Jaswal, Sonia. “Rani Durgavati's Heroic Death in the Battle of Gondwana.” In The Akbarnama: A Digital Art History Student Project, April 4, 2018. .
The origin of this picture comes from the akbarnama. The akbarnama was a journal based off the life of the Mughal emperor Akbar. Akbar was the third Mughal emperor and his reign lasted from 1556 to 1605. Some describe Akbar as “ the effective founder of the Mughal Empire in the country of India” (Faruqui, 2005). During the time Akbar was the emperor he wrote down everything he felt and saw that was happening around him and complied into the akbarnama. Abul Fazi was the court historian and biographer of the akbarnama. Originally it was written in Persian and now it has been translated into many different languages. The akbarnama took about 7 years to be completely finished. Akbar hired around 50 artists to illustrate all the images found in the akbarnama including the one of Rani Durgavati’s death in the battle of Gondwana. Kesav and Jagannath were the artists behind this extravagant painting made in 1590-1595.The image was created in opaque watercolor and on gold paper. This image can currently be seen at the Victoria and Albert museum found by the museum number IS. 2:35-186. Victoria and Albert museum purchased the akbarnama in 1896.The image uses many colors and is very descriptive on the scene it is trying to explain. The darker colors emphasize the focal points of the image. Rani is the center of the image on her elephant sitting in her chariot with two daggers in her neck showing her death and representing the fall of her kingdom. Surrounding Rani is an intense battle going on using various weapons exhibiting how important it was for both the Gonds and Mughals to be victorious. The use of animals also symbolizes importance of status the rulers are shown on elephants while everyone else are on horses or on foot. Rani Durgavati’s death in the battle of Gondwana is something that will be strongly honored and remembered. This image takes place in an era where if you were women you were considered to be week and fragile but this image depicts the complete opposite. This image is a capture of one women’s bravery and determination.
Gondwana is a historical area in central India. Gondwana means the “land of the Gonds” (Everett-Heath, 2014). Gonds are small tribe of people that occupied Gondwana for about 4 centuries the 14th to the 18th century. The Gonds were often referred to as the lower cast and despised by the rest because they were considered outsiders. Rani Durgavati got married to Dalpat Shah the King of Gondwana in 1542. In about 1550 Dalpat Shah had passed away so Rani Durgavati solely took control of the Gondwana kingdom. Akbar wanted to extend the conquest of Malwa and that meant conquering the land of Gondwana. Gondwana was a prime area to conquer because it had about 53 forts and was a fairly rich kingdom. Akbar had seen the potential of the land of Gondwana and wanted it at any cost. He sent his trusted military lead hand Asif Khan to pursue his wishes. Akbar’s military led hand was impressed by the wealthy of the kingdom of Gondwana and began to prepare for battle.
Rani Durgavati was well known by her battlefield skills. This image displays the epic battle of Gondwana between the gonds and the Mughals. Rani Durgavati’s army was much smaller compared to the Mughal army. Rani’s army only consisted of 20,000 soldiers fighting on horse and about 1,000 elephants where as the Mughal army had extraordinary numbers of men ready to fight. Rani Durgavati had been training for warfare since she was a child. She was well versed in horse riding, sword fighting and anarchy. Rani Durgavati had a right hand and his name was Adhar. Adhar advised Rani not to fight in this battle but she refused to listen to him and continued to prepare for this battle. She told him “either she would fall or conquer.” There was no other option for her. She decorated herself in her amour and told her men to advance and not to hesitate in anyway. The battle went until nightfall and many of the soldiers from both sides were killed off. Rani told her army that she wanted to finish this war off before the sun rose and not many people agreed with her. Rani had predicted that as soon as the sun would rise that Asaf Khan would make his move and that's exactly what happened. Rani had less than 300 men by her side and still was vigorously trying to fight. Out of nowhere an arrow came and struck her in the right temple and without any hesitation or even a drop of fear she bravely pulled out the arrow and threw it on to the ground. As soon as she finished pulling the arrow out another one came and hit her in the neck she once again tried to pull that arrow out but this time she was aching in pain. Rani Durgavati called for Adhar and told him to take her dagger and to stab her with it. Adhar was confused and didn't know what to say. She explained to him “she would rather kill herself than die at the hands of the enemy.” Adhar told her that he couldn't kill her because she was the same person who he respected and adored. Rani Durgavati was enraged after hearing this. She was so mad that she grabbed her own dagger and stabbed herself with it.
In the early centuries elephants were used in battles to strengthen their armies. Elephants had been used in Indian warfare for about 2,000 years “to charge at, trample, and terrify the opposing solider ”(Atwood, 2014). They were usually covered in amour as well so elephants were basically indestructible. The armor was always very brightly colour and decorative to throw off the enemy. Rani Durgavati’s favorite way to enter into the battlefield was on her elephant. Rani loved her elephant he was one of the quickest and bravest animals she had ever owned. She lovingly named her elephant Sarman. Sarman was a Hindi word for protection. In the image Rani Durgavati is shown sitting in her chariot on her elephant that is covered in amour once protecting her from some of the enemies below her again this is emphasizing the importance of elephants in battle.
Mughals are well known for their diverse culture and inquisitive interests in art and music, “Fusing cultural influences from Persia, Central Asia, and India, the Mughals created a brilliant intellectual and artistic efflorescence whose legacy remains strong today” (Khan, 2018). As you can see the image displays an intense battle going on with instruments playing to support the importance of music in the culture. In the top right corner the image displays some Mughal men beating large drums while others are on horses playing the pungi.
Kesav and Jagannath the artists of the image of Rani Durgavati’s Heroic Death in Battle did an incredible job in creating an image that depicts so many different aspect of the early 15th century history. The battle of Gondwana was a story about a strong women trying to defend her kingdom while the Mughals under the command of their extravagant ruler Akbar were trying expand their empire. The image not only ties in Mughal culture by displaying the instruments used in battle but also shows the use of elephants and horses in warfare.