Chittaurgarh
About the city
Chittaurgarh - The town of the brave, known for its massive fort atop a hill, which can be singled out for its glorious past.The fort has checkered history, it has witnessed some of the bloodiest battles in history, three great Sakas and some of the most heroic deeds of valour, which are still sung by the local musicians. The antiquity of Chittaurgarh is difficult to trace, but it is believed that Bhim the legendary figure of the Mahabharta, visited this place to learn the secrets of immortality and became the disciple of a sage, but his impatience to perform all the rites deprived him of his goal, and out of sheer anger he stamped on ground creating water reservoir, this reservoir is called as Bhim Lat. Later on, it came under the Mauryas or Muri Rajputs, there are different opinions as to when ilt came under the Mewar ruler, but it remained the capital of Mewar till 1568, when it was shifted to Udaipur.
It is believed that Bappa Rawal the legendary founder of the Sisodia clan, received Chittaur in the middle of 8th century, as a part of the dowry after marriage with the last Solanki princess, after that his descendants ruled Mewar which stretched from Gujarat to Ajmer, upto the 16th century.
Chittaurgarh History
Chittaurgarh Alauddin Khilji was the first to sack Chittaur in 1303 AD. overpowered by a passionate desire to possess the regal beauty, queen Padmini. Legend has it, that he saw her face in the reflection of a mirror and was struck by her mesmerising beauty. But the noble queen preferred death to dishonour and committed ‘Jauhar'.In 1533 AD, during the rule of Bikramjeet, came the second attack from Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat. Once again Jauhar was led by Rani Karanavati, a Bundi princess. Her infant son, Udai Singh was smuggled out of Chittaur to Bundi who survived to inherit the throne of the citadel. He learnt from his traumatic childhood that discretion is preferred to valour. So in, 1567 AD when the Mughal Emperor invaded Chittaur, Udai Singh fled to establish a new Capital, Udaipur-a beautiful lake city, leaving behind Chittaur to be defended by two 16 year old heroes, Jaimal of Bednore and Patta of Kelwa. These young men displayed true Rajput chivalry and died after ‘Jauhar' was performed. Immediately thereafter Akbar razed the fort to a rubble. Chittaur was never inhabited again but it always asserted the heroic spirit of Rajput warriors.
Chittor owes its name to Chitrang who laid claim to it in the seventh century and founded Chitrakot. A hundred years later it was taken by Bappa Rawal, a direct ancestor of the present Maharana of Udaipur. This continuity is most unusual in the complex and bloddy history of Rajasthan and was achieved in the face of constant warfare, as often against Rajput neighbours as Muslim invaders. In time, it became the capital of the state of Mewar, the rulers of which were always the most unyielding opponents of the Muslims, Three times this cost them dear and the fort was sacked. In 1303, Sultan Ala-ud-din of Delhi took it, in 1535 Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, and finally in 1567 the Mughal emperor Akbar.
On each occasion when the siege was about to succeed jauhar (collective live burning of royal ladies) was performed. The women preserved their honour in ritual suicide by firm and the men charged out in their orange wedding robes for one last desperate battle against the invaders. The cost of honour was high; on each occasion the city was sacked and tens of thousands of Rajputs lost their lives. After the third jauhar, Maharana Udai Singh decided enough was enough and transferred his capital to the less accessible Udaipur. Nor was that quite the end of the story. In 1792 the army of Scindia of Gwalior had to dislodge a rebel from Chittaurgarh, and used the same southern line of attack as Ala-ud-din andAkbar.