Cite
MLA
“Mughal conquest of Malwa (Battle of Sarangpur).” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/mughal-conquest-of-malwa-1561/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Mughal conquest of Malwa (Battle of Sarangpur). Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/mughal-conquest-of-malwa-1561/
Baz Bahadur was routed at Sarangpur and fled; Rani Rupmati took poison rather than be captured, and Malwa was annexed.
01The musician king
Baz Bahadur ruled Malwa from Mandu after 1555. He lost a war against Rani Durgavati of Garha early in his reign, and afterwards gave his time to music; he was a fine singer, and Rupmati, a singer of Sarangpur, was his companion. In 1561 Akbar, freeing himself from Bairam Khan’s regency, sent his foster-brother Adham Khan with Pir Muhammad Khan to take Malwa. Mandu, on its plateau above the Narmada, had been the capital of the Malwa sultans for over a century.
02Sarangpur and after
Baz Bahadur met the Mughals near Sarangpur and was beaten; his Afghan nobles deserted and he fled towards Khandesh. Adham Khan seized his women and treasure. Rupmati, rather than fall into his hands, took poison. Adham Khan kept most of the spoil for himself, and Akbar rode to Malwa in person to bring him to order. Pir Muhammad’s killings in Malwa are recorded with disgust by Abul Fazl and Badauni alike. Baz Bahadur finally submitted to Akbar in 1570.
Malwa became a Mughal province and the base for Akbar’s later advance on Gondwana, Chittor and the Deccan.
