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

Maharana Kumbha.
however, this Tower of Victory, a description
of which is given in Chapter XIII, was comple-
ted, the Maharana had to face and vanquish the
combination of the two most powerful king-
doms in India at the time, the Sultanates of
Gujrat and Malwa, which glorious event is
inscribed on the celebrated Tower.
Mahmud Khilji remained a prisoner¹ in
Chitor for a period of six months, after which
he was liberated without ransom, by the
magnanimous Maharana Kumbha.² "So far
from showing any gratitude for the generosity
thus shown him," says a historian of Mewar,
he (the Sultan) spent the rest of his life in vain
attempts at revenging himself on his con-
queror, for which purpose he entered into an
offensive alliance with his former foe, the
Sultan of Gujrat."
Commenting on this victory, Colonel Tod³
says :—"Abul Fazal relates this victory and
¹ Vir Vinod, p. 320. The place of imprisonment still
exists. Beyond the palaces of Bhim and Padmini "within a
stone enclosure, is the place where the victorious Kumbha
confined the King of Malwa"—Archæological Survey Reports,
Vol. XXIII, p. 112.
² Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. I, p.
287. Also the Gazetteer of Udaipur, 1908, p. 17.
³ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 287.
52