Thread by @chariotcel

First in a series of threads on the Moghul War of Succession between the sons of Shah Jahan

The Battle of Dharmat(1658) 🧵

The Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan, famous for building the Taj Mahal and his campaigns in Central Asia, had four sons, Dara Shukoh, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb, and Morat Bux. The latter three hated the eldest Dara, who was the apple of his father’s eye.

When Shah Jahan grew ill after an epidemic in Delhi, he appointed Dara as his formal successor who became the de facto ruler of the empire during the period of his father’s incapacitation from the pestilence. This led to a revolt by other princes who rallied the armies in the provinces which they governed. Morat and Shuja crowned themselves while Aurangzeb conspired with them, though not crowning himself he was who Dara feared the most. Armies were dispatched to arrest the recalcitrant princes, and an army under the Rathore Raja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpore marched south to deal with Morat and Aurangzeb.

Aurangzeb had allied himself with Morat Bux. The terms of their alliance was that Aurangzeb would receive the throne and 2/3rds of any booty, while the younger Morat would receive the northwestern provinces of the Empire as an independent holding and one-third of any booty

Contrasted with the taciturn and scheming Aurangzeb, Morat was debauched and indolent. He however possessed the martial aspect of any true scion of Tamerlane, and delighted in the wild exaltation of battle. While not competent as an overall commander,he did well the work of a lieutenant, leading charges personally

Bernier, who was for some time employed as a doctor in the Imperial court, mentions the wily Aurangzeb taking advantage of Morat’s alcoholism

Aurangzeb ended his campaign against the Bijapur Kingdom in the Deccan to March northwards and convene with Morat’s army. The brothers met at the lake of Dipalpur and resolved to march on to meet Jaswant Singh’s army. They encamped at Dharmat, and the fateful battle would be fought there on the morrow.

From the beginning of his mission, the Rathore was beset by difficulties. He could not operate with an open hand against the rebellious princelings and their armies due to instructions from his liege on assuring no harm came to them. Furthermore, his army was beset by house rivalries and sectarian tension, and the integrity of his Mahomeddan troops seemed to be compromised.

To compound these hurdles, the narrow and undulating ground of the chosen field of battle was unsuited to the cavalry charges his army would make, the task made only more difficult by his choice to make the ground into a muddy quagmire to arrest the charges of the rebellious princelings, though that only worked against him. Aurangzeb’s advantage lied in his artillery park and crack musketeers, whereas the Imperial army under Jaswant Singh was one of the old style, focused more on gallantry as cavaliers than volume of fire. One of his officers sought to neutralize this advantage of the prince’s through a night attack upon their artillery, but the Rathore with the characteristic hubris of his race replied that such maneuvers were against Rajput chivalry. Jaswant Singh still viewed war as a knight-errantry, while Aurangzeb had “aged in war” and had healthy appreciation for the modern usage of gunnery that had won his ancestor Babur his empire.

Both armies may have had around 30-35,000 men each, however the makeup of either army differed greatly.

It is possible that Jaswant Singh commanded only around 22,000 troopers, not including any infantry or artillery. It is also true that the contingents of mansabdari troops under Qasim Khan were quite aloof during the battle, and perhaps may be counted out of the number of men who actually engaged in the battle

Aurangzeb and Morat on the other hand possessed 30,000 picked troopers in total, in addition to a very competent artillery park under English and French gunners, in addition to the Bundela and Buxaria musketeers.

The author makes a small error here in identifying the Buxarias as artillerymen. Buxar was at the epicenter of the Purbia mercenary tradition of infantry, where men from Bhojepore, Oudh, and adjoining regions plied their trade as firelock armed foot soldiers, the Landsknechts of the east. These companies were initially under the sway of select Rajput clans of the region like the Ujjainias, however their captaincy eventually featured all manner of Rajputs, Brahmins, and others, while the rank and file men hailed from any of the assorted caste groups of the area. Buxar in particular was an important recruitment center due to it being a pilgrimage center for the Tiger Tank, the Vyaghra-sagar from which it derives its name, a dip in which is said to embolden any man to fight well as a warrior. These companies of musketeers would contribute their salvos of lead to the deadly volleys of the artillery park of the two princes at Dharmat and subsequent battles.

The armies were arrayed as followed:
The Van of the princes’ army was composed of 8,000 armored veterans of Aurangzeb’s previous campaigns in Central Asia, Qandahar, and the Deccan with a complement of artillery under Zulfiqar Khan (likely behind some earthworks and chained or lashed together to prevent horsemen riding between them to cut down the artillerymen behind). The musketeers may have fired from behind these artillery chains as well. Behind the Van was another line of artillery under Murshid Quli Khan. The left wing was under Multafat Khan, right under Morat Bux, and center under Aurangzeb himself. In front of this main line there was also an advanced reserve under Murtaza Khan.

The Imperial army under Jaswant Singh featured a van composed of 10,000 troopers in two columns, one of Hindu Rajputs under various chiefs like Mukund Singh Hada, the other column composed of Mahomeddans under Qasim Khan. Jaswant Singh commanded the center with Iftikhar Khan commanding the left and Raja Rai Singh Sisodia commanding the right, the advanced reserve under a Gaur and a Rathore.

Both armies had a screen of skirmishers in front of them composed of central Asians and other peoples skilled with bow and arrow. A diagram displaying various positions in a traditional Moghul battle array, though not necessarily the exact orientation of the armies at Dharmat

The battle began with a discharge of artillery and small arms. Like Colonna’s cavalry at Ravenna, the Rajputs of the Van preferred to die at grips with the enemy rather than being killed from afar by projectiles. With cries of “Jai Shri Ram!” and “Har Har Mahadev” they charged the army of Aurangzeb, and fell upon them like tigers would their prey

The guns of the princes’ fired point blank at the charging Rajputs, but this did not baulk them. Despite the disadvantageous nature of the terrain, the charging Hindu column of the Imperial Van fell upon their counterparts, and Zulfiqar Khan engaged in the practice of Utārā, when a sorely pressed body of troops resolves to fight to the death and dismounts from their horses. He met his death valiantly, if the Rajput charge was not arrested then the entirety of Aurangzeb’s army would be swept away.

The charge, powerful as it was, was hampered both by the terrain as well as the fact that the various Houses composing the Van fought in their own individual bodies rather than a compact mass. The main part of Aurangzeb’s van was composed of his veterans who could meet the charge of the Rajputs. Soon the battle became a feverish melee, with swords and daggers being the only usable weapons in the crush. It is worth noting that the Moslem half of the Imperialist Van under Qasim Khan did not even bother to charge along with the Hindus comprising the other half, and what soldiers who did wish to join the fray were not able to do so due to the hostile terrain of the battle field. The troops which had been swept away in the initial charge now rallied and surrounded the fighting troopers of the Imperialist Van from their rear

In the meantime, the Advanced Reserve moved forward to reinforce the beset Van, and the main body of the Centre moved in close behind them in support. The wings of the central division under Saf Shikan Khan and Shaikh Mir surrounded the flanks of the Rajput Van, so they were hemmed in on all sides. The latter perished committing frantic deeds of valor, as it was all they could do after their encirclement. The action had become general and all the divisions of both armies were engaged in the fighting. Meanwhile, the artillery lines of Aurangzeb plied their fire upon the opposite army which sustained great losses due to being unable to maneuver. Seeing the destruction of the Van and the toll wrought by the artillery, the right wing of the Imperialist army under Rai Singh Sisodia withdrew from the field.

The 2,000 troopers of the Imperial centre stood firm, but the the left wing was also taken out of the equation with the death of its commander Iftikhar Khan and the cupidity of the soldiers composing it

The center under Jaswant Singh Rathore was now surrounded on three sides. Seeing the writing on the wall, he wished to die fighting in the fitting mold of the Hindu aristocracy, whose raison d’etre is to die in battle. However, he was prevented from doing so by his retainers, and made to withdraw from the field. The gallant men of the center perished, as did any hope of an Imperialist victory in this battle.

The battle was a sanguinary affair, with the bulk of the losses on the imperial side sustained by the Rajput chiefs and their retainers. Estimates vary on the casualty count of either side, but Jaswant Singh’s army had the worst of it. Subsequent monuments to the memory of those who had died in this conflagration of war would be constructed.

The historian Mir Masum eulogizes their valour in verse, comparing them to the heroes of the Mahabharata (it was common for Mahomeddan literati of the Moghul empire to make allusions to Hindu epics, Must’ad Khan, author of the Maasir-i-Alamgiri compares the violence of the battle with the Satnami rebels to scenes from the Mahabharata)

True to form, Aurangzeb spared the Mahomeddans of the defeated Imperialist army, but did not extend his mercy towards the Hindus, despite thousands of Hindus and one of his chief wounded officers being of that creed

Aurangzeb would advance to Ujjain, but his path to Agra was blocked by detachments of Dara’s army, which controlled all the fords across the Chambal. A circuitous and treacherous route was discovered and swiftly traversed, though not before thousands of camp-followers died in the process

The road to Agra now lay open before Aurangzeb. He would meet Dara’s army at the plain of Samugarh, where another sanguinary battle would take place

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