Makara formation

The same night Malik Kafur visited the fort of Chittod stating that if the Rajputs did not come out of their fort to fight against their Sultan, the sultan would slaughter 100 persons every hour until the Rajputs did come out…

After hearing what Malik Kafur said, the people inside the fort got furious. Although the Rajput warriors managed to bring all the women and children from surrounding villages inside the fort, there were still men who were left behind in those villages because of the lack of space inside the fort.

On the other hand, when the news reached the Royal hall, all the ministers along with the king looked at Aarv with strange eyes.

'This kid is simply a monster….'

Aarv looked at them embarrassingly as he explained his reasoning,

"The Khilji forces contain at least 80% Cavalry… Their main advantage is on flat ground, where they could fully utilize their speed… So, why should they lay a siege down if they could fight a ground war?"

Everyone felt enlightened by Aarv's reasoning, but still, one question remained on everyone's mind, "Should we accept their condition…?"

The people in the meeting felt conflicted, on one side they did not want to leave the fort but on the other hand, they also did not want Alauddin to kill innocent people.

Maharawal Ratan Simha took a deep breath as he said, "Pass my order, tomorrow, we will go down the fort… we simply cannot allow Alauddin to kill common people."

The ministers did not say anything. They simply bowed and accepted their king's decision.

"Now, let us talk about how we can counter the Khilji cavalry." The king issued the command as a map was placed in front of everyone. Alauddin likes to send his entire army in an arrow formation while he himself stays behind the army. Does anyone have any suggestions?

One minister suggested, "We can use half-moon formation. It is one of the best formations against an arrowhead formation…"

The other one retorted, "Half moon formation is good when you have comparable army sizes. This time the enemy forces are thrice the amount of what we have…"

And the discussion started… Aarv did listen to each word spoken in the meeting. When the debate was getting cold, He finally decided to step in.

"There is one formation that we can use against the enemy who has thrice the number of forces than we do…"

"The Makara formation…"

As soon as the words landed, the hall fell silent. Half the ministers had question marks on their faces as they did not know what the Makara formation was. The other half was quietly pondering over the formation that Aarv suggested.

"Explain…" The king ordered Aarv to explain himself. He only heard about the Makara formation from an old Indian historical book called Mahabharata.

"Ji Annadata…" Aarv bowed as he stepped forward onto the map which was laid before everyone. He first placed clay models of enemy soldiers in an Arrow formation. After that, he started to make the Makara formation with the clay models in his hands.

Soon the Makara formation appeared in front of everyone. The more people looked at the Makara formation, the more shocked they felt.

After laying out the formation, Aarv retreated back to his seat and let everyone judge the formation. This formation Aarv read from the book Mahabharta in which to entrap enemy cavalry forces, Pandavas set their forces in Makara formation.

"But our army does not have the proper training to set up the formation…" One of the ministers said which in fact was a valid point.

For normal formations, armies simply followed their commanders to set up the formations. But the Makara formation was different, it was a complex formation. The army needed proper training to set a complex formation such as the Makara formation.

"Just forming the tip of Makara Formation is enough…" Aarv knew that it was impossible to set up the formation without proper training. So he suggested just forming the tip of the formation.

The king did not say anything as he pondered over what should be done. Although Aarv's formation looked solid against the enemy, it had its own risks. Finally, after pondering for a while, the king said, "Can you train the soldiers in Makara formation?"

"But Annadata…" One of the ministers tried to object but was stopped by the King's intense glare.

"Yes, I can…" Aarv said with confidence.

The king then looked at Aarv's confidant face and said, "You have one night to prepare everything…! Badal, help him.."

"As your wish Annadata…!" both Aarv and Badal Singh bowed and left the meeting room.

"But Annadata isn't it too risky to trust him so much…" One of the older ministers asked the King. The other ministers also looked curious. They also wanted to know the reason why the King trusted him so much.

"The kid received blessings from Eklingi Mahadev Ji. Eklingi Mahadev Ji personally gifted him their Trishul the other day…" The king told them the story of Aarv getting Trishul from Eklingi Mahadev mandir.

Although the king was not personally present when Aarv received it, one person saw it clearly. That person was none other than Maharani Padmini. Who was tying red threads to the Trishul when she saw the scene and later told Maharawal Ratan Simha.

When all the ministers heard the story, they gasped in surprise. Eklingi Mahadev was the 'Aaradhya God' of the Rawal branch of Rajputs. But, After their first king Bappa Rawal's death, nobody managed to get any reaction from the temple.

"Finally, Eklingi Mahadev have blessed us after waiting for more than 700 years…" One of the ministers said with tears in his eyes.

The other ministers looked happy too as they said to Maharawal Ratan Simha, "We will support the Kid with everything we have…"

The meeting ended on a happy note as all the ministers left the royal hall.

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Author thoughts:

Aaradhya: Aaradhya means the first God that people in a tribe or family worshipped.

For those formation lovers, here is the link to Makara Formation:

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-2aecf38302fddefedf42ee7a42a3554a-lq