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Summary
Rana Sanga was the king of Mewar who is accredited for reuniting several Rajput clans and creating a stalwart Rajput association. Despite being the son of a king, things didn’t come easy to him. He had to work through many challenges including a strained relationship with his brothers and betrayal of his trusted lead.

Rana Raimal ruled Mewar in the early half of the sixteenth century. He was a kind and valiant king who upheld the glorious history and tradition of his kingdom. However, his three sons Sanga, Prithviraj and Jaimal often quarrelled with each other with regards to the succession of the throne.

These quarrels troubled the king who wanted his sons united for the sake of his kingdom. The king also blamed his brother-in-law Surajmal for setting the princes against one another.

The three brothers Sanga, Jaimal and Prithviraj went to Charani Devi temple to listen to the oracle speak about the next successor of Mewar’s throne. The priest informed the princes that the goddess will answer their question through her attendant. The attendant pointed to the tiger skin on which Sanga was sitting and Surajmal was resting a knee.

Prithviraj was furious with the outcome that Sanga was destined to rule Mewar. In his fury, he drew his sword and charged at Sanga. In his defence, Surajmal leapt forward and received the blow instead.

Sanga, shocked by the turn of events and not wanting to get involved in a fight in the temple, ran out and mounted his horse. Seeing this, Prithviraj aimed an arrow and hit Sanga in one eye, blinding it for life.

The crowned king of Mewar Sanga, defeated and injured, joined a group of Rajput rebels under disguise. Sanga withdrew from fighting his brothers over the throne as he felt it would only benefit the enemies of Mewar.

After a while, Sanga married Rani Karnavati, the daughter of the chief of the rebels, Rao Nirbudh of Bundi and Ranu Sa of Bundu, revealing his true identity to them.

In the meantime, Sanga received the news of the deaths of his brothers and decided to return to his kingdom. Rana Raimal was delighted to have his son back when he had lost all hopes for him. After the death of Rana Raimal, Sanga was crowned as King Rana Sanga of Mewar.

Rana sanga, the ruler of mewar, had his eyes set on the throne of delhi however, the rising mughal star babur got rid of the lodhi sultan of delhi thus the stage was set for the confrontation between the formidable rana and an equally determined babur who had just found a new home for his men, Hindustan.

The following facts about Rana Sanga, which proves his valor, courage, and strong administration that make him the most powerful King of Mewar:

1. Rana Sanga was one of the most courageous and wise kings, he had lost his one hand and an eye, had one leg dysfunctional, and bears 80 wounds on the body but despite such casualties, he used the fight the battles with the agility as good as the fittest warriors.

2. United Rajputs- Rana Sanga expanded his territories through war and diplomacy, he united the Rajput clan warriors after 300 years which made it possible to defeat the Mughal emperors. He wanted to establish a Hindu empire.

3.Battle of Khatoli- The battle of Khatoli was fought against mughal emperor Ibrahim Lodhi in 1518, in this battle lodhi’s army fled the battleground after fighting for 5 hours, it was in this battle Rana Sanga lost his one arm and got his one leg dysfunctional resulting from an arrow that struck the leg, he lost his eye at a young age while fighting with his brothers. 4. Battle of Khanwa– Rana Sanga decided to expel Babur from India for this he got support from the Rajput kingdom of Rajasthan, he also got the support of Muslim Rajputs of mewat, and afghans under Mahmud lodhi, these combined forces attacked Babur. This was the second most fierce battle of that era after the battle of Panipat, Rana Sanga and his forces displayed exemplary bravery while fighting but had to lose,

5. The state of Rana Sanga was surrounded by Mughal emperors of 3 states namely Delhi, Gujrat, and Malwa. All the three Mughal emperors namely Sikander Lodhi, Mehmood Shah Begda, and Nasiruddin Khilji made a combined attack on Rana Sanga but even then Rana Sanga defeated the combined army.

6. Under the rule of Rana Sanga, Mewar reached the summit of its prosperity. Sanga wanted to capture Delhi when he saw the decline of Ibrahim Lodi’s reign. At the same time, Mahmood Khilji, the Sultan of Malwa, invaded Mewar. Rana Sanga fought with great valour and defeated the forces of Khilji. Rana Sanga even treated the defeated Khilji with the respect deserved by a king. Khilji had to cede four provinces before Sanga released him.

Betrayal and defeat - in April 1526, Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi to capture Delhi. Rana Sanga immediately started the preparations for war in Chittor. In March 1527, the forces of Babur and Rana Sanga met on the battlefield of Khanwa. The Babur’s men met with strong resistance and the reinforcements sent by Babur too made a hurried retreat. On the second day of the battle, Babur met Shiladitya, the emissary sent by Rana Sanga. Babur offered him Chittor in return for his help to win the war. Overcome by greed, Shiladitya agreed to side with Babur.

Unaware of this betrayal by Shiladitya, Rana Sanga appointed him to lead the frontal attack. Soon at the battlefield, Rana Sanga realised the treachery when his forces joined Babur to attack Chittoor. Since a major part of his army was under Shiladitya’s command, Rana Sanga had to abandon his fort and retreat into the hills. Due to the loss of his land and defeat, Rana Sanga’s health worsened and he died at Vasva, a small village in the hills, with the regret of not being able to defend his land.

At Kalpi on 30.01.1528 Rana Sanga was poisoned by his own chiefs as they didn’t want him to pursue battle against the Mughals.

Rana Sanga and Rani Karnavati had two Ranas, Rana Vikramaditya and Rana Uday Singh, and grandparents  of the legendary Maharana Pratap.

Rani Karnavati served as regent during the minority of her son, from 1527 until 1533. She was as fierce as her husband and defended Chittor with a small contingent of soldiers until it inevitably fell to the Gujarat army which was led by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. She refused to flee and performed Jauhar to protect her honour.