Chittorgarh fort: The gorgeous & spectacular eyewitness of 3 Joharas

About Chittorgarh Fort

The Chittorgarh Fort is well known in India and many other nations. The Chittor Fort is another name for Chittorgarh Fort. One of the biggest forts in the whole of India is Chittorgarh Fort. UNESCO has designated Chittorgarh Fort as a World Heritage Site. The fort, which was Mewar's capital, is situated in Chittorgarh today. Chittorgarh fort is the second largest living fort in rajasthan.It spreads out across a hill 180 meters (590.6 ft)high and 280 hectares(691.9 acres) in size above the plains of the valley that the Berach River drains. The fort contains 65 ancient buildings, including four palaces, 19 big temples, 20 large water bodies, four memorials, and a few victory towers.

Chittorgarh Fort and five other Rajasthani forts were included in a collection known as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan that received the designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013 at the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Cambodia.The Distance of Chittorgarh Fort to Udaipur is 116 km.
There are currently only 22 water bodies in the fort, which earlier the number was 84. These bodies of water, which receive their water from natural catchments and rainfall, have a combined storage capacity of 4 billion liters, enough to supply an army of 50,000. This supply could have endured for four years. These bodies of water were in the form of ponds, wells, and step wells.

As a result of the majestic beauty of the Chittorgarh fort, many kings have attempted to claim it for themselves in the past. One of the first kings to successfully take the fort was Bappa Rawal of the Guhila dynasty. He is believed to have defeated the Moris, to whom the fort had belonged, and taken possession of it around 730 AD. According to a different version of the legend, Bappa Rawal(Owner of Chittorgarh Fort) did not take Chittorgarh the fort from the Moris but rather from the Arabs, who had already taken it from the Moris before Bappa Rawal arrived. Another tale claims that the fort was handed to Bappa Rawal by the Moris as a part of his dowry when they agreed to marry him one of their princesses.

The Chittorgarh fort was held by the Guhila dynasty for a considerable amount of time before Allaudin Khilji, the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, made the decision to seize it in 1303. After an approximately eight-month siege, he succeeded to beat King Ratna Singh and took control of the Chittorgarh fort. After winning Chittorgarh Fort Allaudin Khiljiordered the killing of more than 30,000 Hindus. This conquest was associated with massacre and bloodshed. According to one of a well-known legend, Khilji took control of the fort in an effort to win Queen rani Padmini, the wife of Ratna Singh. During Khilji's conquest of Chittorgarh Fort, Queen rani Padmini led the women to the Jauhar (mass self-immolation) to prevent them from being raped or becoming Khilji's slaves. Allaudin Khilji gave the Chittorgarh fort to his son Khizr Khan a few years later, and he owned it until 1311 AD.

As a result of Khizr Khan's inability to resist the Rajputs' persistent, the Chittorgarh fort was ceded to the Sonigra chief Maldeva. For the following seven years, king Maldeva was in charge of the fort later Hammir Singh of the Mewar dynasty made the decision to seize it back from King Maldeva. The Chittorgarh fort was finally taken by Hammir after devising a scheme to beat Maldeva. The Mewar dynasty became the military powerhouse thanks to Hammir Singh. Rana Kumbha was a well-known Hammir descendent who ascended to the throne in 1433 AD. Under Rana Kumbha's control the Mewar dynasty became into a more potent military power, but other kings were actively plotting to seize the fort.

The Mewar dynasty started to fall after one of Rana Uday Singh's descendants was defeated by Babar in a battle on March 16th, 1527. In 1535, Muzaffarid dynasty leader Bahadur Shah took advantage of the situation and besieged the Chittorgarh fort. A Jauhar occurred, and once more there were casualties from massacre.
After 33 years, in 1567, the Mughal Emperor Akbar stormed the Chittorgarh fort, beginning the last siege of Chittorgarh Fort. To construct a trade route and obtain easy access to the Gujarati ports, Akbar sought to seize Rana Uday Singh II's Mewar, which was under his control. Together with the 8,000 Rajput warriors they commanded, Jaimal and Patta were left behind to guard the fort. The castle was under four-month long siege by Akbar.

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