Kingdom of Mewar

• 1. Introduction

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  The Kingdom of Mewar stood for more than thirteen centuries in the Rajputana region of the Indian subcontinent, outlasting empires, enduring sieges, and surviving the collapse of every power that tried to absorb it. When Babur's gunpowder cannons shattered armies at Khanwa in the sixteenth century, Mewar was there. When Aurangzeb rode in person to crush the Rajputs in 1679, Mewar was there. When the British finally drew a treaty in January 1818, the kingdom that signed it had already seen the Guhila dynasty, the Sisodia dynasty, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal Empire, and the Maratha Confederacy all rise and fall around it.

  How did a kingdom centered on about 14,000 square kilometers of Rajasthan hold on for so long? What was life like for rulers who spent entire reigns sleeping in forests and hill forts, chased by the most powerful armies in Asia? And what was lost, and what endured, when Mewar finally merged with the Union of India in 1947? Those are the questions this documentary will trace.

• 2. Land That Defended Itself

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  The geography of Mewar was not incidental to its survival. The Aravali Range flanked the kingdom to the northwest, Ajmer pressed in from the north, and Gujarat, Vagad, and Malwa crowded the south. The Hadoti region closed the eastern edge. This ring of neighbors made Mewar a contested corridor, but the interior terrain made it difficult to hold against a determined local resistance.

  The central plains, watered by the Banas River and its tributaries, sat at an average height of about 600 feet above sea level. Black loamy soil there supported cotton, maize, sugarcane, wheat, and barley through both the Kharif and Rabi growing seasons. Those plains fed the kingdom. But the mountainous hills and dry deciduous forests surrounding them fed its army a different way: they made cavalry charges costly and long pursuits brutal.

  Mughal commanders would learn this repeatedly. In the 1570s and 1580s, Shahbaz Khan chased Maharana Pratap across those hills for years without capturing him. In 1680, Aurangzeb himself entered Udaipur, found the city depopulated by Raj Singh before his arrival, and then watched his forces get ambushed at Nainwara. At its greatest territorial extent, from 1326 to 1533, the kingdom reached from near Mandu in the south to Bayana in the northeast and stretched toward the Indus River in the west. That was an empire-sized footprint. What remained by 1941 was 14,000 square kilometers, but the hills and rivers were still there.

• 3. The Founding Centuries

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  Guhadatta is considered the first ruler of the Guhila dynasty in the 7th century, though the origins of the kingdom before that point remain obscure. For a time, Mewar fell under the regional Mori rulers. The decisive early turning point came when Bappa Rawal seized control of Chittor in 728 by wresting it from those Mori overlords, with Nagda serving as the kingdom's capital around that period.

  Bappa Rawal's achievement went beyond territorial acquisition. He joined a confederation with the Gurjara-Pratihara ruler Nagabhata I to defeat an Arab Caliphate invasion of India, and his successor Khuman II continued to repel Arab incursions. For roughly two centuries after that, the Guhilas acknowledged the suzerainty of the Gurjara-Pratiharas, a powerful northwestern empire. Then in the 10th century, Bharttripatta II broke that bond, assumed the title Maharajadhiraja, and made Mewar an independent state once more. His successor Allata killed Devapala, the Gurjara Pratihara ruler at that time, leaving no ambiguity about Mewar's new posture.

  The 11th century brought subordination to the Kingdom of Malwa, the 12th century to the Chahamanas. One Guhila ruler, Samantsingh, even fought alongside Prithviraja III of Ajmer at the Second Battle of Tarain against Muizzuddin Muhammad Ghuri, a defeat that would reshape northern India. The cycle of independence, vassalage, and re-emergence was already the defining rhythm of Mewar's story. That rhythm reached its harshest test when Sultan Alauddin Khalji of Delhi besieged Chittor in 1303, killing Rana Lakhan and his seven sons in battle. The women of the fort performed Jauhar, a ritual of mass self-immolation in the face of defeat. One survivor, Ajay Singh, would quietly raise the child who became the kingdom's future.

• 4. The Sisodia Renaissance

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  Hammir Singh, a descendant of the Sisodia dynasty, which was itself a junior branch of the Guhilas, began recapturing Mewar in 1326. His first assaults were blocked by Maldev Songara of the Chauhan clan, who had taken charge of the region. Hammir seized the fort of Jilwara, established a base at Kelwara, gradually took Sirohi and Idar, and finally recaptured Chittorgarh and defeated the Delhi Sultanate at the Battle of Singoli. The Guhila line that fell in 1303 was replaced by its own cadet branch.

  What followed was a period of sustained expansion. Rana Kshetra Singh, who reigned from 1364 to 1382, captured Ajmer, Hadoti, and Mandalgarh and put down a rebellion in Idar while also defeating Dilawar Khan of the Malwa Sultanate. His successor Lakha conquered Merwara and positioned Mewar as a power broker over the neighboring kingdom of Marwar. A succession dispute within Lakha's family placed his young son Mokal on the throne under the regency of Mokal's mother, Hansa Bai. Mokal annexed Ajmer and Sambhar and captured Jalore before being assassinated by his own uncles.

  Mokal's son Kumbha ascended in 1433 and immediately hunted down his father's killers with the support of Rao Ranmal Rathore of Marwar. Kumbha then turned to the Malwa Sultanate, whose sultan Mahmud Khilji had sheltered one of the assassins. Kumbha defeated Khilji's army, besieged the fort of Mandu, captured the sultan, and then freed him. He seized Gagron, Ranthambore, Sarangpur, Durganpur, Banswara, Raisen, and the region of Hadoti. Later, after being manipulated by Shams Khan of Nagaur, he demolished Nagaur's fortifications personally. By 1456, the combined sultans of Gujarat, Malwa, and Nagaur moved together against Kumbha and were defeated separately. Maharana Kumbha had Ranmal assassinated when the Rathore chieftain grew too powerful, then absorbed Marwar as well. His successors would have to defend what he had built.

• 5. Rana Sanga at the Zenith

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  Sangram Singh, known as Sanga, came to power in 1509 after defeating rivals including Udai Singh I in battles at Jawar, Darimpur, and Pangarh. Within a decade he had reshaped the political map of northern India. When factional conflict inside the Malwa Sultanate put too much power in the hands of a Hindu noble named Medini Rai, Sanga supported Rai and captured Gagron, appointing him governor there as a replacement for his lost holdings in Malwa.

  The Delhi Sultanate's new ruler Ibrahim Lodhi engaged Sanga in two major confrontations when he realized Mewar was absorbing his territory. At Khatoli, a sword cut Sanga's arm. An arrow struck his leg, leaving him permanently lame. Lodhi was defeated at both Khatoli and Dholpur, and Sanga captured the entire northeastern Rajputana up to Chanderi as a result. When Mahmud Khilji II of Malwa invaded Mewar through Gagron in 1518, Sanga took Khilji captive, assigned a physician to care for him, and then personally escorted him back to Mandu. In 1520, Sanga raided Ahmedabad and returned with substantial looted wealth. By around 1521, he had established a confederacy of most of Rajputana with himself at its head, having thoroughly defeated Gujarat and Delhi and largely captured Malwa.

  The reversal arrived with Babur. In 1526, Babur killed Ibrahim Lodhi and founded the Mughal Empire. After early Mewar victories near Bayana, gunpowder changed the Battle of Khanwa. Despite numerical superiority, Sanga's forces were defeated. He was removed from the battlefield unconscious by Prithviraj Kachwaha of Amber and Maldeo Rathore of Marwar. His own generals later poisoned him, judging that he had lost the will to fight Babur after the defeat. His death opened two decades of dynastic crisis.

• 6. Pratap and the Long Resistance

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  Akbar ordered a slaughter of around 30,000 inhabitants of Chittorgarh after breaching its walls in 1568, having personally shot dead the Mewari commander Jaimal Rathore. Udai Singh II died four years later, in 1572, having founded the new capital of Udaipur during his reign. His eldest son Pratap was enthroned by the generals over Udai's preference for his second son Jagmal.

  Diplomatic missions by Mughal officials Man Singh, Bhagwant Das, and Todar Mal all failed to bring Pratap to submission within a single year. Pratap refused to make concessions, banned silver and gold, and forbade crop-sowing on his own land to deny Mughal forces local supplies. The resulting Battle of Haldighati saw Pratap attack the center of the Mughal formation and initially break both flanks. A Mughal officer named Mihtar Khan then beat the kettle-drums and spread a false rumor of imperial reinforcements arriving. Mewari soldiers began deserting. Pratap was injured. A Jhala chieftain named Man Singh donned the Rana's royal emblems to draw Mughal attention while Pratap escaped; Man Singh Jhala died in the deception.

  In 1577, Shahbaz Khan attacked Kumbhalgarh. Pratap's generals held it until April 1578 before losing the fort. Shahbaz Khan then chased Pratap for years without success. The general Bhamashah later helped Pratap rebuild his army. Pratap's son Amar defeated the Mughal commander Sultan Ghori at the Battle of Dewair in 1582. Kumbhalgarh was retaken from Abdullah Khan in 1583. By the end of his life, Pratap had recaptured every major Mewar fort except Chittorgarh and Mandalgarh, which he held until his death in 1597.

• 7. Negotiating with Mughals

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  Pratap's son Amar, who was 38 years old when he succeeded in 1597, spent the next two decades fighting a war that neither side could decisively win. Akbar's son Salim invaded in 1600 and was defeated; Mughal top generals including Sultan Khan Ghori were killed. Akbar attempted another invasion in 1605 but died before it could begin. Jahangir sent his son Parviz. Amar built a new capital at Chawand, a hilly location in Mewar, to defend against him. In 1606, the Battle of Diwair ended in another Mughal defeat.

  Mahabat Khan replaced the failed commanders in 1608 with a massive force through Mandal and Chittor. That army was driven back by continuous Rajput raids. Abdullah Khan, who replaced Mahabat Khan in 1609, managed to win several battles from 1609 to 1611 and forced Amar to abandon Chawand. In 1613, Jahangir came personally to Rajputana to supervise. His son Khurram led ground operations and finally penetrated Mewar's hill defenses in 1614.

  In February 1615, Khurram and Amar Singh met at Gogundah. The resulting treaty required Mewar's eldest son to serve under the emperor and a contingent of a thousand horsemen to be provided to the Mughal army. Amar agreed never to return to Chittorgarh. Jahangir had marble statues of both Amar and his heir Karan constructed in the Deccan and installed in a garden in Agra. The marriage alliance that Pratap had refused was never completed; the treaty explicitly excluded martial alliances with the Mughals. Amar spent the rest of his life in Udaipur making administrative reforms. He died in 1620 at the age of 60. His son Karan repaired several temples damaged during the wars, including the Ranakpur Jain temple, and later sheltered Prince Khurram when that prince rebelled against his own father. The turban Khurram exchanged with Karan in recognition of that friendship is still stored in the Pratap Museum.

• 8. Raj Singh and Collapse of Mughal Control

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  Raj Singh inherited a kingdom whose relations with Shah Jahan had already deteriorated by the end of his father Jagat Singh's 24-year reign. Raj continued repairing the Chittor fort in violation of the 1615 treaty and reduced the military contingent owed to the Mughals. Aurangzeb ordered his son and grandson to invade Chittor and demolish the new wall in 1654; Shah Jahan eventually withdrew and exchanged letters of settlement.

  In 1658, while the Mughal war of succession was consuming the empire's attention, Raj imposed levies on Mughal outposts across a wide strip of territory, including Mandal, Banera, Shahpura, Sawar, Jahazpur, and Phulia. He annexed parts of this territory outright. Then in 1660, he eloped with Charumati, a woman who had been intended to marry Aurangzeb himself. Mewar lost territories as punishment. Raj Singh also rescued the Shrinathji idol, which was installed in Nathawada in Udaipur in 1662 after Aurangzeb ordered temple demolitions across his empire.

  When Aurangzeb imposed the Jaziya tax on non-Muslims in 1679, Raj Singh possibly wrote him a letter of protest. That same year, he granted 12 villages to Ajit Singh Rathore in defiance of the emperor's direct request for loyalty. Aurangzeb came down to the battlefield in person. Raj depopulated Udaipur before the Mughals arrived in January 1680, then watched Mughal forces under Hasan Ali Khan get defeated at Nainwara. Aurangzeb left Udaipur in 1680 without a decisive result. Raj Singh died later that year, possibly poisoned, possibly from illness. His son Jai Singh carried on the resistance, sponsored a rebellion using Aurangzeb's own son Akbar as a figurehead, then settled with the Mughals in 1681 through the emperor's son Muhammad Azam. The terms included Jaziya payments and a Deccan contingent in exchange for territories Jai Singh spent the next decade fighting to actually receive. By the time Aurangzeb died in 1707, the Mughal grip on Rajputana had been broken by decades of raids, betrayals, and punitive defaults that neither side could end cleanly. Amar Singh II, who supported Prince Muazzam in the resulting succession war, captured several previously granted cities including Pur, Mandal, and Shahpura as his reward.