Rana Sanga History

Maharana Sangram Singh also known as Maharana Sanga and Rana Saga was the Sisodia dynasty ruler. He governed Mewar and ruled existing parts of north-western India the established territory of Sisodia. His empire was one of the most powerful in the sixteenth century of northern India. The existing parts of northern India Rajasthan, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh were under his rule. His governing was commended by many other rulers including Babur who named him the “Greatest Indian King”.

Birth

Maharana Sanga was born on 12th April 1482 in Chittorgarh to the Sisodia king Rana Raimal, a famous Rajput Governor of Mewar, of Malwa, Rajasthan India, and his wife Queen Ratan Kunwar a Chauhan princess. He was born in the Sisodia clan of the Rajputs.

Family

Maharana Sanga the Grandson of Maharana Kumbha who ruled the Mewar before Rana Raimal from 1433 – 1468. The father of Maharana Sanga was a fierce ruler of Mewar who governed Mewar from 1473 till he died in 1508 after that Maharana Sanga succeeded his dynasty. Maharana Sanga mother was queen Ratan Kunwar a Chauhan princess. Maharana was the eldest child out of three brothers who were Prithvi Raj and Jaimal.

Rana Sanga married Rani Karmavati also known as Rani Karnavati in 1508. She ruled Bundi for some time, and she eventually died on March 8th, 1534 when Chittorgarh fort was infiltrated, and to save her honor she performed Jauhar. Maharana Sanga had four sons Udai Singh II, Bhoj raj, Ratan Singh II and Vikramaditya Singh. Ratan Singh II was his Successor.

Early Life

Maharana Sanga was the fierce ruler of his time (16th Century). He was born in 1482 to Sisodia ruler Rana Raimal, he spent his childhood in Chittorgarh with his mother and his two brothers. He was the eldest child of Rana Raimal, he and his brother always quarreled with one another over the succession of their father’s empire, and their uncle Surajmal always used to provoke them against each other. His father and mother always planned and said it is destined that Sanga will be the successor and rule the Mewar dynasty as he was the wised and eldest son of the family.

When their dispute increased their uncle Surajmal advised them to visit Charna Devi and ask her who should be the successor of Mewar out of the three of them. As they visited the temple priest asked them to sit, other two sat on the chair but Rana Sanga sat down on the tiger skin mat. The priest announced Rana Sanga to be the successor of the Mewar dynasty, and this raged his two brothers. Prithvi raj killed his uncle Surajmal in anger. While Sanga was riding the horse away to avoid the bloodshed but was struck by an arrow in his eye shot by Prithvi raj and he was followed by Jaimal to kill him, but he never caught him.

Sanga left the capital city and started living in the forest and did the shepherd’s job to make his living. Later he joined the gang of dacoits whose leader was Karam Chand and he fell in love with his daughter and married her. Karam Chand asked Sanga to become his gang leader but Sanga refused. A few weeks later Sanga went back to his father at Chittorgarh and when his father died after some months Sanga was announced as successor, The King of Mewar.

Battels of Rana Sanga

Battle of Khatoli

In 1517 Ibrahim Lodhi was declared the sultan of Delhi. At the same time, Rana Sanga was becoming intense and his army was getting bigger. After seeing Rana Sanga’s power Ibrahim was scared, the growing power of Rana was a threat to his empire. In 1518 Lodhi decided to infiltrate Mewar with his army to take over the Sanga empire. The war took place in the field of Khatoli. The Battle was won by Rana Sanga, but he lost one arm and one leg. Lodhi was defeated and he retreated his army back to Agra.

In 1519, Lodhi plotted another attack by allying with the sultan of Malwa, on the Mewar dynasty from two different corners to confuse Rana Sanga. But the battle was won by Maharana Sanga again. The Rajput’s overpowered the sultan’s army and won, then after victory Sanga took over the northern parts of Malwa.

Battle Against Malwa Sultanate

Maharana sanga already won the two battles against the sultanate of Malwa, but at the cost of his one leg and one arm and also, he was already blinded by one eye and had so many wounds on his body. But that wasn’t enough to hold back Maharana Sanga, he fought against Mahmud Khilji II who was Sultan in 1519, and won the battle and captured Mahmud after the defeat.

Battle of Gujarat Sultanate

After seeing the growing power of Mewar under the rule of Rana Sanga, in 1520, Malik Hussain the sultan of Gujrat decided to stage a war against Maharana Sanga and take over the Mewar empire. It was the fourth battle against Rana which was won by him. The sultan’s army was defeated by the army of Rajputs and was chased back to Ahmedabad. The sultan accepted his defeat and surrendered and Sanga took all of his wealth.

After some months, both the sultans of Malwa and Gujrat plotted another invasion against the Rana Sanga which took place in Mandsaur. Both the sultans were defeated again and the victory was taken by Rajputs under the reign of Maharana Sanga.

Battle of Banaya

Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur was the originator of the whole Mughal empire in India. Delhi was under the rule of Maharana Sanga, at that time he was the most powerful ruler in the country. To take control of the country Babur thought the first step should be to defeat Maharana Sanga as he was the biggest threat to him. Babur plotted to invade the Rana Sanga empire and takeover. In 1536-1527 Babur raged a war against the Rana which lasted for two months long and took place in the fields of Bayana which was near Agra. The Mughals lost and retreated to Agra. This time Rana Sanga decided not to chase back and wipe out the army.

Battle of Khanwa

After losing a battle, Babur was filled with anger to take revenge. After his defeat a few weeks later, Babur once again organized and raged a war against the Rajputs. During this battle, Babur managed to injure Maharana Sanga. Because of severe injuries he fell unconscious and was taken back to safety, which lead to Babur’s victory. Maharana Sanga faced his first and last defeat.

Maharana Sanga was injured badly, his army retreated and gathered back near the river Betwa, where he took his last breath. It is rumored that Rana Sanga was poisoned by his army men because they were afraid of Mughals and didn’t want to fight against them. The battle was won by Babur and Rana empire was taken over after his death.

The Heritage of Maharana Sanga

Maharana Sanga was one of the greatest kings that Mewar was ruled under. Rana Sanga faced many difficulties in his life but he never back down and stoop up against everything that challenged his empire. Maharana Sanga always focused on uniting his people, and his leadership and strategies were commended by many. He defeated every enemy with whatever he had and won and left behind his legendary stories to be told.