Siege of Chittor, Siege of Chittorgarh, In October 1567, well equipped Mughal forces of approximately 5000 men led by Akbar surrounded and besieged 8000 Hindu Rajputs in Chittorgarh Fort and within a few months Akbar's ranks expanded to over 50,000 men and possibly more than 60,000 troops during the ending phases of the siege.

The Rajput began to emerge as a dominant power after the defeat of the Lodi dynasty, the Rajputs were utterly opposed to the rise of the Mughal Empire and they often supported Akbars fellow Muslim rivals including Baz Bahadur causing much tension in the region. Akbar set out on a series of campaign against the Rajputs, but in the year 1567 he fought many battles including the Battle of Thanesar, and realized that the Rajput owned Chittorgarh Fort must be eliminated mainly because it was used as a bastion for those who opposed him.

Akbar was known in his own time as a military genius. Due to the constant state of war between the Hindu Rajputs and the Mughal Empire, Akbar began to realize the importance of and utilize the Rajput blades known as the Kitar alongside the Mughal Talwars in battle. Akbar began to believe that War elephants were the keys to military success and that that a single "Armored Elephant" was equal to 500 Sowars. He also noted that elephants have the ability to move through the densest of forests clearing through woods and paving way for both the Mughal Sepoys, Sowars and Cannons. Akbar personally owned 5000 well trained elephants and recorded the use of almost 40,000 across his Mughal Empire. Akbar's war elephants were also trained to wrestle other elephants, attack Sowars and crumble entire Sepoy ranks. He is also known to have replaced pairs of elephant tusks with a pair of double-curved Tusk Swords. War elephants were also utilized to carry out executions and crush the bodies of all those who fought against the Mughal Emperor.

Chittorgarh (Hindi: चित्तौड़गढ़)  pronunciation (help·info)} (also Chittor, Chittaur, or Chittaurgarh) is a city and a municipality in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgharh District and a former capital of the Sisodia clans of Rajputs of Mewar. The city of Chittaurgarh is located on the banks of river Gambhiri and Berach. The district was bifurcated and a new district namely Pratap Garh was created with certain portion taken from Udaipur district in the newly created district of Pratap Garh.

Fiercely independent, the fort of Chittor was under siege thrice and each time they fought bravely and thrice Jauhar was committed by the ladies and children, first led by Rani Padmini, and later by Rani Karnavati. The famous warriers Gora and Badal, in the war against Allaudin Khalji (1303 AD), have become legendary. The sacrifice of Jaimal and Phata in the war against the Mughals (1568 AD) was so great that the Mughal Empror Akbar installed their statues in the fort of Agra. It has also been land of worship for Meera. Chittorgarh is home to the Chittorgarh Fort, the largest fort in Asia.