History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c49.s10: §11. Difficulties of the imperialists.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c49.s10
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§11. Difficulties of the imperialists.
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The rough circle formed by the massed hills of Mewar and stretching from Udaipur westwards to Kamalmir and from Rajsamudra lake southwards to Salumbra, resembled a vast impregnable fort with three gates, opening east, north and west, through which the garrison could sally out in full force and crush any isolated Mughal outpost or thin Mughal detachment that seemed an easy prey. The Mughals, on the other hand, could effect a concentration only by moving along a long arc of which the Rana held the short base. The Emperor's plan of campaign was virtually that of besieging this immense natural circle and breaking into it through its three gates,—Udaipur, Rajsamudra and Deosuri.
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Prince Akbar had been left at Chitor in charge of all the Mughal posts east of the Aravali and south of Ajmir. But his force was too small for the effective defence of this vast region. Under his direct command were probably 12,000 men,[*] and after deducting the large detachments he had to send out under his chief lieutenants, Hasan Ali Khan and Tahawwur Khan, he could never spare more than 2,000 men from his own corps to strengthen any threatened outpost. On the other hand, the Rathors alone are said to have numbered 25,000 horsemen, at the lowest computation, while the Udaipur troops must have exceeded 12,000, as they formed three independent divisions.* The Rajputs, fighting in their homeland, knew every nook of the ground and were helped by a friendly peasantry. The Mughals were strangers to that wild broken country and marched among a hostile population, though some Rajput nobles (of the Rathor and Hada clans) fought under the imperial banners.
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∗ The strength of Akbar's army is not given in M.A., Ishwardas or K. K. But we learn from Adab No. 700 that when, on 22nd Nov., after receiving reinforcements from Court, he made Tahawwur Khan force the Jhilwara Pass, the troops employed numbered 9,000 only, with possibly a thousand or two in reserve. That Akbar used to reinforce his subordinates with not more than 2,000 men from his own division is stated in Adab, Nos. 638, 666, 675 and 694. Akbar was
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a divisional commander like his brother Shah Alam, and the force which the latter brought to Ajmir to save the Emperor during Akbar's rebellion, was only 9 to 10 thousand strong. (K. K. ii. 266.) The Rajput bard's statement that "Seventy thousand men under Tyber Khan were commanded to destroy the Rajputs," is an instance of poetic licence.
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The Rathor army before Akbar's defection was estimated at nearly 25,000 horsemen (K. K. ii. 263). When the prince rebelled he was joined by 30,000 Rajputs (K. K. ii. 265, Storia, ii. 245), or 25,000, according to Ishwardas, (81 b). To this body the Maharana contributed only *half* his armed strength (*Adab*, No. 756). The Rathor national militia is frequently computed in the Rajput annals at 'fifty thousand *talwar-i-Rathoran*,'—an indefinite expression,—more than double of the real number. The *Raj-vilas* counts the Mewar army as 25,000 strong.
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∗ Tod, i. ch. 13, p. 397.
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Moreover, while the invaders lacked a decisive superiority in mere numbers, the Rajput soldiers very early established a personal ascendancy over their enemy.