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Mewar : Mewāḍ covers the present Rajasthan State’s districts of Bhilwāra, Chittodgadh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Jhālawar’s Pirwāra tehsil, present Madhya Pradesh’s districts of Neemuch & Mandsaur, & some parts of present Gujarat State. Mewār’s original name was Med(a)pat(a) or Medipat(a) which lay with the Aravalli Range (see entry ‘India’) to the NW, Ajmer to the north, the Hadoti region of Rajasthan to the east, Gujarat to the south, Mālwā in Madhya Pradesh to the SE. The northern & eastern portions of Mewār were made up of an elevated plateau drained by the Bedach & Banās Rivers & its tributaries, which empty into the Chambal, a tributary of the Yamuna River. The hilly southern & western part divides the Banās & its tributaries & the headwaters of Sabarmati, Mahi, & their tributaries which drain into the Gulf of Khambhāt through Gujarat state. It is in this part that is located the great Chittodgadh, the most celebrated of its fortresses, believed to have been originally built by the Pāndavas during the year their vow demanded they live undercover, while the town of Chittor around it is believed to have been founded by Jāts of the Jatri gōtra. Tradition traces the rise of Mewār Rājya from the time of emperor Harshavardhana (ruled 606-47); its earliest known rulers, the Paramāra kings of the Mōri dynasty traced their lineage to Chandragupta Maurya (reigned c.321-c.297BC). Mewār was successively ruled by Kshatriyas of Mōri, Guhilot, Parihāra, & Sisodia dynasties who fought often until their last breath, the Arabs invading from west & north-west, & the Afghāns & Türks from north & north-west. King Chitrāngad Mōri fortified Chittodgadh (see Chitore) which to this day stands almost as he had built it – almost, because it had to be rebuilt from the almost rubble that Akbar the Great, considered the first democratic secular ruler of India, had reduced it in 1568 out of sheer spite. The Guhilot dynasty, named after its founder Guhil (as he was born in a Guhā, cave) ruled from Nāgda which was c.30km west of Chittor & c.19km north of Udaipur. Guhil was succeeded by Bhōja, Mahendra I, Nāgāditya, Shilāditya II (c.646 AD), Aparājīta (661), Mahendra II, & Kālabhōja better known as Bāppā who moved their capital to Chitore in 734. All subsequent rulers of Mewār trace their lineage to Bāppā Rāwal, i.e., the Guhilot clan. Some of the most cited of Bāppā’s successors are: (1) Khomān who succeeded in forming an alliance of all Rajput chieftains & kings in western India, to fight the hordes of Jihādies sent by the Caliph. They are said to have succeeded in killing or routing all of them by 812 AD. This led to a time of peace until Md. Ghazni came into the picture. Prince Khomān was immortalised by his people in the form of the popular greeting used on meeting each other: Khomān-ghaṇi or Khamma-ghaṇi. (2) Rāo or Rāṇā Ratan Singh who ascended the throne in 1302. For his fate at the hands of ‘Alā-ud-din Khilji in 1303 see entry Chitore. (3) Rāṇā Hammīr (1326–1364): Following an invasion by the Delhi sultanate at the turn of the 13th century, the ruling Guhilot clan had been displaced from Mewār. The victorious Khilji sultans assigned the newly conquered territory of Mewār to the administration of Maldeva, ruler of the nearby state of Jhālore, who had allied with them during the recent war. In a bid to reconcile & co-opt the natives of the land to his rule, Maldeva arranged for the marriage of his widowed daughter Sungari with Hammīr, the scion of an impoverished cadet branch of the erstwhile ruling dynasty. Hammīr regained control of the region, re-established the dynasty, & became the first of his dynasty to use the royal title ‘Rāṇā’. Hammīr also became the progenitor of the Sisodia clan, a branch of the Guhilot clan, to which every succeeding Mahārāṇā of Mewār has belonged. Rāṇā Hammīr Singh re-established the state of Mewār in 1326 AD by engineering a coup d’état against his father-in-law. The dynasty thus founded by Hammīr, who was descended in direct patrilineage from Bāppā Rāwal, came to be known as Sisodia after Sisoda, the mountain village whence Hammīr hailed. (4) Rāṇā Kumbhakarṇa or Kumbha (ruled 1433–1468): Son of Rāṇā Mokal Singh (grandson of Rāṇā Hammīr who recaptured Chittor from Muslim clutches & established the second Guhilot dynasty in 1335) & his wife Saubhāgya Devi, a daughter of Jaitamal Śankhlā, the Paramāra chief of Raṇakot in Mārwār. Kumbha ascended the throne after his father was murdered by his two uncles who, not finding any support from the people ran away. A whole year from November 1442 Mahmud Khalji the sultan of Mālwā initiated a series of battles with Mewār. He captured & then lost some forts, failing against Chittōre, & finally withdrew. Thereupon the Rāṇā built a 37 meter, 9-storey Kīrti-Stambha for which the prahasti (edict) was written by the scholar Atri & his son Mahesha. In 1456, insulted by the betrayal by Shams Khan of Nagaur, Kumbha captured Nagaur as well as Kasili, Khandela & Sakambhari. He not only defended Mewār successfully against in the resulting attacks by the combined forces of Mālwā’s Mahmud & Gujarat’s Qutb-ud-din Ahmad Shah II by recapturing whatever territories they managed to bite off but also expanded his territories. Rāṇā Kumbha then set about building 32 forts to strengthen the defence of Mewār, taking up the total number of its forts to 84. His Kumbhalgarh, though inferior to Chittodgadh, the chief citadel of Mewār , is the highest in all Rajasthan at 1075 m above sea level with a 38 km wall around it that is believed to be second in length only the Wall of China. He also built the famous temple of Rāṇakpūr. He sponsored poet Kahana Vyāsa who wrote Ekling-Mahātmya (panegyric on Lord Shiva Ekling). Himself a writer, poet, & musician of repute, was a great patron of arts: He wrote Suṇgīta-raj, the Rasika-priya (commentary on Gita-Govinda), the Sūda-prabandha, & the Kāmaraj-ratisāra, as well two books of music Suṇgīta-ratnākara (ocean of Music) & Suṇgīta-krama-deepikā (neither is extant), propagated the traditions of ancient Hindu classical Music. Mahārāṇā Kumbha was killed while he was offering prayers to Lord Shiva. His 35-year rule was Mewār’s golden period. (5) Rāṇā Raimal or Rayamal (1473–1509): He is often overlooked due to his reign being interposed between two notable rulers. Mahārāṇā Raimal came to power by defeating his patricide predecessor, Udaya Singh I in battles at Jawar, Darimpur & Pangarh. Early in Raimal’s reign, Ghiyās Shāh of Mālwā attacked Chittor unsuccessfully. Soon after this, his general, Zafar Khān attacked Mewār & was defeated at Mandalgarh & Khairabad. By marrying Sringardevi (daughter of Rao Jodha), Raimal ended the conflict with the Rathores. During Raimal’s reign, Raisingh Toda & Ajmer were recaptured. Raimal also strengthened the state of Mewār & repaired the temple of Eklingji in Chittor. The last years of Raimal’s rule were marked by conflict between his sons with Prince Saṇga (Saṇgrām) having to flee Chittor. The oldest sons, Prithvirāj & Jagmal were both killed. At this difficult juncture, the Rāṇā was informed that Saṇga was still alive & in hiding. Raimal summoned Saṇga (Saṇgrām) back to Chittor & died soon afterwards. (6) Rāṇā Saṇga (1509-27 q.v.); (7) Rāṇā Udai Singh II (1537-72, see Udaipur); (8) Rāṇā Pratap Singh (1545-97); (9) Rāṇā Amar Singh I surrendered himself & Mewār to the Moghuls in 1615; (10) Mahārāṇā Bhupal Singh, placed on the throne in 1930 by British India, died a lay citizen of ‘our’ India in 1955.