The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c15.148

v4.c15.148

The massacre of Chitor, which has made the place unclean and accursed to its old royal house, has left an indelible blot on Akbar’s name. No such horrors were perpetrated by the brutal ‘Alā-ud-dīn, and Abu-’l-Fazl is at some pains to excuse the contrast by explaining that the civil population, which had been most active during Akbar’s siege, had taken no part in the defence in ‘Alā-ud-dīn’s siege, but “the sin of the slaughter of Chitor” will ever sully the memory of Akbar. His commemoration of the heroism of Jai Mal and Patta by placing statues of them, mounted on elephants, at the gate of his imperial palace at Āgra was probably intended as a compliment, but it was open to misconstruction.