Banadi Shehak

Mirzadi

Banadi Shehak
میرزادی بنادی شہک
ReignNobility of Rind tribe
Residencemodern-day Pakistan
Wars and battlesBattle of Chausa
FamilyRind tribe
FatherMir Shehak
OccupationNobility and Warrior

Banadi Shehak (Urdu: بنادی شہک) was a nobility and female warrior of the 16th century from modern-day Pakistan. She was Mirzadi (Princess) of Rind tribe and sister of Mir Chakar Rind.[1][2][3]

She participated in the battle of Chausa, which was a battle between Mughals and Afghans in which Rind tribe was supporting Mughals.[4] After a fierce battle, Mughals and Rind tribe started retreating from the battlefield, seeing which Shehak broke her bangles by hitting her arms with her knees[1] and came into the battlefield herself with a sword in her hand. She killed many men, until she came in direct combat with Afghan general Sher Shah Suri.[2][3] Afghan general told her, "you, being a women, keep aside from my way",[3] to which Shehak replied, "You might think that women are the ones who sit at homes, are busy in adornment and in engaging their husbands, but it is not so!".[2]

Rind tribal forces, seeing their Mirzadi (Princess) fighting in the battlefield, stopped retreating and charged once again on the enemy[2] killing 30,000 enemy troops.[1] However, Mughals and Rind tribe ultimately lost the battle.[5] Banadi Shehak died on the same battlefield.

  1. ^ a b c Arif, Muhammad (2021). "The Role of Baloch in Restoration of Mughal Dynasty". Pakistan Perspectives. 26 (2). Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi.
  2. ^ a b c d Jan, Pari (April 26, 2020). "The feminine inspiration: Banadi Baloch". Voice of Balochistan. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Ali, Amjad (May 23, 2017). "The war of Delhi and the heroic role of Banadi Baloch". The Baloch News. Archived from the original on 2017-05-28. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  4. ^ Mut̤ālaʻah-yi Pākistān. Pakistan Study Centre, University of Balochistan. 1996. p. 100.
  5. ^ "Sher Shah of Sur". Encyclopædia Britannica. May 18, 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022. At the Battle of Chausa on June 26, 1539, he [Sher Shah Suri] defeated the Mughal emperor Humāyūn and ... also suppressed the Baluch chiefs on the northwestern frontier.