Many of you have requested a historical and chronological account of Chittorgarh since Rana Sanga. Let me start by telling you this is just an outline of the events as per history. The family name was originally Guhilot from Guha, a Rana of Mewar. But after one of the kings bravely killed a Sisod, a wild boar, the family name came to be Sisodiya.
The Maharana of Mewar, Sangram Singh, was father to Maharaj Kumar Bhoj Raj, his heir apparent and prince who was married to Saint Poetess Meera Bai, the princess of Merta. While Bhoj Raj died in the battle of Khanua, Rana Sanga died of wounds that did not heal from his battle with Babur and the invading Mughal army. He had fought 17 wars against Babar. When both Bhoj Raj and Sanga died, Rani Karvawati, the favourite queen of Rana Sanga, asked Meera Bai to leave the fort of Chittorgarh. It is believed that luck left Chittorgarh with Meera. The year was 1528 AD. Ratan Singh, the brother of Bhoj Raj, had been coronated when he suspected some internal foul play and moved to a separate palace. However, he died mysteriously a year later. The next heir to the throne was the incompetent and weak son of Sanga, Vikramjeet or Vikramaditya Singh and the infant Udai Singh II. The Mewari nobles refused to obey the vain and cruel Vikramjeet. Maharani Karnavati, the widow of Rana Sangram Singh, decided to take care of the throne for her son as a representative for the future of Mewar. But luck was not on their side.
In 1535AD, Bahadur Shah of Gujarat seized the opportunity that Mewar lacked a competent ruler and attacked it. The invading army was huge, and Vikramaditya lost the battle, but his life was spared, and he escaped. Karnavati knew there was no way to save Mewar. She knew only one person who could help. She made a Rakhi with her own hands and wrote a letter to the Mughal emperor Humayun.
It read:
I am sending you this Rakhi as a mark of brotherhood, O great Mughal Emperor Humayun. Please accept this and come to Chittor immediately to save this sister of yours from the invading army of Bahadur Shah. We are in great danger.
The letter was received by Humayun, and he replied positively to it. But Humayun’s arrival needed time. He was in Bengal, and his army was tired due to war and the long travel to the west. On 8th March, 1535AD, Karnavati ordered her trusted maid Panna to take the infant Udai Singh II to safety and decided to commit Jauhar with the other Rajput women of the palace.
“We cannot win this war, Panna. Take my child to safety with the help of the nobles and make sure that he grows up knowing what his father sacrificed, and tell him to regain our capital. If the Mughal Emperor arrives late, send him my regards.”
When Humayun arrived, it was too late, but to keep his promise to his dead sister Karnavati, he fought Bahadur Shah and won back Chittor for Vikramaditya.
Karnavati showed her power by ruling the state of Mewar and committing Jauhar for it, and also showed her liberal side by calling a Mughal Ruler, whose father killed her husband, her brother. Along with her, Panna is also remembered through folktales and poems in Rajasthan for her sacrifice. Panna took Udai Singh II to Kumbhalgarh fort, where he grew up in disguise.
The Prince of Mewar was just a child when Bahadur Shah invaded Chittorgarh. He had lost his mother to Jauhar and had grown up in his Dai Panna's care. When Banbir, a kin, invaded the palace, his uncle had killed his brother Vikramaditya. Panna, like a true Rajput, hid Udai Singh and put her own son in his cradle. When Banbir arrived, looking for the infant prince, the brave Panna showed them her own child. Her son Chandan was mercilessly killed before her eyes by the invaders in her attempt to save the prince. He was helped to escape by his mother’s trusted maid, Panna Dai, and taken to safety at Kumbhalgarh Fort. He disguised himself as the nephew of Asha Shah Depura, a local noble, to hide from the hands of his step-uncle Banbir, who killed his brother Vikramaditya. He was crowned the king in 1540 AD after a war with Banbir. That year, his first son, Pratap, was born to his queen consort, Maharani Jaivanta Bai Songara. However, his favourite queen was Rani Dheerbai Bhattiyani of Jaisalmer.
Udai Singh became the ruler of Mewar and shifted base to his capital, Chittorgarh. The whole of Rajputana was giving its alliance to Mughal Emperor Akbar, but Udai Singh refused to do so. He, along with his competent heir Pratap, fought the Mughals and refused to give in even when his own sons, Shakti Singh, Vikram Dev (sons of second queen Sajjabai Solanki), Jagmal Singh (son of Dheerbai) and Sagar Singh (son of Veer Bai Rathore) were fighting from Akbar’s side against Mewar.
He founded the city of Udaipur as per a hermit’s instruction in 1559AD, the same year his first grandson, Amar Singh, was born to his son Kunwar Pratap and his wife Ajab Deh Punwar. However, Akbar managed to seize Chittor from Udai Singh II in September 1567 AD. Udai Singh, along with his family, was helped to escape through a secret tunnel to Gogunda, from where he shifted his capital to the newfound city of Udaipur.
Chittorgarh was under the trusted hands of his officials, Patta Singh and Jaimal Rathore, who fought Akbar’s huge army with valour. They even managed to wound Akbar so much that after this war, Akbar rushed to Ajmer to pray to the Sufi saint Khawaja Christi to guide him. On seeing the impending defeat, Jaimal ordered the Rajput Princesses to stay in the palace to perform the third Jauhar of Chittor. On 23rd February 1568 AD, the Rajput women committed Jauhar while the men marched out to fight their last war. This incident of sacrifice moved Akbar so much that he decided not to stay in Chittor and mentioned this incident in Akbarnama.
On 9th May 1540 AD, Udai Singh II’s first wife, the Maharani Jaivanta Bai, gave birth to his first son, Rana Pratap Singh. Born in Kumbhalgarh, Pratap witnessed his father’s struggles and love for Chittorgarh. He heard stories of the great Valour of his forefathers from his father and the great devotion of his Aunt Meera Bai from his mother. From childhood, he grew up on principles and struggled.
The subjects loved their prince and supported him. This made all his half-brothers jealous, and one by one, they turned against him to support Akbar. However, he was closest to Shakti Singh, Udai Singh’s second son, who later came to his senses. The teenager Pratap was sent to various parts of the state of Mewar by his father to look after the problems of the subjects and solve them. From a very early age, Pratap learned the skills of living in extreme conditions.
Once on his trip to Bijolia, about 101 KM from Chittorgarh, he met his first wife and consort, Maharani Ajab Deh Punwar and married her much against his family’s wishes of getting him married to a Princess. He was her childhood friend. He was seventeen and she was fifteen when they married in the year 1557 AD. On 16th March 1559 AD, his first son, Amar Singh, was born to Ajab Deh.
He was forced to escape Chittorgarh much against his will, along with his family, in 1567 AD when Akbar seized the fort.
Udai Singh II, however, got under the influence of his favourite queen Dheerbai in his later years and on his deathbed, he appointed not Pratap but Jagmal as the heir to the throne, much against everyone’s wishes. However, on 1st March 1572 AD at the coronation ceremony in Udaipur, senior officials like Rawat Chundawat and others forced Jagmal to move away and put Pratap Singh on the throne, to save Mewar from being seized by the Mughals.
Upon his coronation on 1st March 1572 AD, he vowed to not live like a king, in a life of luxury, until and unless he captures the Chittor Fort. He lived in hardship in the forests like a commoner with his wives and children. He moved the official capital to Kumbhalgarh as he found Udaipur an unsafe option. However, after the peace offerings of 1573, 1574 and 1576 from Akbar via Man Singh were refused, Amar Singh successfully insulted the Mughal commander to lure him to war.
Rana Pratap started preparing his army for a fight. They faced Akbar’s huge army in the Battle of Haldighati on June 21st, 1576 AD. Being severely injured, Pratap was taken away from the battlefield by his dying horse, Chetak. Such was Chetak’s loyalty that even in death, he ensured his master’s safety. Today, a mausoleum stands, built in his memory by Pratap near Haldighat, where Chetak died. He was his master’s flying horse.
It is here that Pratap lay injured and helpless beside his dead horse, sure that he was going to be found and killed. His brother Shakti Singh, who was fighting from Akbar’s side, found him. Seeing Pratap in such a state, Shakti Singh regained his righteous senses and gave Pratap his own horse to escape and save Mewar from downfall.
Between the Haldighati War of 1576 to 1581, he faced his hardest days in the jungle.
One day, in the forest, Maharani Ajab De gave bread to his daughter to eat for dinner, but the forest animals stole it. Watching his daughter cry with the fear of starvation melted Maharana Pratap’s heart. He called upon Ajab De and his son Amar Singh and asked, “Is my motive at all worth all the pain I cause you? Will I ever get Chittor back, or should I just quit and give in to Akbar?”
Maharani Ajabde told him to fight on.
“The people of Mewar chose you to be their Rana because they believe you are not like the others who give in. We can go through this much hardship for you and our motherland.”
He wrote to a Chauhan King, Prithviraj, prince of Bikaner, who also happened to be his cousin brother, stating his thought of giving in for the sake of his children. The Chauhan king, who was his mother’s sister’s son, was also in an alliance with Akbar. However, to Pratap’s utter surprise, he wrote back:
He who called the Mughal “Turki” is giving in and calling them “Lord”? The entire clan of Hindu rulers were hopeful that anybody could quit but not Pratap. What is this I hear?
Reading the letter, Pratap realised that although the other states were with Akbar, they secretly wanted him to never give in, and the future of the Rajput was in his hands. He wrote back saying:
No, I still call them Turk Invaders; nobody will ever be called “Lord” by me except Eklingji, and it will remain so throughout my life. Pratap will never give in.
In the Battle of Dewair in 1581, also known as the second battle of Haldighati, the ruthless Rana cut the Mughal Commander Bahlol Khan into two. The Mewaris won this battle, seriously injuring a few Mughal eminent, including Prince Salim. Pratap fought 17 Battles, big and small, against Akbar’s army but was not defeated even once. At last, Akbar gave up his desire to win over Mewar.
After the Battle of Haldighat, Pratap found Kumbhalgarh to be a vulnerable capital and shifted his capital to Chavand for the next 21 years. Maharani Ajabde was taken ill in the forest due to extreme hardship and lack of amenities. She died after a prolonged illness around ten years before his death. Her death devastated him. His personal sorrow was reflected in his work as he gave his rights away to Amar Singh to handle the affairs of Administration for some time. Since his childhood, under the influence of his father, Amar Singh was well-trained in warfare and administration. On her deathbed, much against his wish, Ajab de made Pratap promise to marry her sister, who went on to become his tenth wife. He had 11 wives and 17 sons. 5 daughters whose names are not known are also mentioned in history.
He was out hunting with Amar Singh on January 19th of 1597 AD when a tiger he had injured attacked and wounded him severely. On 29th January 1597 AD, as he was dying in a bed of grass, Pratap Singh made his son Amar Singh promise to win back Chittor. Amar Singh was coroneted by him before his death on 29th January 1597AD.
He led his army from Chavand to attack Chittor under Jahangir, and Jahangir’s first fight was with Amar Singh in 1606. Amar Singh fought bravely and killed the commander of the Mughal Army. He was given back to Chittorgarh under Jahangir’s rule, but he gathered an army to rebel against the Mughal emperor in 1608 AD, which the Mughals subsequently won.
Even after getting back to Chittorgarh for two years, Amar Singh could not restore Chittor to its old glory as people refused to leave Udaipur and Chavand and follow him. After the second Mughal seized, Temples and Villages were severely destroyed by the Mughals, and Amar Singh decided to shift his capital permanently to Udaipur. Repeated wars had reduced Mewar’s finances and manpower, and Amar Singh found it impossible to continue the wars against the Mughals. Thinking it was best for the subjects who loved and supported him, he decided to accept Mughal rule in Mewar and presented himself before the court of Jahangir as an alliance.
In 1616, he signed a treaty with Shah Jehan and got back Chittor as a part of Mewar permanently; however, Udaipur remained the most glorious city, the Venice of the East, and the capital of Mewar from 1567 till today’s Princely State of Mewar.
Here are some more quick facts on the Sisodia Family History:
- Ranisa Karnavati, mentioned here, was also a mother-in-law to Meera Bai, wife of Kunwar Bhoj Raj, the first son of Rana Sanga, who was killed in the war.
- Panna Dhai is said to have spent her last days at Vrindavan after she left Kumbhalgarh once Kunwar Pratap was born (citation is needed)
- Rana Amar Singh, in contradiction to popular myth, was a very good ruler, warrior and administrator.
- Ranisa Jaivanta Bai, who had survived till her nineties, was one of the unofficial guides to her grandson Amar.
- Dheerbai Bhattyani was not popular among Udai Singh's other sons, and upon his coronation, Rana Pratap had ordered her to leave for Vrindavan while Jagmal escaped being handed over the Jagir of Ajmer by Akbar. He died in 1578.
- Rana Pratap divided his kingdom into 18 separate units. 16 of them were handed to each of his sons, declaring them Rawats. One was handed over to Rawat Chundawat, and the other to his beloved brother Shakti Singh and his five sons. Bassi, a village that falls between Bijolia and Chittorgarh, still houses the bloodline of Rawat Shakta Singh Chundawat, i.e. Shakti. The king above these 18 units was Rana Amar Singh
- Banbir had a son who had escaped to Marwar.
- Patta is sometimes rumoured as Udai Singh's son of a lesser queen, but historical facts say that his family was the Rawats of Kelwa.
- Jaimal Rathore was the nephew of Meera Bai from Merta, in Marwar
- Udai Singh had successfully won a few major wars, with Banbir, Bundi, Marwar, and some small provinces that had rebelled in Mewar itself.
- Jaivanta Bai had walked out after facing differences with her husband. She had stayed a few years in Jalore, where Pratap got inspired by patriotism from his grandfather, who was also a friend of the brave Rana Sanga. She had then moved to Mewar and stayed at the Bhils village in disguise. The Bhils, who were not in favour of the Royals, lovingly called this young valiant boy Kika and Pratap learned bow-fighting and guerrilla warfare from them. When they discovered his true identity, they offered him help whenever he needed it and indeed obliged with Bhil Punja on the lead at Haldighati. He is even rumoured to have killed a wild leopard (tiger) in Bhilwara's forest with a dagger.
- Rajkumari Phool Kanwar, daughter of Ram Singh Rathore, the first son of Rao Maldeo, was given in marriage alliance with Kunwar Pratap to protect Ram Singh, who had rebelled against his father and joined Udai Singh against Rajput alliances. He fought and died in Haldighati with his brother Chandrasen, while their second brother Udai Singh Rathore, also known as Mota Raja, was defeated by Pratap in the Mewar Marwar war in 1573, upon which he had agreed not to aid Akbar in wars against Mewar.
- Aarti Bai Chauhan was the granddaughter of the Bhilwara Chauhan royals, who happened to be Ajabdeh's paternal aunt (Bua). The folklores say that she chose Aarti as Amar's first wife while Rana Pratap had promised his sister a hand in marriage with her and Shallavan's daughter after the Tanwars died at Haldighati. After a family at war, Rana Pratap had given in to Ajabdeh's desires, and Amar Singh married his cousin second and Aarti Bai first, who gave birth to his son Karan Singh in 1586 AD. Amar Singh was extremely disappointed with Karan Singh finding a friend in Shah Jehan as a prince and strengthening the alliance.
- However, upon his sudden death, his son Jagat Singh faced a lot of Mughal Opposition as Shah Jahan did away with the signed treaty made by their forefathers.
- Raj Singh ascended the throne very young and strongly opposed the Mughals. He had the valour and foresight of Rana Pratap and had defeated the Mughals in the war in Kota after allying with Marwar and Amer against Aurangzeb.
