Book revisits Haldighati battle

A new book on Maharana Pratap examines the life of the great Rajput warrior and also revisits the famous battle of Haldighati with the Mughals saying it remained inconclusive and there was no clear winner.

In Maharana Pratap: The Invincible Warrior, noted historian Rima Hooja describes in detail how Maharana Pratap managed to elude capture by the mighty Mughal army for so long and never bowed down to Akbar.

Recently some school textbooks introduced revised chapters saying Maharana Pratap defeated Mughal emperor Akbar at Haldighati, whereas earlier books said that the battle was inconclusive.

The story of Haldighati is a story of great courage and sacrifice; of the clash of indomitable wills; of Mughal ambition and expansion versus Rajput pride and honour, according to Hooja.

 

She cites in her book that the two armies faced each other on June 18, 1576 on the terrain of Haldighati. Akbar's Mughal army outnumbered Maharana Pratap' Mewar forces which included cavalry, infantry, 150 elephants and a contingent of Bhils armed with bows and arrows.

The battle began with the Mughal advance guard being routed by Pratap's cavalry charge and continued to rage close to the narrow pass of Haldighati where, as Akbar's court historian Abul Fazl noted that it became difficult to distinguish between friend and foe. Many lives were lost on both sides.

Maharana Pratap came face to face with Man Singh, the chief commander of the Mughal army and each could only think of how he could vanquish the other. These were two Rajput warrior princes with two opposing visions.

As described in the book, Pratap, who was astride his favourite horse Chetak, flung his spear at Man Singh who was on an elephant. The spear missed Man Singh and killed the elephant's mahout instead. At the same time, a sword held in the trunk of Man Singh's elephant grievously wounded Chetak's legs.

While the Mughal troops came to their commander Man Singh's aid, Maharana Pratap, still riding the wounded Chetak, managed to fight his way through to where his own forces were massed.

Seeing that the Mewar forces were gaining the upper hand, a Mughal commander, to boost the morale of the Mughal soldiers, deliberately spread the rumour that Emperor Akbar himself was arriving at the head of a large contingent of reinforcing forces, the book, published by Juggernaut, says.

The Mewar nobles pressed Pratap to leave the battlefield, arguing that he must live to continue the fight for Mewar's independence, and remain a thorn in the side of the Mughals.

Estimates of the numbers killed on both sides again vary widely but there was heavy loss of lives on both sides.

And at the end of the battle, both sides claimed victory - Mewar, because there had not been any surrender, and the Mughal imperial army, because it still held the field, the book says.

The author also says that the confrontation between Akbar and Pratap which led to the battle of Haldighati needs to be understood against the wider backdrop of Akbar's imperial policies.

As has been said earlier, these included expansion and consolidation of the Mughal Empire, and maintaining internal stability through good governance.

When he offered the Rajput states the choice of alliance and allegiance to the empire or facing the might of his armies, Akbar was following a policy used by many across the globe and through the centuries - that of co-opting enemies, near-enemies, or potential enemies as friends and then using them as proficient warriors and allies for the future campaigns of conquest, to extend the boundaries of the kingdom, she says.

According to Hooja, Akbar tried to extract peaceful submission from Pratap on at least three occasions.

"Between 1573 and 1575, three successive emissaries were sent from the emperor to Maharana Pratap. They were Prince Man Singh of Amber (r 15891614), Man Singh's father Raja Bhagwant Das of Amber (r 157489) whose sister was married to Emperor Akbar, and Raja Todar Mal. The emissaries could not make Pratap change his mind, she writes.