Siege of Mankot (1557)

Siege of Mankot (1557)
	; Painting of Afghan troops surrendering to Mughal forces at the Siege of Mankot. Akbarnama (1590-95)
Date	January – 25 July 1557
Location	Mankot
Belligerents
Mughal Empire	Sur loyalists
Commanders and leaders
Bairam Khan; Akbar	Sikandar Shah Suri

The siege of Mankot (1557) was a major confrontation between the Sur Empire and the Mughal Empire led by a young Akbar.

It was one of the last events of the Mughal reconquest, and the first major military encounter of the young Akbar, who was still under the regency of Bairam Khan. In 1557, Sikandar Shah Suri had taken refuge in the castle of Mankot with his troops. The Afghan garrison resisted during 6 months using artillery and matchlocks, but had to surrender when food ran out.

Sikandar surrendered to the Mughal forces led by Bairam Khan on 25 July 1557. Sikandar was pardoned and entered the service of emperor Akbar, but soon fell out of favor.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Illustrations of the siege were included in several editions of the Akbarnama.^[3]

References

^ Nath, Pratyay (24 May 2019). "Narratives of Akbar's Sieges and the Construction of Mughal Universal Sovereignty". The World of the Siege (Narratives of Akbar’s Sieges and the Construction of Mughal Universal Sovereignty). Brill. p. 182. ISBN 978-90-04-39569-5. Mankot (1557) was the first siege of Akbar's career and was undertaken at a stage when he was still under the regency of Bairam Khan. Chased by Mughal troops, the Afghan chieftain Sikandar Sur had taken refuge in this fort in the Himalayan foothills near the Punjab Plains of North India. Sikandar was a member of the aristocracy of the Afghan sultanate that Mughal armies had defeated on the plains of Panipat the year before. This siege represented an important phase in the struggle of the emergent Mughal Empire against the increasingly-cornered Afghan aristocracy – one that would continue for decades to come. It was a keenly contested siege during which the garrison defended the fort valiantly with artillery and matchlocks. They sued for peace after almost six months, only after they were seriously threatened by rising desertions and a scarcity of food. Sikandar was pardoned by the young emperor and admitted into the Mughal officialdom.
^ Abu'l Fazl, Akbarnama, tr. H. Beveridge, reprint, Delhi, 2002, vol.2, p.90-91
^ ^a ^b "Bairam Khan Petitions The Young Akbar Following The Siege of Mankot in 1557. First Akbarnama, Victoria and Albert Museum, circa 1590-95. Arts of the Islamic World 2019". Sotheby's.

[PN-1] Nath, Pratyay (24 May 2019). "Narratives of Akbar's Sieges and the Construction of Mughal Universal Sovereignty". The World of the Siege (Narratives of Akbar’s Sieges and the Construction of Mughal Universal Sovereignty). Brill. p. 182. ISBN 978-90-04-39569-5. Mankot (1557) was the first siege of Akbar's career and was undertaken at a stage when he was still under the regency of Bairam Khan. Chased by Mughal troops, the Afghan chieftain Sikandar Sur had taken refuge in this fort in the Himalayan foothills near the Punjab Plains of North India. Sikandar was a member of the aristocracy of the Afghan sultanate that Mughal armies had defeated on the plains of Panipat the year before. This siege represented an important phase in the struggle of the emergent Mughal Empire against the increasingly-cornered Afghan aristocracy – one that would continue for decades to come. It was a keenly contested siege during which the garrison defended the fort valiantly with artillery and matchlocks. They sued for peace after almost six months, only after they were seriously threatened by rising desertions and a scarcity of food. Sikandar was pardoned by the young emperor and admitted into the Mughal officialdom.

[2] Abu'l Fazl, Akbarnama, tr. H. Beveridge, reprint, Delhi, 2002, vol.2, p.90-91

[auto-3] "Bairam Khan Petitions The Young Akbar Following The Siege of Mankot in 1557. First Akbarnama, Victoria and Albert Museum, circa 1590-95. Arts of the Islamic World 2019". Sotheby's.

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