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

Maharana Kumbha.
The Dowager Queen Hansbai spoke
to her brother. Ran Mal's reply did not
allay her anxiety, which had been first caused
by the assassination of Rághavadeva, the
brother of Chondá. An incident which is
said to have occurred about this time made
the queen more anxious.
A fair maid of the Queenmother Sobhagya-
devi, named Bhārmali, with whom Rao Ran Mal
was in love, was one evening detained
a little longer in the palace and went to him
later than usual. He asked the cause of the
delay, whereupon she said that she was not
her own mistress, and that as soon as those
whose servant she was, gave her leave she
went to him. The answer annoyed the Ráo,
who was drunk. He told her that she would
soon cease to be a servant, and that those
who cared to live in Chitor would have to
live as her servants.¹ And, yielding to her
seductive charms and female art, Ran Mal,
intoxicated with liquor as he was, confessed
to her his designs. The loyal maid, next day,
related the whole incident to the Queen,
¹ Vir Vinod, Vol. I, p. 321.
60

Maharana Kumbha.
who communicated the information to the
Maharana. Whether this story of the maid
Bharmali was concocted to sow seeds of
dissension between the queenmother Sobhagya-
devi, widow of Mokal and the Dowager Queen
Hansbai, widow of Lakhsh Singh, or was
invented as a part of the intrigue against
Ran Mal, whose dominant position in Mewar
had been the cause of the influx of Rathods
in the country, it is impossible to believe
that the chivalrous Ran Mal entertained the
base designs attributed to him.
His high character, and his past conduct
whether in Marwar or in Mewar, belie the
imputations sought to be cast against him.
His loyalty to the Maharana cannot be
doubted. His position in the administration
naturally excited the jealousy of the chiefs
of Mewar. Whether some of them believed
that Ran Mal's aim was to seize the supreme
power in Mewar or not, they all thought
that the time had come to rise against the
Rathodisation of the Mewar administration
and assert their right to hold important
offices in their own country. There were two
factions in Chitor, (a) the Sisodia nobles of
Mewar and (b) the Rathods headed by Ran Mal.
Ran Mal may have disclosed to Bharmali
his intention to reduce the Sisodia nobility
to a subordinate position and make the Rathod
bureaucracy all powerful.
61.

Maharana Kumbha,
The Sisodia nobles of Mewar became
apprehensive not only of their own position
but of the future of their country. All
their hopes for the safety of Mewar and its
rightful sovereign now rested in Chondá ;
and to him they at once turned for help.
He was apprised of the danger to his country
and was asked to come and save it. Chondá,
who had been a silent but not an inattentive
spectator of the dangerous game that was
being played in the land of his birth, lost
no time in coming to the assistance of the
Maharana.¹
¹ Various traditions are current in Mewar about
Chonda's return to Chitor. one of them is to the effect that
he sent 200 of his followers, hunters by profession, to visit
their families in Chitor, and while there to ingratiate them-
selves in the favour of the gatekeepers of the fortress. The
Maharana was asked to descend daily from the fort with
a retinue to give feasts to the surrounding villages, and to
hold the feast on the Diwali day at Ghosoonda. The day
arrived : the feast was held at Ghosoonda, and night came,
but no Chonda arrived. With heavy hearts, the nurse, the
Purohit and others started homewards, and had reached the
eminence called Chitori when forty horsemen passed them at
full gallop, and at their head was the chivalrous Chonda, who,
by a secret sign, paid homage to his nephew and sovereign.
Chonda and his band reached the Rampol Gate unnoticed,
but here they were challenged. They said they were neighbour-
ing chieftains and had the honor to escort the Maharana
home. But the main body, of which this was the advance,
presently coming up, the stratagem was discovered. Chonda
unsheathed his sword, and at his well-known shout, the
hunters were speedily in action. The Bhatti chief in charge
of the principal post of Chitor, was killed, though not before
he had launched his dagger at Chonda and wounded him.
62.

Maharana Kumbhá.
The Vir · Vinod says $^1$ that the Ráthods
approached the queenmother Sobhagyadevi
and in the interests of the Maharana,
protested against Rawat Chonda's return to
Chitor. The queen, however, replied that it did
not look well that the gates of Chitor should
be closed against one who had made such
noble sacrifices for his country.
The old Rao of Mandor now began to scent
danger. Fearing surprise, he sent his sons
Jodhá (who later founded Jodhpur), Kándhal
and others to live in the taleti, at the foot of
the hill on which the fortress is built and
told them to be always on their guard and
never to come up to the fort even if they
should receive a message in his name.$^2$
Prompted by Chondá, the Maharana asked
Ran Mal to call Jodhá and Kándhal to reside
in the fortress, but the Rao made some excuse
or other.$^3$ The Sisodia nobles of Mewar now
decided to rid the fortress of the Rathods.
$^1$ Vir Vinod, Vol. I., p. 321.
$^2$ Nainsi's khyat, p. 28 (Benares Edition).
$^3$ Ibid.
63

Maharana Kumbha.
Bhārmali, the queen's maid, one even-
ing in Asárh, S. 1495 (1438 A.D.) plied the
Rao with liquor. When the old chief was
drunk, Bhármali, who had been compelled to
his embrace, tied him well to the bed with the
big turban he wore. The Rao was only roused
to a sense of his danger when Máhpá Panwár,
Ekká son of Cháchá, and others arrived. In
his rage, by a sudden desperate movement he
got on his legs with the pallet behind him,
and roared like a caged lion unable to free
himself from the meshes of the turban that
tied him to the pallet. Finding all arms re-
moved, he got hold of a brass lotá, and with
this he killed 3 of his 17 assailants ere he was
killed by a shot from a matchlock.¹ Ran Mal
was of herculean build. His gigantic stature
and the force of his blow were well known in
Rajputana. Máhpá fled as soon as Ran Mal got
on his feet. The other Rathods in the fort-
ress, including Randhir, brother of Ran Mal,
Sattá Bhati, son of Lunkaran, and Randhir
¹ Vir Vinod, Vol. I, p. 322. Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I,
p. 280 Nainsi's khyat (p. 28-29) gives a slightly different
account.
The Jodhpur khyat gives A. D. 1444, as the year of
Ran Mal's murder.
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Maharāna Kumbhā.
Suráwat, were surprised and slain. Seeing
the state of affairs a Dom in the service of
Ran Mal, got on to the wall of the fortress
and in a loud voice, cried out:—
चुंडा अजमल आविया, मांडूं हुं धक आग ।
जोधा रणमल मारिया, भाग सके तो भाग ॥
"Chonda has returned from Mandu. Ran Mal
has been killed : Jodhá, flee for your life if
you can."
Jodhá and his 700 Rathods saddled their
horses, took up their arms and leaving Bheem,
who was too drunk to move, sprang into their
saddles and made for Marwar. Chonda, with
the memory of the murder of his brother
Rághavadeva fresh in his mind started in
pursuit with ten thousand Guhilots. A run-
ning fight ensued between the Rathods and the
Sisodias. There were several encounters.¹
Jodhá had not gone far when Chonda came up
and a fight took place at Kapásan. Jodhá,
after losing 200 men and killing 400 of the
enemy, slipped away. Chardá and Chand
Rao, sons of Aradakamal (Ran Mal's son),
¹ The Jodhpur khyat mentions encounters at Chitori,
Satkhamba, Kanawaj, Kapasani and Kailwa.
65

Maharana Kumbha.
Rana Pitha Rájáwat, Shivaraj, Poorná Bháti,
Barisál and others gave up their lives
defending Jodhá.¹ Jodha reached Mándal,
where Kandhal joined him, and the two
brothers continued their flight towards Marwar.
They reached the Someshwar Pass in the
hills which divide Marwar from Mewar with
only a hundred horsemen. Chondá soon
came up, and to prevent the Rathods escaping .
into Marwar made a furious attack on them.
The Rathods collected round Jodhá and Kán-
dhal to save them. Both the Sisodiás and the
Rathods dismounted and engaged in a hand-
to-hand fight. Out of the 100 horsemen that
reached the Pass, Jodhá crossed it with but
seven. With this remnant of the 700 horse-
men with whom he had left Chitor, Jodhá set
foot on the soil of Marwar. He owed his
safety to the fleetness of his steed.
Chonda, who had patiently borne the
wrongs heaped upon him by Rao Ran Mal,
was exasperated beyond measure against the
Rao and was determined to take full revenge
for the ruin of his life wrought by Ran Mal.
¹ Mehta Nainsi's Khyat, p. 29, also mentions Bhim, uncle
of Jodha as one of those who died defending Jodha.
66

Maharana Kumbha.
Chonda fully remembered that it was Ran Mal
whose artful handling of the situation created
by Chonda refusing the hand of Ran Mal's
sister Hansbai, had deprived him of the throne
of Chitor. He also remembered that it was
Ran Mal who had brought about his banish-
ment from his motherland. He also remem-
bered that his dear brother Raghavadeva
was murdered at the instance of Ran Mal.
All these wrongs which had thoroughly
embittered Chonda's life were raging within
him like the fire which rages within an active
valcano. And now that the opportunity for
which he had waited all his life, came, all the
pent up fury and hatred burst out with a
force which was almost uncontrollable.
Chonda's pursuit of Jodha was relentless
He arrived at Mandawar (Mandor) close on
Jodhá's heels. Jodhá unable to make a stand
there, passed by it. Relying on the aid of the
Bhátis of Poogal and Bikampur he took up his
abode at the village Kāhuni,¹ ten miles from
Bikaner.
The Rana's forces took possession of
Marwar and established thánás all over the
¹ Marwar khyat, Vol. I., p. 41.
67

Maharana Kumbha.
land. Akho Sisodia was appointed Governor
of Mandor. Ahádo Hingolo and Mehtá
Rayangar were also attached to this fort.
Ráwat Rághavadeva, son of Hansmal Chonda-
wat, was given Sojat as jagir and was made
Thánádar of Chokri. Bháti Banbir, Chauhán
Jassá of Sachore and the son of Firoz Khan
ruler of Nagor were also attached to this
Tháná. Vir Vinod says that Chonda left
his 3 sons Kuntal, Manja and Suwa at Mandor
to keep the country under control.¹
Narbad, son of Ran Mal's younger brother
Sattá, to whom Maharana Mokal had given a
jágir with an annual rental of Rs. 1,00,000—
Káyaláná—when Ran Mal was placed on the
throne of Mandor in 1409 A.D., remained loyal
throughout these transactions, and the Maha-
rana enlarged his jagir by further bestowing on
him an estate yielding an income of Rs. 50,000
a year. He took up his abode at Bassi. The
year 1438 A.D. thus saw the expulsion of the
Rathods from Chitor and the passing of
Marwar into the possession of the Maharana.²
¹ Vir Vinod, Vol. I., p. 322.
² The Ranpur Temple Inscription of A.D. 1439 men-
tions the occupation of Mandor by Maharana Kumbha.
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Rao Jodha, the founder of Jodhpur.

CHAPTER VIII.
RAO JODHA RECOVERS MARWAR.
AFTER a year's stay at Kahuni, Jodha
began to raid Mandor. His raids always
cost him men and horses without bringing
him any profit. One day, returning from his
raid, Jodhá came to a village and put up at
the house of one Rákan Jat. The mistress
of the house placed before Jodhá a tháli
(plate) full of hot ghát (porridge). Jodhá at
once thrust his fingers into the centre of the
porridge to take a morsel, and as the porridge
was burning hot, Jodhá burnt his fingers.
Seeing this and not knowing who the stranger
was, the Játni said : “Brother, thou art as
devoid of sense as Jodhá is.” Jodhá was
astonished to hear this remark and asked the
lady why she thought Jodhá was without
sense. The Játni replied that want of
sense in Jodhá was clear from the fact
that instead of raiding the out-lying country,
he always went straight to attack Mandor,
which was garrisoned by the Rana; and thus
69

Maharana Kumbha.
at every encounter he lost horses and men
without gaining his object. And thou, too,
my brother, added the lady, lacketh sense
inasmuch as thou putteth thy hand straight
into the centre of the porridge and burneth thy
fingers. If thou wouldst but begin with the
porridge near the edge which is not so
hot, thou shouldst have by and by the
porridge in the centre of the plate too, as it
is not going to run away.¹
Jodhá took this advice to heart and gave
up going towards Mandor and began to
raid the country around. This brought
him plunder, and he got around him a body of
horsemen. His brothers also grew up and
began to assist him. With the help of the
Bhátis of Kelhan, where he had married, he
began to raise disturbances in the country.
He was, however, seriously handicapped by
want of horses and lack of money. There was
famine, too, in the land and grain was scarce.
While Jodhá was thus roaming homeless in
Marwar, his country being in the Maharana's
possession, an incident occurred which roused
¹ Marwar khyat, Vol. I, pp. 41-42.
70

Maharana Kumbha..
him and put fresh energy into his activities.
The Dowager Queen of Mewar, Rao Ran
Mal's sister, sympathising with Jodhá in his
forlorn state, one day begged the Maharana
to restore Mandor to the young Rao,
telling him how Ran Mal had come to Chitor
to help the Maharana at a critical time, slain
Cháchá and Mairá, defeated the Mussalmans,
raised the credit of Mewar, and was killed
there, and that his son Jodhá was now
wandering in the jungles, homeless and
hopeless. Such, said the lady, was the
reward for services rendered to Mewar.
The Maharana replied that Ran Mal had
murdered Rághavadeva, Chondá's brother,
which Chonda could never forget, and that he,
for fear of wounding Chondá's feelings, could
not do anything to help Jodha, but promised
that if Jodhá should take Mandor he would
not molest him. Thus assured, the old lady
sent a confidential messenger, a Cháran
named Dulá, to Jodhá to communicate to him
the views of the Maharana and to encourage
him to make an effort and take Mandor.
Cháran Asiá Dulá went in search of
71

Maharana Kumbha.
Jodhá, and eventually reaching the village
Bhādang, in the jungles of Padává, in the
sandy desert of Marwar, he found him with
his fifty horsemen and some foot followers in
the act of satisfying their hunger with the
bájri growing in the fields. The message
from Hansbai, the Dowager Queen of Mewar,¹
acted like a powerful tonic on him, and he
set about collecting means to effect his purpose.
He went straight to Ráwat Lunkaran of Sat-
ráwa, who had got 500 horses in his stables,
and appealed to his patriotism, and reminded
him of his duty to his kindred and asked for
200 horses. Lunkaran declined to give the
horses, saying that he held his fief from
the Maharana, who would deprive him
of the land if he should give him assistance.
Disappointed by the Ráwat, Jodhá went
to the Thakuráni, who was a sister of
Jodhá's mother. She was a Bhatyáni
lady, a class well known amongst the
Rajputs for wisdom and foresight. Seeing
Jodhá dejected, she enquired the cause.
He told her that the Ráwat had refused
him horses of which he was in sore need.

¹ Vir Vinod, Vol. I, p. 324.
72

Maharana Kumbha.
The Bhatyáni asked him to cheer up, saying
the horses were all his. She sent for the
Ráwat and asked him to put certain valuables
in the Toshákháná; and when he unlocked
the room and went in to deposit the things,
the Thakuráni promptly shut the door
and locked him in. She then sent one
of her maids with Jodhá to the stables
with the message that the Ráwat had
ordered that the stables were at Jodhá's
disposal, and that the keepers were fully to
equip any horses that he wished to take
away. Jodhá picked out 140 of the best
steeds of Satráwá, mounted his Rajputs and
marched away. When he was gone the
Thakuráni unlocked the door of the Toshá-
kháná. Ráwat Lunkaran came out boiling
with rage, quarrelled with the Thakuráni,
scolded his Kámdárs and had the keepers of
the stables beaten, but could not get back
the horses.¹
¹ The following couplet refers to the incident :—
ज्यूं ज्यूं कहियो रावत लूणो ।
त्यूं त्यूं लड़े घणेरो खूणो ॥
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Maharana Kumbha.
Jodhá thus equipped went to enlist the
support of Harbá Sánkhlá, the celebrated
cavalier of Rajputana, whose deeds of chivalry
are sung everywhere in the country. This
great man, a Bála Brahmachári (he who
leads a life of celibacy from childhood), lived
a life of simplicity and asceticism, and was
ever ready to succour the distressed, help
the weak and champion the cause of the
oppressed. His generosity was proverbial,
his door was open to all who sought his aid,
his lance ever ready to go to the assistance of
a suppliant with a just grievance. His
house, a place of shelter to all who went
there, provided unbounded hospitality to
the stranger. He had been performing
the rite of Sadāvrat, at which everyone
is shown hospitality and granted his request.
Jodhá, with a hundred and twenty followers,
arrived when the “strangers’ fare” had been
distributed. Harbá had a hurried meal of
mujd boiled with flour, sugar and spices
prepared and set before the Ráo and his
followers, who enjoyed the pottage and went
to sleep
On waking, they stared at one another,
74

Maharana Kumbha.
for their moustachios were dyed with the
evening's meal. Harbá, however, remarked
"that the grey of age was thus metamor-
phosed into the tint of morn and hope, so
would their fortunes become young and
Mandor again be theirs."
Thus aided, Jodhá started to recover his
patrimony. He first attacked the Maharana's
tháná of Chaukri. Raghavadeva Rathod with
his small following fled, leaving everything
behind, and Bháti Ranbir, Rana Visaldeva,
Ráwal Duda of the Rana's officers were killed.
Jodhá next attacked and took Kosáná, and by
rapid marches arrived at Mandor. Two sons
of Rawat Chondá, Kándhal and Manjá, were in
charge of the place. Despising the numbers
of the enemy, and ignorant of the fact that
the assailants included Harbá Sánkhlá, they
descended sword in hand to meet them. But
they were overpowered; Kándhal was slain and
Manjá took to his horse and fled but was
pursued, overtaken and slain on the way.
Ahádo Hingolo, Sisodiá Eko and others were
also slain. A chhatri still marks the place
on the Balsamad Lake, near Jodhpur, where
Hingolo fell after performing deeds of valour.
75

Maharana Kumbha.
Chauhán Jassá, Harbhám Sindhal, Visaldeva
Parmar and the son of Firoz Khan of Nagor
fled. Jodhá recovered Mandor. In a few
days, Jheà also seized Sojat and took up his
abode there. Chondá would have invaded
Marwar to take vair (revenge)—as two sons .
of his had fallen while Mandor had lost only
one chief, Ran Mal—but abstained on learn-
ing that the Maharana forbade it. Conscious,
however, of the superior power of Mewar,
Jodha made peace with the Maharana. We find
that Jodha's daughter, Sringardevi, was married
to Maharana Kumbha's son Raimal.¹ The
inscription in the baodi (stepped well) built
by Sringardevi in A. D. 1504 in Ghosundi,
12 miles from Chitor, describes her as Rao
Jodha's daughter and wife of prince Raimal.
Thus after 7 years occupation² of it by the
Maharana, Jodha won back Mandor by the
sword about A.D. 1445.
¹ Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal, Vol. 55, Part I, pp.
79-82.
² The following verse supports the fact that the Maha-
rana occupied Marwar for seven years:—
थाणो जाय मंडावर थट्यो जोरकर लखपत
कियो राज चूंडे नव कोटा सात वरस तांई सीसोद
"Lakhpat (Maharana) established a thana (military post)
at Mandor; Chonda Sisodia ruled Marwar (Nava Kota) for
seven years." See Vir Vinod, Vol. I, p. 324.
76

CHAPTER IX.
CONQUEST OF ABU AND HARAVATI.
THE kingdom of Sirohi lies in the south
west part of Rajputana, between 24'.20" and
25'.17" latitude and 72'.16" and 73'.10"
longitude, and is 1964 miles in area. Its
rulers belong to the Deora branch of the
Chauhan Rajputs. The most important place
in this kingdom is Mount Abu, the highest
point of the Aravalli Hills ( Adāvalā ) stretch-
ing from Delhi to Gujrat. Mount Abu, the
“Olympus of the Hindus” as Colonel Tod calls
it, was the seat of a powerful kingdom in old
days. Abu formed part of the empire of
Emperor Chandragupta of the Mauriya
dynasty, who ruled early in the fourth century
B.C. The territory of Abu passed successively
into the possession of the Khshtrapas, the
Imperial Guptas, the Vaisa dynasty of which
Emperor Sri Harsha was the ornament;
Chaoras, the Solankis, and the Parmārs.
From the Parmārs, the Chauhans of Jalor
77