Today In Indian History (16th March)

1527 - The Battle of Khanwa was fought on 16 March 1527 at Khanwa, a village in the Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. Khanwa is 60 km west of Agra. The battle was fought between Babur, the first Mughal emperor, and the Mewar ruler Rana Sanga for supremacy of Northern India. The battle resulted in the victory of the Mughal forces.

1559 - Birth of Maharana Amar Singh I on 16 March in 1559. Amar Singh was the son and successor of Maharana Pratap of Mewar Kingdom. The first military campaign undertaken by Jahangir, the Mughal emperor and son of Akbar, was against Rana Amar Singh. The Mughal expeditions sent against Mewar in 1606 and 1608-09 proved indecisive, but in 1613-14 the campaign led by Jahangir's third son Khurram (later Shah Jahan) proved decisive and Rana Amar Singh submitted to the Mughals in 1615. Jahangir offered most liberal terms to Mewar and thus ended a long struggle between Mewar and the Mughals. The emperor installed two life-size marble statues of Rana Amar Singh and his son Karan in the garden of his palace at Agra. However, the glory and pride of Mewar was gone.

1693 - Birth of Malhar Rao Holkar on 16th March in 1693. Malhar Rao Holkar was a noble subedar of the Maratha Empire and was the founder of the Holkar dynasty that ruled Malwa.

Malhar Rao Holkar died on 20 May 1766 at Alampur in Madhya Pradesh. Chhatri of Malhar Rao Holkar was built by his daughter-in-law Ahilya Bai Holkar at Alampur.

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Muhammad Shah Rangila

Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor, died in 1707. Muhammad Shah became Mughal emperor in 1719. During the interregnum, Bahadur Shah I , JahandarShah , Farrukhsiyar r, Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-Daula ascended the Mughal throne. Jahandar Shah was murdered on the orders of Farrukhsiyar who had the support of the two powerful Mughal nobles Sayyid Abdullah and his brother Sayyid Husain Ali at that time. They are famous in history as Sayyid brothers, the King-makers. In 1719, Farrukhsiyar were murdered in utter disregard of a Mughal emperor by Sayyid brothers. Rafi-ud-Darajat died of consumption in a few months. Rafi-ud-Daula was addicted to opium and died in 4 months. Sayyid brothers now chose Raushan Akhtar, a son of Jahan Shah (the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I), to be the emperor. Raushan Akhtar ascended the throne under the title of Muhamamd Shah in September 1719. In the beginning Muhammad Shah was a puppet in the hands of Sayyid brothers who soon began to lose their...

Ghaseti Begum: The Begum of Motijheel

Clive meeting Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, (By Francis Hayman) Ghaseti Begum, originally named Mehar un-Nisa, was the eldest daughter of Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. She was married to Nawazish Muhammad Khan. Ghaseti Begum went all out to conspire against her nephew Siraj-ud-Daula who was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. Siraj-ud-Daula was defeated by the British under Lord Clive in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and was killed on the orders of Miran, the son of Mir Jafar who was now made the Nawab of Bengal by the British. Ghaseti Begum was called the Begum of Motijheel due to her residence at the bend of this reservoir in Murshidabad. Motijheel or Pearl Lake is an oxbow lake in Murshidabad. The lake was created by her husband Nawazish Muhammad Khan. Nawazish Muhammad Khan died of grief when his adopted son Ekram-ud-Daulah succumbed to smallpox at a yo...

Chauth and sardeshmukhi: Two important taxes in the Maratha taxation system

Chauth and sardeshmukhi were the two most important taxes in the taxation system of the powerful Maratha state founded by brilliant Maratha leader Shivaji (1627-1680). According to Mahadev Govind Ranade , a famous Indian scholar and freedom fighter, chauth was a military tribute that was levied as a quid pro quo for protection against the invasion of a third power. But eminent historian Jadunath Sarkar does not ascribe to this view. According to him, chauth, 25% tax on revenue or produce, was realized from the alien territories to save themselves from the unwelcome presence of the Maratha soldiers and civil underlings. Shivaji was not under obligation to guard the territory from foreign invasion or internal disorder. According to another authority S. G Sardesai , chauth was a military tribute paid by the conquered or hostile territories. Since Shivaji was the hereditary sardeshmukh (Chief Headmand) of Maharashtra, he demanded an additional levy of 10 percent know...

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