Rajasthan Blog

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Posts Tagged ruler of mewar

Veer Durgadas Rathore – A Loyal and Courageous Warrior

Nov 9

Posted by mystaterajasthan in famous people rajasthan | 1 Comment

Durgadas Rathore was among the great personalities of Rajasthan (the land of heroes). He was born on 13 August 1638 at Salwa in a Rajput family of Marwar. His father, Askaran Rajthore, was a general in the army of Maharaja Jaswant Singh.

Durgadas’s childhood days were very uneventful. As his mother didn’t get along with her husband and co-wives, he has to live with her in a village near Sawla Kalan.

His uprightness in Childhood

When Durgadas was young, he killed the official herdsman who looked after the king’s camels for speaking insolently about the king. This act got him an appointment in the army of Maharaja Jaswant Singh. He served the army throughout the king’s life and after the kings’s death in 1678, Durgadas shouldered the task of safeguarding the freedom of Marwar and life of its young king, Ajit Singh, son of Jaswant Singh.

After the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh, mughal emperor Aurangzeb intervened and appointed a Muslim to rule over Marwar, which unsettled the Rathore clan. Durgadas took the infant Ajit Singh to Aurangzeb and asked him that the infant be confirmed in his late father’s estated and titles.

The Great Saving of Ajit Singh

When Durgadas and others of the delegation were taking Ajit Singh out of Delhi, the mughal guard fell in hot pursuit of them. Durgadas and his 300 men, fought with them. At regular intervals, some 15-20 Rajputs would fall behind to check the mughal pursuers. In this process, many rajputs got killed, but this allowed the forward party to create some distance between Ajit and the Mughals. By evening, Durgadas was left with just 7 men out of the 300. He finally managed to shift Ajit Singh to Jaipur. Later, the infant was moved to Sirohi, a remote town on the southern fringes of Marwar. The infant grew up there in anonymity.

For 30 years after this event, Marwar remained under the direct rule of a mughal governor. During this period, Durgadas carried out a relentless struggle against the occupying forces. After that Ajit Singh was proclaimed Maharaja of Jodhpur.

His Last Days

Heroic Durgadas completed his duties successfully with bravery and after fulfilling the promise which he gave to Jaswant Singh. He left Jodhpur and stayed at many places including Sadri, Sadri, Udaipur, Rampura, Bhanpura for some time and then left to worship Mahakaal at Ujjain. On 22nd November 1718, on the banks of the Sipra at Ujjain, Durgadas passed away at the age of 81 years. Durgadas left behind a shining example of loyalty, chivalry and courage.

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Maharana Pratap – The Famous Mewar Ruler

Oct 25

Posted by mystaterajasthan in famous people rajasthan | 1 Comment

Personal Profile

Maharana Pratap was the eldest son among all sons of Maharana Udai Singh II and Rani Jeevant Kanwar. He was born on May 9th 1540 in Kumbhalgarh and after his father, Pratap became the 54th ruler of Mewar. The epitome of fiery Rajput pride and self-respect, Pratap has for centuries exemplified the qualities to which Rajputs aspire.

His Scarify for Father Respect

In 1567 Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar forced the family of Maharana Udai Singh II to leave Chittor. Maharana Pratap was not ready to leave but his family enforced him to do so. At that time, Pratap was 27 years of age only.

Udai Singh set up a temporary government in Gogunda but after few years in 1572 he passed away. Under the influence of his favorite queen Rani Bhatiyani, he willed his son Jagmal to ascend to throne. Maharana Pratap respected his father’s wishes and let his half-brother Jagmal to become the next king. All the Sisodia Rajputs especially the Chundawat Rajputs were against of Jagmal Singh and that forced Jagmal to leave the throne to Maharana Pratap. Jagmal left the throne and to take revenge he joined Akbar armies, where he was offered the town of Jahapur as jagir.

The famous war of Haldighati

In 1572 Maharana became the king of Mewar. Pratap’s wish was to rule chittor which was then controlled by Akbar.  As Akbar wanted to rule all over Hindustan so he sent many diplomatic missions to Mewar to get Rana Pratap to agree to the former’s suzerainty. Rana Pratap turned down each one of them.

In 1576, a huge army of 80000 commanded by Raja Man Singh- the brother in law of Akbar attacked on 20000 Rajput soldiers. The battle is known as the battle of Haldighati.  Pratap moved his capital to Kumbhalgarh, where he was born. He commanded his subjects to leave for the Aravali mountains and leave behind nothing for the approaching enemy – the war would be fought in a mountain terrain which the Mewar army was used to but not the Mughals.

In the war Maharana Pratap fought like a real Maharana. His army was not defeated but he was surrounded by Mughal soldiers. At that time his brother Shakti Singh, appeared and saved the Rana’s life. Another casualty of this war was Maharana Pratap’s famous, and loyal, horse Chetak, who gave up his life trying to save his Maharana.

Light and life of the Hindu community

Maharana Pratap’s army grew weaker with time and the funds got greatly reduced. The king got badly hurt when his children’s meal – bread made from grass – was stolen by a dog which made him to lose his spirit in fighting Akbar. At that time Bhama Shah offered wealth and army to him. King Pratap was depressed by the condition of his family and army and thus sent a letter to Akbar demanding “a mitigation of his hardship”.

Akbar got rejoiced at his condition and showed the letter to a literate Rajput at his Court. The famous letter of Prince Prithvi (the younger brother of Rai Singh, the ruler of Bikaner) led to Pratap reversing his decision and not submitting to the Mughals.

In 1587 Akbar relinquished his obsessive pursuit of Maharana Pratap and took his battles into Punjab and India’s Northwest Frontier. Thus for the last ten years of his life, Maharana Pratap ruled in relative peace and eventually freed most of Mewar, including Udaipur and Kumbhalgarh, but not Chittor. Maharana Pratap Singh was also called the light and life of the Hindu community.

Final Days

Maharana Pratap was never able to win back Chittor but he never gave up fighting to win it back. In 1597 he was bitterly injured in a hunting accident and died at the age of fifty six. He was really a great hero who stood firmly for his dignity and honour during a dark chapter of Hindu history.

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Maharana Kumbha – A Warrior and Hindu Sultan from Mewar, Rajasthan

Oct 21

Posted by mystaterajasthan in famous people rajasthan | No Comments

The land of state Rajasthan is the victim of bravery of great and outstanding Rajput warriors. The Rajput kings of Rajasthan had the capacity to change the destiny of their land by virtue of their bravery, strength of character and achievements.

Maharana kumbhakaran better known as Maharana Kumbha was one of those great Rajput kings who devoted their whole life for the safety and security of their region.

Personal Profile

Maharana Kumbha, the son of Rana Mokal by his wife Sobhagya Devi, was the ruler of Mewar, between AD 1433 and 1468. He was a Rajput belonging to the Sisodia clan and ruled Mewar continuously for fourteen centuries. He ascended the throne of Mewar in A.D. 1433 in the renowned fortress of Chittor.

His Bravery

Maharana Kumbha was a real fighter, who won many fights against sultans. In November 1442, Mahmud Khilji, Sultan of Malwa, commenced a series of attacks on Mewar. For his defense Rana Kumbha on April 26, 1443, attacked the Sultan’s encampment and make him to return Mandu. The Sultan attacked again in November 1443, capturing Gagraun and adjoining forts but the capture of Chittor eluded him.  In 1446 he again attacked on Mandalgarh but was unsuccessful and did not attack Mewar for another ten years.

Titled as Hindu Sultan

Rana Kumbha was the first Hindu ruler who was declared as Hindu-suratrana (Hindu Sultan) by the kings of Delhi and Gujarat in the middle period. Rana Kumbha was the first Hindu ruler to be given this accolade by the Muslim Sultans.

When Kumbha captured Nagaur, Kasil, Khandela and Sakambhari in 1456, in reaction to this, Qutbuddin captured Sirohi and attacked Kumbhalmer. Mahmud Khilji and Qutbuddin then reached an agreement (treaty of Champaner) to attack Mewar and divide the spoils. Qutbuddin captured Abu, was unable to capture Kumbhalmer, and his advance towards Chittor was also blocked. Mahmud Khalji captured Ajmer and in December 1456, conquered Mandalgarh. Taking advantage of Kumbha’s preoccupation, Rao Jodha (the son of Ranmal Rathore) captured Mandore. It is a tribute to Rana Kumbha’s skills that he was able to defend his kingdom against this multi-directional attack.

Forts Constructed by Kumbha

Kumbha build up many forts in his state.  There are total 84 fortresses in Mewar, out of which 32 were erected by Maharana kumbha. Inferior only to Chittor, the chief citadel of Mewar, is the fort of Kumbhalgarh, built by Kumbha. It is the highest fort in Rajasthan (MRL 1075m).The building of Kumbalgarh was a great change done in the ancient rules of Vastu Shashtra.

Achievements

Maharana Kumbha wrote the Samgita-raja, the Rasika-priya commentary on the Gitagovinda, the Sudaprabandha, and the Kamaraja-ratisara. He commissioned the construction of an imposing, 37 meter high, 9 story Victory Tower at Chittor. The tower called Vijay Stambha (victory tower) was completed in 1458. It is also referred to as Vishnu Stambha — “Tower of Vishnu”.

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