The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c10.68

c10.68

Reference has been made in a previous section to the establishment of a branch of the Jadon Bhatti Rajputs of Bayana, in what the chronicle describes as the ‘koh-payah of Mewat’, in northern Alwar. These Rajputs, it is generally admitted, were the projenitors of the Mews and the Khanzadahs, who came into prominence early in the 16th century, and who, according to Cunningham, were not converted to Islam until the reign of Firoz Tughluq² Throughout the 13th century, therefore, the whole of Mewat was held by the Hindu Jadon Bhattis who almost isolated the Muslim stronghold of Bayana. Allying themselves with the Chauhanas and other dynasties in eastern Rajputana they commenced what should be termed a guerilla war against the Muslims. Early in the reign of Bahram, Balban was obliged to send punitive columns from his iqta of Riwari (in the Gurgaon district, near Mewat) against the ‘Hindu rebels of Kohpayah’³. The frequent mention of Ranthambhor in connection with operations in Mewat⁴ connects the Mewati ‘rebellion’ with the Chauhanas and makes it exceedingly probable that the alleged Mewati trouble was but an organised offensive against Delhi. The Rajputs even carried the offensive into the Delhi territory itself. In 655/1256 when Mahmud’s government was pre-occupied with Qutlugh Khan’s rebellion and the Mongol advance, the Mewatis under a man named Malka, made a daring raid on Hansi and carried away cattle which they distributed among the Rajputs living as far as Ranthambhor¹. They also raided the districts of ‘Harianah (Delhi province), Siwalikh and Bayana.’ Towards the end of Mahmud’s reign they grew bolder and committed robbery and loot in the capital itself in broad daylight. In 658/1258 Balban led two apparently ineffective expeditions. All he achieved was to plunder a few Mewati villagers, slaying a number of them including Malka². The opening remarks in Barani’s history sufficiently prove the continued intensity of this Rajput aggression. The power of Ranthambhor grew rapidly under Jaitrasinha and his more famous son, the valorous Hammira. In the latter’s inscription, Jaitrasinha is credited with having vanquished the kings of Malwa, Ambar and also of ‘Kerkalagiri’³. Hammira asserted his supremacy over Malwah, Chitor, Mewar, Abu, Ajmer, Sambhar and the whole of northern Rajputana⁴. Even the Rawal Samarasinha of Mewar is described as having “lifted the deeply sunk Gurjara land high out of the Turushka sea”⁵.