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

Rao Jodha, the founder of Jodhpur.

CHAPTER VIII. RAO JODHA RECOVERS MARWAR. AFTER a year's stay at Kahuni, Jodha began to raid Mandor. His raids always cost him men and horses without bringing him any profit. One day, returning from his raid, Jodhá came to a village and put up at the house of one Rákan Jat. The mistress of the house placed before Jodhá a tháli (plate) full of hot ghát (porridge). Jodhá at once thrust his fingers into the centre of the porridge to take a morsel, and as the porridge was burning hot, Jodhá burnt his fingers. Seeing this and not knowing who the stranger was, the Játni said : “Brother, thou art as devoid of sense as Jodhá is.” Jodhá was astonished to hear this remark and asked the lady why she thought Jodhá was without sense. The Játni replied that want of sense in Jodhá was clear from the fact that instead of raiding the out-lying country, he always went straight to attack Mandor, which was garrisoned by the Rana; and thus 69

Maharana Kumbha. at every encounter he lost horses and men without gaining his object. And thou, too, my brother, added the lady, lacketh sense inasmuch as thou putteth thy hand straight into the centre of the porridge and burneth thy fingers. If thou wouldst but begin with the porridge near the edge which is not so hot, thou shouldst have by and by the porridge in the centre of the plate too, as it is not going to run away.¹ Jodhá took this advice to heart and gave up going towards Mandor and began to raid the country around. This brought him plunder, and he got around him a body of horsemen. His brothers also grew up and began to assist him. With the help of the Bhátis of Kelhan, where he had married, he began to raise disturbances in the country. He was, however, seriously handicapped by want of horses and lack of money. There was famine, too, in the land and grain was scarce. While Jodhá was thus roaming homeless in Marwar, his country being in the Maharana's possession, an incident occurred which roused ¹ Marwar khyat, Vol. I, pp. 41-42. 70

Maharana Kumbha.. him and put fresh energy into his activities. The Dowager Queen of Mewar, Rao Ran Mal's sister, sympathising with Jodhá in his forlorn state, one day begged the Maharana to restore Mandor to the young Rao, telling him how Ran Mal had come to Chitor to help the Maharana at a critical time, slain Cháchá and Mairá, defeated the Mussalmans, raised the credit of Mewar, and was killed there, and that his son Jodhá was now wandering in the jungles, homeless and hopeless. Such, said the lady, was the reward for services rendered to Mewar. The Maharana replied that Ran Mal had murdered Rághavadeva, Chondá's brother, which Chonda could never forget, and that he, for fear of wounding Chondá's feelings, could not do anything to help Jodha, but promised that if Jodhá should take Mandor he would not molest him. Thus assured, the old lady sent a confidential messenger, a Cháran named Dulá, to Jodhá to communicate to him the views of the Maharana and to encourage him to make an effort and take Mandor. Cháran Asiá Dulá went in search of 71

Maharana Kumbha. Jodhá, and eventually reaching the village Bhādang, in the jungles of Padává, in the sandy desert of Marwar, he found him with his fifty horsemen and some foot followers in the act of satisfying their hunger with the bájri growing in the fields. The message from Hansbai, the Dowager Queen of Mewar,¹ acted like a powerful tonic on him, and he set about collecting means to effect his purpose. He went straight to Ráwat Lunkaran of Sat- ráwa, who had got 500 horses in his stables, and appealed to his patriotism, and reminded him of his duty to his kindred and asked for 200 horses. Lunkaran declined to give the horses, saying that he held his fief from the Maharana, who would deprive him of the land if he should give him assistance. Disappointed by the Ráwat, Jodhá went to the Thakuráni, who was a sister of Jodhá's mother. She was a Bhatyáni lady, a class well known amongst the Rajputs for wisdom and foresight. Seeing Jodhá dejected, she enquired the cause. He told her that the Ráwat had refused him horses of which he was in sore need.

¹ Vir Vinod, Vol. I, p. 324. 72

Maharana Kumbha. The Bhatyáni asked him to cheer up, saying the horses were all his. She sent for the Ráwat and asked him to put certain valuables in the Toshákháná; and when he unlocked the room and went in to deposit the things, the Thakuráni promptly shut the door and locked him in. She then sent one of her maids with Jodhá to the stables with the message that the Ráwat had ordered that the stables were at Jodhá's disposal, and that the keepers were fully to equip any horses that he wished to take away. Jodhá picked out 140 of the best steeds of Satráwá, mounted his Rajputs and marched away. When he was gone the Thakuráni unlocked the door of the Toshá- kháná. Ráwat Lunkaran came out boiling with rage, quarrelled with the Thakuráni, scolded his Kámdárs and had the keepers of the stables beaten, but could not get back the horses.¹ ¹ The following couplet refers to the incident :— ज्यूं ज्यूं कहियो रावत लूणो । त्यूं त्यूं लड़े घणेरो खूणो ॥ 73

Maharana Kumbha. Jodhá thus equipped went to enlist the support of Harbá Sánkhlá, the celebrated cavalier of Rajputana, whose deeds of chivalry are sung everywhere in the country. This great man, a Bála Brahmachári (he who leads a life of celibacy from childhood), lived a life of simplicity and asceticism, and was ever ready to succour the distressed, help the weak and champion the cause of the oppressed. His generosity was proverbial, his door was open to all who sought his aid, his lance ever ready to go to the assistance of a suppliant with a just grievance. His house, a place of shelter to all who went there, provided unbounded hospitality to the stranger. He had been performing the rite of Sadāvrat, at which everyone is shown hospitality and granted his request. Jodhá, with a hundred and twenty followers, arrived when the “strangers’ fare” had been distributed. Harbá had a hurried meal of mujd boiled with flour, sugar and spices prepared and set before the Ráo and his followers, who enjoyed the pottage and went to sleep On waking, they stared at one another, 74

Maharana Kumbha. for their moustachios were dyed with the evening's meal. Harbá, however, remarked "that the grey of age was thus metamor- phosed into the tint of morn and hope, so would their fortunes become young and Mandor again be theirs." Thus aided, Jodhá started to recover his patrimony. He first attacked the Maharana's tháná of Chaukri. Raghavadeva Rathod with his small following fled, leaving everything behind, and Bháti Ranbir, Rana Visaldeva, Ráwal Duda of the Rana's officers were killed. Jodhá next attacked and took Kosáná, and by rapid marches arrived at Mandor. Two sons of Rawat Chondá, Kándhal and Manjá, were in charge of the place. Despising the numbers of the enemy, and ignorant of the fact that the assailants included Harbá Sánkhlá, they descended sword in hand to meet them. But they were overpowered; Kándhal was slain and Manjá took to his horse and fled but was pursued, overtaken and slain on the way. Ahádo Hingolo, Sisodiá Eko and others were also slain. A chhatri still marks the place on the Balsamad Lake, near Jodhpur, where Hingolo fell after performing deeds of valour. 75

Maharana Kumbha. Chauhán Jassá, Harbhám Sindhal, Visaldeva Parmar and the son of Firoz Khan of Nagor fled. Jodhá recovered Mandor. In a few days, Jheà also seized Sojat and took up his abode there. Chondá would have invaded Marwar to take vair (revenge)—as two sons . of his had fallen while Mandor had lost only one chief, Ran Mal—but abstained on learn- ing that the Maharana forbade it. Conscious, however, of the superior power of Mewar, Jodha made peace with the Maharana. We find that Jodha's daughter, Sringardevi, was married to Maharana Kumbha's son Raimal.¹ The inscription in the baodi (stepped well) built by Sringardevi in A. D. 1504 in Ghosundi, 12 miles from Chitor, describes her as Rao Jodha's daughter and wife of prince Raimal. Thus after 7 years occupation² of it by the Maharana, Jodha won back Mandor by the sword about A.D. 1445. ¹ Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal, Vol. 55, Part I, pp. 79-82. ² The following verse supports the fact that the Maha- rana occupied Marwar for seven years:— थाणो जाय मंडावर थट्यो जोरकर लखपत कियो राज चूंडे नव कोटा सात वरस तांई सीसोद "Lakhpat (Maharana) established a thana (military post) at Mandor; Chonda Sisodia ruled Marwar (Nava Kota) for seven years." See Vir Vinod, Vol. I, p. 324. 76

CHAPTER IX. CONQUEST OF ABU AND HARAVATI. THE kingdom of Sirohi lies in the south west part of Rajputana, between 24'.20" and 25'.17" latitude and 72'.16" and 73'.10" longitude, and is 1964 miles in area. Its rulers belong to the Deora branch of the Chauhan Rajputs. The most important place in this kingdom is Mount Abu, the highest point of the Aravalli Hills ( Adāvalā ) stretch- ing from Delhi to Gujrat. Mount Abu, the “Olympus of the Hindus” as Colonel Tod calls it, was the seat of a powerful kingdom in old days. Abu formed part of the empire of Emperor Chandragupta of the Mauriya dynasty, who ruled early in the fourth century B.C. The territory of Abu passed successively into the possession of the Khshtrapas, the Imperial Guptas, the Vaisa dynasty of which Emperor Sri Harsha was the ornament; Chaoras, the Solankis, and the Parmārs. From the Parmārs, the Chauhans of Jalor 77

Maharana Kumbha. took the kingdom of Abu. Lumba, a scion of the younger branch of the Chauhan rulers of Jalor, seized Abu from the Parmar Raja Hoon about the year 1311 A.D. and became the first king of the territory now known as the king- dom of Sirohi. The famous town of Chandra- vati, situated about four miles to the south of the present Abu Road Railway station on the B. B. & C. I. Ry. was then the capital of the kingdom, and Lumba took up his residence there and ruled till A.D. 1320. Maharao Sahas Mal, the seventh in descent from Lumba¹, finally abandoned Chandravati, founded the present town of Sirohi² and made it the capital of his kingdom in A.D. 1425. Sahas Mal was an ambitious ruler and made attempts to extend his dominions on all sides. He found his opportunity in the civil turmoil that followed the assassination of Maharana Mokal. He annexed some of the territory ruled by the Solanki Rajputs lying near by, ¹ Sahasmal was son of Shiv Bhan, who was son of Ran Mal; Ran Mal was son of Salkha, who was son of Samant Singh; Samant Singh was son of Kānhad Deva, who was son of Tej Singh; Tej Singh was son of Lumba. ² Mahamahopadhyaya P. Gauri Shanker's History of Sirohi, page 194. 78

Maharana Kumbha. and finding Maharana Kumbhakaran engaged in punishing his father's murderers began to encroach on the Maharana's territory and took possession of a few villages on the borders of Mewar. When the Maharana came to know of this aggression he was not slow to take action. As soon as the rebels were disposed of, Maharana Kumbha sent an expedition against Maharao Sahas Mal under Dodiya Narsingh son of Rao Shalji. Narsingh captured the stronghold of Abu, seized Basantgarh and Bhula and annexed$^1$ the whole of the eastern part of the Sirohi territory to Mewar. A copper plate inscription of A.D. 1437 Asar, V. S. 1494) found in the Nandiya village and at present deposited in the Rajputana Museum, Ajmer mentioning a grant of land in village Chavarli in the Ajari par- gannah of Sirohi, shows that that part of the Sirohi territory had passed into the Maharana's possession before the year A.D. 1437. The Sirohi Khyat says that Maharana Kumbha was allowed by Maharao Lakha of Sirohi to retire to Abu when attacked by the $^1$ History of Sirohi by Mahamahopadhyaya P. Gauri Shanker Ojha, p. 194. Also, his History of Udaipur, Vol. I, p. 283. 79

Maharana Kumbha. Sultan of Gujrat, that the Maharana refused to give up Abu after the Sultan's army returned to Ahmedabad, and that Lakha thereupon attacked the Maharana and recover- ed Abu from him. This can not be true, for there is incontestable evidence that the Maha- rana had taken possession of Abu before A.D. 1437, while Maharao Lakha came to the throne of Sirohi only in A.D. 1451.¹ It also appears from Mirati Sikandari, that the Maharana was in possession of Abu in A.D. 1456 and that Abu had been taken by Kumbha by force of arms from Sirohi. The Mirati Sikandari says that when Sultan Qutbuddin of Gujrat invaded the Maharana's dominions in A.D. 1456 in order to avenge his defeat at Nagor by Maharana Kumbha, the Maharao of Sirohi met the Sultan on the way and offered him his services and requested him to wrest the fort of Abu from the Maharana and restore it to the Maharao, as it was the hereditary seat of the Rajas of Sirohi, and the Maharana had forcibly deprived the Maharao of it. The Sultan detached an army under Malik Shaaban Imadul Mulk to attack ¹ Gauri Shanker Ojha's History of Sirohi, p. 197. 80

Maharana Kumbha. Abu, conquer it and restore it to Sirohi. Imadul Mulk had to pass through narrow passes, and the Rajputs from the heights attacked the Gujrat forces from all sides, and defeated the Malik, inflicting severe losses. The Chitor Tower of Victory Inscription, verse 284, says:—"The great Maharana by force of arms, conquered Abu and built the fort of Achalgarh on the summit of the hill, and as an offering to Vishnu, built the temple of Kumbhaswami there. The Ekling- Mahatamya, written in Kumbha's time, says the same thing. The song which ends with the couplet:— डोडे राव सिरोही दुजडा दलसजड़ा पर हंस दिया । आबु गिरवर शिखर ऊपरां कुम्भे सरवर महल किया ॥ celebrates this event. The couplet says that Kumbha after conquering Abu, constructed a lake and a palace there.¹ CONQUEST OF BUNDI. Bundi is now the head of the ruling houses of the great Chauhan family of the ¹ See Vir Vinod, Vol. I, p. 332. 81

Maharana Kumbha. Rajputs. The Chauhans reached the zenith of their prosperity and greatness when Prithviraj, king of Ajmer ruled the whole of Northern India as its last Hindu Emperor (1179 to 1191 A.D.) After the death of Prithviraj, the Chauhans declined rapidly. Prithviraj’s son Govindraj was driven out of Ajmer by Prithviraj’s younger brother Hariraj for accepting Shahbuddin Ghori’s suzereinty¹, and had to retire to the famous fortress of Ranthambhor. He and his descendants ruled there for several generations. The last re- presentative of this House, the celebrated King Hammira was killed fighting against Sultan Allauddin Khilji of Delhi² in 1301 A.D. and the rule of the direct descendants of Prithviraj came to an end in Rajputana. Another branch of the Chauhan family headed by Luxman, the younger brother of king Sinhraj of Ajmer, took possession of Nadole and founded a kingdom there in V. S. 1024 (967 A.D.).³ The seventh in descent from him, Alhan (V. S. 1209— ¹ Ajmer: Historical and Descriptive, p. 156. ² Hammira of Ranthambhor, p. 46. ³ Gaurishanker Ojha's History of Sirohi, p. 166. 82

Maharana Kumbha. 1218=A.D. 1152—1161) was reigning at Nadole, when his younger brother Manikraj migrated to Bambaoda in Mewar. One of his descendants, Har Raj called Hārā, gave the name Hārā to the family which is now known as the Hārā Rajputs, and their country as Haravati. Har Raj's grandson Deoraj took Bundi¹ in V. S. 1398=A. D. 1341 from its Mina rulers with the assistance of Maharana Ari Singh² and founded the kingdom of Bundi. Its rulers always recognised the Maharana of Mewar as their overlords. During the confusion following the murder of Mokal and the rebellion of Chacha and Maira, the Hārās of Bundi threw off their allegiance to Mewar and took possession of the fort of Amargarh by a stratagem, and began to molest the Rajputs of Mandalgarh. Maharana Kumbha, therefore, invaded Hārāvati, took Amargarh where a large number of the Hārās including Toghji, the governor of the fort, were killed. He also conquered Bambaoda, Bundi, Khatgarh and Mandalgarh³ ¹ Tod's Rajasthan, Vol., II. p. 460 ² Nainsi's Khyat, Vol., I. pp. 105-6. ³ The Kumbhalgarh Inscription of A.D. 1460. 83

Maharana Kumbha. and reduced the Hārās to submission. The Kumbhalgarh Inscription, verse 265, states that the Maharana “vanquished the Hārās and received a tribute from them.” The Maharao of Bundi sued for pardon and was allowed to retain Bundi on payment of the expenses of the invasion and a fine. The conquest of Bundi is mentioned in the Ranpur Temple Inscription of A.D. 1439 (V.S. 1496) and must therefore have taken place in that year or sometime before it. Thus the two chief Chauhan ruling families of his time, who had dared to encroach on the Mewar territory, the one in the west and the other in the east, were defeated and the greater part of their territories annexed to Mewar by Maharana Kumbha. 84

CHAPTER X. WARS WITH THE SULTANS OF MALWA AND GUJRAT. WE now turn to the foreign relations of Mewar and see how the valiant Maharana not only successfully defended his country against the attacks, first made singly and when thus defeated, made in combination by the Kings of Malwa and Gujrat, then at the zenith of their power and prestige, but carried the war into the countries of his foes, humbled their pride, took from them several forts and cities, extended his dominions on all sides and became the most powerful sovereign of his time in India. In 1443 A.D., Maharana Kumbha had to go to Haravati to punish some rebels. Finding Mewar unprotected, Sultan Mahmud Khilji of Mandu, who had been smarting under the shame of having been kept a prisoner in Chitor by Maharana Kumbha, and burning with a desire to take revenge and wipe off his disgrace of 1437 A. D., invaded Mewar. 85

Maharana Kumbha. Arriving near Kumbhalgarh, he prepared to destroy the temple of Bān Mata in the village Kailwara, at the foot of the hill. This big temple had a fortified wall round it and contained some munitions of war. Despairing of making any impression on the fort of Kumbhalgarh, the Sultan determined to use all his resources to seize this temple and himself led the assault on it. The Maharana's Sardar, Thakur Dip Singh, who lived in it, collected his warriors and opposed the Sultan. For seven days, Dip Singh successfully repulsed all attempts of the Sultan's army to take possession of the temple. On the seventh day, Dip Singh was killed and the temple fell into the hands of the Sultan. He razed it to the ground, burnt the stone image of the Nundi (bull) found in it and used the lime with betel leaves. Flushed with this small success, he started for Chitor, and leaving a part of his army to take the fortress, advanced to attack the Maharana, sending his father, Azam Humayun, towards Mandsaur to lay waste the Maharana's country. When the Maharana heard of these events, he left Hárávati to return to his dominions 86

Maharana Kumbha. and came upon the Sultan's army near Mandalgarh. A battle was fought here in which the Sultan was defeated, but the defeat was not decisive.¹ A few days later the Maharana made a night attack on the Sultan who was utterly defeated and fled towards Mandu.² Ferishta says: "The Sultan returned without molestation to Mandu."— Vol. IV, p. 210. This is Ferishta's way of describing a defeat. To retrieve this fresh disaster, Mahmud set about preparing another army, and four years later, on 20th Rajab, H. 850 (Kartik Bad 6th, S. 1503), 11 October 1446 A.D., he went towards Mandalgarh with a large army. Reaching Rampura (now in Indore State) he appointed Malik Saifuddin as governor there in place of Bahadur and moved further. The Maharana's army attacked him while he was crossing the river Banas,³ and having ¹ Ferishta (Vol. IV, page 210) says that the Maharana attacked the Sultan on 26th April 1443 A.D. with an army of 12 thousand horse and 6000 infantry but was unsuccessful. The next day, the Sultan obtained some loot and returned to Mandu with the intention of attacking Chitor the following year. The historians of Rajputana say that the Sultan was defeated, but the defeat was not decisive. ² Vir Vinod of Mahamahopadhyaya Kaviraj Shamaldas Vol. I, p. 325. ³ Vir Vinod, Vol. I, page 325. 87