HINDU HOLOCAUST : Unveiling History(1000 AD to 2000 AD)

Akbar (1556-1605)

Akbar known as Shahanshah Akbar-e-Azam. Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, was the third emperor of the Mughal Empire, after Babur and Humayun. He was the son of Nasiruddin Humayun and succeeded him as the emperor in the year 1556.

Early conquests

Akbar decided early in his reign that he should conquer the threat of Sher Shah's dynasty, and decided to lead an army against the strongest of the three, Sikandar Shah Suri, in the Punjab. He left Delhi under the regency of Tardi Baig Khan. Sikandar Shah Suri presented no major concern for Akbar, and often withdrew from territory as Akbar approached.The king Hemu, however, commanding the Afghan forces, defeated the Mughal Army and captured Delhi on 6 October 1556. Urged by Bairam Khan, who remarshalled the Mughal army before Hemu could consolidate his position, Akbar marched on Delhi to reclaim it Akbar's army, led by Bairam Khan, met the larger forces of Hemu on November 5, 1556 at the Second Battle of Panipat, 50 miles (80 km) north of Delhi. The battle was going in Hemu's favour when an arrow pierced Hemu's eye, rendering him unconscious. The leaderless army soon capitulated and Hemu was captured and executed.

The victory also left Akbar with over 1,500 war elephants which he used to re-engage Sikandar Shah at the siege of Choopa. Sikandar, along with several local chieftains who were assisting him, surrendered and so were spared death. With this, the whole of Punjab was annexed to the Mughal empire. Before returning to Agra, Akbar sent a detachment of his army to Jammu, which defeated the ruler Raja Kapur Chand and captured the kingdom.Between 1558 and 1560, after moving the capital from Delhi to Agra, Akbar further expanded the empire by capturing and annexing the kingdoms of Gwalior, northern Rajputana and Jaunpur.

After a dispute at court, Akbar dismissed Bairam Khan in the spring of 1560 and ordered him to leave on Hajj to Mecca. Bairam left for Mecca, but on his way was goaded by his opponents to rebel. He was defeated by the Mughal army in the Punjab and forced to submit. Akbar, however forgave him and gave him the option of either continuing in his court or resuming his pilgrimage, of which Bairam chose the latter.

Malwa

The first major conquest was of Malwa in 1561, an expedition that was led by Adham Khan and carried out with such savage cruelty that it resulted in a backlash from the kingdom enabling its ruler Baz Bahadur to recover the territory while Akbar was dealing with the rebellion of Bairam Khan. Subsequently, Akbar sent another detachment which captured Malwa in 1562, and Baz Bahadur eventually surrendered to the Mughals and was made an administrator by Akbar. Around the same time, the Mughal army also conquered the kingdom of the Gonds, after a fierce battle between Asaf Khan the Mughal governor of Allahabad, and Rani Durgavati queen of the Gonds. However after the victory of the Mughals, Asaf Khan allegedly misappropriated most of the wealth plundered from the kingdom and later Akbar subsequently ordered him to restore some of the wealth, apart from installing Durgavati's son, a convert to Islam, as the local administrator of the newly conquered region.

Rajasthan : It was of the imperial policy of Akbar to bring Rajasthan to submission. Akbar pursued a different policy of annexation towards the Rajput Rulers. He captured all important forts in Rajasthan and accepted the services of all those Rajput rulers who surrendered to him voluntarily. He fought aggressive wars against those rulers who refused to submit to him voluntarily and annexed their territories. Akbar succeeded in getting submission of all Rajput rulers of Rajasthan and thus largely succeeded in getting submission of Rajasthan.

Battle of Chittore

Faced with the threat posed to the security of empire strength and dreams of expansion of Udai Singh, Akbar decided to launch a campaign of conquest final. On October 21, 1567 began the siege, the fortress city half ¾ mile wide and 3 ¼ long and was on a hill 558 feet high. 3 Arriving Akbar Udai Singh fled away with his entourage leaving two princes adolescents in charge of the fort, Pratap and Padmini, with a garrison well supplied and armed with muskets and cannons.Akbar ordered to surround with three batteries of artillery strength, with the main under his personal command shell the main gate of the fort. Contrary to the Mughals orders some troops attacked the fort being slaughtered, after which it was decided by the siege of the fort and starve its defenders waiting for the final attack leaving a direct assault that was very well planned.Engineers began digging to undermine the walls, while workers began to dig and build Sabbaths, ditches with walls constructed above ground level covered with heavy planks of wood and leather. This coverage was given to the troops and so close to the walls to facilitate a quick assault when the mines were ready. The Sabbaths were built en masse and as wide as for several mounted horsemen marched them next to each other and as deep as for the elephants of Akbar pass through them. The walls were also some gaps where you could shoot at the defenders.

In October 1567, the Mughal army of approximately 5000 men led by Akbar surrounded and besieged 8000 Hindu Rajputs during the Siege of Chittorgarh and within a few months Akbar's ranks expanded to over 50,000 men. After an arduous siege Akbar ordered his men and augmented them to lift baskets of earth in order to create a hill in front of the fort by which the Mughal Cannons could be placed. As the Mohur Hill was completed Akbar placed his cannons and mortars near its tip, he then organized his sappers to plant mines under the heavy stone walls of the fortress of Chittor, but the mines exploded prematurely during an assault killing about a hundred Mughal Sowars, as the siege continued it is believed that a shot from Akbar's own Matchlock wounded or killed the commander of the already demoralized Hindu Rajputs.The fortress of Chittor finally fell on February 1568 after a siege of four months. The fort was then stormed by the Mughal forces, and a fierce resistance was offered by members of the garrison stationed inside. When the Rajput women were ordered to commit Jauhar (self immolation), Akbar had realized that victory was near and the Mughals launched their final assault over 30,000 inhabitants of Chittorgarh Fort were killed by the victorious Mughal army. Akbar then ordered the heads of his enemies to be displayed upon towers erected throughout the region, in order to demonstrate his authority.

In mid-December the mines were ready to be filled with gunpowder and popped, however, rejected the rajput assault and repaired the breaches, Akbar responded by ordering construction of new mines and Sabbaths , reaching the same to inspect the works on the first line and inspecting the defenses. At that time the Rajputs sent a delegation to offer his capitulation but the Emperor’s refusal to demand the delivery of Udai Singh who was hidden. On February 22 , 1568 the new mines were ready and at night blew themselves up, the Mongols came, this was the only time that Akbar allowed his troops to plunder and massacre civilians.

The Battles for Chittor

According to chronicles in Akbar’s time, there was just one attack on Chittor by Mughal forces. But in his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, James Tod mentions two, the first in which the Imperial army was driven back, and a second in which it was successful and Chittor fell.

Udai Singh's wife led infiltrations into the Mughal camp during the first attack, and in one such foray the Rajputs reached the heart of the camp and forced the Mughal Imperial army to retreat.

The second siege of Chittor by Akbar was successful. When the northern walls were breached and it became inevitable that Chittor would fall, jouhar was prepared and 13,000 kshatriya women leapt into the raging flames. Jouhar was committed by the women when it was certain that they would be dishonored by Akbar's army after the fall of Chittor. The Rajputs of Chittor committed saka, in which they rode out in saffron robes to meet Akbar in a final battle. In the end, 32,000 Rajputs were killed. In the sacking of Chittor, the Mughal army had incurred large losses and Akbar was furious that the siege had taken so long (October 20, 1567-Februrary 23, 1568). Upon victory, Akbar issued Fathnama-i-Chitor. He began this letter with praise for Allah, and quoted several verses of the Quran leaving no doubt that he derived his inspiration from the Quran and that he viewed himself as a jihadi annihilating the infidel Rajputs. He declared that in conformity with the happy injunction of the Quran (27:40). in subjugating the localities, habitations, forts and towns which are under the possession of the infidels...may God forsake and annihilate all of them, and thus raising the standard of Islam everywhere and removing the darkness of polytheism and violent sins by the use of sword. We destroy the places of worship of idols in those places and other parts of India. The praise be to Allah, who hath guided us to this, and we would not have found the way had it not been that Allah had guided us.... in accordance with the imperative Command - and kill the idolaters all together (Quran 9:36), those defiant ones who were still offering resistance having formed themselves into knots of two to three hundred persons, were put to death and their women and children taken prisoners.

According to the various contemporary accounts of Abul Fazl, Badauni, etc, there were between 22,000 and 40,000 women, children, and the old and infirm still alive inside the fort as Akbar’s victorious army entered it. Akbar, according to his own fathnama, ordered the butchering of the defenseless civilians. Akbar confirms what he did with those women and children:

According to the promise - Allah promised you many acquisitions which you will take (Quran 48:20), immense booty and spoils in cash and kind were acquired.

He also ordered his troops to collect the necklaces from the necks of the fallen Rajputs for the royal treasure. This bounty weighed approximately 800 pounds.

FALL OF CHITOD AND SLAUGHTER OF 30,000 CAPTIVE HINDU PEASANTS

Despite nearly five centuries of Muslim occupation of India, Rajasthan in 1567 CE was still almost entirely Hindu. Akbar infiltrated the area by marrying into Rajasthan's ruling houses and by steadily capturing various forts on the eastern fringe of Rajputana. But the senior house of Rajasthan, Rana of Mewar proudly refused any alliance with Mughals. Akbar's army started a campaign for Chitod in 1567. Rana of Mewar, Uday Singh left his capital, the great fort of Chitod to be defended by 8,000 Rajputs under an excellent commander, Jai Mal, and took himself and his family to the safety of the hills. Akbar arrived on October 24, 1567 and laid a siege of Chitod. Akbar's huge army's camp stretched for almost ten miles . Akbar planned two methods of assault -mining and building a 'sabat', a structure which provides the invading army a cover of a high wall as it progresses 'infinitely slowly' towards the fort wall and tightens the noose around the fort. The mining proved disastrous since an explosion of a mistimed second mine claimed Akbar's nearly 200 men including some leading nobles. As the noose of 'sabat' tightened, Akbar forces lost nearly 200 men a day to musket fire from the fort. Almost four months after the siege, on February 23, 1567, a musket shot fired from the Mughal army killed Jai Mal. Some chroniclers claim that this shot was fired by Akbar himself. With the death of their leader Jai Mal, the Rajputs for a while lost heart. That night flames leapt to the sky as THOUSANDS OF RAJPUT WOMEN PERFORMED JAUHAR (act of self-immolation, the term is a corruption of Jay Har - meaning Hail Shiva). They preferred jumping into a roaring fire, to being captured by Mughal Akbar. Later events do lend credit to their astute judgement. This was the THIRD JAUHAR IN THE HISTORY OF CHITOD.

Next day the Rajputs under a new young leader Patta Singh donned on the saffron robes - Kesariya, in preparation for a fight to death, flung open the gates of the fort and charged on to the Mughal army. Patta Singh, his mother and his wife duly died in the ensuing battle as did many Rajput warriors. Later, the victorious Mughal army entered the fort of Chitod. At the time there were 40,000 Hindu peasants and artisans residing on the fort besides the Rajput army. AKBAR THEN ORDERED A MASSACRE OF ALL THE CAPTURED UNARMED 40,000 HINDUS, some artisans indeed were spared and taken away but THE SLAIN AMOUNTED TO AT LEAST 30,000 Akbar was particularly keen to avenge himself on the thousand musketeers who had done much damage to his troops, but they escaped by the boldest of the tricks. Binding their own women and children, and shoving them roughly along like new captives, the Rajput musketeers successfully passed themselves off as a detachment of the victorious Mughals and so made their way out of the fort .

The MASSACRE OF 30,000 CAPTIVE HINDUS AT CHITOD BY AKBAR has left an indelible blot on his name. No such horrors were perpetrated by even the brutal Ala-ud-din Khilji who had captured the fort in 1303 CE. Abul Fazl, Akbar's court chronicler is at pains in trying to justify this slaughter. In the later period of his rule, Akbar later had statues of Patta and Jai Mal, riding on elephants, installed at the gate of his imperial palace at Agra. Although probably intended as a compliment for their heroism, it was open to misconstruction since in the earlier history Jai Chand had placed a similar statue of Prithvi Raj Chauhan at the gate of his palace (as a Dwarpal) at the Swayamvar of his daughter Sanyogita.

Sir Thomas Roe, an Englishman who visited Chitod some fifty years later, found the fort deserted. In fact, it remained a firm tenet of Mughal policy throughout the next century that fortifications of Chitod, which till then was the capital of the then strongest Hindu Rana, should remain unrepaired, perhaps as a lesson to Hindus who dared to take on the Mughals .Rana Pratap Singh of Mewar, son of Rana Uday Singh, kept the Rajput resistance to Akbar alive and tried to reclaim the glory of Chitod.

Gujrat was a prosperous province. It was regarded as the centre place of the trade with the western world. Akbar attacked Gujrat in person in 1572 A.D. He did not face any serious challenge and Ahmedabad was occupied by the Mughals after a minor battle. Akbar occupied territory as far as Cambay and occupied the fort of Surat. That completed the conquest of Gujrat.

Bihar and Orissa : Akbar attacked Bihar in 1574 A.D. and occupied it. Bengal was annexed to the Mughal Empire in july 1576 A.D. Akbar appointed Abdur Rahim as governor of Multan and assigned him the responsibility to conquer Sind. Abdur Rahim attacked Sindh was annexed to the Mughal Empire. Nisar Khan was ruler of Orissa when Raja Man Singh, governor of Bihar attacked Orissa in 1590 A.D. Nisar Khan surrendered to the Mughals after two years he rebelled and even occupied Puri and Jagannath. Raja Man Singh defeated and forced him to leave Orissa which was, then annexed to the Mughal Empire in 1592 AD. Akbar dispatched in his mission, defeated the Baluchi chiefs and annexed entire Baluchistan to Mughal empire.

Conquest of south India :Akbar desired to bring south India under his suzerainty and, accordingly, sent messages to the rulers of khandesh, Ahmednagar, Bijapur and Golconda in 1951 A.D. Ali Khan, ruler of Khandesh alone accepted the offer of the Mughal emperor, accepted his suzerainty prince Murad and Abdur Rahim to conquer Ahmednagar. The Mughals occupied Daultabad in 1599 A.D and Ahmednagar in 1600 A.A. Khandesh also tried to reassert its independence. Rajha Ali Khan the ruler of Khandesh died flighting against Ahmednagar from the side of the Mughals. He was succeeded by his son Miran Bahadur Shah. He refused to acknowledge the suzerainty of Akbar at the time when the Mughals were engaged with Amednagar. Akbar attacked Burhanpur, the capital of Khandesh in 1599 A.D. and occupied it.

Thus, by 1600, Akbar captured Khandesh, Berar, and part of Ahmednagar and forts of Burhanpur, Asirgarh, Daultabad and Ahmednagar. Akbar, thus, captured the whole of north India and provided sound stability. A part of the Deccan was also conquered by him. The Mughal empire extended from Kandhar and Kabul in the west to Bangal in the east and from Kashmir in the north to Berar and Ahmednagar in the south during his time and become the most extensive and powerful empire in India.

Death

Akbar was greatly troubled in the last few years of his life due to the misdemeanors of his sons. Especially his third son, Salim, was frequently in rebellion against his father. The last conquest of Akbar comprised of Asirgarh, a fort in the Deccan. Thereafter, he faced the rebellion of his son and breathed his last on 12th October 1605. His body was entombed in a magnificent mausoleum at Sikandra city, near Agra.

Sources:
http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Akbar
http://www.indianetzone.com/47/conquests_akbar.htm
http://paradiseintheworld.com/chittorgarh-fort-india/