DETAILED Rajput Acc of Jauhar n Saka @ Chittor wid LESS known DETAILS

Hi All,

We have gone through 5 articles in the Chittor Battle Series. In the last article, we read the detailed description of this war, including the Jauhar of the Rajput women, the Saka of the Rajput warriors and the massacre of civilians in the Fort of Chittor, as mentioned in the Mughal records. The spine-chilling Mughal account of this war showed the tenacious ferocity with which both man and beast engaged in a do-or-die battle for the pride of Rajputana - the Fort of Chittor.

Link of Present Post :
DETAILED Rajput Record of Jauhar, Saka & Massacre of Rajputs at 3rd Siege of Chittor(1567-68) | Description of Rajput Warriors & OLD pictures of Chittor Fort | Battle of Chittor Part-6

Now, let's view the ultimate battle of Chittor from the perspective of contemporary Rajput records & some other chronicles. Numerous pictures and portraits of the Chittor Fort from the 17th, 18th & 19th centuries have also been included to show the majesty of the fort as well as the the magnetic attraction the fort has held for the historic chronicler or even the curious traveler.

This post, based on numerous Rajput sources as it is, presents the names of many known and unknown Rajput warriors from the illustrious houses of the 16 superior vassals of Mewar and others who supported Mewar against the Mughals in this war.

At the end of this post, their lineage & present-day whereabouts have been included for those discerning readers who wish to know more about these warriors.

The post also pays homage to those brave and noble women who believed that their honor as well as the honor of Mewar was more precious than their life. These proud women either chose to die defending their motherland on the battlefield or to perish in the fire of Jauhar rather than being captured & facing dishonor (and worse) at the hands of the invading army.

Note:
The details/pictures in this post are extremely gruesome and should be read only by those who can stomach the savagery unleashed in Chittor by the victorious Mughal army. This post does not intend to shock but only report the aftermath of the Mughal victory.

Mewar is a name synonymous with bravery, honor and pride. Rajputs as a race have been associated with pride and courage, but those of Chittorgarh seem to have an "extra dose" of it. Chivalry and undaunted heroism ran in their blood. There could hardly be any other royal house whose past had been stained with so much bloodshed for over a 1000 years (starting from Bappa Rawal - 734 AD or Guhilot - 568 AD) ; and who faced wave after wave of invading hordes, yet refused to bow their heads in the service of any other mortal. The Rajputs of this house are known for their strong & fierce love of independence.

Mewar was the only major Rajput kingdom, which refused to surrender to Mughal Emperor Akbar, who was one of the mightiest emperors in the world then. Even after the Mughal Army conquered it, the people of this region fought back valorously to regain their kingdom, with the major exception of Chittorgarh, from Akbar. But let us reserve that story for another day.

At present, let us see how these Rajputs fought bitterly to the last man standing, to defend their fort from Mughal invasion and how, when defeat became inevitable, sacrificed their lives rather than bend in humiliating servility before their bete noire.


Highlights of Post:

1. Raja Jaimal Rathore and Rawat Patta Chundawat - The Commanders of the Fort of Chittor during the 3rd Siege.

2. Rawat Chundawat fell in the Battle of Chittor. This gate is the eastern entrance of the Fort and also known as Toran Pol.

3. Spot marking the place where Rawat Patta Chundavat fell finally in the Battle of Chittor

4. The Warrior Ladies of Chittor.

5. Jaimal and Kalla - Heroic Chaturbhuj Fight

6. The Chattri of Kalla Ji Rathore - The Place of His Death

7. The Chattri of Raja Jaimal Rathore - The Place of His Death

8. "Tija Sakha Chittod Ra"

9. About 1700 relatives of Kunwar Pratap died in this war.

10. Akbar devastated the fortress and its people so much that the subsequent history of Mewar was a constant struggle for existence.

11. "Chittod Marya ra Paap"

12. The sacred threads from necks of dead Rajputs were taken to Agra in sacks to proclaim that the Rajput supremacy over Mewar has finally been broken.

13. It is said that the devil and the angel both live within the heart of Man. It is up to the mind to determine which of these two powers gains ascendance on any occasion. The devil seems to have clearly won the day in the case of Mughal Emperor Akbar.

14. Akbar had left no stone unturned to devastate the resources of Rana. The cream of several houses of the vassals of Mewar died defending Chittor. But this was only a beginning of a new never ending struggle between Akbar and his arch rival Maharana Pratap..

15. Very LONG Detailed Background of Rajput Chieftains / Warriors



Other Posts in this Series

1. Why did Akbar attack Chittor ? | Part-1

2. Preparation of Rajputs - Battle of Chittor | Part-2

3. Battles BEFORE the Battle of Chittor - At Kumbhalgarh, Rampur, Udaipur, Mandalgarh | Part-3

4. ACTUAL STRUGGLE between Mughal & Rajput Forces - Course of War BEFORE the Jauhar and Saka | Battle of Chittor Part-4 | With explained Portraits from Akbarnama

5. Mughal record of Jauhar of Rajput Women & Saka of Rajput Warriors at 3rd Siege of Chittor(1567-68) + Mughal Victory followed by Massacre of Rajput Civilians | Battle of Chittor Part-5 | With Portraits from Akbarnama & personal pictures of Chittor Fort

History of Jaimal and Patta | HEROes of the 3rd Siege of Chittor

In the Next Post:
The next post, which will be the concluding part of this Chittor Battle Series, will contain the details of the victory farman of Mughal Emperor Akbar, issued by him after winning this war. It will also contain the comparison of resources - weapons, soldiers, etc. on both the combating sides.


Do leave your views.

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Radhika,
Thanks for the views. Need some time to reply to you.

Looks like many other members also need time to think and post the views about this post.! :)

Thanks Abhay for this Amazing post! Very informative...

It must have been tough for Maharana Pratap to actually get over all that guilt and grief and actually get everybody together and fight against a king who had nearly the entire Rajputana at his side, helping him while Pratap had only some of the Rajputs at his side, who like him refused to surrender!
That was something very few people could have done..

Coming to this post..

The soldiers and warriors..each one of them fought with undaunted courage and heroism..
It could have been even more fierce with Pratap there but the soldiers still fought very very bravely and gave their lives up for their motherland with smiles on their face!

While Akbar's soldiers fought just for the selfishness of their king and his orders, the Rajputs fought for their motherland which was more precious to them than anything...they fought for their self respect, their honour, their dignity and for something that was according to them their foremost duty..
And when a person fights with such reasons in mind..that person has already won their battle..
With such spirits in their hearts they took on almost 30 skiers each and kept taking as many Mughals dead as they could till their last breath!

Jaimal Ji, Patta, Rawat Ji, Patta, Dondiya Ji, Issardas Ji and every single other warrior became immortal the moment they gave up their lives..they lived with dignity and died with their heads held high! Not once did they bow to any of the Mughals..something that most of the others found much easier to do..
This people found it better and easier to die than bowing in front of the Mughals.
They died without a hint of fear in their eyes, with smiles on their cheeks and with fire in their hearts..

All these Warriors were true heroes, true patriots!
A big salute to each and every one of them..

Even the bravery which was shown by the ladies..may it be jumping into the pure fire to protect their honour and self respect..or May it be their decision to fight and take part in saka and give up their lives for their Maatrabhoomi..they portrayed the true Rajputaani spirit!

I'm proud of these great men and women who gave up their lives happily for their motherland and honour!
I am proud to be from the country where such patriots were born

A salute to their enormous sacrifice and tremendous courage and bravery


Inn Veero aur Veeranganaao ke Saahas Ji Jai!

Jai Ekling Ji!
Jai Bhawani!

Jai Mewar!


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I will not say much about Akbar though I have a lot in my mind as I cannot get myself to type all that without hatred filling me..
All I can say is that I will NEVER ever respect Akbar for anything he has done..
Others might call him great..but to me, he is just like the other ruthless Mughal rulers who didn't care about what they did and whose aim was to capture the entire Hindustaan and treat everyone like slaves and kill anybody who opposed them..
People might say that he tried to bring a Change in himself but you cannot undo such a massacre by whatever you say..
His acts were just inhumane and disgusting..

Abhay, my dear friend, what a post!
I was left speechless emotionless for sometime and the effect continued for a couple of days. Honestly, I could not even cry. It was a mixed feeling of pride, horror and disgust.

Honestly, I really don't know what to say. The talkative me - I am unable to pen down anything now.

I wish you had posted 'this glory' of Akbar also in the other forum where people still fight tooth and nail that he is the greatest. He could be good or have great few qualities but cannot be put on a pedestal, even for this single act alone - I remember comments saying this is the only wrong thing that he did and it weighs down in front of all other good deeds. A person capable of this anytime can NEVER be a good person at all. He may seemingly be so though. Even infants in all their innocence were not spared?!! His USP - religious tolerance also went for a toss, when I read that he weighed the sacred thread of Hindu warriors - how could he be so insulting to any religion or someone from another religion. Temples were destroyed. And the so called great was in a trance only condescending to come down to get an update of how much evil is done and again go back in trance to rejoice it. I have a simple question - in the place of Rajputs, had it been a Muslim state opposing him, in revenge would he have burnt their Quran or anything held sacred by them? Ofcourse not! Because these are sacred to Muslims, and being a Muslim he will not offend his religion of faith. As I mentioned in your other post, only such incidents and events in one's life when one's character is put to test, is the true character revealed.

See I ended up talking anyway:-)

Kaana and Natasha.

Thanks for your views.
If possible and if you are talking about greatness, then i made a thread for this.
Please post views there as well.

I am collecting all opinions there. :)
What is the BASIS of GREATness ?


BTW Kaana, I have an interesting anecdote.

Akbar's mother had asked Akbar to punish the Portuguese by burning (i don't remember exact incident??) their Bible. Because Portuguese had created lots of problems when they went on a Haj. But Akbar refused to do so.

Just answering a point in context of your comment.
Will add more later. :)

Thank you for the posts. If it wasn't for your posts, we would not know the history as well. This one will haunt me for a long time. Until I started watching the show and reading the posts on this forum, I never knew about the massacre that took place in Chittor. Yes I had heard the name of Maharana Pratap and his forefathers, but I did not know the struggle faced by Maharana Pratap in his lifelong fight. Thank you for educating us.

Originally posted by: history_geek

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Kaana and Natasha.

Thanks for your views.
If possible and if you are talking about greatness, then i made a thread for this.
Please post views there as well.

I am collecting all opinions there. :)
What is the BASIS of GREATness ?


BTW Kaana, I have an interesting anecdote.

Akbar's mother had asked Akbar to punish the Portuguese by burning (i don't remember exact incident??) their Bible. Because Portuguese had created lots of problems when they went on a Haj. But Akbar refused to do so.

Just answering a point in context of your comment.
Will add more later. :)


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So Abhay, why were the Hindu temples destroyed during the Chittor massacre? Why were the Hindu sacred threads removed off the body and weighed? Now what does one comprehend of this?

No consistency in character? Or a mask out there? Also Christians weren't much in those days. I repeat, true character comes out in the worse time of one's life, during one's struggle.

Originally posted by: ---Anu---

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Abhay, it is such a spine chilling post. Wonderfully described!

The descriptions given by Peter Mundy is very horrifying. The same is the case with Mr.Lal's descriptions, but I beg to differ here a little. I believe, he exaggerated the part where the women were raped. I m simply not able to digest it, especially when its been clearly said everywhere that all the women ranging from the wives and daughters of chieftains and soldiers, to that of the civilians took up to jauhar.

Coz, in your previous post, its been written that all the women prepared for jauhar at their own homes and how the fire broke out at different parts of the fort. Does the Mughal account anywhere states that women have been captured alive, raped and been taken as slaves ?

About Akbar...I really hope that now because of this show, people will be able to see this man's filthy past before praising his "secular" nature. Because of this event, everything done by him later on in life looks like a sham.!

This man, after looting Chittor and stripping off the glory of the fort, conducting massacre of innocent civilians, goes ahead with building Fatehpur Sikri? No wonder, Fatehpur never saw the light of the day and soon was abandoned. Whereas Udaipur is still flourishing. This pretty well, proves the statement "what goes around, comes around."

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The pictures are truly amazing. Especially the layout of Chittor just makes it easier to understand and imagine the events unfolding clearly. Thank you ! :)