Early Life
Hem Chandra was born at Deviti-Machheri village of Alwar District in Rajasthan in 1501. His father Rai Puran Das, a Dhusar Brahmin, was involved in the profession of Purohiti, the performing of Hindu religious ceremonies. However, due to persecution by Mughals of Hindus who performed religious ceremonies, Rai Puran Das could not make both ends meet as a Purohit (priest). Therefore he gave up priesthood and moved to Qutabpur village, near Rewari in present-day Haryana. There he traded in various types of salts, and Hemu was raised and educated.
Apart from learning Sanskrit and Hindi, Hemu was educated in Persian, Arabic and Arithmetic. During his childhood, he was fond of exercise and wrestling and while crushing salt in an iron pot, he would monitor his strength. He trained in horse-riding at his friend Sehdev's village. Sehdev was a Rajput and he participated in all the battles that Hemu later fought except the Second Battle of Panipat. Hemu was brought up in a religious environment; his father was a member of Vallabha Sampradaya of Vrindavan and visited various religious sites in 1535 A.D.as far as Sindh where he converted the then Governor of Sind, Parmanand, into Vallabha Sampradaya.
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