Chittorgarh : The battle of Haldighati between the brave Rajput king of Mewar Maharana Pratap and the armies of Mughal emperor Akbar is recorded in the pages of history. Historians have always been divided over whether Maharana won this war or Akbar. For this reason, the people of Rajasthan have always objected to Akbar being described as great. Now this controversy has come into discussion once again. In fact, Rajasthan’s Education Minister Madan Dilawar has called Mughal emperor Akbar a robber and said that the books that describe him as great should be burnt. This has again raised questions on the writings of court historians. It is believed that when any ruler gets history written by his courtiers, he exaggerates his greatness and the vices of his opponents. Is it the same about Akbar? Some historians have written stories of Akbar’s greatness from time to time, and what he did during the wars has also been written. Now the kind of claims that Madan Dilawar is making, is it really so? Did Akbar really loot the country? Let’s try to find out from the perspective of history.
How was Akbar in the eyes of historians
Akbar ruled India for about 49 years from 1556 to 1605.
According to the book- ‘The Great Mughal’, Akbar captured Maharana Pratap’s Chittorgarh fort in the year 1568.
It is also said in the book that after the victory, 40 thousand people were massacred on his orders.
Thousands of women and children were also included among these 40 thousand people who became victims of the brutality of Akbar’s army.
Regarding the battle of Haldighati, historians used to claim that Akbar had won and Maharana Pratap had lost.
Modern historians deny this claim. They say that the war was inconclusive and even after that Maharana Pratap was the ruler of Mewar.
Akbar attacked many states to expand his empire. Taxes were levied on those who accepted slavery. Wars continued with those who did not accept defeat.
Another face of Akbar in history is that he sent his guardian Bairam Khan to Mecca and forcibly married his wife.
Historians did not consider Akbar to be very fanatic towards religion and have described him as a patron of Indian art and culture.
Despite being a Muslim, Akbar conceived of a religion called Deen-e-Ilahi, which meant that everyone has one God.
Historians say about Akbar that he had also abolished the Jaziya tax imposed on the pilgrimages of other religions.
