Only Hindu warrior who could defeat the Mughal forces

Rise to Fame and Generalship

At a very young age Hemu started supplying food/cereals to ‘Sher Shah Suri’s’ army. Slowly he started other supplies like Saltpetre or Potassium Nitrate (Gunpowder) to Sher Shah’s army , who had defeated Babur’s son Humanyun in the year 1540 and had forced him to withdraw to Kabul. Sher Shah Suri was a progressive Afghan ruler and considered himself a native Indian. He is credited with several development projects, like constructing the present National Highway No. 1 in India, named after him as Sher Shah Suri Marg, which joined Peshawar with Calcutta in medieval period. He also considered Mughals as foreign invaders. Hemu also laid the foundation of brass canons casting and manufacturing industry in Rewari, which still remains an important Brass/Copper manufacturing centre even at present times.
After Sher Shah Suri’s death in the year 1548, his son ‘Islam Shah’ became ruler of North India. He recognised the caliber, dynamism, administrative skills and sincerity of Hemu. King Islam Shah held Hemu in high esteem and therefore he made him as his personal adviser also . He consulted Hemu not only in matters relating to trade and commerce, but also in matters pertaining to statesmanship, diplomacy and general politics. He placed Hemu in important government positions including Shahangi-i-Bazara, Persian word meaning ‘Bazar superintendent’. This was a very important post during the Afghan rule. It was the Shahang-i-Bazar who managed the mercantile system throughout the length and breadth of the country. This post gave him an opportunity to pay frequent visits to the king in order to apprise him of the trade and commercial situation of the Afghan Kingdom.

Hemu was born in the year 1501 . His father Rai Puran Das was engaged in Purohiti, the performing of Hindu religious ceremonies as a profession. Due to the Mughal rule in India, and persecution of Hindu religious ceremonies by Mughals, Purohiti could not earn much. Under these circumstances, Rai Puran Das decided to deal in salt and later food items in Qutabpur area of Rewari in Haryana. Hemu had his education there. Apart from learning Sanskrit and Hindi, he was educated in Persian, Arabic and Arithmetic too. During his childhood, he was fond of body-building, and Kushti (Wrestling) and while crushing salt in an Imam Dasta (an iron pot and hammer), he would monitor his muscle development . Hemu was brought up in religious and Sanskritik environment. His father, a devout Hindu was a member of Vallabh Sampradai of Vrindavan and visited various religious sites frequently as far as Sind in Pakistan at present.