Battle of Haldighati
| Battle of Haldighati | |||||||
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 Painting of the battle by Chokha of Devgarh, 1822 |
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| Empires | |||||||
 Kingdom of Mewar
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Mughal Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Maharana Pratap (WIA) Hakim Khan Sur † Rao Poonja Dodia Bhim † Man Singh Jhala † Man Singh Bida Ramshah Tanwar † Shalivahan Singh Tomar † Krishnadas Chundawat Rao Chandra Sen |
Man Singh I Syed Hasim Syed Ahmed Khan Bahlol Khan † Multan Khan † Gazi Khan † Bhokal Singh † Wasim Khan † |
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| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown |
Unknown |
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The Battle of Haldighati was fought in Haldighati, Rajasthan, on 18 or 21 June 1576 for around four hours between Rana of Mewar, Maharana Pratap and Mughal Emperor Akbar's forces led by Man Singh I.
In Maharana Pratap's army the main commanders were Gwalior's Ram Singh Tanvar (with all his sons), Krishandas Churawat, Ramdas Rathore Jhala, Mansingh Rawat, Purohit Gopinath, Shankardas, Charan Jaisa, Purohit Jagannath and Keshav. His army also included Afghans led by Hakim Khan Sur and a small contingent of 400-500 Bhil tribals headed by Rao Poonja fighting alongside him. He was also accompanied by Rao Chandra Sen of Marwar and his teacher Acharya Raghvendra. According to contemporary Mughal historians, Maharana's army had 3000 soldiers. According to Dr. Sharma, Maharana had 3,000 horseborne soldiers, 2,000 infantry soldiers, 100 elephants and 100 spearmen and some other soldiers. Besides these, there was an army of 400-500 Bheel soldiers also, along with Afghans.
According to contemporary historians the Mughal army had 80,000 soldiers. Their commander-in-chief was Man Singh I.
Pratap's army was divided into a Harawal (front portion) led by Hakim Khan Sur, Chadrawal (back portion) led by Rao Poonja (Bheel General), left adjacent led by Jhala Mansingh, and south (right) adjacent led by Ramshah Tanwar (Ruler of Gwalior). Pratap himself was in the centre of the formation along with his minister Bhamashah and brother Tarachandra. An infantry of Bheels were stationed in the surrounding mountains.
In 1576, Akbar deputed Man Singh I and Asaf Khan I to lead a force against Maharana Pratap. The Rana advanced with a force numbering almost half the Mughal numbers and took a position near Haldighati which was at the entrance of a defile. In Pratap's army the main commanders were Gwalior's Ram Shah Tanwar and his three sons,Rawat Krishnadasji Chundawat, Maan Singhji Jhala and Chandrasenji Rathore of Marwar. His army also included Afghans led by Hakim Khan Sur and a small contingent of Bhil tribals headed by Rao Poonjaji fighting alongside him. Anticipating the mughal attack, the Rana had also devastated the entire region up to Chittor to prevent the Mughal forces access to food and fodder. The Mughals were then guided by Pratap's brother Shakti Singh that what was the way they could face Pratap in open and with minimum casualties.
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