The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.s2.100

v3.c29.s2.100

The death of Chonda occurred in 1408, and Nāgaur was then lost to the Rāthors. He was succeeded by his son Ranmall, who took advantage of the marriage of his daughter to Lakhā Rānā, the old chief of Chitor, to obtain a large grant of land from his son-in-law, to whose court he migrated, and was followed thither by his son, Jodha. An account of the growth of Rāthor influence at the court of Chitor, and of their expulsion from Mewār will be given in the history of that principality. Ranmall, with the aid of the forces of Mewār, captured the city of Ajmer by a stratagem, and thus temporarily added the ancient heritage of the Chauhāns to the domains of Mewār. He attempted, after the death of Lakhā Rānā, to usurp the throne of his infant son, but was slain in 1444 by Chonda, the old Rānā's firstborn, who expelled the Rāthors from Mewār. He was succeeded by Jodha, the eldest of his twenty-four sons, who in 1454 acquired Sojat, and in 1459 laid the foundation of Jodhpur, which has ever since remained the capital of the Rāthor State. On his death in 1488 he was succeeded by his second son, Sūja, or Sūrajmall, the eldest, Sāntal or Sātal, having been slain near Pokhāran, where he had established himself on the lands of the Bhātīs. Sūrajmall was the hero of the episode known as the Rape of the Virgins. In July, 1516, a predatory band of Muslims, probably from Ajmer, descended on the town of Pīpar during the celebration of the Tīj festival, and carried off a hundred and forty Rājput maidens. Sūrajmall, to whom news of the outrage was carried, at once mounted, pursued the marauders, and rescued the maidens, but lost his own life in the fray. He was succeeded by his grandson, Ganga, the son of his eldest son, Bhaga, who had predeceased him, but his title was contested by his uncle, Saga, Sūrajmall's third son, who was supported by Daulat Khān Lodī. Saga and his ally were, however, defeated, and the former was slain.