Tattva

His achievements notwithstanding, he is not a household name in India. His name does not ring any bells in the collective memory of Hindus. I am not even sure if any physical memorial of this Hindu Hero exists. Anecdotally, Prithvi Raj Chauhan is considered as the last Hindu ruler of Delhi. Even I had made the same assertion in one of my previous articles in Tattva [1]; and it took me a while to realize my error! It is incorrect to think that Hindus made no efforts to liberate Delhi in medieval India. Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya – the Hero of our story – made one such effort that succeeded – albeit for a brief interlude. As I read more about his life and his journey to the throne of Delhi, I was absolutely amazed by this great warrior-hero who almost succeeded in liberating India from foreign invaders – the Mughals. And more importantly, I don’t want to just narrate his life story – I want to put it in the general historical context of his times. As you will see below, his life (1501-1556) was an extremely tumultuous period in the history of India. Events that happened during this time-frame defined the course of Indian History for the next two and a half centuries. That is why I feel that it’s important for Hindus to know more about Samrat Hem Chandra and his courageous efforts.

Early Childhood
Not much is known about his childhood and early life. In fact, historians disagree about both his birth name and birth place. K.K. Bhardwaj [2] claims that perhaps his original name was Basant Rai, Hem Rai, Hem Raj or Hem Chandra Bhargava. R.C. Majumdar [3] writes that “he was born in a poor family of Dhansar section of the Baniya caste, living in a town in the southern part of Alwar”. Muslim historian Badayuni has described him as a resident of a small town called Rewari in the taluk of Mewat, and began his life as a green vendor.[2] Others believe that he was a hawker in the town of Mewat [2].  Historians mention that brought up in a religious environment, he was educated in Sanskrit, Hindi, Persian, Arabic and Arithmatic. He was also trained in Horse riding and was fond of wrestling (Kushti) [4]. His rise to fame did not begin until late 1530s when he came in contact with the officers of Sher Shah Suri. But events that happened in north India during his youth were not as dull!

India in Hem Chandra’s Youth
In the early 1500s, huge portions India were under Islamic occupation. South India, Rajputana, Orissa and Assam were the only parts of India that remained free. In Delhi, Lodi dynasty was ruling large parts of north India. Independent sultanates ruled Gujarat and Central India. Under the Islamic occupation, Hindus was already burdened by the crushing Jizya tax [5]. At such point in 1526, a Central Asian tribal warrior named Babur attacked India. His armies marched from Kabul to Delhi via Punjab. In the first battle of Panipat (April 21, 1526) Babur defeated the joint armies of Ibrahim Lodi and Raja Vikramjit – king of Gwalior – and captured the throne of Delhi [6]. Now Rajputs under the leadership of Rana Sangramsingh of Chittor challenged Babur. They were also supported by Hasan Khan Meo [7]. But unfortunately their joint forces too were defeated by Babur in the battle of Khanwa. With this victory Babur now controlled northwestern India as well as parts of Gangetic Plains.

After more than 450 years, it’s difficult to imagine how different those times were. For starters, Indian children of school going age did not learn to memorize ‘Babur the Brave’, ‘Akbar the Great’, ‘Aurangzeb the Cruel’! Indians then had rather simple criteria. They considered anyone who was not from India and had not a single drop of Indian blood in his body (Babar, Humayun and Akbar) but still wanted to rule India as a foreign aggressor. And indeed that’s how the perception of Indians regarding the Mughal period should be. Today, the geopolitics of South Asian subcontinent has changed so drastically, that it is easy to forget that the Kabul-Kandahar region – known as Gandhara in early days was considered very much a part of Indian civilization [2]. With this perception in mind, the Afghans considered themselves as natives and were considered by Indians as natives of the land [2]. Whereas Mughals – the Central Asian tribal people attacking India were obviously foreign aggressors. Now that explains why Raja of Gwalior offered his help to an Afghan ruler – Ibrahim Lodi or why Hasan Khan Meo chose to fight with Rana Sangramsingh rather than with Babur.

Babur’s reign was nothing short of disaster for India in general and Hindus in particular. Guru Nanak, who was a contemporary of Babur and witnessed cruelties of Babur’s armies on the people, wrote in detail about the atrocities committed by him and his troops. Guru Nanak poignantly wrote [2] ‘The Creator has sent Babur the Mughal as Yama disguised. There was so much slaughter that the people screamed – Didn’t You feel compassion, Lord?’

Mercifully, Babur died (January 1531) before he could consolidate his hold on India and was succeeded by a weak son – Humayun. Sensing an opportunity, Sher Khan Suri – an Afghan commander of the Lodis – who was stationed in Bihar during Ibrahim Lodi’s rule, attacked Humayun. He defeated the Mughals in the battles of Chausa and Kanauj and drove them out of Delhi [9]. He captured Delhi in May 1540, declared himself the emperor and took the name of Sher Shah Suri. His ascent was miraculous – born in a peasant family, he rose from the rank of a private and ultimately became the king of most of the northern India. After capturing Delhi, he pursued Humayun and chased the Mughal army out of India. Humayun survived only by fleeing to the refuge of the king of Iran. Sher Shah Suri’s victories, though ridding India from the foreign occupation for the time being, did not give respite to the large Hindu populace. In addition to Jizya, he continued to levy huge ‘pilgrimage tax’ on Hindu pilgrims.

Rise of Hem Chandra
Hem Chandra’s rise began at around this time. He was based in Rewari – 55 miles from Delhi – and started supplying cereals to Sher Shah’s army. Slowly he started other supplies like saltpeter (for gunpowder) to Sher Shah’s army and that’s when he came in contact with Ismail Shah – Sher Shah’s son.  After Sher Shah’s death in 1545, Ismail Shah succeeded him. Recognizing Hem Chandra’s caliber, he initially appointed Hem Chandra as Shahang-i-Bazar, a Persian word meaning ‘Market Superintendent,’ who managed the mercantile system throughout the empire. This post gave Hem Chandra an opportunity to interact with the king frequently in order to apprise him of the trade and commercial situation of the kingdom [4]. After proving his abilities as Market Superintendent, he rose to become Daroga-i-Chowki or Chief of Intelligence [4]. Ismail Shah’s health deteriorated in 1552 and he shifted his base from Delhi to Gwalior, at which point he promoted Hem Chandra to Governor of Punjab. Hem Chandra held this position until Ismail Shah’s death in October 1553. [4]

After his death, Ismail Shah’s nephew Adil Shah killed Ismail Shah’s 12 year old son Firuz and usurped the throne. But he was not a capable ruler. Soon after becoming king, he appointed Hem Chandra as his Wazir or Prime Minister and started neglecting his responsibilities. Unhappy with the murder of Firuz and Adil Shah’s overall incompetence, various members of the Suri dynasty revolted against him. Soon, the Suri kingdom got divided into 4 large pieces [10]. Sikandar Suri declared himself the king of Punjab. Ismail Suri captured Delhi and Agra. Muhammad Suri declared himself the ruler of Bengal. Only Bihar up to the vicinity of Agra remained in possession of Adil Shah. In addition to these members of the royal family, many Afghan governors declared independence and refused to pay taxes to Adil Shah.  During this time as Prime Minister, Hem Chandra proved his mettle. Commanding Adil Shah’s army, he fought numerous battles defeating each rebelling governor [2]. He defeated and killed Muhammad Shah Suri – self appointed ruler of Bengal. He defeated Ibrahim Shah Suri twice [2]. Most importantly, with these victories, he not only controlled the administration and the treasury, but also the victorious armies of the empire.  In the meantime, Sikandar Suri too defeated Ibrahim Suri and captured Delhi and Agra.

At this time, sensing the general anarchy and disintegration of his Afghan enemies, Humayun – thoroughly defeated by Sher Shah 15 years ago but sustained and supported by Iranian support, invaded India once again. His commander Bairam Khan easily defeated Sikandar Suri and reinstated Humayun to the throne of Delhi (July 1555). But Humayun’s control over his newly conquered kingdom was tenuous at best and he died in January 1556. Hem Chandra was in Bengal when Humayun died. Humayun’s death gave Hem Chandra an ideal opportunity to defeat the Mughals. With about 50,000 soldiers, he embarked on a winning march from Bengal through present day Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh [4]. Many Mughal officers and commanders evacuated their positions and fled in panic. Hem Chandra’s army entered Agra without a fight [4]. He was now poised to liberate Delhi from the foreign aggressors. With a string of lightening quick victories over his enemies, he commanded the respect of his forces and trust of his officers – both Hindu and Afghan [2, 4]. At this point, rather than acting on behalf of an ineffective king, he declared himself as the king with the consent of his commanders.

Mughal general Bairam Khan, sensing the gravity of the situation, sent reinforcements to the Governor of Delhi – Tardi Beg Khan and the Mughal Army battled Hem Chandra’s forces in present day Tughlaqabad [4]. In this battle, Hem Chandra arranged 300 elephants and selected cavalry in the center with loosely guarded front and flanks. As the battle began, Mughal forces overcame the front and even attacked Hem Chandra’s flanks. At one point it appeared as if Mughals had captured 3000 Afghan men and 400 elephants. Sensing victory, Mughal armies dispersed to plunder the enemy camp. At that point Hem Chandra charged on Tardi Beg’s camp with his reserved forces in the center. Seeing a force marching directly towards them and without any armies to stop them, the Mughal commanders fled from the battle field. The result was chaos in the Mughal forces and it resulted in their total defeat.

Shreyas Limaye is a student of Hindu History. He can be reached at shreyaslimaye@gmail.com

This article is the property of Shreyas S. Limaye. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect this article. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, without his prior consent is a violation of copyright law.

References
1.    http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2007/07/dharmaveer-sambhaji-by-shreyas-limaye/
2.    Bhardwaj, KK “Hemu: Napoleon of medieval India”, Mittal Publications, New Delhi, 2000.
3.    Majumdar, RC. “The History and Cultures of the Indian People”, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (in 12 Vols) , VII ,97
4.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samrat_Hem_Chandra_Vikramaditya
5.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya#Historical_development
6.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babur#The_battle_with_Ibrahim_Lodi
7.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khanwa
8.    http://maps.google.co.in
9.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sher_Shah_Suri
10.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Adil_Shah
11.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Orissa
12.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara_Empire

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