Few battles have captured the collective imagination of Indians as much as Haldi Ghati. Though nowhere in the scale of the titanic struggles at Panipat, Talikota, Plassey or Tarain, it still had a lasting impact and stands out as a tale of Indian valour in the face of overwhelming odds.
Akbar, the grandson of Babur had expanded the Mughal Empire from Kandahar to Bengal and up to Gujarat in the south. Most rulers had either acceded to his sovereignty or had been won over by marriages. Yet Mewar, the strongest Rajput kingdom refused to submit to his authority and held on steadfastly.
Akbar launched a campaign to subjugate Mewar by force and in 1567 he marched out at the head of a large army to capture Chittor, its capital. The Rana of Mewar, Raja Uday Singh was urged to leave the besieged fort and take refuge in the hills of South Rajasthan. After a five month long siege, Chittor finally fell on 25 Feb 1568 and its defenders were killed virtually to a man. Akbar also ordered the slaughter of over 20,000 innocent civilians of the fort in an orgy of vengeance that went on for a week after its capture. This remains a lasting blot on his legacy.
The loss of their capital did not curb the zeal of the Mewar rulers. Rather it inflamed it. Uday Singh formed a new city of Udaipur and established his capital in Gogunda, in the Arravali Hills. With his death in 1572, his son, Rana Pratap took over the mantle and the struggle continued.
Akbar tried to make peace with the recalcitrant ruler of Mewar, even sending his emissaries to Rana Pratap, in an effort to win them over. But Rana Pratap refused to acquiesce till his capital Chittor was handed back to him. Finally in the spring of 1576, Akbar dispatched a large army under the command of his own brother-in-law Man Singh – himself a Khushwaha Rajput – to bring the rebellious Rana to his knees.
Man Singh’s army had around 5000 of his own Khushwaha Rajputs and around 5000 Mughal and Afghan troops along with 100 elephants. No cannon or heavy cavalry were carried because of the problems of transporting them across that difficult terrain.
Rana Pratap received news of Man Singh’s move and moved out of his capital Gogunda to take up positions at Haldi Ghati. The narrow, two kilometer long pass permitting only one horseman to pass through at a time and its forested hills made it a strong defensive feature. The soil and crumbly rocks around it were pale yellow, perhaps due to high sulphur content, giving it its name – Haldi Ghati. The yellow soil around the pass would soon be stained red with blood, earning it another name, Khooni Ghati, or the Pass of Blood.
The Pass as it must have been in 1576 And today
Rana Pratap had a force of around 3000 Sisodiya Rajput warriors and a contingent of 500 Afghan horsemen under Hakim Khan Suri. Around 1000 Bhils, local tribesmen who knew the area intricately and were skilled archers also joined him. Though outnumbered by around 1: 2.5, the Rana was in a strong defensive position on the pass. The rugged terrain of Haldi Ghati nullified the numerical superiority of the Mughal forces.
Man Singh’s forces reached the vicinity around mid-June and camped in the flat ground short of the pass near Khamnor Village and the Banas River. He did not attack, but waited for Rana Pratap to make the next move. For a week or so, the two armies remained static in their positions, raiding and skirmishing without decisive combat. Finally on 21 June 1576, Rana Pratap left his positions on Haldi Ghati and advanced down to engage the Mughal forces.
It is not clear why Rana Pratap chose to leave his strong defensive positions for an open ground where the Mughals would be at an advantage. Some say it was intended to be just a raid that went awry. Others say the Rajput concept of a ’fair fight’ led them out, prompted by calls of cowardice from their Rajput kinsmen on the other side. Whatever the reason, the Rajput army moved out to the sound of drums, ranbankuras and war cries and arrayed themselves at the mouth of the pass in the traditional order of Haraval (Vanguard), Chandawal (Rear Guard) Vam Parswa and Dakshin Parshwa (Left and Right Wings). The Rana himself was in the Center, in his distinctive white tunic atop his war horse Chetak, who would himself acquire a kind of immortality in the lore of Indian warfare.
The Mughals arrayed similarly. But Man Singh’s advantage of numbers enabled him to maintain a reserve (Iltimish) of around 1000 cavalry. These reserves would save the day.
The Rajputs attacked first at around 8 am from the left flank as around 1000 Rajput and Afghan horsemen slammed through the Mughal Vanguard and hit its right flank. On the right a similar attack was launched with equal ferocity. The combined weight of the attacks on both flanks forced the Mughals to give way and the troops began breaking ranks. It was only the Sayyids of Barhi on the right flank who held on and prevented a complete breakthrough.
With his formation about to break, man Singh launched his Iltimish of 1000 Cavalry to stabilize the situation. As the cavalry moved forward, amidst the troops running in panic, Mihtar Khan the Commander of the reserves, shouted out, “The Emperor is coming. Akbar Badshah himself is coming.” The pronouncement did the trick. The ranks stopped their withdrawal and beefed up with the timely arrival of their cavalry, held their positions, preventing any further breakthrough by the Rajputs.
It was now around 11 am and the Rajputs had been fighting for over three hours. Exhaustion and heat were taking its toll and slowly the Mughals (or more appropriately, Man Singh’s Khushwaha Rajputs) were getting the better of the situation. Rana Pratap had only one reserve, the small pool of elephants which he launched to charge the Mughal lines. The Mughals countered by bringing up their own elephants. Elephants of both sides clashed on the battlefield, cheered on by their respective soldiers. In an epic clash, Lona, the Rajput war-elephant slammed with Gujmukut, the Mughal champion, goring each other with their tusks, till Lona fell of his wounds and was captured. One by one, Rana Pratap’s elephants were killed or captured and he lost his final card.
With the situation so critical, Rana Pratap launched a final attack directed at Man Singh himself. He charged full tilt atop Chetak (Chetak had a leather snout affixed to his head. It was a standard practice, since the short-sighted elephants would mistake the smaller horses for their young and often hesitate to attack them) slashing his way through the Mughal ranks till he reached Man Singh’s elephant. As he closed in, Chetak rose on his hind legs, giving his master a clear shot. Rana Pratap hurled his spear which went through the mahout, and slammed against the armoured howdah, barely missing Man Singh. Before Rana Pratap could strike again, Man Singh’s guards converged on him.
At this point, Bida Mana, a Jhala Chieftain placed Rana Pratap’s Chattri (royal umbrella) over his head proclaiming that he was Rana Pratap. The ruse worked. The body guards rushed towards him, while the wounded Rana was carried away by Chetak, pursued by Mughal officers. Chetak, who had been badly wounded during the attack, raced away, and made a final leap across a wide chasm which his pursuers could not cross. He took his master to safety, but died at that spot of sheer exhaustion and loss of blood. A cenotaph still marks the spot where he fell.
The Rana and the rest of the Rajput army withdrew to the safety of Haldi Ghati, their withdrawal covered by the arrows of Bhil archers. Man Singh did not follow up the pursuit – an act which earned him the wrath of Akbar when he returned. Around 500 Rajput warriors fell in the “Thermopylae of Mewar” with around 250-350 of Man Singh Khushwahas and Mughal soldiers on that day. But who really won at Haldi Ghati? Tactically, yes, it was a victory for Man Singh, but it achieved none of Akbar’s long term strategic goals. Rana Pratap remained unbowed and recovered to continue his struggle, pushing back three other expeditions that Akbar launched to subjugate him. His guerrilla war continued for two decades till his death in Jan1597 and with his passing India lost one of its noblest sons – one unbowed and undefeated till the end.