The Siege of Chittor 1568
The Siege of Chittor, in late 1567 and early 1568, was military operations of Akbar’s reign and a turning point in the long history of Mughal-Rajput relations. The fortress of Chittor, the most famous stronghold in Rajputana, had been the seat of the Mewar dynasty for centuries and a symbol of Rajput independence. Its fall to the Mughal army in February 1568 marked the effective end of the independent military power of Mewar and cleared the way for the systematic extension of Mughal authority over the remaining Rajput polities. The wider context of the campaign is examined on the Akbar the Great and the Rajput resistance to Mughal rule pages, and the related engagement at Haldighati is treated in the article on the Battle of Haldighati 1576.
The Strategic Importance of Chittor
Chittor, in present-day southern Rajasthan, was one of the most formidable fortresses in the Indian subcontinent. Perched on a long hill rising several hundred feet above the surrounding plain, the fort controlled the principal routes from the Mughal territories in eastern Rajasthan into the heart of Mewar. It had been the seat of the Mewar dynasty since the seventh century, and it was the symbolic centre of Rajput political identity. The loss of Chittor in the early fourteenth century to the Khalji sultan Alauddin had been remembered for centuries as the supreme disaster of Rajput history.
The political and military context of the fort is examined on the Rajput resistance to Mughal rule page. The earlier Mughal campaigns against Rajputana are treated in the Babur and the founding of the Mughal Empire and the First Battle of Panipat 1526 pages.
The Mughal Campaign Under Akbar
The campaign against Chittor was personally directed by the young emperor Akbar, who was then about twenty-five years old. The army that took the field was one of the largest that the Mughal Empire had yet assembled, and it included substantial contingents from the Rajput principalities that had accepted Mughal suzerainty, particularly the houses of Amber and Marwar. The principal field commanders included Man Singh of Amber, Asaf Khan, and other senior officers of the imperial establishment. The political and military institutions through which the campaign was organized are treated on the Mughal administration overview and the mansabdari system pages.
The Use of Artillery and Mines
The siege of Chittor was one of the most extensive operations of artillery that the Mughal army had yet undertaken. The army brought with it a substantial train of heavy siege guns, including several large pieces that were positioned on the heights around the fortress and used to batter the walls. The Mughal engineers also drove a series of mines beneath the walls of the fort, in the manner that had been developed in the contemporary European and Ottoman sieges of the period.
The Fall of the Fort
The fort fell on 24 February 1568, after nearly four months of siege. The defenders, having exhausted their supplies and having failed in several attempts to break out, were eventually overwhelmed in a general assault. The principal chronicle accounts agree that the defence had been conducted with exceptional valour, and that the fall of the fort was the result of starvation and the collapse of the walls rather than of any failure of military spirit. The killing of the defending garrison, including the principal commanders, was reportedly extensive, although the modern literature treats the contemporary numbers with caution.
The death of the principal defenders of Chittor became episodes in the legendary history of Rajput resistance, and the episode of the jauhar — the mass self-immolation of the women of the garrison in the face of inevitable defeat — is a recurrent theme in the cultural memory of Rajputana. The custom of jauhar and its place in the wider history of Rajput-Mughal relations are examined on the Rajput resistance to Mughal rule and the Hindu-Muslim relations pages.
The Symbolism of the Conquest
The fall of Chittor had a significance that went well beyond its immediate military value. The fortress had been, for centuries, the principal symbol of Rajput independence, and its conquest demonstrated that the Mughal Empire was now capable of imposing its will on the most formidable military power in central India. The symbolism of the conquest was reinforced by Akbar’s decision to receive the keys of the fort in person and to mark the occasion with an elaborate court ceremonial.
The wider political consequences of the conquest are examined on the Akbar the Great and the Mughal Empire overview pages, and the cultural memory of the event is treated on the Rajput resistance to Mughal rule and the Mughal culture and society pages.
The Place of the Siege in Mughal-Rajput Relations
The fall of Chittor marked the effective end of the military resistance of Mewar to Mughal rule, although the conflict would continue at a lower intensity for nearly a decade until the engagement at Haldighati treated in the Battle of Haldighati 1576 page. The eventual political settlement of Mewar was reached only in the early seventeenth century, under Akbar’s successors, when the Rana of Mewar finally accepted a form of accommodation with the imperial house.
The long-term consequences of the siege for the structure of the Mughal elite are examined on the Mughal court and nobility and the mansabdari system pages. The cultural and political accommodation of the Rajput principalities under the later Mughals is treated on the Hindu-Muslim relations and the provincial administration pages.
Sources
- Satish Chandra, Medieval India (2004), pp. 218–20.