Rajputs were fearless warriors who fought to defend their land. The stories of their power have been passed on for generations. These stories tell us about the fierce patriotism of the Rajputs and how valiantly they fought for their dominion.
Chittorgarh, located in the Rajasthan, was initially controlled by Mewar until, in 1303, Allaudin Khilji won it; in 1535, Bahadur Shah took the fort under his control, and finally, in 1567, Akbar defeated the forces of Uday Singh II to get the fort under Mughal territory.
The Mughals were attracted to the kingdoms of Rajasthan ruled by the Rajputs because they acted as barriers to the fertile lands of Gujarat. The great Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad (Akbar) had a personal ambition to conquer the whole Rajputana.
On 20th October 1567 Akbar camped outside the plains of Chittorgarh and the local king, Rana Uday Singh went away to Gogunda hills with the royal family. Uday Singh’s trusted generals Jaimal and Patta were left behind to defend the fort with 8,000 warriors and 1,000 musketeers. Akbar was not able to break the robust walls of Chittorgarh, so he ordered the construction of mines to the fort’s foot, the fortress is located atop a 150m high hill making it hard to reach. 58 days after the siege began 2 tunnels were constructed and were bombarded at their exit to the fortress and one siege cannon was also fired but the damage was sealed by the defenders.
Finally, after multiple efforts, on 22nd February 1568, the Mughals were successful in breaching the fort wall. The battle that followed was shocked Mewar as their leader Rao Jaimal was killed by a musket, fired by Akbar himself.
No matter Akbar won this battle but at last, he had to bow his head, to pay respect to the valor of Rao Jaimal and Patta, Akbar placed their black marble statue in front of Fatehpur Sikri. He could not deny the heroism of a Mewari soldier saving himself from an enormous elephant just with a knife.
His victory in this battle could be called his defeat, a battle in which 8,000 chivalry Mewari soldiers were heavy on the Mughals making them lose around 20,000 soldiers to adding to the Mewari valor, approximately 30,000 disarmed Mewari civilians were killed by the Mughals.
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