महाराणा सांगा: द हिन्दूपत (हरविलास सारदा - मेवाड़ साम्राज्य एवं खानवा महायुद्ध इतिहास)

Maharana Sāngā.
which he marched and fell on his enemy
earned for him the title of Udnā Prithvi-
raj, the “winged Prithviraj.” ¹
One of the earliest exploits of Prithvi-
raj, which made him famous in Rajputana,
was his daring raid on Girnār in the heart
of Gujrat. Maharana Rai Mal's sister—
Maharana Kumbha's daughter—Ramā Bai,
had been married to Raja Mandlik
Jādava (Yadava) of Surashtra (Girnār).²
¹ Mehta Nainsi says that Prithviraj attacked
Toda and Jalor—two places separated by 200 miles
from each other—on one and the same day, and that
thenceforth he was called “Udnā Prithviraj.”
² Mehta Nainsi in his Chronicles says that King
Mandlik was a powerful ruler and commanded an army
of twenty thousand Rajputs, and used to construct new
tanks every year. He used to bathe every day with
Ganges water and drink no water but that of the Ganges.
The reason of his fall, according to Nainsi, was his
uncontrolled passion for the wife of a Charan. Akho,
son of Surtan, was a Charan attached to the principal
gate of his fortress. His wife Nagdevi, was possessed
of supernatural powers. Nagdevi's son had married a
Padmini, whose son, Nagarjuna, went to Sultan Mahmud
Begara and won his favour and obtained from him two
mares named Labah and Lakshmi. From them,
Nagarjuna had two horses, Uchasaro and Amolak, which
became famous. Raja Mandlik hearing of their fame
sent for them. The Charan refusing to give them up, the
Raja himself went to Nagarjuna for them, but was no
more successful than his men. After some time, a barber
of the Raja happened to go to Nagdevi, who asked him
31

Maharana Sāngā.
Owing to some disagreement between the
husband and the wife, Mandlik began to
illtreat his Queen. Prithviraj heard of
this, and with a chosen band of his
veterans started to punish King Mandlik.
Traversing the long distance by rapid
marches, Prithviraj surprised Mandlik
in his palace. In his helplessness, he
appealed to Prithviraj's clemency. Prith-
viraj spared his life, but as a mark of
punishment cut a little piece off his right
ear and returned with his aunt Ramā Bai, to
to pare the nails of her daughter-in-law, the Padmini.
Struck by her surpassing beauty, he repaired to Mandlik
and spoke to him about her. Mandlik resolved to go and
see her. His queen, Ramā Bai, expostulated with him
and tried her best to dissuade him. Mandlik persisted
in his nefarious design and went to the village where
Nagdevi lived. Nagdevi supplied the entire following
of the Raja with provisions from a small kotri (cell)
of hers. Surprised at this supernatural feat, the king's
attendants told him that she was a goddess and nothing
should be done to displease her. The king, mad with
desire, did not listen to them. The bar tree under
which he sat began to shoot jets of blood, but the king
did not take the warning. He asked Nagdevi to
show him the Padmini. The Devi brought her out
properly decked, but her feet did not touch the ground.
Mandlik thrust forward his hand to catch hold of her.
She, however, assumed the form of a goddess and pro-
nounced a curse upon him, that he would lose his fortress,
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Maharana Sāngā.
Mewar. The Maharana gave the parganah
of Jāwar for maintenance to Ramā Bai, who,
with her savings, built the temple of Rama-
swami and the lake Ramkund at Jāwar
(Yogini Pattan), the inauguration ceremony
of which took place on Chaitra Sukla 7th
(Sunday) S. 1554¹ (A. D. 1497). She also
built the Damodar temple to Vishnu at
Kumbhalgarh and a tank to the south
of Kundeshwar.
become insane, throw dust on his head and become a
slave of the Turks (Mussalmans.) Mandlik returned
home and Padmini went to Kedar in the Himalayas,
and like the Pandavas gave herself up to the eternal
snows. Nagdevi repaired to Sultan Mahmud Begara
and told him that she had bestowed Girnār on
him. The Sultan, who had not been able to take the
stronghold of Girnār owing to its great strength, asked
for some sign of assurance of his success. The Devi said
that on waking up the next morning he would find
coloured rice in his turban. Finding the prophecy come
true, the Sultan started to attack Girnār and laid siege to
the fortress. Mandlik became mad and came and
handed over the keys of the fort to the Sultan and
embraced Islam. The fortress was not taken, however,
till a thousand Rajputs who defended it bravely were all
slain. This story shows that Mandlik by his misconduct
displeased a Charan, with whose assistance, Mahmud
Begara took Girnār, and that Ramā Bai left Girnār
when she found that Mandlik was not behaving himself.
¹ Inscription on Ramkund at Jawar of Chaitra
Sud 7th, S. 1554. Jawar is situated 5 miles from Tidi,
in the Magra Zillah of Mewar.
33

Maharana Sāngā.
Soon after Jai Mal's death, Maharana
Rai Mal conferred the parganah of Bhains-
ror of the annual rental of Rs. 50,000 on
Rawat Suraj Mal (Rana Mokal's grand-
son) as jagir. When the news of this grant
reached Prithviraj in Godwar, he recol-
lected the prophecy of the Charanidevi
and the duel he had with Suraj Mal, and
sent a letter to the Maharana protesting
against the grant. The Maharana replied
that he on his part had made the grant and
that Prithviraj was at liberty to take it
back if he could. As soon as this reply
reached Prithviraj, he started to attack
Bhainsror with two thousand horsemen.
Putting Suraj Mal and Sarangdeva, a
grandson of Rana Lakha, to flight, he took
possession of the castle and turned the
families of the two chieftains out of the fort.
Suraj Mal, whose vaunting ambition
had persuaded him that the crown was
his destiny, plunged deep into treason to
obtain it. Winning over Sarangdeva to his
cause, they both repaired to Sultan
Nāsiruddin Khilji of Malwa. The Sultan
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Maharana Sāṅgā.
welcomed the opportunity these internal
dissensions in Mewar gave him to inflict a
blow on Chitor, and thus avenge the defeats
the successive Maharanas had inflicted on
his ancestors. He sent a large army
against Mewar. Thus aided, the two trai-
tors assailed the southern frontier of their
fatherland and rapidly possessed themselves
of Sadri, Batarda and a wide tract extending
from Nye to Neemuch, attempting even
Chitor. With the few troops that were in
the fort, the Maharana started to punish the
rebels, who met the attack on the river
Gambhiri. The Maharana, fighting like a
common soldier, had received two and
twenty wounds and was nearly falling
through faintness when Prithviraj, who
had heard of the invasion, with lightning
speed arrived with one thousand fresh horse
from Kumbhalgarh and averted a disaster.
Looking out for his uncle Suraj Mal, he
soon sighted him. Cutting his way up to
him, he covered him with wounds. Both
sides lost many brave men but neither would
yield. When night fell they retired from the
field and bivouacked in sight of each other.
35

Maharana Sāngā.
Soon after nightfall, Prithviraj paid a
visit to his uncle Suraj Mal, and the meet-
ing between the rival uncle and the nephew
is described by Colonel Tod as “unique in
the details of strife, perhaps since the origin
of man.” Prithviraj found his uncle in a small
tent reclining on a pallet, having just had
the barber (surgeon) to sew up his wounds.
He rose and met his nephew and heir to
the throne of Mewar with the customary
respect, as if nothing unusual had occurred ;
but the exertion caused some of the wounds
to open afresh, when the following dia-
logue ensued :—
“ PRITHVIRAJ. ‘ Well, uncle, how are
your wounds ? ’
SURAJ MAL. ‘ Quite healed, my child,
since I have the pleasure of seeing you.’
PRITHVIRAJ. ‘ But, uncle (kaka), I have
not yet seen the Dewanji.¹ I first ran
to see you, and I am very hungry ; have you
anything to eat ? ’ ”
¹ The Maharana is called Diwanji, owing to his
being the chief priest of the famous temple of Eklingji.
36

Maharana Sāngā.
Dinner was soon served, and the extra-
ordinary pair sat down, and 'ate off the same
platter (tháli);' nor did Prithviraj hesitate
to eat the 'pān'¹ presented on his taking
leave.
"PRITHVIRAJ. 'You and I will end our
battle in the morning, uncle.'
SURAJ MAL. 'Very well, child; `come
early!'"
They met: but Sarangdeva bore the
brunt of the conflict, receiving thirty-five
wounds. During four ghurries, swords and
lances were plied, and every tribe of Rajput
lost numbers that day. At last the rebels
were defeated and fled towards Sadri, and
Prithviraj returned in triumph, though
with seven wounds, to Chitor. Suraj Mal
took up his abode at Sadri and Sarangdeva
at Batarda. The Maharana did not wish to
trouble them any further, but Prithviraj
was relentless in his efforts to drive them
out of Mewar. Many personal encounters
took place between the uncle and the
¹ Pān has frequently been a medium for administer-
ing poison.
37

Maharana Sāngā.
nephew: the latter saying he would not let
him retain "as much land of Mewar as
would cover a needle's point": and Suraj
Mal retorting, that "he would allow his
nephew to redeem only as much as would
suffice for him to lie upon."
Driven from place to place, the rebels
came to the wilds of Bāturro (Batarda),
where they formed a stockaded retreat of the
dho tree, which abounds in the forest; and
one day while Suraj Mal and his companion
Sarangdeva, were communing by the night
fire on their desperate plight, their
cogitations were checked by the rush and
neigh of horses. Scarcely had the pretender
exclaimed, "this must be my nephew!" when
Prithviraj dashed his steed through the
barricade and entered with his troops. All
was confusion, and the sword showered its
blows indiscriminately. The young prince
reached his uncle and dealt him a blow which
would have levelled him but for the support
of Sarangdeva, who upbraided him, adding
"a buffet now was more than a score of
wounds in former days:" to which Suraj Mal
38

Maharana Sāngā.
added, “only when dealt by my nephew’s
hand.” Suraj Mal demanded a parley ; and
calling on the prince to stop the combat, he
continued : “If I am killed, it matters not—
my children are Rajputs, they will run the
country to find support ; but if you are slain,
what will become of Chitor ? My face will
be blackened and my name everlastingly
reprobated.
“The sword was sheathed, and as the
uncle and nephew embraced, the latter asked
the former, ‘What were you about uncle,
when I came ?’—‘Only talking nonsense,
child, after dinner.’—‘But with me over
your head, uncle, as a foe, how could you be
so negligent ?’—‘What could I do ? You
had left me no resource, and I must have
some place to rest my head.’ ”
There was a small temple near the
stockade, to which in the morning Prithvi-
raj requested his uncle to accompany him
to sacrifice to the mother (Kali), but the
blow of the preceding night prevented him
from going. Sarangdeva was his proxy,
39

Maharana Sāngā.
Suraj Mal having left for Sadri. One
buffalo had fallen and a goat was about to
follow when the prince turned his sword on
Sarangdeva. The combat was desperate,
but Prithviraj was the victor, and the head
of the traitor was placed as an offering on
the altar of Time (Kali). The place was
plundered and the town of Bāturro (Batarda)
was recovered.
Having done with Sarangdeva, Prithvi-
raj started for Sadri to despatch Suraj Mal
after Sarangdeva. Suraj Mal having reach-
ed Sadri, stopped there only to fulfil his
threat that "he would make over the lands
to those stronger than the king." Among
others he gave 12 villages of Debari, includ-
ing Billano and Banslo to Brahmins and
bards, and was about to abandon Mewar for
ever when Prithviraj arrived. He was
received in due form. Suraj Mal's wife
placed poisoned food before the prince.
Suraj Mal came to know of this, but not
knowing which plate contained the poison,
he was unable to remove it. He therefore
sat down to join Prithviraj in the repast.
40

Maharana Sāngā.
Instantly, his wife removed the plate contain-
ing the poison. Like a flash of lightning,
the incident revealed the truth to Prithvi-
raj. Overwhelmed by the solicitude of his
uncle for his safety, he got up and said :
“Uncle, now the throne of Mewar is at
your service.” Suraj Mal replied that the
throne apart, he would not stay in Mewar
even to drink water.
Passing through the wilds of Kanthal, he
had an omen which recalled the Charani's
prediction: “a wolf endeavouring in vain to
carry off a kid defended by maternal affec-
tion.” This was interpreted as strong ground
for a dwelling. He halted there and subdued
the native tribes of the jungles and erected
on the spot where the wolf was held at bay
by the goat, the stronghold ¹ of Deolia. He
became the lord of a thousand villages and
founded the State, which under the name
of Deolia Pratapgarh, is now one of the
eighteen Ruling Chiefships of Rajputana.
¹ Mehta Nainsi in his Chronicles says that it was
Suraj Mal's grandson, Bika, son of Bagh Singh, who
took Deolia and severed his connection with Mewar.
41

Maharana Sāngā.
Prithviraj was all this time in blissful
ignorance of the whereabouts of Sāngā and
whether he was alive or dead. Sāngā’s
marriage with the daughter of the Rao of
Srinagar made known his retreat to Prithvi-
raj, who determined to visit Rao Karam
Chand with his vengeance for daring to give
protection to Sāngā in defiance of his threats.
The fates, however, willed otherwise, and
this “Rolando of his age” was treacherously
poisoned by his own brother-in-law, whose
life he had spared.
As Prithviraj was preparing for his ex-
pedition against Karam Chand of Srinagar,
he received a letter from his sister Ananda
Bai, written in great grief, complaining of her
ill-treatment by her lord, Rao Jug Mal of
Sirohi, from whose tyranny she begged to be
delivered and to be restored to her paternal
roof. When Prithviraj read this letter, he
was all afire with indignation and rage.
Leaving aside for the present the projected
attack on Srinagar, he instantly started for
Sirohi, which he reached at midnight. Scal-
ing the palace, he interrupted the slumbers
42

Maharana Sāngā.
of Jug Mal by placing his poniard at his
throat. His wife, forgetting her husband's
cruelty, responded to his humiliating appeal
for mercy, and begged her brother to spare
his life, which was granted on condition of
his standing as a suppliant with his wife's
shoes on his head and touching her feet, the
lowest mark of degradation. He obeyed,
was forgiven and embraced by Prithviraj.
The next morning, Jug Mal entertained his
royal brother at a public entertainment. At
Prithviraj's departure, Jug Mal¹ presented
him with three pills of a confection for which
he was celebrated. Prithviraj ate them as
he came in sight of Kumbhalgarh, but on
reaching the shrine of Mamadevi, he was
unable to proceed further. He sent a mes-
sage to the fair Tara to come and bid him
farewell, but so subtle was the poison that
death overtook him ere she descended from
the fortress. Her resolution was soon taken;
the pyre was erected, and with the mortal
remains of the chivalrous Prithviraj in
¹ P. Gauri Shanker Ojha's History of Sirohi, p. 205.
Jug Mal reigned from A.D. 1483 to A.D. 1523.
43

Maharana Sāngā.
her embrace, she ascended "the regions of
the sun."
Such was the end of this hero of
Mewar and the "Star" of Badnor. How
the course of history would have run if
Prithviraj had been spared to lead the
fortunes of Mewar, and what fate the
founder of the Turk (Moghal) dynasty in
India would have met at the hands
of Rajput chivalry, led by the reckless
heroism and the impetuous energy of
Prithviraj, instead of the cautious Sāngā, it
is, as Colonel Tod says, futile to conjecture.
One thing, however, is certain. If Bābur,
after his early defeats had had Prithviraj
instead of Sāngā as his opponent, the chances
are overwhelming that he would have ended
his days an unsuccessful adventurer, at
Khanua, near Sikri, in February A.D. 1527,
and the Indian soil have been once more
cleared of the hordes from the North-west.
44

CHAPTER V.
EARLY YEARS OF SĀNGĀ’S REIGN.
THE shock of Prince Prithviraj's death
shattered the constitution of Maharana
Rai Mal, who grievously mourned the loss
of his noble and heroic son, whose deeds
were ringing throughout the country and
whose fame had spread far and wide in the
land. He fell ill, and, during his illness, news
reached him that Sangram Singh was with
Rao Karam Chand of Srinagar. A mes-
senger was sent to Karam Chand, who
presented himself with Prince Sangram Singh
at Chitor. The Maharana was delighted to
see his son again, and conferred on Karam
Chand a suitable jagir as a reward for his
services. His descendants still hold the
village of Banberi and are amongst the
thirty-two Sardars of Mewar.
45

Maharana Sāngā.
Rai Mal did not long survive the death of
the heroic Prithviraj. He died in Vicrama
Sambat 1566 (A.D. 1508), and Sangram Singh
ascended the throne of Mewar on (Jeth Sud
5th, S. 1566)¹ 4th May A.D. 1508, in the
renowned fortress of Chitor. Sangram Singh
was born on Baisakh Bad 9th, S. 1539 ² and
was therefore 27 years old when he took
his seat on the cushion of Bappa Rawal. ³
When Maharana Sāngā came to the
throne, Rajputana as a whole was much
stronger politically than it had been since
the advent of the Afghan power in India.
After the Chauhāns of Ajmer, the Guihlots
of Mewar rose to great power. Even in
Kumbha's time ( A.D. 1433-1468 ) the
Guihlots were the only powerful Rajput
Kingdom in Rajputana. The Hārās were
the vassals of Mewar, and the Kachhwahas
¹ Mehta Nainsi's Chronicles. Mehta Nainsi says
that Rai Mal had a son named Jassa, who was given to
pleasure and sport, and the Sardars passed him over and
placed Sangram Singh on the throne.
² Ibid.
³ Bābur had been four years king of Kabul when
Sāngā became Maharana.
46

Maharana Sāngā.
(capital Amber, now Jaipur) were not of
much political consequence. The Rāthors
were only just beginning to strike root in
the region round Mandawar (Mandor), the
seat of the ancient Paṛihar power which,
in Narhar Rao’s time had been paramount
in Hindustan.
When Sāngā came to the throne in A.D.
1508 A.D., both the Kachhwahas and the
Rāthors had gathered strength and had not
only become powerful neighbours of the
Guihlots of Mewar, but had contributed
largely in covering Rajputana with a race of
warriors which first showed its strength in
joining the Guihlots in offering a desperate
resistance to the founding of the Turk power
in India, and which later (Akbar’s time) had
to be wooed and won over before that power
could strike root in the country. While the
Kachhwahas had brought under their control
the whole of Dhundhar (now Jaipur State)
and had made Amber a powerful kingdom,
the Rāthors had not only founded Jodhpur
(S. 1515, A.D. 1458) and firmly established
themselves in Pali, Sojat and other places,
47

Maharana Sāngā.
but had spread over and taken possession of
the whole of the country of Jānglu, founded
Bikaner (A. D. 1488) and Chāpar Dronapur
(S. 1526, A.D. 1469). The Rāthors occupied
the whole of Western Rajputana, with the
Bhattis in the extreme west and south-
west: the Kachhwahas were in Amber and
were in possession of the country up to
Mewat and the south-western borders of the
Panjab, while the east was very nearly all
dominated by the Guihlots of Mewār.
One of the earliest acts of Sāngā after
his accession to the throne was to reward
handsomely the services rendered to him
by Rao Karam Chand, the Parmar Chief
of Srinagar. The Maharana conferred the
fief of Ajmer on him and enrolled him
amongst the nobles of the first rank in
Mewar.
Soon after his accession, Sāngā began to
consolidate his dominions and recover what
had belonged to Mewar but had been lost
during the parricide's reign and not re-
covered by Rai Mal.
48

Maharana Sāngā.
Sāngā's country was surrounded by the
Mussalman kingdoms of Delhi, Malwa and —
Gujarāt except towards the west, where the
Rāthors were rapidly rising to power.
With all these three monarchies, Sāngā had
to wage wars, and it is due to his military
genius that Mewar came out successful in
every one of them. Combinations were
formed against him and he had to fight his
enemies on all the three fronts at the same
time, but his genius was equal to all emer-
gencies. It has been recorded to his glory
that he not only vanquished them and
extended his kingdom at their expense but
made them respect the frontiers established
by him. He won the respect and attachment
of all the Hindu kings of Upper India and
raised Mewar to an eminence never reached
by any Hindu kingdom since the fall of the
Chauhan dynasty of Ajmer towards the end
of the twelfth century. Sāngā's achievements
raised him to a position in India which, in the
words of Mr. Erskine, "inspired all his
countrymen with hopes that a change of
dynasty was about to take place; and they
hailed with joy the prospect of a native
49

Maharana Sāngā.
Government of India."¹ Had not a small
incident occurred on the field of Khānua on
16th March A.D. 1527, the crown of India
"might again have encircled the brow of a
Hindu, and the banner of supremacy been
transferred from Indraprastha to the battle-
ments of Chitor."²
The early part of the sixteenth century
witnessed the rapid decay of the Pathan power
in Northern India. The Lodi dynasty had
succeeded the Sayyads at Delhi. The fanati-
cal Sikander transferred the seat of govern-
ment to a more central position, Agra, in
the vain hope of strengthening the failing
sinews of the Pathan power in Hindustan,
which was crumbling to pieces. The cruelty,
distrustfulness and oppression of Sikander's
son Ibrahim led to numerous revolts in his
dominions, and the time was favourable
for the designs of a vigorous monarch like
Sāngā. "Mewar little dreaded these imperial
puppets, when ‘Amurath to Amurath
¹ W. Erskine's History of India, Vol. I., p. 469.
² Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I., p. 300.
50