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Amar Singh I

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Amar Singh I
13th Maharana of Mewar
Painting of Maharana Amar Singh I by Raja Ravi Verma
13th Maharana of Mewar
Reign23 January 1597 - 26 January 1620 (23 years, 3 days)
Coronation23 January 1597 Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
PredecessorMaharana Pratap
SuccessorKaran Singh II
Born(1559-03-16)16 March 1559
Chittorgarh Fort, Rajasthan
Died26 January 1620(1620-01-26) (aged 60)
Udaipur, Rajasthan
SpouseAarti Bai Soharia Chauhan
(1/2 others)
IssueKaran Singh II
Surajmal
(2/7 others)
HouseSisodia
FatherMaharana Pratap
MotherMaharani Ajabde
ReligionHinduism
Sisodia Rajputs of Mewar II
(1326–1971)

Maharana Amar Singh I, the Maharana of Mewar (16 March 1559 - 26 January 1620), was the eldest son and successor of Maharana Pratap of Mewar. He was the 13th Rana of Mewar dynasty of Sisodia Rajputs and ruler of Mewar from 19 January 1597 till his death on 26 January 1620. His capital was Udaipur. He was Subehdar of Assam from 1614-1617 he was giving this position of Khusraw Mirza]]

Birth

Amar Singh was the eldest son of Maharana Pratap, born to his first wife, Maharani Ajabde Punwar, who was the daughter of Rao Mamrakh Panwar.[1] He was born in Chittor on 16 March 1559, the same year, when foundation of Udaipur was laid by his grandfather, Udai Singh II.[citation needed]

However, by the time he grew up, Chittor was lost to Akbar in 1567 and his grandfather, Udai Singh II had shifted capital of Mewar to Udaipur.[2]

Prince and Commander

After his coronation, Maharana Pratap waged a war against Mughals and did not succumb to Akbar. He fought several wars with them to re-conquer Chittor and other territories lost to Mughals. Amar Singh, being eldest son, became the heir-apparent and prince or Rajkunwar.[1]

Amar Singh was trained in military warfare and weapons since childhood. Upon growing up, he proved to be a great warrior and general and fought many wars with Maharana Pratap against Akbar.[1]

In an incident, the womenfolk of Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, along with a Mughal officer, fell into the hands of Amar Singh. He at once brought them as prisoners to Maharana Pratap. At this point of time, Khan-I-Khana was actually on the march against Pratap, and was camping at Sherpur in order to make preparations for an assault against Pratap. Nonwithstanding all this, Pratap rebuked Amar Singh for having arrested ladies of the enemy camp and commanded Amar Singh to arrange for the safe conveyance of the Mughal ladies to their camp.[1] Khan-I-Khana was so affected by this incident that he refused to campaign against such a chivalrous monarch. He petitioned Akbar to be relieved of his post and was subsequently (in 1581) appointed guardian of Akbar's own son, Salim. Also it is believed that the slogan Jo dridh rakhe dharm, ne tahi rakhe kartar was spoken by Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, who is also known as "Rahim das" in Hindi poetry.[citation needed]

Coronation

Maharana Pratap died at Chavand succumbing to the injuries sustained in hunting. While on death-bed he made Amar Singh his successor in front of his chiefs and made them swear to maintain their fight against the Mughals and to re-conquer Chittor.[citation needed]

Amar Singh thus succeeded Maharana Pratap upon his death on 19 January 1597 and was the ruler of Mewar till his death on 26 January 1620, as the 13th regent of Mewar dynasty.[2]

Battles

Amar Singh fought many wars with Jahangir during his lifetime. Jahangir was against such a victory over Mewar which gave birth to rivalry between both.[citation needed] After the death of Akbar, Mewar was given back to Amar Singh by Jahangir under his mastership but rebellions later led by Amar Singh wooed Jahangir to go for expeditions. The first expedition Jahangir sent after his coronation was against Amar Singh.[3]

He sent Prince Parviz and Asaf Khan, who led an army of 80,000 horse which fought a battle against Rana Amar Singh at Dewar in year 1606, which was fought in a valley of Aravalli about 40 km north-east of Kumbhalgarh.[3] Amar Singh showed great bravery in Battle of Dewar and in the battle Amar Singh killed the Mughal commander in charge, Sultan Khan. He thrust his spear with such a force that the weapon struck in the ground after piercing the strong coat of mail and chaste and the horse of Sultan Khan.[1][3][4] Amar Singh was able to defend his territories in the battle.[5]

Jahangir sent another army against Amar Singh in 1608 under Mahabat Khan in which though Mughals won but they could not make any decisive change to ground situation.[6]

Later an expedition was again sent under leadership of Prince Shah Jahan, which caused much damage to life and property of Mewar.[6] Many temples were destroyed and several villages put on fire and ladies and children were captured and tortured to make Amar Singh accept surrender.[6]

Peace treaty

Ultimately, after Mewar was really damaged financially and in manpower due to several battles against Mughals, Amar Singh thought it was prudent diplomatic move to start negotiations with them and finally, entered into a treaty with Shah Jahan (who negotiated on behalf of Jahangir) in 1615.[6]

In the treaty, it was agreed that Ruler of Mewar, will not be bound to present himself in person at Mughal court,[6] instead, a son or brother of the Rana would wait upon the mughal emperor and serve him.[7][page needed] Thus, Prince Bhim (the younger brother of Amar Singh) served Shah Jahan in the deccan.[8] It was also agreed that the Ranas of Mewar would not enter matrimonial relations with the mughals.[7][page needed] Further, it was agreed that Mewar would have to keep a contingent of 1500 horsemen in the Mughal service.[9] Finally, it was agreed that the fort of Chittor would never be repaired. The reason for this last condition was that the Chittor fort was a very powerful bastion and the mughals were wary of it being used in any future rebellion.[7][page needed]

Later, when Amar Singh went to meet Jahangir at Ajmer, he was given a warm welcome by Mughal Emperor[6] and the territories around Chittor along with the Chittorgarh Fort were given back to Mewar in 1616 by Jahangir, as goodwill gesture.[10][11] However, the Chittorgarh fort was never inhabited fully and Udaipur remained the capital of Mewar State.[10]

Qualities

Amar Singh was loved by his pupils and chiefs for the qualities like bravery, leadership, valor, justice and kindness and it is believed that during a war with Mughal's he was believed to have shown great valor which gave him the title 'Chakraveer'[2]

Death

Amar Singh died on 26 January 1620 at Udaipur and was succeeded by his eldest son Karan Singh II.[12]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Sharma, Ankur (9 October 2013). "Maharana Pratap -The Indian Warrior King - life 'n' gadget". Lifengadget.com.
  2. ^ a b c Mathur 1994, p. 23.
  3. ^ a b c Rajsamand (2001), District Gazetteers, Rajasthan, p. 35, The battle of Dewar was fought in a valley of Arvali about 40 km north -east of Kumbhalgarh. ... Prince Amar Singh fought valiantly and pierced through Sultan Khan and the horse he was riding.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ A military history of medieval India, 2003, p. 530, Prince Pravez and Asaf Khan led an army of 20,000 horse which fought a battle against Rana Amar Singh at Dewar
  5. ^ Srivastava 1969, p. 269.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Pant 2012, p. 129.
  7. ^ a b c Chandra 2006.
  8. ^ Nicoll 2009, p. 89.
  9. ^ Sharma, Sri Ram (1971). Maharana Raj Singh and his Times. p. 14. ISBN 8120823982.
  10. ^ a b In 1616 Mughal emperor Jehangir restored the fort to the Rajput but it was not resettled
  11. ^ Thorpe, p. 138, 312.
  12. ^ Udiapur

References

Amar Singh I
Born: 16 March 1559 Died: 26 January 1620
Preceded by Sisodia Rajput Ruler
1597–1620 		Succeeded by
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