Chittor Fort : A Cradle of History

There are numerous forts in India, but the one that attracts and re-attracts tourists the most is Chittor Fort. Not only its buildings and ruins, but also its stories and history are very charming and bewitching. When you visit it, you find yourself in the lap of splendour and beauty, bravery and sacrifices, battles and bloodbaths. The historical stories that unfolded here carve their perennial place in our national history. Many of its stories are so exciting that they appear more of fairytales than the ones taking place in reality.

Chittor Fort, located in Mewar region in Rajasthan, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is not clear when it was built, but it has been in existence for such long a period that it is not known who built it for the first time; however, most historians give its credit to the Mauryan kings. It is the largest fort in the country covering about 700 acres of land area.

Of many of the stories that took place here, those of the Jauhars are most fascinating. The first of which occurred in the early fourteenth century. Alauddin Khalji was the Sultan of Delhi and was fighting battles after battles to expand his territories. In this sequence, he also attacked Chittor, the capital of Mewar. It is also said that he wanted to possess the beautiful Padmini, the wife of Ratan Singh, the ruler of Mewar.

As Chittor was a strong fort, conquering it was no easy task. Khalji laid siege to it for eight long months, but to no avail. Finally, he played a trick. He sent a peace message that he would lift the siege and go away if he was shown a glimpse of the pretty queen. The king agreed to it, and he was shown her mirror image in the water in the Jal Mahal, a building you can see even today. As is the exalted Hindu custom, Ratan Singh walked to the gate of the fort to see off Khalji, whose soldiers were hidden in the rocks. They abducted Ratan Singh and imprisoned him.

Khalji then demanded that Queen Padmini should be handed over to him as a condition for the release of Ratan Singh. She was not only beautiful but also intelligent. She sent across her consent and added that she could come to him only if she was allowed the company of her 700 handmaids. What more Khalji and his soldiers could wish! Khalji was taken in by this deception.

Padmini marched to Khalji's camp in her heavily curtained palanquin; her female companions were in fact the most efficient of soldiers dressed in women's dress, riding in different palanquins, and all carriers were armed soldiers. They shocked Khalji's camp before making a safe passage back to the safety of the fort with the king and the queen.

Khalji could not stomach this defeat and attacked Chittor with a large army. In the battle that ensued, all Rajput warriors fell fighting. Padmini and all other women in the fort, to save themselves from humiliation and dishonour at the hands of the cruel and beastly invaders, offered themselves to the rising flames, called Jauhar. When Khalji entered the fort, he did not get what he wanted. Padmini and all other women were lying in the smouldering ashes. Furious to see this, he ordered a general massacre of the people living in the fort. Also, he ordered destruction of the fine buildings in the fort, which included temples, residences, palaces and stables. Even today, you can see the broken debris all around the fort which tell the gory tale that occurred about 700 years ago. Of course, the brave Rajputs won back the fort a few years later.

The second Jauhar took place about 200 years later. At this time, Rana Sanga was the king. He had fought many battles and remained victorious in all of them, until he fought Babur in the battle of Khanua. He was having an upper hand in this battle, but a section of his army defected, which led to his loss. He died a few days later when he was planning to avenge his defeat in another battle.

After Rana Sanga's death, his wife, Karnavati became the regent for the minor princes. She was as brave as her husband. It was at this time that the ruler of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah attacked Mewar. The queen knew that her army was not strong enough as it was battered in the previous battle, so she sent a Rakhi to Humayun (the son of Babur) with a request for help. This was how the festival of Rakhi has come to be associated with her. Despite his promise, Humayun did not come to her help and only pretended to do so.

The brave Rani motivated her army to fight valiantly, but it resulted in a complete rout for it. In order to protect herself and other women in the fort from dishonour at the hands of the Muslim invaders, she committed the Jauhar. When Humayun heard of this, he felt ashamed and sent his army to punish Bahadur Shah. Let us tell you that Karnavati was the grandmother of the legendary ruler Maharana Pratap.

In the intervening period between the second and third Jauhars, a scintillating tale of sacrifice took place in Mewar, which has been termed as the greatest one in the annals of history. This sacrifice was made by Panna Dhai, a nurse. As the two princes were yet minor, a cousin brother, named Banbir, was appointed as the regent. He himself wanted to be the king, so he decided to remove the obstacles in his path. One night, he walked out of his chamber with a naked sword and killed the elder prince, and then he stamped to the younger prince's chamber where he was under the care of the nurse. Panna got an inkling of this wily scheme. Her son was also sleeping in the same room. She exchanged the two boys. When Banbir thundered into the chamber and asked where the prince was, and without a trembling finger, Panna pointed to her own son, whom Banbir killed mercilessly and walked away feeling sure of his success. Only later, he came to know that his plan had failed miserably.

The third Jauhar was not far. When the younger prince Udai Singh came to power, Akbar, the Mughal ruler, eyed Mewar. He attacked Chittor which was already weakened by the previous Jauhar and a few defeats. It was decided that King Udai Singh would shift out of Chittor leaving the fort under the guard of Rao Jaimal and Patta.

In the battle that ensued, the Rajput warriors at Chittor made their supreme sacrifice, but not before troubling the Mughal army for over four months. The remaining women made Jauhar. When Akbar entered the fort, he was shocked to find nothing but old people and children, and the rising flames of the sacrificial fire. He ordered a general massacre of them all.

In Chittor Fort, there are a number of places replete in history. The Jauhar site was a pit once, but has now been filled up and turned into a lush green lawn. Every year, a Jauhar Mela is held here to commemorate the memory of the brave warriors who laid down their lives in the battle field and the brave women who sacrificed themselves to preserve their honour. Near it stands the Meerabai Mandir where the princess Meerabai, a devotee of Lord Krishna, is believed to have been forced to drink poison, but nothing happened to her. On the other side stands the Vijay Stambh, a marvelous 11-storey building which was built to celebrate Mewar's victory over Malwa. The Kirti Stambh is devoted to Jainism and is a fine monument. The fort has seven gates, built one after another to ensure security.

A high point of the fort is that you can drive through the entire fort. As you move from one building to the next, you find yourself traversing the course of history, bravery, sacrifice and splendour, and your head holds high because of the excellent heritage and lineage.