महाराणा कुम्भा (हरविलास सारदा - मेवाड़ साम्राज्य के अद्वितीय विजेता, निर्माता व विद्वान्)

Maharana Kumbha. however, this Tower of Victory, a description of which is given in Chapter XIII, was comple- ted, the Maharana had to face and vanquish the combination of the two most powerful king- doms in India at the time, the Sultanates of Gujrat and Malwa, which glorious event is inscribed on the celebrated Tower. Mahmud Khilji remained a prisoner¹ in Chitor for a period of six months, after which he was liberated without ransom, by the magnanimous Maharana Kumbha.² "So far from showing any gratitude for the generosity thus shown him," says a historian of Mewar, he (the Sultan) spent the rest of his life in vain attempts at revenging himself on his con- queror, for which purpose he entered into an offensive alliance with his former foe, the Sultan of Gujrat." Commenting on this victory, Colonel Tod³ says :—"Abul Fazal relates this victory and ¹ Vir Vinod, p. 320. The place of imprisonment still exists. Beyond the palaces of Bhim and Padmini "within a stone enclosure, is the place where the victorious Kumbha confined the King of Malwa"—Archæological Survey Reports, Vol. XXIII, p. 112. ² Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 287. Also the Gazetteer of Udaipur, 1908, p. 17. ³ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 287. 52