History rewritten in Rajasthan : Maharana Pratap, not Akbar, won Battle of Haldighati

The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education has approved a change in the history section of the Class X social science books. The revised books will now teach students Maharana Pratap conclusively defeated Mughal emperor Akbar in the 16th-century Battle of Haldighati.

Until now, students in Rajasthan learnt that the Battle of Haldighati, which took place on June 18, 1576, was inconclusive. However, the rewritten history now says that that the battle did not end in a truce and that Maharana Pratap, along with his army, valiantly fought to protect his motherland Mewar.

Maharana Pratap's army fought a heroic battle and forced Akbar's army to retreat from the battlefield, history books in Rajasthan schools will now teach.

Confirming the change in history books, Rajasthan Minister of State for primary and secondary education Vasudev Devnani said that the history being taught in the state's schools so far was incorrect. With this change in the Class X history books, the aberration has now been fixed, Devnani said.

The education minister went on to question why Mughal emperor Akbar would launch six consecutive attacks on Maharana Pratap's army after the Battle of Haldighati if he was the victor of the original fight. Akbar kept attacking Maharana Pratap because each time he would lose to the latter, Devnani added.

AKBAR THE GREAT

Notably, the Rajasthan's Bharatiya Janata Party government, when it came into power, had ordered a chapter titled 'Akbar Mahan' (Akbar the Great) removed from syllabus. The education minister had then



questioned the need to have such a chapter in schools' history books, asking why Akbar was great. Why not Maharana Pratap?

Soon after, Dr Chandrashekhar Sharma, a professor at Udaipur's government Meera Kanya Mahavidyalaya, published a finding arguing that the Rajput and conclusively won the Battle of Haldighati.

Dr Sharma based his findings on land records from the 16th century saying for a year after the June 18, 1576 battle, Maharana Pratap distributed land in villages near Haldighati by handing out land rights inscribed on copper plates that has the signature of the diwan of Eklingnath.

Sharma went on to argue that back then, only the king of a province was allowed to distribute tracts of land and so, this was proof that Maharana Pratap was the victor of the Battle of Haldighati.

Dr Sharma further argued that following the Battle of Haldighati, two Mughal generals, Man Singh and Asif Khan, were forbidden from entering Emperor Akbar's darbar (court). Sharma posited that Akbar punished the two trusted generals, and this was another proof that the Mughals had lost the Battle of Haldighati.

Sharma's research was brought to the attention of the Rajasthan education ministry by Mohanlal Gupta, a BJP MLA from Kishanpole who asked that the state's history books be accordingly changed. The University of Rajasthan too debated Sharma's research and finding merit in them changed its curriculum. The university's history department also changed the label for the 1200-1700 AD period from Struggling India to Golden Era of India.