Samrat
Hem Chandra Vikramaditya or Hemu was a Hindu emperor in Delhi who got defeated
by Akbar/Humanyun’s army in the Battle for Delhi. Hemu belonged to Rewari in
present-day Haryana, who earlier was an adviser to Sher Shah Suri’s son Islam
Shah from 1545 to 1553.
On
January 24, 1556, the Mughal ruler Humanyun died in Delhi and was succeeded by
his son, Akbar at Kalanaur, when he was only thirteen years old. On February
14, 1556, Akbar enthroned as 3rd Mughal Emperor of India.
Akbar
and his guardian Bairam Khan did not participate in this battle and were kept
themselves at a 5 Km away from the battlefield. The Mughal Vanguard consisted
of 10,000 cavalries, out of which 5000 were experienced veteran soldiers and
were ready to meet the advancing army of Hemu. Hemu led his army himself, and
his army consisted of 1500 war elephants and a vanguard of artillery park. Hemu
marched in excellent order with 30,000 practiced horsemen composed of Rajputs
and Afghans.
Hemu
commanding his forces from atop an elephant, was on a winning track and was
about to rout Akbar’s army when an arrow struck Hemu’s squinting eye. The arrow
passed his brain cleanout from the cup of his head, and he became unconscious.
Hence, the Hemu’s army was in disarray and defeated in the resultant confusion.
Hemu’s supporters constructed a Commemorative at the site of his beheading,
which still exists at the village Saudhapur on Jind Road at Panipat.
Historian
SAA Rizvi writes in his book, “The Wonder that was India Volume 2,” “The
historian Abu’l Fazl pays an unqualified tribute to Himu’s administrative and
military talents and suggests that had his (Hemu) life been spared, Akbar’s
training would have made him one of the architects of the Mughal Empire.”
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