Since time immemorial, the Indian Subcontinent has witnessed many great battles, dynasties and eras. The most prominent rulers of the medieval age happen to be the Mughals or Timurids. Originally from Samarkand and Fergana, Babur, the chief of the small army that introduced gunpowder and cannons in the field of Panipat, was originally hired by the rulers of the subcontinent to oust Sultan Ibrahim Lodi from the throne of Delhi. Once Babar acquired Delhi and declared himself the emperor, there started a never-ending battle started between the native rulers and his army.
Rana Sanga of Mewar started to oppose Babar, as one of his strongest opponents, the most famous battle being the Battle of Khanua, where he finally won. Rana Uday Singh, Rana Pratap and others followed in his footsteps as Guardians of Mewar. The Jauhar (self-sacrifice of women to save their dignity from the invaders) happened thrice in the Chittorgarh Fort, the Capital of Mewar, within a span of four Generations of the Sisodia Clan. This proved the strong opponents the Mewar Rajputs proved to be. The men fought to sacrifice themselves for their motherland, while the women laid down their lives through Jauhar in losing the battles.
Rani Padmini (as people assume her name to be) was the first queen of Chittorgarh to lay down her life through Jauhar. Years later, Rani Karnavati followed. She was the wife of Rana Sanga, who died of war injuries, while her incompetent son Vikramaditya lost the throne to the Afghan invasion of Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. After giving away her child, Uday Singh, to a Wet nurse named Panna Dhai to save them, she, along with 10000 women, performed the act of Jauhar. Karnavati had sent a rakhi to Humayun, who could not come in time to save Chittor from the Afghans, while he was far east on his way to Bengal. He, however, came to reinstate Vikramaditya as the ruler. Rana Uday Singh became king after his elder brother Vikramaditya was killed by their uncle Banbir.
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| Chittorgarh |
Amidst the battles and deaths in the heart of Mewar, Chittorgarh witnessed the Bhakti movement through Meera Bai, who was actually the Yuvrani of Mewar, widow of the eldest Prince, Bhoj Raj, son of Rana Sanga. Her devotion to Lord Krishna led to a lot of followers spreading the message of love through her songs. She, who could not tolerate violence, left Mewar on Rani Karnavati's advice and settled in Dwarka to preach. Rana Uday Singh tried to bring her back in vain.
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| Uday Singh |
The Royal Heir to Rana Uday Singh was born to his first wife and Chief Consort Rani Jaivanti Bai of the Sisodia clan on 9th May 1540AD. The child was foretold to be a great leader. What he proved was to be an ideal son, husband, father and loving king as well. He was Maharana Pratap Singh of Mewar. Rana Pratap Singh was trained by his mother on the principles of love and honesty. He learned to value life and become brave to face it. His stepmother, Sajjabai, and Dheerbai led their sons, Shakti and Jagmal, respectively, against Pratap to fight for Akbar so that they could sit on the throne of Mewar. Pratap fought seventeen battles in his lifetime. The most famous battle was that at Haldighati.
Rana Pratap Singh is believed to have married his childhood friend Ajab Deh Punwar, Daughter of Ram Rakha Punwar, a chieftain, Samant, under his father Uday Singh for the province of Bijolia, near Chittorgarh. He was only seventeen, and she was fourteen when their childhood love culminated in marriage. It was 1557 AD. He had ten other wives, notable among them were his marital alliances with the Chauhans through his fourth wife, Jasobai and eight wives, Alam De Bai. He married Phool Kanwar Rathore, Princess of Marwar, after her father sought refuge under Udai Singh. His first son (of his 17 sons and 5 daughters) was born to a fifteen-year-old Ajab De on 16th March 1559 AD. The year also marked the birth of Udaipur under his father.
In 1568 AD, Akbar's huge army attacked Chittorgarh fort and seized it. The Loyal subjects took it upon themselves to save their king's family and helped them escape. Two Rajput warriors, Patta and Jaimal, fought Akbar's army before committing Saka, and the remaining women performed Jauhar. After this incident, Udai Singh found it unsafe to return to Chittor and made Udaipur his capital. He was influenced by Dheerbai to make her son Jagmal the heir on his deathbed, but the subjects chose Pratap as the king. Pratap became king in the year 1572 at Gogunda, where Udai Singh died. Pratap led his army to fight using guerrilla warfare tactics and light horse tactics that were later taken up by many armies. Pratap, after one of these battles against Akbar, was hiding in the forests with his family. On seeing his children starve, he once believed and thought of surrendering to his foe. His cousin, the King of Bikaner, wrote to him in a very famous letter, motivating him to go ahead and represent the Rajputs and not surrender to Akbar. Even his subjects and wives were supportive of this struggle.
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| Maharana Pratap Statue, Moti Magri |
He shifted his capital to Chavand during this time. Being Ajab De's son, Amar Singh always got the favour of his father and his subjects, who loved their queen for her down-to-earth, warm nature and patriotism.
A young Amar Singh took charge, and this led Akbar to prepare and attack them at the famous battle of Haldighat, where Pratap reunited with his stepbrother-turned-foe, Shakti Singh. Rana Pratap's horse Chetak, "The Flying Horse", became an epitome of loyalty and bravery, as even after being seriously hurt, he led his master to safety before breathing his last.
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| Amar Singh |
Rana Pratap led many successful battles in Rajputana against other Rajput Rulers also. He went on a hunting spree with his son, Amar Singh, in the year 1597. He was attacked by a tiger he thought was dead with his arrow. He died because of those injuries, on 19th January 1597, at Chavand, his then Capital. He made Amar Singh promise not to surrender to the Mughals and to keep his state independent, but Amar Singh failed to do so.
After going through repeated battles with Jehangir, an impressed emperor asked Amar Singh to sign a treaty with Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan) that, although Amar Singh would still remain ruler of Chittorgarh, it would be under Mughal territory. However, Amar Singh could not relocate his capital back to Chittor as his father wished. The inhabitants refused to go back there, and so he made Udaipur the permanent capital, away from the Mughal influences. He was later invited to Ajmer Fort by Jehangir to extend a hand of friendship and end their battles, which he accepted gracefully. He was succeeded by Karan Singh, his eldest son, after his death. His grandson was Raj Singh I, whom I mentioned in my blog, Charumati's Love for Defeating Aurangzeb.
