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An empire that had been thriving for centuries had its fate sealed in a single battle. This wasn’t any war against the enemy. This was the war amongst the future of the empire- a bloody civil war where brothers had swords against each other's throat, all for a crown.
Happened on 29th May 1658
On one side was the most powerful in the empire just after the emperor, crown prince Dara Shikoh. He was aided by mighty nobles including Rao Chhatrasal Hada, Rustam Khan Deccani and Ram Singh Rautella. On the other hand, stood the most ambitious person in the empire, Aurangzeb. In this race to the throne, he had the support of his brother Murad Baksh, Mir Jumla II, and Khalilullah Khan.
Months and months of planning, strategizing and fighting, years of brewing dreams to sit on the Takh-e-Taus had led to this moment. This was the battle of Samugarh.
After his defeat at the hands of Aurangzeb in the Battle of Dharmat, Shikoh took a step back and retreated his army to Samugarh. When his sibling came to know of this news, he marched on. His forces, though less, surrounded Dara’s army and made an abandoned fortress their base.
A final showdown was inevitable and both the princes knew this. Hence, they were prepared accordingly. Dara Shikoh ordered special canons from Jaigarh Fort. His troops were armed with high-tech muskets.
Aurangzeb lacked artillery but had a foolproof battle plan ready. His trusted general Mir Jumla, who happened to be a soldier soldered in the ways of war hid whatever cannons they had across the battlefield. The stage was set, and the bloodshed was about to begin.
In the scathing heat of May, both armies unleashed hellfire on each other. Shikoh revealed his wild card first, the deadly Jaigarh cannons. While these cannons were effective enough to win any war, he made a mistake that would soon cost him everything. He had them chained together which restrained their mobility and affected their performance. As a response, Aurangzeb started firing from his cannons.
The entire battlefield volleyed and thundered. Just as both the parties felt the conclusion to be near, something extremely anti-climactic happened. It rained.
This brief spell could not quench the thirst of their yearning for the crown and the fighting began as soon as the sky cleared. Murad Baksh saw this as the perfect moment to settle his debt with sworn enemy Chhatrasal and invited a ferocious attack on him. Rustam Khan Deccani instead tried to ambush Murad. His over smart plan could not materialize as Aurangzeb fired a cannonball towards him. This attack took down Chhatrasal and a large chunk of Shikoh’s army. From this point, things started going downhill for the beloved of the empire.
To safeguard himself from heavy bombardment, Shikoh got off from his elephant and the animal ran off. In the frenzy of the war zone, his soldiers mistook this as proof of the death of their leader. What next? They started to surrender to secure mercy.
A brilliant man otherwise, Dara Shikoh was not as bright when it came to the matter of war. His lack of skills was evident. Aurangzeb, a soldier forged in the heat of battles, managed to secure a win for himself.
He marched into the imperial capital as the new emperor. Shahjahan did not give in until he blocked the city’s water supply. The new emperor was crowned as a gleaming crown sat on his head. Shikoh was captured, paraded throughout the city, and finally lost his head to charges of apostasy.
The war of succession that began with five princes of a mighty empire ended with the success of Aurangzeb.
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