Chittorgarh Fort

Historians still argue about whether Chittorgarh’s most famous queen ever existed. The fort’s three sieges, though, are not in question. Neither is its skyline: a nine-storey victory tower still stands over it, unbroken since 1449.

Timeline

• 1303: Alauddin Khilji besieges Chittorgarh for eight months and captures it. Legend ties the siege to Rani Padmini, though her historicity is debated.
• 1442–1449: Rana Kumbha builds the Vijay Stambh, a nine-storey victory tower, to mark his win over Malwa’s sultan.
• 1527: Rana Sanga of Mewar, ruling from Chittorgarh, is defeated by Babur at the Battle of Khanwa.
• 1535: Bahadur Shah of Gujarat besieges the fort. Rani Karnavati, Rana Sanga’s widow, leads the second jauhar.
• 1567-68: Akbar besieges Chittorgarh for over four months. The fort falls after a third jauhar. Mewar’s capital shifts to Udaipur.
• 2013: UNESCO inscribes Chittorgarh, alongside five other forts, as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan.

A Mewar Capital, Three Times LostNeed to Know

• Chittorgarh Fort, in Rajasthan, was the capital of the Mewar kingdom for centuries.
• It is often cited as India’s largest fort by area, spread over roughly 700 acres atop a hill some 180 metres high.
• It endured three major sieges: by Alauddin Khilji in 1303, Bahadur Shah in 1535, and Akbar in 1567-68.
• Each siege ended with jauhar, the mass self-immolation of Rajput women to avoid capture.
• After the third siege, Mewar’s capital moved to Udaipur, founded earlier in 1559.
• The fort complex today holds around 65 historic structures, including four palaces, roughly 19 large temples, and several water bodies.

Towers, Palaces, and a Contested QueenGood to Know

• The fort’s most famous structure is the Vijay Stambh (Tower of Victory). Rana Kumbha built it between 1442 and 1449, after defeating Mahmud Khalji of Malwa.
• The tower rises about 37 metres over nine storeys, in red sandstone with white marble, its walls carved with Hindu deities. A staircase of 157 steps climbs to the top.
• An older tower, the Kirti Stambh (Tower of Fame), stands about 22 metres tall. A Jain merchant, Jeeja Bhagerwala, built it in the late 12th century, dedicated to Jain teachings rather than Hindu worship.
• Rana Kumbha’s Palace stands near the Vijay Stambh. He rebuilt it on the ruins of an earlier palace, traditionally linked to Bappa Rawal, Mewar’s semi-legendary founder.
• The 1303 siege is linked in legend to Rani Padmini, said to be the wife of Chittorgarh’s ruler, Ratnasimha. A three-storey building in the fort’s south, known today as Padmini’s Palace, carries her name by tradition rather than settled historical record.
• The main source for her story is Padmavat, an epic poem written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540, over two centuries after the siege.
• Rana Sanga ruled Mewar from Chittorgarh before his defeat by Babur at Khanwa in 1527.
• His grandson, Maharana Pratap, later resisted Akbar and reclaimed most of Mewar, but never Chittorgarh itself.

Test Yourself

A Capital That Outlasted Its RulersGreat to Know

• No source from the 1300s confirms Rani Padmini’s existence or names her as the siege’s cause.
• Some historians argue the sheer volume of later literature about her suggests she was real, just not the princess from Sri Lanka the legend describes.
• Others treat Padmavat as a literary allegory, not a historical record, and doubt she existed at all.
• The Vijay Stambh carries a portrait of its own architect, Jaita, alongside his three sons. That is a rare case of medieval Indian craftsmen signing their work in stone.
• Maharana Pratap recovering most of Mewar, yet never Chittorgarh, shows how a symbolic capital can outlast any single ruler’s reach.
• He built a new capital instead, at Chavand, rather than fight to reclaim the old one.