Justifying Defeat: A Rajput Perspective on the Age of Akbar

Abstract

AbstractThis article explores a darker side of cultural dialogue—the experience of subjugation to a cultural “other”—through a case study of Rao Surjan of Bundi, a Rajput warrior who was defeated by Mughal emperor Akbar in 1569. Surjan’s surrender of Ranthambhor fort was celebrated in Mughal chronicles such as theAkbarnamabut condemned in Nainsi’sKhyatand other Rajput texts. Drawing primarily onSurjanacarita, a Sanskrit poem from about 1590, this article examines the literary strategies that were employed to justify Surjan’s submission to Akbar and his subsequent career as a Mughalmansabdar(imperial rank-holder).