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

Maharana Kumbha.
He annexed the Sapādalaksha¹ country
including Sambhar, and imposed a tax on the
salt produced there. He also levied a tax on
the "salt mines" at Didvāna,² and conquered
the city of Naraina.³ He conquered
Naradiyanagar (Narwar)⁴ and reduced to
submission the ruler of Shodhyanagari,⁵
Yagnapur⁶ (Jahazpur in Mewar), Malpura,
Yoginipur⁷ (Jawar) and Dungarpur, driving
out from the last place, Rao Gopal.⁸ He
burnt down Vrandāvatipur (Bundi)⁹ and
captured the hill fort of Gargarāt.¹⁰ He
"burnt down Mallaranyapur, Sinhapur and
Ratnpur and destroyed several kings."¹¹
"He killed the enemy and took Mandawar
(Mandor) ¹²" He conquered Amradadri¹³
¹ Chitor Tower of Victory Inscription, Verse 5. A
part of the inscription is published in Cunningham's Archæo-
logical Survey Report, Vol. XXIII. Also Kumbhalgarh
Inscription, V. 261.
² Ibid, V. 6.
³ Ibid, V. 6. Naraina is in Jaipur territory and is the
headquarters of the Dadupanthi sect of the Hindus.
⁴ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, V. 246. ⁵ Ibid, V. 248.
⁶ Ibid, V. 253. ⁷ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, Verse 247.
⁸ Ibid, V. 266–67. ⁹ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, V. 264.
¹⁰ Ibid, V. 259. Also Ranpur Temple Inscription.
¹¹ Ibid, V. 260. ¹² Kumbhalgarh Inscription, V. 249.
¹³ Ibid, V. 262.
115

Maharana Kumbha.
(Amber) and won the battle of Kotra¹ and
took the city of Champāvati.²
He conquered Sarangpur,³ taking “num-
berless Turk women prisoners and humbled
the pride of Mahmud (Khilji), its ruler, who
had slain his master and become king of the
place.”
He conquered Hammirpur, captured its king,
Randhir Vicrama,⁴ and married his daughter.
He captured the hilly country of Vardhaman⁵
(Badnor) from the Mers; took Amrdachal and
conquered the Jankachal⁶ hill from the king of
Malwa and built a fort on it. He captured and
occupied a part of the territory of the Sultan
of Delhi.⁷ He also conquered the Gokrana
Mountain and subjugated the kingdom of
Abu,⁸ and built Achalgarh⁹ on the top of it,
and made the Deora Chief (of Sirohi) his
¹ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, 262. ² Ibid, V. 258.
³ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, V. 268. It was in this
battle that Sultan Mahmud Khilji of Mandu was taken prisoner
by the Maharana.
⁴ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, V. 250.
⁵ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, V. 254. ⁶ Ibid, verses 256-7.
⁷ Ranpur Temple Inscription.
⁸ Chitor Tower of Victory Inscription, Verses 8 to 11.
⁹ Ibid, V 12.
116

Maharana Kumbha.
vassal.¹ He conquered Gagroon² (now in
Kotah territory), destroyed Visalpur³ and
raised to the ground the city of Dhanya-
nagar.⁴ He destroyed Khandela⁵ and Vyas-
pur.⁶ He conquered the famous fortress of
Ranthambhor.⁷ He took away the whole of
the wealth and kingdom of Muzaffar⁸ (King
of Gujrat) and humbled his pride (V. 7);
conquered Nagor⁹ (in Marwar) and plundered
Jāngaladesa¹⁰ (country to the north west of
Ajmer). He repeatedly defeated the kings of
Malwa and Gujrat first singly and then com-
bined, when their allied armies invaded Mewar.¹¹
¹ Eklinga Mahatmya. ² Ranpur Temple Inscription.
³ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, V. 265.
⁴ Chitor Tower of Victory Inscription, V. 25. ⁵ Ibid, V. 253
⁶ Eklinga Mahatmya.
⁷ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, V. 261.
⁸ Chitor Tower of Victory Inscription, V. 7.
⁹ Chitorgarh Kirtisthambha Inscription. For invasions of
Nagor, see Chapter X supra.
¹⁰ For a full account of Jāngaladesa, see my paper on Jangal-
desa, published in the Proceedings of the First Oriental Con-
ference, Poona, 1921 A. D.
¹¹ Chitorgarh Kirtisthambha Inscription, a part of which
is given in Cunningham's A.S. Reports Vol. XXIII.
The Kirtisthambha Inscription (verse 17) says that he burnt
Gujrat, conquered the ruler of Malwa (Mahmud) and destroyed
his pride. Further on (verse 171) Kumbha is styled Agastya-
muni (swallower) of the armies of the Sultans of Gujrat and
Malwa.
117

Maharana Kumbha.
The Ranpur Temple Inscription, line 27,
says that his “Title as the Hindu Sultan was
proclaimed by the Umbrella of Royalty given
(him) by the Sultans protecting Gujrat
and the territory of Delhi, which were occupied
by his great exploits.”¹
The Chitorgarh Kirtisthambha Inscription,
V. 146, calls Maharana Kumbha, the chief
ornament of the kings of the North, East
and West.
TITLES OF MAHARANA KUMBHA.
The great achievements of Maharana
Kumbha in peace as well as in war—in arms
as well as in arts—gained him many titles.

1. The Kumbhalgarh Inscription of
   1460 A.D. verse 232, mentions the titles of
   Maharaja Dhiraj; Rai Rāyan; Rānē Rao;
   and Maharana.
2. The Kirtisthambha Inscription of
   A.D. 1460, verse 148, mentions his titles of
   Rājguru, Dānguru, Shailguru and Param-
   ¹ See Ranpur Inscription of A.D. 1439, in Archæological
   Survey of India, Annual Report for 1907–8, p. 216.
   118

Maharana Kumbha.
guru. Rajguru means the Master of kings
or Rajahs. Danguru means the king or the
greatest of the givers. Shailguru means Master
of the mountains. Paramguru, according to
the inscription, is the highest preceptor of
Rajas or kings.
3. The commentary on Gita Govind
contains Kumbha's titles of Chāpguru, Todar-
mal and Abhinava Bharatāchārya. Chapguru
means master of the science of war.
4. Rasikpriya says that Maharana
Kumbha was called Todarmal, as he destroyed
like a मल्ल (a giant) great Rajas who
were Rulers of men (नरपती) Masters of Cavalry
(अश्वपती) and Masters of elephants (गजपती)
The Kirtisthambha Inscription, verse 177,
also calls Kumbha, Todarmal.
119

CHAPTER XIII.
KUMBHA'S MONUMENTS.
KUMBA was a great commander and a great
sovereign. He not only greatly extended the
boundaries of Mewar but immensely strength-
ened its defences and adorned it with works
of art. Colonel Tod says: "He triumphed
over the enemies of his race, fortified his
country with strongholds, embellished it with
temples, and with the superstructure of her
fame laid the foundations of his own."¹ He
repopulated Vasantapur, and built seven
lakes near it in the vicinity of Anhalkund of
Vashishta² in Sirohi (near Abu).
FORTS.
"Of the 84 fortresses constructed for the
defence of Mewar, 32 were built³ by Kumbha.
He fortified the passes between the Western
¹ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 290.
² Chitorgarh Kirtisthambha Inscription, verses 8 and 9.
³ Vir Vinod, Vol. I, p. 334. Also Tod's Rajasthan,
Vol. I, p. 289.
120

Maharana Kumbha:
frontier of Mewar and Abu and erected
the fort of Vasanti near Sirohi. He built
the fort of Machan to defend the Shera
Nullá and Devagarh against the Mers of
Aravalli." He built the fort of Kolana, near
Amba Bhawani, and the fort of Vairat near
Badnor, and rebuilt the fort of Ahore (in
Mewar), which had been first built by his
ancestor Karan Singh, and named it Kailash
Meru. "He built various other forts to
overawe the Bhumiá Bhils of Jarole and
Panora, and defined the boundaries of Mewar
and Marwar."¹
ACHALGARH.
He constructed in 1452 A.D. (S. 1509,
Magh Sudi 15th) a citadel on a peak of Mount
Abu, since well known as Achalagarh² within
the ruined fortress of the ancient Parmār
kings of that country, where he often resided.
The traveller would find the ruined towers
of Achalgarh buried in the dense masses of
¹ Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 289.
² Eklinga Mahatmya, Sl. 64. And the Chitorgarh Ins-
cription, Plate XXI, Cunningham's A.S.R., Vol. XXIII.
121

Maharana Kumbha.
clouds that surround him. The first pol (gate)
of this ancient fortress is the Hanuman Pol,
"which is composed of two noble towers built
with huge blocks of granite, black with the
rude blasts of some 1,000 winters. The
towers had been connected at the top by the
guard room, and the gate served as the
entrance to the lower fort, whose dilapidated
walls are discernable up the irregular ascent.
Another portal called the Champa Pol, from a
noble Champa tree close to it, which was
formerly denominated the "Gate of Wisdom,"
conducts to the inner fortress. The first
object that strikes the view on passing the
latter gate is the Jain temple to Paraswanath,
erected at the sole expense of a banker of
Māndu. Its columns are of the same charac-
ter as those of the ancient shrine of Ajmer.
"The upper fortress is attributed to
Kumbha. But he probably only repaired this,
the Donjon of Achalgarh, which with the
interior works, is of the most remote antiquity.
There are the ruins of a granary, the Bhandar
of Kumbha Rana, coated within with a very
strong cement. Close on the left, is the palace
122

Maharana Kumbha.
of Oka Rani, his queen, so designated from
being of Oka Mandal, (Kathiawar) near the
Land's End of the Hindus. A small lake in
the keep is called Sāwan Bhādoon, and well
merits the name of the two chief months of
the monsoon; for, in the middle of June it is
yet full of water. On the most elevated knoll
to the east are the remains of an alarm tower
which still bears Kumbha's name. From this
point the eye, occasionally piercing the swift-
scudding clouds, has glimpses of the ruined
altars and palaces of the brave race who on
the spot whence I surveyed them, had fought
and bled in their defence."¹
A blending of all beauties, streams and dells,
Fruit, foliage, crag, wood, cornfield, mountain, vine,
And chiefless castles, breathing stern farewells,
From gray, but leafy walls, where Ruin greenly dwells."
An equestrian statue of Maharana Kumbha
with those of two other Maharanas and a
bigger one of the Purohit or the family priest
of Kumbha in a humble straw shed on the
descent from Achalgarh to Dilwara still
receive divine honours.
¹ Tod's Travels in Western India, p. 94.

• 123

Maharana Kumbha.
Col. Tod describing his visit to Achalgarh,
says:—"As the sun dispelled the watery
darkness which enveloped us, the landscape
of this magic realm was to the last degree
imposing, every change of position unfolding
some new object. First, Jain shrines of
Dilwara (being S. 80° W. six miles distant),
backed by the peak of Arbudha Mātā; the
Guru Sikra (N. 15° E. four miles), with many
other pinnacles scattered over the summit of
this fairy land, each with its name and its
legend. On the descent, I paid my homage to
the representative of one of the worthies of
Mewar, an equestrian brass statue of Rana
Kumbha, who within these walls had often
stood the brunt of war. It was pleasing to
witness the homage still rendered within these
now desecrated walls, to departed worth;
prayers are made, and daily oblations of
saffron brought to the defender of Achalgarh,
and these not by any of his decendants, who
are ignorant of this deed, but by others utter-
ly unconnected with him, actuated by the
traditional record of his glory or greatness.
The humble straw shed which covers these
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Kumbhalgarh

Maharana Kumbha.
effigies conveys a finer lesson to the mind
than if they were enshrined in marble."¹
At Abu, Kumbha built the temple of
Kumbhaswámi (which still stands) and a
large tank named, Ramakund, in front of it.²
He excavated four other tanks there.² He
remitted the pilgrim tax levied at Abu.²
KUMBHALGARH.¹
The highest monument of Kumbha's
military and constructive genius, however, is
the wonderful fortress of Kumbhalgarh or
Kumbhalmer, second to none in strategical
importance or historical renown. It was to
this impregnable fortress that the Maharanas
of Mewar always turned their eyes, when
Udaipur became unsafe and Chitor unten-
able. It is to Kumbhalmer that the Maha-
ranas, from Udai Singh to Ráj Singh, sent
the royal households, when the entire might
of the Moghal Empire was used for the des-
truction of their country. It was the ambition
¹ Tod's Travels in Western India, pp. 95-96.
² Kumbha's Chitorgarh Kirtisthambha Inscription (Vs. 12
and 13). Near the Ramakund, stands a statue of the Parmar
king Dhārāvarsha armed with a bow, and three stone buffaloes.
125

Maharana Kumbha.
of Akbar, the greatest of the Moghul Emperors
of India to take it, when his hosts, led by the
greatest of his generals, the renowned Mán
Singh of Amber and supported by the armies
of the Rathods of Marwar and Bikaner, the
Kuchhwahas of Amber (Jaipur) and other
Rajput Chiefs, invaded the country of the
immortal Pratap.
The cunning of Akbar succeeded in
raising against this devoted land most of its
Rajput neighbours, and the fortress fell. It
was, however, soon recovered by Pratap; and
the successors of Akbar—Jahangir with all
his vain glory, and Aurangzeb with all his
craft and cunning—failed to make any im-
pression on this historic fortress. When
Prince Khurram, ennobled with the title of
Shah Jahan (king of the world), with all the
resources that the empire could command,
supported by Emperor Jahangir at the base
of operations, Ajmer, overran the country
of Pratap's noble son, Amra; or when
that destroyer of the Moghal Empire,
Aurangzeb, collecting the Imperial armies
from all parts of the Empire, vainly launched
126

Maharana Kumbhá.
his legions against the chivalrous Maharana
Raj Singh in an attempt to deprive this
sacred soil of its ancient independence, this
stronghold, the ever memorable Kumbhalgarh,
provided shelter to those who were dear to
the noble defenders of their fatherland. This
fortress, which has played a part in history,
seldom rivalled and never surpassed, was the
bulwark of Mewar throughout the Moghal
rule in India.
"When they were young and proud,
Banners on high and battles passed below ;
But they who fought are in a bloody shroud,
And those which waved are shredless dust ere now,
And the bleak battlements shall bear no future blow."
Kumbhalgarh and the Kirtisthambha
(Tower of Victory) at Chitor, are the two
pillars on which the fame of Kumbha as a
great commander and a great sovereign rests.
Kumbhalgarh, situated on the 25°9′ N. and
73°35′ E., about 60 miles north of Udaipur,
stands on a high peak of the most westerly
range of the Aravalli hills, on the site of an
ancient stronghold, which, according to tradi-
tion, was built by the famous Jain king
Samprati, who flourished in the third
127

Maharana Kumbha.
century¹ of the Christian era. Kumbha began
the construction of the fort in S. 1500 (1443
A. D.), and it was completed on the 13th of
the dark half of Chaitra, S. 1515 (A.D. 1458).²
It was designed and built by Kumbha's
architect Mandana.
Kumbhalgarh is defended by a series of
walls with battlements and bastions built on
the slopes of a hill, and contains a domed
palace and buildings which are reached though
several gateways along a winding approach.
The palace in it built by Kumbha and rebuilt
by the late Maharana Fateh Singh stands
3,568 feet above sea level, and commands a
fine panoramic view of the wild and rugged
scenery of the Aravallis³ and the sandy plains
of Marwar. Below this peak, on every side
and enlosed within a high battlemented wall,
so thick as to allow 8 horsemen to ride abreast,
¹ Samprati was the second son of Emperor Asoka who
died in 236 or 237 B. C. His eldest son Kunal reigned for
8 years and was succeeded by Samprati who also reigned
for 8 years.
² Chitorgarh Inscription, Cunningham's Archæological
Survey Report, Vol. XXIII, plate 21.
³ The names of several neighbouring hills are given in
the Chitorgarh Inscription as Nila, Shweta, Hemkut, Himvat,
Nishad, Gandhamadan.
128

Maharana Kumbha.
the uneven ground is studded with numerous
old temples and reservoirs, barracks for
the garrison, grain stores and other domed
buildings.
The formidable bastions in the battlement-
ed wall of Kumbhalgarh, as the illustration
on the opposite page will show, are peculiar
in shape and are so built that the enemy may
not be able to scale them by means of ladders.
Outside the fortress, at some little distance
on a mound, is a fine temple consisting of a
square sanctuary with a vaulted dome and a
colounade of elegant pillars all round. Describ-
ing this ancient temple, Col. Tod says:—"The
design of this temple is truly classic. It
consists only of the sanctuary, which has a
vaulted dome and colonnaded portico all round.
The architecture is undoubtedly Jain, which
is as distinct in character from the Brahminical,
.as their religion. There is a chasteness and
simplicity in this specimen of monotheistic
worship, affording a wide contrast to the
elaborately sculptured shrines of the Saivas,
and other polytheists of India. The extreme
want of decoration best attests its antiquity,
129

Maharana Kumbha.

entitling us to attribute it to that period
when Samprati Raja, of the family of Chandra-
gupta, was paramount sovereign over all
these regions, (two hundred years before
Christ); to whom tradition ascribes the most
ancient monuments of this faith, yet
existing in Rajasthan and Saurashtra. The
proportions and forms of the columns are
especially distinct from the other temples,
being slight and tapering, instead of massive,
the general characteristic of Hindu architecture;
while the projecting cornices, which would
absolutely deform shafts less slight, are
peculiarly indicative of the Takshac architect.
A massive monolithic emblem of black marble
of the Hindu Jivapitri, had been improperly
introduced into the shrine of the worshippers
of the 'spirit alone.' Being erected on the
rock, and chiselled from the syenite on which
it stands, it may bid defiance to time.
There was another sacred structure in its
vicinity, likewise Jain, but of a distinct
character; indeed, offering a perfect contrast
to that described. It was three stories in
height; each tier was decorated with numerous

130

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Katargarh and the Vedi.