King Hemchandra Vikramaditya- Hemu

https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/e18eais

HistoryFacts : “I dream of an India free of foreign invaders”: Samrat Hemchandra Vikramaditya.

The following chapter hasbeen taken from the historical accounts of :
▪︎Abu’l-Fazl. “Vol II, Chapter XI”. Akbarnama. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
▪︎Eraly, Abraham (2000). Last Spring: The Lives and Times of Great Mughals. Penguin UK. ISBN 9789351181286. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
▪︎Sarkar, Jadunath (1960). Military History of India. Orient Longmans. pp. 66–69. ISBN 9780861251551.
▪︎https://youtu.be/L1TnLbCE8hM (Study IQ- Biography series)
▪︎Hadi, Nabi (1994). Dictionary of Indo-Persian literature. Janpath, New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. p. 53. ISBN 9788170173113. Retrieved 12 July 2016.

Hemu , famously known as ‘Maharaja Hemchandra Vikramaditya’, was an Indian warrior king who established his short-lived dominance during the period of Islamic invasion in the Indian Subcontinent. The place of his birth is still disputed among the historians, as some historians claim that he was a Rajput born in Bengal, whereas some say that he was born in a Bengali family. However, the fact that he was an Indian fighting for the freedom of Indians, is enough for us to study his character and military conquests.

The defeat of Afghan invaders by the Uzbeki invader Babar in the 1st Battle of Panipat, lead to the establishment of Mughal Dynasty in north-western parts of the Indian Subcontinent. Since then the Mughal Dynasty emerged out as an imperial force & the Afghan establishment in India was crumbling. Hence, Adil Shah Suri of the Afghan Sur Dynasty appointed a native Indian fearless warrior as the Military General & Chief Minister of his court in order to tackle the Mughals. They called him ‘Hemu’. He fought Afghan rebels across Northern India from Punjab to Bengal & the Mughal forces of Humayun and Akbar in Agra & Delhi, winning 22 battles consecutively. He later seperated himself from the Sur Dynasty and established his own Empire (The Vikramaditya Empire). It was an independent short-lived empire. His army had Hindu, Sikh (followers of Guru Nanak Dev/1st Sikh Guru) & aslo Afghan soldiers (mostly Pashtuns). He was a courageous visionary leader with a dream of building a nation free of foreign invaders and their religious persecution on the indigenous population. But unfortunately he was martyred on 5th November 1556 in the 2nd Battle of Panipat fighting the Mughal Army of Emperor Akbar under the command of Bairam Khan. He finds a brief mention in the #Akbarnama written by Abul Fazl, where he describes the ferocious nature of Hemu & his innovative military strategies.

The Battle of Tughlaqabad (also known as the Battle of Delhi) was a notable battle fought on 7th October 1556 between Hem Chandra and the forces of the Mughal emperor Akbar led by Tardi Beg Khan at Tughlaqabad near Delhi. The battle ended in a victory for Hem Chandra who took possession of Delhi and claimed royal status, assuming the title of Raja Vikramaditya. Following his failure, Tardi Beg was executed by Akbar’s regent, Bairam Khan. The two armies would meet again at Panipat a month later with opposite results.