The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c10.57

c10.57

The hold on Rajputana was also seriously jeopardised. After Iltutmish's death a concentrated attack was opened on Ranthambhor by the dispossessed Chauhanas under the leadership of Bhagavata. Early in the reign of Raziah Chauhana pressure compelled her to send reinforcements to relieve the garrison. Like Gwalior the fortress was however, found difficult to hold; its fortifications were therefore dismantled and the garrison withdrawn². The *Hammira-Maha-Kavya*, while referring to this liberation of Ranthambhor and the foundation therein of the later Chauhana dynasty, adds that Bhagavata entered into an alliance with the "Kharaparas" who are stated to have long been in hostility with the Muslims³. The extent of the Chauhana dominion at this time is difficult to determine; the territory called Mewat by the Muslim writers, which is always coupled with Ranthambhor by Minhaj, probably acknowledged Chauhana rule. It is also likely that they exercised suzerainty over the collateral dynasty of Bundi which, according to Tod, was founded a few years earlier⁴. In an inscription found in the Kotah state, Jaitra Sinha, the son and successor of Bhagavata, is mentioned as having repeatedly defeated the Paramaras of Malwah and at the end imprisoned the king at Ranthambhor¹. The revival of Chauhana power and the extension of its paramountcy was thus a factor which worked against the continuance of Muslim rule in Rajputana. The Guhelots of Mewar were also rising in power at this time; in his inscriptions which range in date from 1213 to 1252, Jaitrasinha claims to have defeated the rulers of Malwah, Gujrat, Marwar, and also the Turushkas². Suggestive of the diminishing hold of the Muslims in Rajputana is the fact that we no longer hear of the iqtas of Lawah, Kasili and Sambhar which figured not infrequently in the account of Iltutmish's reign.