48-622: Ranghar are a community of Muslim Rajputs in the Indian states of Haryana , Punjab , Himachal Pradesh , Delhi and Uttar Pradesh ; and in Sindh ( Muhajirs ) and Punjab in Pakistan. The Ranghar were classified as an "agricultural tribe" by the British Raj administration. This was often taken to be synonymous with the classification of martial race , and some Ranghars were recruited to
96-699: A Muslim Rajput dynasty who were notable for ruling the Fatehpur - Jhunjhunu region in Rajasthan from the 1300s to the 1700s. They were descended from Hindu Chauhan Rajputs, though as also stated by the historian Dirk Kolff the Qaimkhani have Turkic origins. The Mayi clan were the chieftains of the Narhat-Samai (Hisua) chieftaincy in modern-day Nawada district in South Bihar . The founder of
144-568: A foe more formidable than the Afghans or any of the natives of India to whom they had yet been opposed. The Rajputs, ... were ready to meet, face to face,... all times prepared to lay down their lives for their honour. Rana Sanga had destroyed all the Mughal contingents that were sent against him, this caused great fear in Babur's army as he has written "the fierceness and valour of the pagan army" made
192-944: A force of 40,000 he captured Sialkot from the Mughal garrison and marched towards Lahore. Daulat Khan was soundly defeated at Lahore and through this victory Babur became the unopposed lord of Punjab. Babur continued his conquest and annihilated the Lodi sultanate's army in the First Battle of Panipat , where he killed the Sultan and founded the Mughal Empire. According to Baburnama, Rana Sanga had also offered to help Babur against Ibrahim, however while Babur did attack Lodi and take over Delhi and Agra, Sanga made no move, apparently having changed his mind. Babur had resented this backsliding; in his autobiography, Babur accuses Rana Sanga of breaching their agreement. However Rajput sources claim
240-526: A rebellion against the Mughal authorities and was subsequently defeated and executed. His son, Toral Mal, was made to convert to Islam and renamed as Roz Afzun . Roz Afzun was a loyal Commander to the Emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan and Jahangir referred to him as his "favourite" commander in the empire. Another prominent chieftain of this dynasty was Tahawar Singh who played an active role in
288-560: A tower of enemy skulls to be erected, a practice formulated by Timur . According to Chandra, the objective of constructing a tower of skulls was not just to record a great victory, but also to terrorize opponents. Earlier, the same tactic had been used by Babur against the Afghans of Bajaur. Sanga was taken away from the battlefield in an unconscious state by Prithviraj Kachwaha and Maldev Rathore of Marwar. After regaining consciousness he took an oath to not return to Chittor until he had defeated Babur and ousted him. He also stopped wearing
336-399: A turban and instead chose to wrap a cloth over his head. While he was preparing to wage another war against Babur, he was poisoned by his own nobles who did not want another conflict with Babur. Though many historians support the poisoning theory it is often said that Mughals had a habit of poisoning their enemies whom they thought were powerful and Sanga was himself praised by Babur quoting him
384-502: Is traditionally applied to the original Suryavanshi , Chandravanshi and Agnivanshi clans, who claimed to be Kshatriya in the Hindu varna system. Upon their conversion from Hinduism to Islam, many Muslim Rajputs maintained many of their Hindu customs, and hence retained their Cultural Hindu identity. Muslim Rajputs also often retained common social practices, such as purdah (seclusion of women), with Hindu Rajputs. Despite
432-668: The 24 Parganas and Midnapore districts, particularly near the towns of Barrackpur and Kharagpur . They migrated to Bengal from Kanpur five centuries ago and are descended from Amar Singh Rathore, a Rajput nobleman from Jhansi who converted to Islam . They are divided into several clans; Rathore, Dogar, Chauhan, Khelari, Tatar, Lehar, Nahar and Maidul. In the Punjab province of British India , comprising Punjab and some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in modern Pakistan as well Punjab , Haryana , Chandigarh , Delhi , and some parts of Himachal Pradesh in modern India, in 1921, 70.7% of
480-561: The Bais or the Gautam , the Gautamanas or Gautam Thakurs as they like to call themselves being the largest such group in the Fatehpur district , where they number around 100,000. Battle of Khanwa [REDACTED] Kingdom of Mewar Vassal states : Total: 40,000 to 50,000 Total: 1,10,000+ The Battle of Khanwa was fought at Khanwa on 16 March 1527. It
528-748: The British Indian Army , especially in Skinner's Horse . Muslim Rajputs Muslim Rajputs or Musalman Rajpoots are the descendants of Rajputs in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who generally are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period onwards, creating various dynasties and states while retaining Hindu surnames such as Chauhan . Today, Muslim Rajputs can be found mostly in present-day Northern India and Pakistan . They are further divided into different clans. The term Rajput
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#1732780989564576-479: The Afghans in the east. However, upon hearing of Rana Sanga's advancement on Agra, Humayun was hastily recalled. Military detachments were then sent by Babur to conquer Dholpur, Gwaliar, and Bayana, strong forts forming the outer boundaries of Agra. The commanders of Dholpur and Gwalior surrendered their forts to Babur, accepting his generous terms. However, Nizam Khan, the commander of Bayana, opened negotiations with both Babur and Sanga. The force sent by Babur to Bayana
624-436: The Lodi empire. Rajasthan Indologist Dasharatha Sharma noted that Ibrahim's brother Mahmmud Lodhi went to Chittor with his small faction and asked for Sanga's assistance and Sanga in chivalrous manner agree for the purposal. Sharma further commented that this small factions of Afghan does not represented any united military pact but instead the pitty state of remaining disintigerated pact of Afghans at time who already witnessed
672-574: The Mayi clan was Nuraon Khan who arrived in Bihar in the 17th century. His descendants were Azmeri and Deyanut who were granted zamindari rights over six parganas by the Mughal authorities. Deyanut's son was Kamgar Khan who expanded his land by attacking and plundering neighbouring zamindars. Kamgar Khan also led numerous revolts against the Mughals and attempted to assert the Mayi's independence. His descendant
720-1067: The Mughal expedition against the nearby Cheros of Palamu . Mewat was a kingdom in Rajputana with its capital at Alwar ruled by a Khanzada Mewati Rajput dynasty during the period of the Delhi Sultanate in India . Raja Hassan Khan Mewati was represented the Meo Khanzada in Battle of Khanwa . Mewat was covered over a wide area, it included Hathin tehsil, Nuh district , Tijara , Gurgaon , Kishangarh Bas, Ramgarh, Laxmangarh Tehsils Aravalli Range in Alwar district and Pahari, Nagar, Kaman tehsils in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan and also some part of Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. The last ruler of Mewat, Hasan Khan Mewati
768-615: The Pagan troops followed each other to help their men, so we in our turn sent detachment after detachment to reinforce our fighters on that side. Babur did make attempts to use his famous taulqama or pincer movement, however his men were unable to complete it, twice they pushed the Rajputs back however due to the relentless attacks of the Rajput horsemen they were forced to retreat to their positions. At about this time Silhadi of Raisen deserted
816-712: The Punjabi Rajputs were Muslims while 27.7% were Hindus, with the highest percentage of Rajputs found in Rawalpindi , with 21%. In Pakistan's Punjab province, the Rajputs are dominant in the Potohar plateau through its politics and military. As per the 2017 Pakistan census , Rajputs numbered around 5% of Lahore 's population, their population amounting to some 550,000 individuals out of Lahore's total population of around 11 million. In India's Uttar Pradesh , many Rajput communities have embraced Islam, such as
864-455: The Rajputs served to instil fear in Babur's army. An astrologer added to the general unease by his foolish predictions. To raise the flagging morale of his soldiers, Babur gave a religious colour to the battle against Hindus. Babur proceeded to renounce future consumption of wine, broke his drinking cups, poured out all the stores of liquor on the ground and promulgated a pledge of total abstinence. In his autobiography, Babur writes that: It
912-451: The Rana and led the Rajput army, while the Rana was hidden within a circle of his trusted men. The Rajputs continued their attacks but failed to break the Mughal flanks and their centre was unable to do anything against the fortified Mughal centre, Jadunath Sarkar has explained the struggle in the following words: In the centre the Rajputs continued to fall without being able to retaliate in
960-548: The Rana was supported by some Afghan chieftains who felt that Babur had been deceptive towards them. According to Babur, Rana Sanga's army consisted of 200,000 soldiers. However, according to Alexander Kinloch, this is an exaggeration as the Rajput army did not exceed 40,000 men during the campaign in Gujarat. Even if this figure is exaggerated, Chandra comments that it is indisputable that Sanga's army greatly outnumbered Babur's forces. The greater numbers and reported courage of
1008-574: The Ranas army and went over to Baburs . The betrayal of Silhadi forced the Rana to change his plans and issue new orders. According to some historians this betrayal never happened and was a later concoction. During this time the Rana was shot by a bullet and fell unconscious, causing great confusion in the Rajput army and a lull in the fighting for a short period. Babur has written this event in his memoirs by saying "the accursed infidels remained confounded for one hour". A Jhala chieftain called Ajja acted as
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#17327809895641056-439: The alliance with a contingent of Afghan horsemen with him. Khanzada Hasan Khan Mewati, the ruler of Mewat, also joined the alliance with his men. Babur denounced the Afghans who joined the alliance against him as kafirs and murtads (those who had apostatized from Islam). Chandra also argues that the alliance weaved together by Sanga represented a Rajput-Afghan alliance with the proclaimed mission of expelling Babur and restoring
1104-426: The area, approved the plan to invade India. However, there were arguments between the Mughals and the Lodi rebels. Alam demanded that Babur give Delhi to him after it was conquered, as he was instrumental in inviting the Mughals to invade the weakened Lodi Sultanate. Babur refused and thus Alam took his army to besiege Delhi by himself, where his army was defeated by Ibrahim Lodi. Daulat Khan also betrayed Babur and with
1152-446: The battle. The Rajputs made a desperate charge on the Mughal left and right flanks like before, "here their bravest were mown down and the battle ended in their irretrievable defeat", dead bodies could be found as far as Bayana, Alwar and Mewat of both sides. The Mughals were too exhausted and had very heavy casualties after the long fight to give chase and Babur himself gave up the idea of invading Mewar. Following this, Babur ordered
1200-417: The carts, from where they could fire and, if required, advance. The heavy Turkic horsemen stood behind them, two contingents of elite horsemen were kept in the reserve for the taulqama (flanking) tactic. Thus, a strong offensive-defensive formation had been prepared by Babur. Rana Sanga, fighting in a traditional manner, charged the Mughal ranks. His army was shot down in great numbers by the Mughal muskets,
1248-542: The consequences of joining Babur as they did in Sack of Bayana where several of them were slaughtered. Sharma further explained that this small Afghan contingent along with Mahmmud fled from the battlefield of Khanua amidst the battle. According to K.V Krishna Rao, Rana Sanga wanted to overthrow Babur , because he considered him to be a foreigner ruling in India and also to extend his territories by annexing Delhi and Agra ,
1296-559: The difference in religious faith, where the question has arisen of common Rajput honour, there have been instances where both Muslim and Hindu Rajputs have united together against threats from external ethnic groups. There are recorded instances of recent conversions of Rajputs to Islam in Western Uttar Pradesh , Khurja tahsil of Bulandshahr . The Kharagpur Raj was a Muslim Kindwar Rajput chieftaincy in modern-day Munger district of Bihar . Raja Sangram Singh led
1344-627: The event of a Mughal victory, Babur would withdraw from Delhi and Agra , like Timur , once he had seized the treasures of these cities. Once he realized that Babur intended to stay on in India, Sanga proceeded to build a grand coalition that would either force Babur out of India or confine him to Afghanistan. In early 1527, Babur started receiving reports of Sanga's advance towards Agra. According to Jadunath Sarkar, Babur did not need an invitation to invade Hindustan . After establishing himself in Kabul , Babur had started making inroads into Punjab which
1392-549: The guidance of Ibrahim Danishmand and became known as Sulaiman Khan. Bhagirath's grandson, Isa Khan , grew to become the chief of Bengal's Baro-Bhuiyan confederacy which posed as a threat to the Mughals who wanted to conquer Bengal. The diwans of Mymensingh and Dhaka during the 19th-century were said to be the descendants of Muslim Rajputs. Another Bengali Rajput community are the Ghosi , who can predominantly be found in
1440-454: The leading Rajput kings from Rajasthan, including those from Harauti, Jalor, Sirohi, Dungarpur, and Dhundhar. Rao Ganga of Marwar did not join personally but sent a contingent on his behalf led by his son Maldev Rathore. Rao Medini Rai of Chanderi in Malwa also joined the alliance. Further, Mahmud Lodi, the younger son of Sikandar Lodi, whom the Afghans had proclaimed their new sultan also joined
1488-514: The least or advance to close grips. They were hopelessly outclassed in weapon and their dense masses only increased their hopeless slaughter, as every bullet found its billet. Babur after noticing the weak Rajput centre ordered his men to take the offensive, the Mughal attack pushed the Rajputs back and forced the Rajput commanders to rush to the front, resulting in the death of many. The Rajputs became leaderless as most of their senior commanders were dead and their unconscious king had been moved out of
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1536-473: The noise of the muskets further caused fear amongst the horses and elephants of the Rajput army, causing them to trample their own men. Rana Sanga finding it impossible to attack the Mughal centre, ordered his men to attack the Mughal flanks, the fighting continued on the two flanks for three hours, during which the Mughals fired at the Rajput ranks with muskets and arrows while the Rajputs could only retaliate in close quarters. Babur writes: Band after band of
1584-529: The opposite and say that Sanga was successful against the Lodi Empire and did not require Baburs aid. Instead it was Babur who approached Rana Sanga and proposed an alliance against the Lodi Empire. Historian Satish Chandra speculates that Sanga may have imagined a long, drawn-out struggle taking place between Babur and Lodi, following which he would be able to take control of the regions he coveted. Alternatively, writes Chandra, Sanga may have thought that in
1632-498: The rule of Ibrahim Lodi of the Lodi dynasty , but the empire was crumbling and there were many defectors. Babur had already raided Punjab in 1504 and 1518. In 1519 he tried to invade Punjab but had to return to Kabul due to complications there. In 1520–21 Babur again ventured to conquer Punjab, he easily captured Bhira and Sialkot which were known as the "twin gateways to Hindustan". Babur was able to annex towns and cities till Lahore but
1680-499: The same. Sharma added that Sanga already established himself as the most powerful Hindu king of Northern India of that time, while Babur was yet to establish his reputation in India . Under those circumstances it was in Babur's interest to seek an alliance with perhaps his greatest and most powerful enemy of Northern India. Also Babur gave no details of his alliance with Sanga while elsewhere he had provided details of his agreement with Daulat khan and Alam khan Lodhi. Baburnama itself
1728-517: The site. Like in Panipat, he strengthened his front by procuring carts that were fastened by iron chains (not leather straps, as at Panipat) and reinforced by mantlets . Gaps between the carts were used for horsemen to charge at the opponent at an opportune time. To lengthen the line, ropes made of rawhide were placed over wheeled wooden tripods. The flanks were given protection by digging ditches. Foot-musketeers, falconets and mortars were placed behind
1776-497: The strongest king in India along with Krishnadeva of Vijaynagra. He died in Kalpi on January 1528. It is suggested that had it not been for the cannon and luck of Babur, Rana Sanga might have achieved a historic victory against Babur. Pradeep Barua notes that Babur's cannon put an end to outdated trends in Indian warfare. After the battle, Babur made a pyramid using the heads of his enemies. However it would be wrong to suppose that
1824-561: The strongest powers of northern India. The battle was among the most decisive battles in the Mughal conquest of northern India. It was among the earliest battles in Northern India where gunpowder was used to a great extent. The battle resulted in heavy casualties for both Timurids and Rajputs. Until 1524, Babur 's aim was to expand his rule to Punjab , primarily to fulfil the legacy of his ancestor Timur, since it used to be part of his empire. Large parts of north India were under
1872-518: The troops "anxious and afraid". The Afghans in Baburs army started to leave and the Turks started complaining about defending a land that they hated, they requested Babur to leave to Kabul with the rich spoils that they had collected. Babur writes "no manly word or brave council was heard from any one soever". Rana Sanga had built a formidable military alliance against Babur. He was joined by virtually all
1920-883: Was Iqbal Ali Khan who took part in the 1781 revolt in Bihar against the British however his revolt failed and Mayi's lost much of their land. Rajput communities began settling in Bengal during the Sultanate period where they were given high ranks in the Bengal government. One notable example is of Bhagirath of Ayodhya , who belonged to the Hindu Bais clan, who was appointed as the Dewan of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah . His son, Kalidas Gajdani embraced Sunni Islam through
1968-419: Was a pity that all later writers have uncritically accepted Babur's version. After the First Battle of Panipat , Babur had recognized that his primary threat came from two allied quarters: Rana Sanga and the Afghans ruling eastern India at the time. In a council that Babur called, it was decided that the Afghans represented the bigger threat, and consequently Humayun was sent at the head of an army to fight
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2016-413: Was a really good plan, and it had a favourable propagandistic effect on friend and foe. Babur knew that his army would have been swept by the Rajput charge if he tried to fight them in the open, he therefore planned a defensive strategy to form a fortified encampment where he would use his muskets and artillery to weaken his foes and then strike when their morale had shattered. Babur had carefully inspected
2064-540: Was again forced to stop due to rebellions in Qandhar. In 1523 he received invitations from Alam Khan Lodi, brother of Sikandar Lodi, Daulat Khan Lodi, Governor of Punjab and Ala-ud-Din, Ibrahim's uncle, to invade the Delhi Sultanate. Alam personally went to Babur's court and told him about the political situation of India. Babur agreed after sending some of his nobles to scout Punjab. These nobles, after studying
2112-524: Was defeated and dispersed by Rana Sanga on 21 February 1527. In one of the earliest western scholarly account of the Mughal rulers , 'A History of India Under the Two First Sovereigns of the House of Taimur Baber and Humayun', William Erskine , a 19th-century Scottish historian, quotes: They (Mughals) had some sharp encounters with the Rajputs, ... found that they had now to contend with
2160-550: Was fought between the invading Timurid forces of Babur and the Kingdom of Mewar led by Rana Sanga for supremacy of Northern India . The battle was a major event in Medieval Indian history although Timurids won at Panipat but at the time, the sultanate at Delhi was a spent force that was long crumbling. To the contrary, Kingdom of Mewar under the able rule of Rana Sanga and his predecessors, had turned into one of
2208-474: Was governed by Daulat Khan Lodi , a courtier of Ibrahim Lodi . Daulat was unfaithful to his lord and formed an alliance with Babur against the Lodi Empire. This made it easy for Babur to enter Hindustan and oust both Daulat and Ibrahim. Indologist Gopinath Sharma who is well known for his scholarly work on Mewar Kings and Mughal Empire ably rejected this theory of Rana Sanga sending his ambassador to Babur by providing various factual contemporary evidences for
2256-520: Was killed in the battle of Khanwa against the Mughal emperor Babur. The Meo Khanzadas were descended from Hindu Yadu Rajputs. The Lalkhanis are a Muslim Rajput community and a sub-clan of the Bargujars . They were the Nawabs of various estates in Western Uttar Pradesh . These included Chhatari and neighbouring regions including parts of Aligarh and Bulandshahr . The Qaimkhanis were
2304-425: Was not a reliable book as it exaggerated many accounts like he did about number of armies in First Battle of Panipat to over glorify his victory which are too exaggerated in the context of modern researches. The most important aspect of all is that there are no contemporary Hindu or Muslim writer who mentioned Sanga sending an ambassador to Kabul while all of them do that for Lodhi's. Therefore, In Sharma's words It
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