Haryana joins Rajasthan bid to get Akbar defeated at battle of Haldighati

JAIPUR: After attempts by BJP ministers from Rajasthan to get history books rewritten in university courses to say that the battle of Haldighati was won by Maharana Pratap and not by Akbar, the BJP-led government in neighbouring Haryana, too, is keen on amending chapters on this historical event.

TOI had published a report on February 5 saying that MLA Mohanlal Gupta, who is also a government nominee in the Rajasthan University (RU) syndicate, had proposed that textbooks be rewritten to say that the 1576 battle was won by Maharana Pratap. The popular view of historians is that the Mughal emperor's forces had defeated the Rajput king.

Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma has asked RU to provide research material proving that Akbar was defeated by the king of Mewar.


“Akbar is nowhere close to the greatness and valour of Maharana Pratap. Our students have been subjected to a distorted version of history fed by successive Congress regimes. All distorted versions, including the Battle of Haldighati, will be changed in Haryana soon,“ Sharma told TOI over phone.

The minister had spoken to C S Sharma, an Udaipurbased author, about his book 'Maharana Pratap aur Haldighati Ka Yudh', which claims that the battle was won by Pratap. However, school and college textbooks in Rajasthan either say that Akbar defeated Pratap or that both sides had withdrawn from the battle.

The Haryana minister said the author explained “how evidence on Maharanaji badly defeating Akbar's forces was ignored“.

History department head K S Sharma confirmed receiving a mail from the Haryana minister seeking information about Gupta's proposal and said that they had already started working on his proposition.

Three ministers of the BJP-ruled government in Rajasthan, Kalicharan Saraf, Vasudev Devnani and Rajpal Shekawat, have supported Gupta's amendment. Devnani holds the education portfolio.