military engagement fought between the Kingdom of Marwar and a combined army of the Jaipur Kingdom and the Mughal Empire in 1741.[20]
The Shekhawati Rajputs defeated a Mughal force under Mitra Sen Ahir, Peero Khan and Kale Khan. After heavy losses Peero Khan died while Mitra Sen Ahir fled.[21]
  • Siege of Kanud
A small garrison of 400 Rajputs under the ailing Nawal Singh Shekhawat repelled Mughal attacks until Nawal died from his illness. The mughals negotiated with the Rajputs and exchanged Kanud fort for other villages, which were given to Nawal's widow.[22]
  • Battle of Khatu Shyamji: Devi Singh Shekhawat repelled the imperial army under Murtaza Khan Bhadech, but top Rajput leader Mahant Mangal Das was also killed in the battle with no territorial changes in 1779.[21]

References
  1. Sarkar, Jadunath (1994). A History of Jaipur: C. 1503-1938. Orient Blackswan. p. 162. ISBN 9788125003335.
  2. The Cambridge History of India, Volume 3, pp. 322, 323
  3. Pant 2012, p. 129.
  4. Chandra 2005, p. 243
  5. Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. p. 183. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  6. The Cambridge History of India, Volume 3, p. 322
  7. Sarkar, Jadunath (1964). Fall Of The Mughal Empire Vol. 1. pp. 216, 223.
  8. Chandra, Satish (2005). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II. Har-Anand Publications. p. 33. ISBN 978-81-241-1066-9. Babur sent a detachment to Bayana which was defeated and scattered by the Ranas forces. Baburs forces was already demoralised, hearing news of the valour of the Rajputs and the formidable force they had collected.
  9. Hooja, Rima (2006). A History of Rajasthan. Rupa. p. 454. ISBN 9788129115010. From Baburs memoirs we learn that Sanga's success against the Mughal advance guard commanded by Abdul Aziz and other forces at Bayana, severely demoralised the fighting spirit of Baburs troops encamped near Sikri.
  10. Barua, Pradeep (2005). The State at War in South Asia. University of Nebraska Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-8032-1344-9.
  11. Hooja, Rima (2006). A History of Rajasthan. Rupa and company. p. 541. ISBN 9788129108906.
  12. Chandra 2005, pp. 107–108.
  13. "MILITARY HISTORY OF INDIA : SARKAR, JADUNATH : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. 2022-01-14. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  14. Singh, Kesri (2002). Maharana Pratap: The Hero of Haldighati. Books Treasure. pp. 18–35.
  15. Jones, Kenneth W.; Hallissey, Robert C. (December 1978). "The Rajput Rebellion Against Aurangzeb, A Study of the Mughal Empire in Seventeenth-Century India". Military Affairs. 42 (4): 218. doi:10.2307/1986509. ISSN 0026-3931. JSTOR 1986509.
  16. H., Dodwell, Henry Herbert. Dodwell, H. (1929). The Cambridge history of India. Cambridge University Press. p. 304. OCLC 1120895318.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. Sarkar, Jadunath (1994). Raghubīra Siṃha (ed.). A history of Jaipur: c. 1503–1938 (Rev. ed.). Hyderabad: Orient Longman. ISBN 81-250-0333-9. OCLC 312542101.
  18. Sarkar, Jadunath (1994). A History of Jaipur: C. 1503–1938. Orient Blackswan. p. 162. ISBN 9788125003335.
  19. History of Mewar, p. 324
  20. Rajasthan Through the Ages. Sarup & Sons. 2008-01-01. p. 154. ISBN 9788176258418. Battle of Gangwana 1741.
  21. Hooja, Rima (2006). A History of Rajasthan. Rupa and company. p. 694. ISBN 9788129115010. in a pitched battle at Mandan, both sides suffered heavily. Peero Khan died and Mitra Sen fled the field, leaving the Shekhawat chiefs victorious....Battle of Khatu–Shyamji. This last occurred when Murtaza Khan Bhadech was sent into Shekhawati to collect revenue arrears.....Devi Singh of Sikar defeated the intruder.
  22. Gupta, Bakshi, R.K., S.R (2008). Rajasthan Through the Ages. Sarup & Sons. pp. 215–216. The Rajputs however made a long and desperate defence.....400 men of the garrison made a sortie and attacked the trenches of Mitra sen Ahir, inflicting a hundred casualties.....Nawal Singh Shekhawat, who was severely ill within the fort...and died.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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