Rana Sanga

Maharana Sangram Singh (12 April 1484 -17 March 1527) commonly known as the Rana Sanga, was the Rajput ruler of Mewar, which was located within the geographic boundaries of the present day India’s modern state of Rajasthan. He ruled between the 1509 and 1527.

A scion of the Sisodia clan of the Suryavanshi  Rajputs, Rana Sanga succeeded his father, Maharana Raimal, as the king of the Mewar in the 1509. He fought against the Mughals in the Battle of the Khanwa, which ended with the Mughal victory and died shortly thereafter on the 17 March, 1527.

Succession of Throne 

Prithiraj was subsequently banished from the fortified capital city of the Chittor; their younger brother Jaimall was elevated to the throne. Jaimall, however was ultimately slain by the indignant father of the girl he had been courting. In turn, the Prithiraj was poisoned by his brother-in-law, whom he had earlier punished for the allegedly mistreating his sister.
This resulting the crisis of the succession left the Rana Sanga to ascend their father’s throne.

War between the Rana Sanganad Babur:

After his initial gains Maharana Sanga became recognized within the north India as the principal player in the power struggle to rule northern territories of the princely India. His objectives grew in the scope – he planned to conquer the much sought after the prize of the Muslim rulers of the time, Delhi and bring the whole of India under his control.

 He crushed the Gujarat and conquered the Malwa and was now close to the Agra. It was at this juncture that he heard that the Babur had defeated and slain the Ibrahim Lodi and was now the master of the Delhi Sultanate.

Maharana Sanga believed that the Babur had the plans to leave India, from all the information he was getting it seemed that the Babur was getting ready to consolidate his newly gained northern holdings, Maharana Sangram Singh decided in the miscalculation of the Babur’s strength and the determination, to wage the war against the Mughal invader.

As the first move, he coerced Afghan fugitive princess like the Mehmud Lodi and the Hasan Khan Mewati to join him. Then he ordered the Babur to leave India. Initially he hoped to attain this by sending his vassals over Babur. Babur accepted that to rule the North India he may have to engage in the Battle with the Rana Sanga and hence had no desire for the retreat.  Babur and Silhadi hatched a plot. Silhadi, who held a large contingent of 30,000 men would join Babur’s camp at critical moment of battle and thus defeat Rana Sanga. Silhadi who went back to Chittor, told Rana that war is a must

The Rajput forces of Rana Sanga, supplemented by the contingents of Hasan Khan Mewati and the Afghan, Mehmud Lodi and Raja Medini Rai of Alwar, met Babur’s army atKhanwa near Fatehpur Sikri in 1527. The battle, which lasted for not more than 10 hours, was bitterly contested and became an exceedingly brutal affair. At a critical moment of battle, the defection of Silhadi and his contingent caused a split in the Rajput forces. Rana Sanga while trying to rebuild his front was wounded and fell unconscious from his horse. The Rajput army thought their leader was dead and fled in disorder, thus allowing the Mughals to win the day.

Rana Sanga was whisked away to safety by the Rathore contingent from Mewar and once he became conscious he learnt of the defeat. But Maharana Sanga, unwilling to admit defeat, set out once more to rebuild his military and renew war with Babur. He vowed not to set foot in Chittor till Babur was defeated by him. In 1528, he once more set out to fight Babur at Chanderi to help Medini Rai who was attacked by Babur. But he fell sick at Kalpi and died in his camp. It is believed that he was poisoned by some of his nobles who quite rightly thought his renewal of war with Babur was suicidal.

Resources:
http://www.eternalmewarblog.com/rulers-of-mewar/maharana-sangram-singh/

Razia sultan

Raziyya al-Din (1205 October 13, 1240), throne name Jalâlat ud-Dîn Raziyâ , usually referred to in the history as the Razia Sultan, was born in the Budaun and was the Sultan of Delhi from 1236 to May 1240. Razia Sultana was the only woman ruler of both the Sultanate and the Mughal period, although other women ruled from behind the scenes. Razia refused to be addressed as Sultana because it meant "wife or mistress of a sultan". She would answer only to the title "Sultan." In many people's opinions Razia had all the qualities of a great monarch.

Reign as Sultan and death 

Razia (also called Radiyya or Raziyya) succeeded her father Shams-ud-din Iltutmish to the Sultanate of Delhi in 1236. Iltutmish became the first sultan to appoint a woman as his successor when he designated his daughter Razia as his heir apparent. Razia was the first and last women ruler of Delhi Sultanate. (According to one source, Iltumish's eldest son had initially been groomed as his successor, but had died prematurely.) But the Muslim nobility had no intention of acceding to Iltutmish's appointment of a woman as heir, and after the sultan died on Wednesday 30 April 1236, Razia's brother, Rukn ud din Firuz, was elevated to the throne instead.

Ruknuddin's reign was short. With Iltutmish's widow Shah Turkaan for all practical purposes running the government, Ruknuddin abandoned himself to the pursuit of personal pleasure and debauchery, to the outrage of the citizenry. On November 9, 1236, both Ruknuddin and his mother Shah Turkaan were assassinated after only six months in power.

With reluctance, the nobility agreed to allow Razia to reign as Sultan of Delhi. She dressed like a man and sat in open durbar. She was an efficient ruler and possessed all the qualities of a Monarch. As a child and adolescent, Razia had little contact with the women of the harem, so she had not learnt the customary behavior of women in the Muslim society that she was born into. Even before she became Sultan, she was reportedly preoccupied with the affairs of state during her father's reign. As Sultan, Razia preferred a man's tunic and headdress; and contrary to custom, she would later show her face when she rode an elephant into battle at the head of her army.

A shrewd politician, Razia managed to keep the nobles in check, while enlisting the support of the army and the populace. Her greatest accomplishment on the political front was to manipulate rebel factions into opposing each other. At that point, Razia seemed destined to become one of the most powerful rulers of the Delhi Sultanate.

But Razia miscounted the consequences that a relationship with one of her advisers, Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut, an Abyssinian Siddi (Habshi) slave, would have for her reign. According to some accounts, Razia and Yaqut were lovers; other sources simply identify them as close confidants. In any case, before long she had aroused the jealousy of the Turkic nobility by the favoritism she displayed toward Yaqut, who was not a Turk, when she appointed him to be Superintendent of the Stables. Eventually, a childhood friend named Malik Altunia, the governor of Bhatinda, joined a rebellion by other provincial governors who refused to accept Razia's authority.

The battle between Razia and Altunia ensued, with the result that Yaqut was killed and Razia taken prisoner. She was incarcerated in April, 1240 at Qila Mubarak at Bathinda. While in prison, Razia Sultan was allowed to go to Hajirattan mosque to offer prayers on Fridays in a special palki. She was released in August 1240. To escape death, Razia agreed to marry Altunia. Meanwhile, Razia's brother, Muizuddin Bahram Shah, had usurped the throne. After Altunia and Razia undertook to take back the sultanate from Bahram through battle, both Razia and her husband were defeated on the 24th of Rabi' al-awwal A.H. 638 (October 1240). They fled Delhi and reached Kaithal the next day, where their remaining forces abandoned them. They both fell into the hands of Jats and were robbed and killed on the 25th of Rabi' al-awwal A.H. 638, this date corresponds to October 13, 1240. Bahram, for his part, reigned from 1240 to 1242, but would be dethroned for incompetence.

Rana Kumbha

Rana Kumbha or the Kumbhakarna Singh, died in 1468 ADwas the ruler of the Mewar, the state in the western India, between the 1433 and 1468 AD, and belonging to the Sisodia clan of the Rajputs. Rana Kumbha was the son of Rana Mokal of the Mewar by his wife Sobhagya Devi, the daughter of the Jaitmal Sankhla, the Parmara fief-holder of the Runkot in the state of the Mewar.

 Maharana Kumbha was the Vanguard of the 15th century Hindu resurgence in the northwestern India.

Maharana Kumbha- A king who never lost his battles.

It is said that Maharana Kumbha was the most powerful ruler, culture loving, an art of loving, an idol ruler, writer and a king who has never lost ant battle.

History of Maharana Kumbha:

After being overrun by the army of Alauddin khilji at the turn of 13th century,Mewar had became nsignificant. Rana Hammira is created with the casting off Muslims Yoke and establishing the second Guhila dynasty of the Chittor in 1355. Rana Hammira’s Grandson, Maharana Mokal was assassinated by the 2 borthers – Chacha and Mera in 1433. Lack of any support, however, Mera and Chacha to flee and Rana Kumbha ascended the throne of the Mewar. Rana Kumbha was ably assisted by the Ranamalla (Ranamalla) Rathore of Mandore.

In November 1442, Sultan of Malwa, Mahmud Khalji (khilji), commenced a series of attacks on the Mewar. After capturing Pangarh, Chaumuha and Machhindargarh, the Sultan camped for the rainy season. On April 26, 1443, Rana Kumbha attacked the Sultan's and he had to return in Mandu. The sultan again attacked in November 1443, and captured the kingdoms near to Mewar but didn’t attack Mewar for another 10 years. In order to commemorate his victory over the combined army of Malwa and Gujarat in 1440 AD Rana Kumbha erected Vijay stambha.

The ruler of Gujarat, Ahmad Shah and the ruler of Delhi, Muhammad Shah also cooperated with Rana Kumbha to combat the Mahmud Khalji.

Rana Kumbha was the first Hindu ruler to be given this accolade by Muslim Sultans.
The ruler of Nagaur, Firoz (Firuz) khan, died around 1453- 1454. His son shams Khan initially sought help of Maharana Kumbha against his own uncle Mujahid khan, who has usurped the throne. Shams Khan, refused to weaken his defences. Rana Kumbha angered by this and captured Khasii, Khandela Nagaur and Sakambhari in 1456.

Maharana Kumbha was able to defeat his kingdom against the attack of Qutb-Ud- din-Aibak and Mahmud Khijli and Rao Jodha.

Construction of forts by the Maharana Kumbha of Mewar:
Maharana Kumbha built 32 fortresses that formed defence of the Mewar. The chief citadel of Mewar, is the fort of Kumbhalgarh, which was built by Rana Kumbha. The chief citadel of Mewar is the highest fort in Rajasthan.

 Rana Kumbha was killed by his own son Udaysimha (Udaysingh I). His achievements, however, continue to inspire successive generations.

Resources:
http://www.eternalmewarblog.com/rulers-of-mewar/maharana-kumbha/