Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav has stirred controversy with his claim that Rajput ruler Rana Sanga invited Mughal emperor Babur to India to fight against Ibrahim Lodi. The statement has been seen as an insult to Hindus and the Rajput community. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has defended his party member, while critics demand an apology. The MP maintains that Indian Muslims do not consider Babur as their icon.
SP ‘s Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Lal Suman referred to Rana Sanga in Rajya Sabha and called him a traitor and BJP a descendant of traitors. He said that it has become BJP’s catchphrase that Muslims have Babar’s DNA, do they have Rana Sanga’s DNA who called Babar to attack India.
After this, it has become important to know whether Rana Sanga had called Babar to attack, if this happened then why did the Battle of Khanwa take place between the Mughal ruler and the Rajput ruler?
As we know, the Politics feeds on controversy, so politicians keep creating controversy, but it has become important to know the answer to the question raised by the SP leader. Did Rajput ruler Rana Sanga call Babar? If this is so, then why did the Battle of Khanwa take place between the two?
A different story of Rana Sanga
Rana Sanga or Sangram Singh I, the grandfather of Maharana Pratap, is one of the most beloved kings of Rajasthan, who ruled Mewar from 1508 to 1528. In a culture that prizes valour, he had an illustrious military career, defeating the Sultans of Delhi, Malwa and Gujarat in 18 pitched battles.
Maharana Sanga became the ruler of Mewar in 1509 at the age of 27 after the death of his father Maharana Raimal. He was the greatest warrior among the Maharanas of Mewar. It is believed that under his leadership, Rana Sanga’s kingdom extended from Delhi to Idar in Gujarat and from the border of Marwar to Malwa.
Against Babar, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, he fought two decisive battles against- decisively winning the one in Bayana in 1527.
Rana Sanga had decimated the Mughal army, over-running Babar’s camp and carrying away as the spoils of war everything from arms and ammunition, musical instruments and even tents. Some of these items are on display in the museums of Udaipur.
The Rana, though, lost the battle of Khandwa two months later, when Babar brought in his cannons. After the battle, he had died of his wounds.
It was under his leadership that the last Kshatriya union was formed against foreign invaders in which many princely states of North India participated. Maharana Sanga was a warrior who did not have one hand and one eye, limped while walking and had 80 wounds on his body. He was famous for his bravery but it is alleged that he called the Mughal ruler Babar to attack Ibrahim Lodi.
Did Rana Sanga invite Babar?
There is no historical evidence that Rana Sanga invited Babar. Documentary sources say Babar, who was eyeing India after losing Samarkand, was invited by Daulat khan Lodhi, a relative then Delhi Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi.
Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 and founded the Mughal Empire, which ruled for the next 200 years.
“Rana Sanga had already defeated Ibrahim Lodhi once, so why would he need Babur’s help, and in fact Rana Sanga had fought against Babur in Bayana,” pointed out historian Chandraprakash Sharma.
Did Rana Sanga accept Babur’s proposal?
Dr. Mohanlal Gupta, author of the book ‘Influence of Mewar in National Politics’, writes that the messenger gave the message that Emperor Babar wants to fight Ibrahim Lodi, so he has sent you this treaty. In the book, he writes that Babar had said in the message that I will attack Delhi from here and you attack from there. Some historians believe that Maharana Sanga gave his approval to that message of Babar. It is said that Maharana Sanga gave his approval as a strategy so that the foreign ruler could be killed by foreign power.
Babar had suffered a crushing defeat
Some historians have raised the question that if Maharana Sanga had invited Babar, then why did a fierce battle take place between the two? The same Babar whose army defeated Lodi had to face a crushing defeat at the hands of the Rajput army in Bayana.
Babar got success for the fifth time
Historians like GN Sharma and Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojha claim that Babur had already made up his mind to attack India. He had tried this earlier also. First of all, he attacked Punjab in 1519, before the battle of Panipat in 1526, Babur tried to attack four times but was unsuccessful. He succeeded in the fifth time, Ibrahim Lodi was defeated. Another reason is that in 1511-12 Babur had to leave Samarkand, so he had no other option except India. When Babur’s army attacked Delhi, Lodi had become very weak. After winning the battle of Panipat in 1526, when Babur started expanding his dominion, then the Mewar king Maharana Sanga did not accept Babur’s subordination.
Rana Sanga first defeated Babar, then lost
The result of this was that in February 1527, Rana Sanga and Babur fought in Bayana in which the Mughal ruler lost but like Prithviraj Chauhan, Rana Sanga made a mistake. He left the enemy alive which later proved fatal for him. In the Battle of Khanwa in March 1527, he lost the battle to Babur.
To win the Battle of Khanwa, Babur took the help of religion and assumed the title of Ghazi. It is said that when the unconscious Rana Sanga was brought out of the battlefield, on regaining consciousness, he asked his chieftains to fight the battle again but some angry chieftains poisoned Rana Sanga and killed him.
