Corrado, Carly. “Essay: The Capture of Fort Mirtha.” In The Akbarnama: A Digital Art History Student Project, April 5, 2018. .
This painting depicts the capture of Fort Mirtha in North-west India near Jodpur. It was captured by the Mughal forces and led by Mirza Sharaf ud-Din Hussain in 1561. Shàh Bidgàh Khán and his son along with other nobles assisted Mirzà Sharafu ud- Din Hussain in the capturing of fort Mirtha during Akbars reign.
The nobles had thought that the capturing of the fort would not be difficult however; they soon discovered that they were wrong. Upon reaching the fort they discovered that the Rajputs were going to put up a fight. This caused Mirza Sharaf- ud Din Hussain to come up with new methods for the capture. Mirzà Sharafu ud- Din Hussain surrounded the fort with his nobles and they placed a mine under one of the main towers. They filled a mine with gunpowder and set fire to it. The main towers erupted in a furry of red flames. The fortress was then surrendered and it was mutually agreed that the garrison would leave with their horses and arms but leave all of their property and possessions. Originally there had been a peaceful agreement in regards to the capture and handing over of the fort of Mirtha. However, when the soldiers went to take possession of the fort Deo-dás set fire to his property, which was in the fortress. He set fire to his property to demonstrate his resistant to the surrendering of the fort. After Deo-dás set the fire he fled only to be pursued by the imperial army. Quite recklessly he all of a sudden turned around and begin to engage in battle with Hussain and his nobles. Many royal soldiers as well as Ràjpúts lost their lives including Deo-dás who was thrown off his horse and then cut to pieces by the imperial forces. In the end Mirza Sharaf ud-Din Hussain and his nobles conquered the fort of Mirtha and gained full control of the fortThe building in this illustration is depicted in reverse perspective. We are able to identify the reverse perspective because the back of the building is longer than the front. The use of this perspective is to show off the architecture of the building. The battle scene is depicted in intricate detail. The clothing is a variety of vibrant colors detailed with a variety of different patterns. Even the shields are detailed with patterns and all of them vary in color and details. There are some people who are still in the burning fort and they notice the flames but seem unconcerned in evacuating the building.
This painting is from the Akbarnama. The Emperor Akbar as a chronicle of his reign commissioned the Akbarnama. Akbar was the third Mughal emperor and one of the most notable. His court historian and biographer was Abul Fazl and it was he who wrote the Akbarnama around 1590. During the same decade numerous different artists contributed to the illustrations of the akbarnama. Today the akbarnama is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Jodhpur is a city in Rajasthan. Jodhpur was once the capital of the princely state of Jodhpur, it is in the center of a region called Marwar, which means land of death, because due to the barren soil not much grows there (Rothermund 2006). The princely state of Jodhpur was founded in 1212 and it found itself in a constant state of conflict with the sultans of Delhi. The Mughals then conquered it and then later Marathas captured this area as well (Rothermund 2006). It is the second largest city in the India state of Rajastjan and in contemporary society experiences lots of tourism due to its year round nice weather and as well for the palaces, forts and temples (Imam 2011).
The Rajputs in this illustration are the ones who are struggling to hold back the royal forces from capturing the fort. They are depicted wearing the white turbans. Many were killed or left the battle defeated and half dead. Rajput is a classification of Indian warrior caste. They are widespread across northwestern India and following India's independence in 1947, twenty-three small Rajput states that had once formed Rajputana were turned into the state of Rajasthan (Hockings 2002). The Rajput's are both Hindu and Muslim however, the majority are Hindus who have assigned themselves to the Kshatrya Caste (Hockings 2002). The Kshatrya caste is an upper caste that was assigned to government as well as military professions.
The Mughals were dominant in both firearms and cavalry and it is the combination of these two aspects that allowed them to be successful in battle. The Mughals used mounted archers, which was seen as a deadly choice of weapon until the 1800s. This technique involved riding your horse at a speed of 30 miles per hour and shooting half a dozen arrows from a re-curved composite bow (Roy 2012).
The Mughal battle techniques were a combination of Ottoman and Uzbek methods of warfare (Roy 2012). The Mongols as well as the Ottomans were responsible for the introduction of gunpowder and cannon in Northern India (Roy 2012). In the first half of the seventeenth century, the Mughal Empire was able to conquer the Deccan sultanates by using a superior and advanced number of cavalry and larger numbers of heavy guns (Roy 2012). The Mughals had the advantage of speed, as the weapons they used were quicker than others. "With their large numbers of good cavalry, Mughal India lacked the incentive to develop drilled and disciplined infantry"" (Roy 2012). The Rajput cavalry was equipped with sabers as demonstrated in the illustration and it was much less effective than the mounted archers (Roy 2012). The Mughals started to use firearms and mines for battle and warfare in the last decade of the sixteenth century (Roy 2012)Horses played an early and important role as Mughal emperors gave special importance to these animals. To receive a gift of a great horse was considered a great honor. The search for the perfect horse was quite the process as there are many minute details to consider before purchasing the horse. India produced good, high quality breeds of horses (Anjum 2013). The Mughal emperors divided the horses into categories based on their breeds but also based on their price. There were two classes of horses, Khasah and those that were not Khasah (Anjum 2013). The Khasah are of the first class horses that royalty used while those that were not Khasah were considered second-class horses.
The Mughal cavalry horses were divided based on their breed and there were seven different classes and they were also divided based on their color. Horses of a certain color were considered good and auspicious while certain other colors were considered inauspicious (Anjum 2013). Horses imported to India, no matter where they were from, were forced to adapt to Indian eating habits. Instead of being served hay and oats they were fed in the morning and it consisted of two or three balls made of wheaten flour and butter (Anjum 2013). The Mughals took great care of their horses and in return benefitted greatly from these animals. They were used as a means of transport of humans and goods, to pull carriages and for warfare. The superior horses of the Mughals gave them an advantage in more modern warfare cavalry ways and allowed for successful conquests.