Jahangir - Conquests

Conquests

In the year 1594 Jahangir's was dispatched by his father the Mughal Emperor Akbar, alongside Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan and Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak to defeat the renegade Vir Singh Deo of Bandela and capture the city of Orchha, which was considered the center of the revolt. Jahangir arrived with a force of 12,000 after many ferocious encounters and the Battle of Orchha, Jahangir finally subdued the Bandela and ordered Vir Singh Deo to surrender. After tremendous casualties and the start of negotiations between the two, Vir Singh Deo handed over 5000 Bundela infantry and 1000 cavalry but he feared Mughal retaliation and remained a fugitive until his death. The victorious Jahangir Only 16 years of age, ordered the completion of the Jahangir Mahal a famous Mughal citadel in Orchha to commemorate and honor his victory.

Jahangir then gathered his forces under the command of Ali Kuli Khan and fought Lakshmi Narayan of Koch Bihar and successfully captured Tripura and Manipur. Lakshmi Narayan, then accepted the Mughals as his suzerains he was given the title Nazir and later established a garrison at Atharokotha.

In 1613, the Portuguese seized the Mughal ship Rahimi, which had set out from Surat on its way with a large cargo of 100,000 rupees and Pilgrims, who were on their way to Mecca and Medina in order to attend the annual Hajj. Jahangir was outraged by the capture of the ship and the captivity of its crew and guests. The Mughal Emperor Jahangir, ordered the apprehension of all Portuguese within the Mughal Empire, he further confiscated churches that belonged to the Jesuits.

Jahangir was responsible for ending a century long struggle with the state of Mewar. The campaign against the Rajputs was pushed so extensively that the latter were made to submit and that too with a great loss of life and property. Jahangir also thought of capturing Kangra Fort, which Akbar had failed to do. Consequently a siege was laid, which lasted for fourteen months, and the fort was taken in 1620.

The district of Kistwar, in the state of Kashmir, was also conquered.