Monuments to Enemies? ‘Rajput’ Statues in Mughal Capitals

Abstract

AbstractVarious descriptions of the two Mughal capitals, Agra and Delhi, mention the gates of both royal forts as decorated with the statues of two warriors mounted on elephants. The list of those who had described these sculptures and reconstructed their history includes late-medieval Indian writers, European travellers to the Mughal empire, scholars from the nineteenth century onwards, authors of tourist guides; there is a popular oral narrative on them as well. The most widely spread version attributes the statues to the Rajput warriors who defended Chittor against the Mughal invasion and who were immortalised by the emperor Akbar in a sign of his recognition of their valour. This article is an attempt to ‘investigate’ the controversial story of a Mughal ruler glorifying his sworn enemies and to analyse historical circumstances that could be a background for such a narrative.