Battle of Chanderi

The Battle of Chanderi took place in the aftermath of the Battle of Khanwa in which the Mughal Emperor Babur had defeated a confederacy of Rajputs and Afghans which was headed by Rana Sanga of Mewar. On receiving news that Rana Sanga had renewed war preparations to renew the conflict with him, Babur decided to isolate the Rana by inflicting a military defeat on one of his staunchest allies Medini Rao who was the ruler of Malwa. Consequently, in December 1527, taking a circumlocutious route Babur marched to the fortress of Chanderi in Malwa. Upon reaching Chanderi, on January 20, 1528, Babur offered Shamsabad to Medini Rao in exchange for Chanderi as a peace overture, but the offer was rejected by Rao. The outer fortress of Chanderi was taken by Babur's army at night, and the next morning the upper fort was captured. Babur himself expressed surprise that the upper fort had fallen within an hour of the final assault.

Medini Rao organized the terrible Jauhar ceremony during which women and children within the fortress were killed. A small number of soldiers also collected in Medini Rao's house and proceeded to slay each other in collective suicide. This sacrifice does not seem to have impressed Babur who does not express a word of admiration for the enemy in his autobiography. Rather, as he had done after Khanwa, he ordered a tower of skulls—a practice formulated by Timur against opponents, irrespective of religious belief—to be erected. The practice of constructing a tower of skulls was to record a monumental victory and also to terrorize opponents, according to Chandra. Babur had earlier used the same tactic against the Afghans of Bajaur.