1. Hemu, known as Hemu Vikramaditya and Hemchandra Vikramaditya, was an Indian king who previously served as a general and Wazir of Adil Shah Suri of the Sur Empire during a period in Indian history when the Mughals and Afghans were vying for power across North India.
Hemu is subsequently said to have been appointed the Chief of Intelligence and Superintendent of Posts.
Hemu, besides being a competent civil administrator, was the finest military mind on the Afghan side after the demise of Sher Shah Suri.
Hemu is reputed to have waged and won as many as 22 battles against the opponents of Adil Shah.
Hemu was overtaken by Hemu at Chibramau and defeated, but somehow managed to escape and plundered his way to Chunar.
Hemu gave chase again, fought Karrani at Chunar, and was again victorious.
Hemu's death gave Hemu an ideal opportunity to defeat the Mughals.
Tardi Beg Khan, who was Akbar's governor in Delhi, wrote to his masters who were camped at Jalandhar, that Hemu had captured Agra and intended to attack the capital Delhi, which could not be defended without reinforcements.
All this time Hemu had been holding 300 choice elephants and a force of select horsemen as a reserve in the centre.
Hemu promptly seized the opportunity and made a sudden charge upon Tardi Beg with this reserve.
Hemu's push was bolstered by the timely arrival of fresh reinforcements from Alwar under the command of Haji Khan.
Hemu assumed the title of Vikramaditya, an appellation used by several Hindu kings in India's ancient past.
Historians such as Satish Chandra do not believe that this implies that Hemu had declared himself an independent king.
Abraham Eraly quotes Ahmad Yadgar who states in his history of the Afghans that Hemu "raised the royal canopy over him, and ordered coin to be struck in his name".
Hemu was quickly able to capture the entire artillery train.
Hemu led his army into battle atop an elephant named Hawai.
Hemu's left was led by his sister's son, Ramya, and the right by Shadi Khan Kakkar.
Hemu was on the cusp of victory when he was wounded in the eye by a Mughal arrow and collapsed unconscious.
The elephant carrying the wounded Hemu was captured and led to the Mughal camp.
However, this is not attested by contemporary chronicler Muhammad Arif Qandhari who composed the "Tarikh-i-Akbari" states that Akbar followed Bairam Khan's advice and himself beheaded Hemu and took the title of Ghazi.
The account of Akbar's refusal to behead Hemu is probably a later invention of his courtiers.
Hemu's head was sent to Kabul while his body was gibbeted on a gate in Delhi.
Hemu's rise from his humble beginnings in Rewari to the assumption of the imperial title of Raja Vikramaditya is considered a notable turning point in history.
Hemu's supporters erected a memorial for him at Panipat, now known as Hemu's Samadhi Sthal.