page_title: Siege of Chittorgarh (1303)
section_title: The siege
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Chittorgarh (1303) / The siege
caption_attribution_description: English: Chittorgarh Fort, a famous monument of India
context_page_description: In 1303, the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji captured the Chittor Fort from the Guhila king Ratnasimha, after an eight month long siege. The conflict has been described in several legendary accounts, including the historic epic poem Padmavat, which claims that Alauddin's motive was to obtain Ratnasimha's beautiful wife Padmavati.
context_section_description: On 28 January 1303, Alauddin started his march to Chittor with a large army. After arriving near the fort, he set up a camp between the Berach and Gambhiri rivers. His army then surrounded the fort from all the sides. Alauddin stationed himself at Chitori hillock located to the north of the fort.
  The siege went on for nearly 8 months, which suggests that the defenders put up a strong resistance. Amir Khusrau, who accompanied Alauddin to Chittor, has described the siege in brief, in his Khaza'in ul-Futuh. However, no detailed account of the siege operations is available. Khusrau implies that the frontal attacks by the invaders failed twice. He states that during the two months of the rainy season, the invaders managed to reach the "waist" of the hill, but could not advance further. Alauddin ordered the fort to be pelted with stones from siege engines (munjaniqs), while his armoured soldiers attacked it from all sides.
  The fort garrison may have suffered from a famine or an epidemic. On 26 August 1303, Alauddin entered the fort. After his victory, Alauddin ordered a general massacre of Chittor's population. According to Amir Khusrau, 30,000 Hindus were "cut down like dry grass" as a result of this order.
caption: Chittor Fort in 2011
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