Maharana Kumbha ascended the throne of Mewar in 1433 CE. His father was Maharana Mokal and his mother’s name was Saubhagya Devi. After becoming the ruler, he not only successfully confronted the internal and external problems through his courage and valour, but also conferred heights to the prestige of Chittor through his wartime and cultural achievements
Initial Problems Faced by Kumba : At the time of becoming the ruler, various internal and external problems were present in front of Kumbha. The offsprings of Mewar’s Maharana Kshetra Singh’s (1364 – 82 CE) queen consort, his uncle and Mera was making efforts to kill his father and occupy Mewar. Due to this reason, the chieftains of Mewar had become divided into two groups – One group supported his father and the other group supported his uncle, Mera and Mehpa Panwaar.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, several Rajputs started to make efforts to establish their independent kingdom. Soon after, the army sent by Kumbha under the leadership of Ranmal and Raghavdev crushed the rebels. Uncle and Mera were killed along with their supporters, but uncle’s son Ekka and Mehpa Panwaar were successful in fleeing and reaching the haven of Malwa’s Sultan Mahmud Khilji.
Political Achievements of Maharana Kumbha : Mewar – Malwa Relationship : Mewar and Malwa both were neighbouring kingdoms and the rulers of these kingdoms wished to expand the frontiers of their respective kingdoms. Due to this reason, struggle between them was inevitable, but provision of protection by Sultan of Malwa to the rebel chieftain of Kumbha became the immediate reason of struggle between them.
Mehpa Panwar who had assassinated Mokal, took refuge of Malwa’s Sultan Mahmud Khilji. Kumbha wrote a letter to the Sultan and demanded Mehpa, but this was rejected by the Sultan. Therefore Kumbha decided to invade Malwa. A violent struggle took place between the two armies at a place called Sarangpur in 1434 in which Mahmud khilji fled away after being defeated.
Kumbha followed Mahmud and seiged Malwa and he imprisoned him and brought him to Chittor: After keeping him in imprisonment for six months, he released him without any condition. In order to avenge his first defeat, Mahmud Khilji invaded Kumbhalgarh in 1443 CE. Kumbha had deployed a powerful army under the leadership of Deep Singh near the Ban Mata Temple under the door of the fort.
After the violent struggle which continued for seven days, the enemy’s army could occupy the temple. This army of Mahmud tried to occupy chittor also, but it remained unsuccessful. In 1446 CE for one more time, Mahmud tried to occupy Mandalgarh and Chittor, but this time also, he could not gain success. In 1456 CE, Mahmud made his last successful attempt to occupy Mandalgarh.
Mewar – Gujrat Relationship : At the time of Kumbha, mal-administration prevailing in Gujarat had ended and the rulers there were eager to extend their region of influence. The struggle continuing between Malwa and Mewar and the political condition of Sirohi and Gujrat made the struggle between Mewar and Gujrat inevitable.
In 1456 CE, after the death of Firoz Khan, his son shams khan became the new ruler of Nagaur, but Firoz’s younger brother Mujahid Khan defeated Shams Khan and occupied Nagaur. Shams Khan reoccupied Nagaur with the help of Maharana Kumbha and shortly after this, against the conditions laid down by Kumbha, he started repair of the Nagaur fort. Angered Kumbha invaded Nagaur and Occupied it.
Shams Khan got his daughter married to Sultan Qutb – Ud – din of Gujrat and requested his assistance. On this, Qutb – Ud – Din proceeded to invade Mewar. On the request of Dewra ruler of Sirohi, he sent his commander Malik Shahban to conquer Abu and himself proceeded towards Kumbhalgarh. According to historian Firishta, after acquiring wealth from Rana, the Sultan returned to Gujarat.
At this time, Mahmud Khilji’s representative Taj Khan forwarded a proposal to Qutub -Ud – Din for the joint invasion of Gujarat and Malwa upon Mewar according to which, Gujarat would occupy the Southern part of Mewar and Malwa would occupy the rest of the part of Malwa as well as Ahirwara.
After an alliance to this context was made at a place named Champaner in 1456 CE, Qutb – Ud – Din occupied Abu and proceeded towards Chittor and on the other hand, Mahmud Khilji invaded Mewar from Malwa’s side. According to Firishta, Kumbha granted wealth to the invaders and sent them back, while according to Kirti Stambh Prashasti and Rasikpriya, Kumbha defeated both the Sultans. Due to his victory upon the Mughal rulers, Kumbha became renowned as Hindu Suratran (Sultan of the Hindus).
Cultural Achievements of Maharana Kumbha : Kumbha was not only a brave warrior, but also a lover of art and a scholastic ruler. Due to this, he is regarded to be “of a stable midset during the war.” According to Ekalinga Mahatamya, he excelled in Vedas, Smritis, Mimansar Upanishads, Vyakarn (grammar) politics and literature. Due to being a great musician, he is called Abhinav Bharatcharya and Veenavaadan Pravenen.”
According to the Kirti Stambh Prashasti, he excelled at playing Veena. Major texts were written by him include-Sangeet Raj, Sangeet Mimansa, Sangeet Kram Deepika and Sud Prabandh. There are five parts of Sangeet Raj Path Ratan Kosh, Geet Ratan Kosh, Vadhya Ratan Kosh, Nritya Ratan Kosh and Ras Ratan Kosh. He also wrote paraphrases of narration of Chandishatak, Jaidev’s musical composition Geet Govind and Sarangdev’s Sangeet the Ratnakar.
Kumbha composed four plays in Maharahstri (Marathi), Karnati (Kannada) and Mewari languages. His book named “Kamraja Ratisara” is divided into seven parts. Kumbha has been called “Rano Raso” (the protector). Kanha Vyas, the author of Ekalinga Mahatamya and famous architect Mandan were present in his court. Mandan wrote architectural books named Devamurti Prakarana (Rupavatara), Prasad Mandan, Raja Vallabha (Bhupati Vallabha), Rup Mandan, Vastu Mandan, Vastu Shastra, Vastukar etc.
Mandan’s brother Natha composed the book named vastu Manjari and his son Govind composed Udhjar Dhorini, Kalanidhi and Dwar Dwarika, Kalanidhi is based on the Shikhar Vidhan (structure of the pinnacles) of Devalayas which can be considered to be the only absolute book in context to the composition of the pinnacle and the organs and sub organs of the pinnacle. Kumbha’s daughter Ramabai has been called Vagiswari and she too is famous for her love for music.
Poet Meha was a prestigious composer during the reign of Kumbha. Out of his compositions, “Tirthmala” is very famous and it contains the description of 120 Pilgrimages. According to Kaviraaj Shyamaldar’s Composition “Veer Vinod” out of the 84 forts of Mewar, Maharana Kumbha alone had built 32 forts. The rampart of Kumbhalgarh fort built by Kumbha is 36 km long which is regarded as the world’s longest wall after the Great Wall of China.
The famous Jain temple of Ranakpur (Pali) was built during the reign of Maharana Kumbha by Dharanak Shah In the last days of his life, Kumbha suffered from anxiety and he spent most of his time in Kumbhalgarh fort itself. At the same place, he was assassinated by his son Uda in 1468 CE in greed of power.
Vijaya Stambha : Vijaya Stambha which is a nine story and 122 feet tall structure inside the Chittor fort was built by Maharana Kumbha in the memory of his victory upon Malwa’s Sultan Mahmud Khilji. Due to the artistic statues of numerous Hindu gods and goddesses engraved upon it, the Vijaya Stambha is called as the ‘Precious treasure of ancient Hindu Sculpture’. During the Indian national movement, the Vijaya Stambha had become the source of inspiration for the revolutionaries.
