Rajasthan: ASI Removes Plaques Claiming Rajput Retreat in Haldighati Battle

The plaques removed by Archaeological Survey of India claimed Rajput retreat in the Maharana Pratap-Akbar battle.

Maharana Pratap-Akbar Battle of Haldighati of 1576. Image used for representational purposes only.

(Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has taken off the plaques claiming Rajput retreat during Maharana Pratap-Akbar Battle of Haldighati (1576) from Rajsamand district’s Rakta Talai.

Members of the Rajput community and some public representatives had taken offence to the information relayed by the plaques, and had raised the issue with ASI. On 25 June, Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari had requested the Union Ministry of Tourism and the culture minister to remove the plaques, Hindustan Times reported.

According to an Indian Express report, the plaque installed at Rakta Talai conveyed: “The fight was so deadly that the whole field was strewn with dead bodies. However, circumstances forced the Rajputs to retreat and the struggle ended at mid-day of the 21st June 1576 AD.”

The Battle of Haldighati had been fought on 18 June 1576 by Maharana Pratap of Mewar against Mughal emperor Akbar's armed forces, which had been led by Man Singh I of Amber to victory.

What the ASI Said

Bipin Chandra Negi, ASI Jodhpur circle superintendent, indicated that the plaques had been installed in Chetak Samadhi, Badshahi Bagh, Rakta Talai, and Haldighati in 1975, when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had come to visit the area.

The sites had not been monuments of national importance at that time, and had not come under ASI's jurisdiction, but that of the state's tourism department.

"Over time, they became worn out and also had controversies about date and some other information,” Negi told The Indian Express.

"The plaques should have an ASI notification number, a declaration stating it a monument of national importance and logo. The purpose of fresh plaques is to highlight the importance of the place and event," Negi was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

He further indicated that the changed plaques will communicate "proven historical facts," The Indian Express reported.

The new plaques will be installed in 20-25 days, following a tendering process.

"Heartfelt gratitude to former Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Shri @prahladspatel ji, who accepted my request to rectify the erroneous facts about the bravery of Maharana Pratap ji in the archaeological inscriptions placed at the historical site in Haldighati," MP Diya Kumari tweeted, hailing the government's decision to change the plaques.

(With inputs from The Hindustan Times and The Indian Express)