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Royal House of Mewar: Legend has
it that the Sisodias of Mewar are descended from
Lord Rama whose life story is told in India's great
epic, the Ramayana. They came from the borders of
Kashmir and by the second Century B.C. they had
moved south to what is now Gujarat, founding, as
they went, several cities along the coast, one of
which was called Vallabhai.
The chronicles of the bards tell
us that in the sixth century Vallabhai was sacked
by strangers from the west. The Queen of Vallabhai,
Pushpavati, who was on a pilgrimage offering prayers
for her unborn child, heard of the destruction of
Vallabhai and the death of her husband while traveling
through the Aravalli hills in the north. Despairing,
she took refuge in a cave, and there gave birth
to a son whom she called Guhil, or "cave born."
Then, entrust her child to a maidservant, the queen
ordered a funeral pyre lit, and walked into it to
join her dead husband's soul. Guhil, or Guhadatta,
was befriended by the Bhils, tribal aborigines who
had lived in the Aravalli hills since well before
2000 B.C. Amongst the Bhils, Guhadatta grew in power,
and became a chieftain. His progeny came to be known
as Guhilols.
In the seventh century the Guhil
moved north, and down to the plains of Mewar, changing
their name to Sisodia, after a village they encountered
on the way. The descendants of Guhadatia were the
great Ranas, Rawals and Maharanas of Mewar, builders
of forts and palaces, whose exploits in peace and
war are unmatched in valor and chivalry.By the time
of India's independence, the royal line of Mewar
had ruled for 75 generations, 1,400 years; the oldest
of Rajasthan's ancient dynasties.
The Founding of Udaipur: In 1 567,
the capital of Mewar, Chittor, was sacked for the
third time by the armies of the Mughal Emperor Akbar;
Rana Udai Singh 11 withdrew into the hills and ravines
of the Aravalli. One morning, the rana was out by
Lake Pichola hunting. While mounted and on the move
he performed the difficult feat of spearing a fast-moving
rabbit. Then, a short distance away, he saw a sage
meditating. The Rana dutifully paid full respects
to the holy man. "Where, 0 Revered One,"
the rana asked the sage, having recounted the fall
of Chittor, "should 1 build my next capital
city?"And the sage answered, as sages will,
"Why, right here of course, where your destiny
has brought you to ask such a question."And
that's what Udai Singh did.Surrounded by forests
, lakes and the protective Aravalli range, the new
capital of Mewar was certainly less vulnerable location
then Chittor.Maharaja Udai Singh died in 1572 and
was succeeded by his son, Pratap, who bravely defended
Udaipur from subsequent Mughal Attacks.
Rana Pratap (ruled 1572-97) was
palace one of the great warrior kings of right,
Mewar. He lived in troubled times.Emperor Akbar,
the Great Mughal ,emblem was expanding his domains,
irresistibly in and, across the subcontinent. He
had already sacked the Mewar stronghold,richly Chittor,
driving Pratap's father, Rana Udai Singh II, out
towards a new life in the new capital, Udaipur.
Rana Pratap gallery was imbued with stories of the
lost em greatness of Mewar and obsessed with pieces
a desire to recover its territories, and the the
the fort of Chittor, the soul of Mewar. The indomitable
Pratap threw him- is the self against the might
of the Mughal armies again and again, losing the
battle of Haldighati, losing every fort, including
Kumbalgarh, retreating to the hills and ravines
of the Aravallis where sometimes his family hadn't
enough to cat. In these years of adversity, they
were sustained by loyal Bhil tribesmen, whose ancestors
had, centuries earlier, supported the rana's ancestor,
Guhadatta.
Rana Pratap was one of the two
Rajput kings who refused to accept Mughal suzerainty
or compromise with Akbar: no daughter of Mewar was
ever given to a Mughal emperor or prince in marriage.
The other Rajput ruler similarly to hold out against
the Mughals was the king of Bundi. Akbar allowed
both states to survive and the next generation of
rulers had to accept reality and sign treaties with
the Mughals.eventually, Pratap freed Udaipur and
much of Mewar from the Mughals Niwas, grip but he
failed to win his heart's part of the desire: Chittor.
After struggling against the Mughals,
Udaipur was later attacked by the Marathas.
An end to the bloody battles and
instability came with British Intervention in the
early 1900 century, when a treaty was signed which
pledged to protect Udaipur from invaders. Along
with all other Princely states, Udaipur surrendered
its Sovereignty and became a part of a United India.
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