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Rise and fall of the Mughal Empire Module - II

Military History of
court provided he became his vassal. But Rana Pratap rejected this offer. Akbar
Medieval India
therefore decided to defeat Rana Pratap when all other diplomatic efforts failed
to subdue him. Some important points about Rana Pratap's preparation to fight
Akbar were as follows:-
 Rana Pratap took necessary measures to prepare for the coming Mughal
invasion. To start with, he established himself in the western hills and forests
of his kingdom. He selected the rock fortress of Kumbalgarh as his new Note
capital. He strengthened his fort of Gogunda, north-west of Udaipur and
made it his forward base. He remodeled his government and organised it
to conduct a long-lasting campaign against the superior Mughal army.

 Pratap toured every village of his state and impressed upon his people the
necessity of unity and sacrifice to face the impending danger. Pratap did
not believe that only one caste should fight. He felt this was an obsolete
concept. He therefore registered the support of not only the martial
Kshatriya caste but of all-other castes including the aboriginals, known as
Bhils of Rajasthan.
 On his part, Akbar wanted to subdue RanaPratap before his ideas could
influence other Rajput kings. Akbar selected Raja Man Singh to lead the
Mughal army against Rana Pratap.

b) The Battle : Pratap wanted to select the ground of his own choice where his
small army could fight the Mughal army with some tactical advantage. He selected
the area of Haldi Ghati pass, which was not only a hilly terrain but had a lot of
thorny bushes and trees to provide necessary cover. The area of Haldi Ghati
also provided an easy exit for Pratap's small army in case of defeat. The troop
strength and organisation for battle were as under:-

 According to Mughal court historian Abdul Qadir Badayuni, Pratap's army
had approximately 3,000 cavalry. Pratap had perhaps 3000 to 4000 cavalry,
some elephants and about 3,000 Bhil infantry men who were also good in
use of bow. Pratap's army had neither guns nor muskets.
 The Mughals had approximately 16,000 cavalry, 8,000 infantry, elephant
corps and guns, with overall strength of about 28,000 troops. It was organised
on the same lines as that of Babur's force.

 The Mughal army deployed with skirmishers holding the front line, behind
which was deployed the vanguard. Then came the powerful centre while the
flanks were protected by strong contingents deployed on the left as well as
the right wings. In the rear were the mobile enveloping contingents who
were used to attack the flanks and rear of the enemy army.

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