Third siege of Chittorgarh

01Mines and the musket shot

Akbar’s engineers drove mines under the walls. When two were fired, the blast killed many of the Mughals who rushed the breach. Covered approaches called sabats were pushed up to the walls. On the night of 22 February Akbar saw a commander directing repairs at a breach and shot him with his own musket, which he named Sangram. It was Jaimal. Through the night the fires of jauhar burned in the fort, and at dawn the garrison came out to fight. Patta fell among them.

02The massacre and the Fathnama

Abul Fazl writes that besides the eight thousand Rajput fighters, some forty thousand peasants who had come into the fort took part in the defence, and that about thirty thousand were killed when Akbar ordered a general slaughter. Akbar’s Fathnama of Chittor, issued in March 1568, describes the victory as a war against the infidels. He later placed stone statues of Jaimal and Patta on elephants at a gate of his fort, honouring the courage of his enemies.

Dynasty · c. 6th century–1949 CEGuhilas and Sisodias of MewarFrom Bappa Rawal to Maharana Pratap, the house of Mewar held its hills against every power that came from Delhi. It is among the longest-ruling royal lines in the world.Read →