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Battle of Sammel | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Sur Empire | Kingdom of Marwar | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Sher Shah Suri Jalal Khan Khawas Khan Marwat Isa Khan Niazi | Jaita Rathore † Kumpa Rathore † | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
80,000 horsemen [2] [1] Unknown number of infantry artillery war-elephants and Camel corps [1] | 4,000–12,000 Rathore horsemen and archers [1] [2] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Thousands [3] | 4,000–12,000 [1] |
The Battle of Sammel, also known as the Battle of Giri-Sumel, took place in 1544. It was fought near the villages of Giri and Sumel, between the Afghan Sur Dynasty under Sher Shah Suri and the Rathore army led by the commanders Jaita and Kumpa of Rao Maldeo Rathore.
Sher Shah had been secretly preparing for war with Marwar for four months. In 1543, Sher Shah set out against Marwar with a huge force of 80,000 cavalry. [2] With an army of 50,000, Maldeo advanced to face Sher Shah's army. [2] Sher Shah took the irregular path via Didwana (instead of Bayana). Kumpa had resisted Sher Shahs advance in Shekhawati, after which Sher Shah made sure to entrench at every stop and halted in the village of Sammel in the pargana of Jaitaran, ninety kilometers east of Jodhpur. He entrenched his army with the river Sammel in front of him as a line of defense. Maldeo was surprised by the sudden arrival of his foe and led his army to Girri, which was 12 miles away from Sher Shahs camp. The scrub forest there gave protection to the Marwar army, and thus both armies were well-entrenched. [4] During this time, the dispossessed rulers of Bikaner and Merta came to the aid of Sher Shah. Maldeo remained in a defensive stance during this time as he was suspicious of his barons. Maldeo had recently subjugated them and was therefore cautious about attacking recklessly. Sher Shah also knew that he was in a hostile desert with limited food and water. The digging of trenches had already taken a toll on his Afghan soldiers, who were not used to the terrain. After one month of skirmishing, Sher Shah's position became critical owing to the difficulties of supplying food for his huge army. According to contemporary chroniclers writing in Persian, [4] to resolve this situation, Sher Shah resorted to a cunning ploy. One evening, he dropped forged letters near Maldeo's camp in such a way that they were sure to be intercepted. These letters indicated, falsely, that some of Maldeo's army commanders were promising assistance to Sher Shah. This caused great consternation to Maldeo, who immediately (and wrongly) suspected his commanders of disloyalty. Maldeo left for Jodhpur on 4 January 1544 with his own men, abandoning his commanders to their fate. [2] [5]
When Maldeo's loyal generals Jaita and Kumpa found out what had happened, they were worried about how they would prove their loyalty. When the king ordered a withdrawal, the chieftains decided that they would not leave the field even though they had only a few thousand men against an enemy force of 80,000 men, cannons and war elephants. Jaita said that the land they are leaving has been won and protected by their ancestors and they must not leave and flee. In the ensuing battle of Sammel, Jaita, Kumpa and other chieftains attacked Sher Shah's centre wreaking havoc in his ranks. Sher Shah reacted to the charge by sending war elephants and reinforcements under Jalal Khan. The Afghans soon used their superior numbers and guns to overpower the attack. The battle continued until the Rathores were slain to the last man. The Afghan victory was hard-won and gave birth to the famous Persian recorded quote about Sher Shah exclaiming that "for a handful of millet, I almost lost the Empire of Hindustan." [4] [6]
According to Satish Chandra -
Sher Shah's oft quoted remark "I had given away the country of Delhi for a handful of millets" is a tribute to the gallantry of Jaita and Kumpa and the willingness of the Rajputs to face death even in the face of impossible odds. [7]
After this victory, Sher Shah's general Khawas Khan Marwat took possession of Jodhpur and occupied the territory of Marwar from Ajmer to Mount Abu in 1544. Maldeo was initially forced to retreat to Siwana, however after the death of Sher Shah he was able to recapture Jodhpur by July 1545 and the rest of his territories by 1546. In doing so he had to defeat the chain of garrisons that had been posted by Sher Shah before his death. [8]
Sher Shah Suri, also known by his title Sultan Adil, was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire in 1540, founding the Sur Empire, and establishing his rule in Delhi. The influence of his innovations and reforms extended far beyond his brief reign. During his time in power, he remained undefeated in battle and was renowned as one of the most skillful Afghan generals in history.
The Sur Empire was an empire ruled by the Afghan-origin Sur dynasty in northern India for nearly 16 or 18 years, between 1538/1540 and 1556, with Sasaram serving as its capital. It was founded by Sher Shah Suri.
The Rathore dynasty or Rathor dynasty was an Indian dynasty belonging to the Rathore clan of Rajputs that has historically ruled over parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Durgadas Rathore was the Rathore Rajput General of the Kingdom of Marwar. He is credited with having preserved the rule of the Rathore dynasty over Marwar, India, following the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh in the 17th century.
Rao Maldeo Rathore was a king of the Rathore dynasty, who ruled the kingdom of Marwar in present day state of Rajasthan. Maldeo ascended the throne in 1531 CE, inheriting a small ancestral principality of Rathore's but after a long period of military actions against his neighbours, Maldeo swept significant territories which included parts of present day Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Sindh. He refused to ally with either the Sur Empire or the Mughal Empire.
Rao JodhaRathore was the 15th Rajput chief of Rathore clan who ruled the Kingdom of Marwar in the present-day state of Rajasthan. He was the eldest son of Rao Ranmal. He is known for his illustrious military career and for founding the city of Jodhpur in 1459, which subsequently became the new capital of Marwar after Mandore.
Raja Jaswant Singh I was the Rathore Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Marwar in the western part of Rajputana modern day Rajasthan. He was a distinguished man of letters and author of noted literary works like Siddhant-Bodh, Anand Vilas and Bhasha-Bhushan.
Udai Singh II was the 12th Maharana of the Kingdom of Mewar and the founder of the city of Udaipur in the present-day state of Rajasthan, India. He was the fourth son of Rana Sanga and Rani Karnavati, a princess of Bundi.
Udai Singh, often referred as the Mota Raja was the Rathore ruler of Marwar, which was later known as Jodhpur. He was also the maternal grandfather of Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal Emperor, and an ancestor of all subsequent emperors.
The Kingdom of Mewar was an independent kingdom that existed in the Rajputana region of the Indian subcontinent and later became a major power in medieval India. The kingdom was initially founded and ruled by the Guhila dynasty followed by the Sisodiya Dynasty. The kingdom came to be known as the Udaipur State after it became a princely state in the nineteenth century.
Kingdom of Marwar also known as Jodhpur State during the modern era, was a kingdom in the Marwar region from 1243 to 1818 and a princely state under British rule from 1818 to 1947. It was established in Pali by Rao Siha, possibly a migrant Gahadavala noble, in 1243. His successors continued to struggle against regional powers for domination and 9 out of 15 rulers till 1438 died in combat. In 1395, its capital was changed to Mandore by Rao Chunda of Mandore and to Jodhpur in 1459 by Rao Jodha.
Bhadrajun is a village in the Jalore district of the western part of Rajasthan, India, dating back to ancient times of the Mahabharata epic. It gets its name from Subhadra and her husband Arjuna from Dvapara Yuga. However, in recent centuries, it was the scene of warfare between the rulers of the Marwar dynasty and of the Mughal Empire.
The Mughal–Rajput wars were a series of battles between the Rajput Confederacy and the Mughal Empire. The conflicts originated with the invasion of northwestern India by the Mughal ruler Babur, to which the head of the Rajput confederacy, Rana Sanga, offered staunch resistance. The conflicts went on since 1526 for over 200 years, with the Mughals having the upper hand until the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, following which they entered a declining phase and the Rajputs gained the upper hand, with the last recorded conflict taking place in 1779.
Manavati Bai, also spelled Manvati Bai,, better known by her title, Jagat Gosain, was the second wife and the empress consort of the fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir and the mother of his successor, Shah Jahan.
Events from the year 1544 in India.
Umade Bhattiyani was the wife of Maldeo Rathore, the renowned Rathore ruler of Marwar. She earned the epithet of Roothi Rani — the Irate or Aggrieved Queen, or 'the Queen-who-Sulked' due to her strained relationship with her husband.
Bala is a village and a Gram Panchayat in the Ahore Tehsil of Jalore district of Rajasthan in northwest India.
The Rajput rebellion began in 1708, due to the harsh treatment of the Rajput Rajas by the Mughal emperor. It erupted into a two-year rebellion that forced the Mughal emperor to sue for peace, give them gifts, and restore the Rajput holdings which had been annexed by the previous Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
Described variously as the Rajput war, Rathore war of independence and Rathore rebellion, the conflict between Rajputs of Marwar and the Mughals started after the death of Jaswant Singh of Marwar, due to Aurangzeb's attempt to interfere in the succession of Marwar. The resistance to Mughal interference was started by the Rajput nobles under Durgadas Rathore and erupted into an all-out war between the Mughal empire and Rajputs of Marwar supported by Mewar Rajputs. It lasted for almost thirty years. The rebellion reached a climax after the death of Aurangzeb on 3 March 1707 and the capture of Jodhpur by the Rathores on 12 March 1707.
80,000 cavalry, besides infantry, artillery, war-elephants and possibly a camel corps, was ready for the campaign against Maldeo........4,000 cavalry according to some sources and less than 12,000 cavalry and archers according to others, Jaita, Kumpa and other loyal warriors of Marwar attacked the centre of Sher Shah's army.......Jalal Khan backed by the superiority of numbers and guns, eventually decimated the attackers and ensured victory for Sher Shah.
Jeta and Kumpa, with their followers, opposed Sher Shah's army and fought with desperate valour, but only to meet a warriors death. Sher Shah won a victory, though at a great cost, with a loss of several thousand Afghans on the battlefield and coming close to losing his empire.
Maldeo had been forced to retreat to the fortress of Siwana because of the consequences of the battle of Sammel in 1544, he soon retrieved his position after Sher Shah's death. By July 1545 Maldeo had recovered his ancestral capital of Jodhpur, and uprooted many of Sher Shah's chain of garrisons and outposts from Marwar. Within the next eighteen months (i.e. by the end of 1546) the Rathore king managed to take back practically all that he had lost to Sher Shah.