U-V-W States

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Uchad
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UDAIPUR

Mewar Region

c.530: Mewar state founded; later also (and ultimately predominantly) called Udaipur after the name of the capital.
1818: British protectorate.

Maharana of Mewar, Maharana of Udaipur

1326-1364: Hamir Singh.

Rana Hammir, the14th century ruler of Mewar in present-day Rajasthan was the first ruler using the title `Rana` before his name. He belonged to the Chauhan dynasty. After an invasion by the Delhi sultanate at the turn of the 13th century, the ruling Guhilot dynasty had been removed from Mewar. Rana Hammir belonged to a poor cadet branch of that clan; however regained control of the region, re-established the dynasty, and also became the propounder of the Sisodia clan, a branch of the Guhilot clan, to which every succeeding Maharana of Mewar belonged.

An extremely distant kinsman of Rawal Ratan Singh, by name `Laksha` or Lakshman Singh, proclaimed himself Rana-in-exile after the Jauhar took place and Chittor was lost. Laksha was descended in direct patrician lineage from Bappa Rawal, and hence belonged to the Gehlot clan, but his claim to the throne was questionable in the extreme, since he was an eighth cousin twice removed of Rawal Ratan Singh. Laksha came from the village of Sisoda near the town of Nathdwara and thus his children came to be known as `Sisodia`. Laksha had nine sons, of whom the eldest, Ari, married Urmila, a pretty lady from the nearby village of Unnava, who belonged to a poor Rajput family of the Chandana clan. Rana Hammir was the only child of this couple.

Both Laksha and Ari died in various notable battles during those years and left behind young Hammir. He was almost an infant, however grew up under the guidance of his uncle Ajay, the second son of Laksha. Rana Hammir gave his uncle an initial proof of his bravery when, at a young age, he killed a treacherous bandit named Munja who was causing chaos in the nearby area. It is said that this event impressed his uncle that he immediately bestowed on Hammir with the claims of ruler ship. Actually, this inauguration brought about Rana Hammir nothing; the clan was however in exile and Mewar lay occupied.

The Khiljis had allocated their newly acquired territories to the administration of Maldeo, ruler of the nearby state of Jalore, who had associated with them during the war years. In a requirement to settle and co-opt the citizens of the land to his rule, Maldeo arranged for the marriage of his widowed daughter Songari with Rana Hammir, the scion of an impoverished cadet branch of the erstwhile ruling dynasty. Rana Hammir Singh thus re-established the state of Mewar in 1326 and engineered a coup d`état against his father-in-law. The dynasty thus founded by Hammir, who was descended in direct lineage from Bappa Rawal, came to be known as Sisodia after the mountain village where Rana Hammir belonged.

During his 12 years` reign, Rana Hammir fought 17 battles and won 13 of them. He captured Malwa, Abu and Mandalgarh and thus extended his kingdom to the boundaries of Delhi Sultan, Jalaluddin, who had suspicions about Hamir`s intentions. Rana Hammir was one of the bravest rulers of Mewar and several legends follow his life of purity and modesty.

1364-1382: Kshetra Singh
1382-1421: Lakha Singh
1421-1433: Mokal Singh
1433-1468: Kumbhakarna Singh
1468-1473: Udai Singh I
1473-1509: Raimal Singh
1509-1528: Sangram Singh I.. Maharana Sangram Singh, popularly known as Rana Sanga, ruled Mewar from 1509 and 1527. He was born on April 12, 1484 and was a scion of the Sisodia clan of Suryavanshi Rajputs. He was born to Raimal, the ruler of Mewar and had two brothers Prithviraj and Jaimal. The young brothers were very close to each other and often went to a mountain cave near Mewar. One day an astrologer witch in the cave told the brothers that Rana Sanga would become the next king of Mewar and on hearing this, the other two brothers became jealous. Since then the brothers started to share a bitter relationship, causing much grief to their father.

Maharana Sangram Singh was banished after having a bad quarrel with his brothers and he spent this period working as a shepherd in a remote village in the Aravalli hills. Soon, he married the daughter of the village`s chief.

Meanwhile, both the brothers of Maharana Sangram Singh died fighting violently for the throne. After their deaths, Maharana Sangram Singh returned to his father`s court in order to support his parents in their mourning and to protect his patrimony. He succeeded his father as ruler of Mewar upon the death of Raimal in 1509.the reign of Maharana Sangram Singh was manifested by a series of repetitive battles. He entered into eighteen battles with Muslim forces, fighting the forces of the rulers of Delhi, Gujarat and Malwa on various occasions. During these battles, he sustained eighty-four wounds on his body. He lost one arm and got crippled in one leg. Despite all this, Maharana Sangram Singh was fair in victory and in 1519, after Sultan Mahmud of Mandu was overpowered and taken as a prisoner, Maharana Sangram Singh extended conventional gallantry and compassion to him. Sultan Mahmud was treated like a guest and the Maharana Sangram Singh restored his kingdom to him.

Maharana Sangram Singh was involved in several battles in his lifetime. Battle of Khanwa on March 17 was launched by Maharana Sangram Singh as a furious attack on the centre and right wing of the Mughal force; the clash lasted for several hours. Mughal artillery wreaked mayhem in the Rajputs closed boundaries. Their cannon fire caused the elephants in the Rajput army to flee thus causing stampede. It is said that the Rajputs went ahead and showed great heroism by stuffing themselves in the mouth of the cannons to stop the throw. However, the Rajputs failed to overrun the strongly protected central "fortress" of the Mughal army. Maharana Sangram Singh who was an expert in Spear Warfare flinged his spear on Babur, which missed Babur`s head by an inch, thus changing the fortune of India.

Maharana Sangram Singh sustained more wounds, at one time being stacked by an arrow; nevertheless, he fought on. For a while, the battle`s result was not decided, then it was understood that Maharana Sangram Singh`s ship was sinking. Soon, Silhadi decamped to Babur with his entire force. After ten hours, the association broke. It was all over for Mewar. The defection of a major portion of the army deadly weakened the Rajputs. Mughal troops finally rolled back the Rajputs flanks. The Rajput army fell apart rapidly and Maharana Sangram Singh chose to retreat from the battle, to live and fight another day. Babur had declared this war as Jihad against the disloyal.

The responsibility of Rana Kumbha passed onto Maharana Sangram Singh. Slowly, he brought Mewar to the peak of its prosperity and prominence, establishing it as the foremost Rajput state. After the power in Delhi collapsed, Maharana Sangram Singh was emerged as the most powerful Hindu King in North India with a direct or indirect control over the whole of Rajputana. His battles against the Lodhis and the Muslim rulers of Gujarat and Malwa are still known as legends. Maharana Sangram Singh united the Rajput states and put up a strong unified defence against the Mughal armies.

Maharana Sangram Singh is the apt name of a Kshatriya King who was the Suryavanshi King focussing on consolidating and developing his state. The loyalty of Maharana Sangram Singh to the Rajput code of chivalry and generosity is thought to be a rare trait in Indian rulers.

Maharana Sangram Singh thus brought Mewar to the heights of success and governed a large part of Rajputana. More importantly, he succeeded in uniting several Rajput states and motivating them to make a united bid for control of northern India. This is Maharana Sangram Singh `s continuing claim to fame, and the battle of Khanwa was the seminal event that became an eminent event in the history of north India.
1528-1531: Ratan Singh
1531-1536: Vikramaditya Singh
1537-1572: Udai Singh II. Maharana Udai Singh, the 53rd ruler of the Mewar dynasty was the founder of the city of Udaipur. He was born in 1522 as the fourth and posthumous son of Maharana Sangram Singh and Rani Karmavati, a princess of Bundi. Maharana Sangram Singh was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Maharana Ratan Singh but he was also in 1531. His brother Maharana Vikramaditya Singh succeeded him. When the Sultan of Gujarat Bahadur Shah dismissed Chittor in 1534, Udai Singh was sent to Bundi for safety measures. In 1537, Banbir killed Vikramaditya and usurped the throne. He also tried to kill Udai Singh, but Udai`s nurse Panna Dhai sacrificed her own son to save the king from his uncle Banbir and took him away to Kumbhalgarh. He lived in secret in Kumbhalgarh for two years as a nephew of the governor Asha Shah. In 1540, the nobles of Mewar crowned him in Kumbhalgarh. His eldest son Maharana Pratap was born in the same year and he had twenty-five sons. Amongst his other sons, Sakta (Shakti), Jagmal and Viramdeo are well known for their bravery in Indian History.

After defeating Banbir at Mavli, Maharana Udai Singh returned to Chittor and in 1559, his grandson Maharana Amar Singh was born. In the same year, he founded the city of Udaipur. In 1562, Maharana Udai Singh gave refuge to Baz Bahadur of Malwa. Using this as a reason, Akbar attacked Mewar in October1567. Maharana Udai Singh retired to Gogunda (which later became his temporary capital) after leaving Chittor in the hands of his loyal chieftains. Akbar captured Chittor after a long siege in February, 1568.

Maharana Udai Singh later shifted his capital to Udaipur. However, he died in 1572 in Gogunda and before his death, Maharana Udai Singh nominated his favorite son Jagmal as his successor. But after his death, the nobles of Mewar prevented Jagmal from succeeding and thus placed Maharana Pratap Singh on the throne.

1572-1597: Pratap Singh II. Maharana Pratap Singh was a ruler of Mewar and belonged to the Sisodiya clan of Suryavanshi Rajputs. Maharana Pratap Singh is believed to be the epitome of fiery Rajput pride and self-respect; he has exemplified the qualities to which Rajputs aspire for centuries. Maharana Pratap Singh was born as the eldest child among 25 brothers and 20 sisters at Kumbhalgarh on May 9, 1540 to Maharana Udai Singh II and Maharani Javanta Bai Songara (Chauhan). The birthplace of Maharana Pratap Singh is known as Juni Kacheri.

In 1568, during the reign of Udai Singh II, the Mughal emperor Akbar conquered Chittor. The third Jauhar of Chittor became apparent, with the ladies of the fort finding safety from personal dishonour and plunged themselves into fire, while rest of the men folk sallied forth to certain death in the battlefield. Before this condition, Udai Singh and his family had moved to the safety of the nearby hills. He later moved base to another location in the foothills of the Aravalli Range. This new foundation gradually became the city of Udaipur and was accordingly named after him. Udai Singh wished Jagmal, his favorite son could succeed him but his senior nobles wanted Pratap, the eldest son, to be their king. During the coronation ceremony Jagmal was actually moved out of the palace and Pratap was deliberately made the king. Pratap did not want to go against the desire of his father but Rajput nobles convinced him strongly that Jagmal was not capable to rule in the crucial times of the day. It was the beginning of a career of struggle and hardship for Maharana Pratap Singh.

Maharana Pratap Singh never believed Akbar as the ruler of India, and kept on fighting with Akbar all his life. Akbar first tried several diplomatic ways to win over Maharana Pratap but nothing really worked. Maharana Pratap Singh maintained that he had no intention to fight with Akbar, however he could not bow down to Akbar and accept him as the ruler. Some historians argue that there was some possibility that Maharana Pratap Singh could have become friends with Akbar, but in the invasion for Chittor Akbar had killed around 30,000 civilians, unarmed residents of Chittor only because they refused to convert to Islam. This left an ever-lasting impression on Maharana Pratap Singh`s mind and he adamant not to bow to such an injustice and cruelty. He strictly followed the Hindu warrior code to refrain from attacking a non-combatant or a person who has laid down his weapons.

Tod`s Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan declare that Maharana Pratap Singh stopped the marriage etiquette of Rajputs who had been giving their daughters to Mughals and his supporting Rajputs. Since Chittorgarh or Maharana Pratap Singh`s ancestral home, was under Mughal occupation, he lived a life with the dream of re conquering Chittor and thus reclaiming the glory of Mewar. His future efforts were bent towards this goal.

On June 21, 1576 (June 18 by other calculations), the two armies met at Haldighati, near the town of Gogunda. The Mughal forces greatly outnumbered Maharana Pratap Singh `s men. The battle of Haldighati happened to be a historic event in the history of Rajputana, lasted only four hours. In this short period, Maharana Pratap Singh`s men essayed many brave exploits on the field. Pratap Maharana Pratap Singh personally attacked Man Singh, his horse Chetak placed its front feet on the trunk of Man Singh`s elephant and Maharana Pratap Singh threw his lance; Man Singh ducked, and the mahout also died. Riding his trusty steed Chetak, Maharana Pratap Singh made good his escape to the hills. Chetak was severely wounded in this war and died leaving behind Maharana Pratap Singh in deep grief. A mausoleum to Chetak is at the site of the steed`s death.

The battle of Haldighati is considered to be a major breakthrough of Rajputs against the Mughals since the Second Battle of Khanwa in 1527 that was fought between Rana Sanga grandfather of Maharana Pratap Singh and the Mughal Babur grandfather of Akbar. Many Rajput families regard it with a degree of significance.

Maharana Pratap Singh started to live in the hilly wilderness of the Aravallis and continued his struggle. His one attempt at open confrontation having thus failed, Maharana Pratap Singh decided to take up the tactics of guerilla warfare. Using the hills as his base, Maharana Pratap Singh harassed the large and therefore awkward Mughal forces in their encampments. Akbar dispatched three more expeditions to hunt for Maharana Pratap Singh`s troops out of his mountainous hideouts, but they all failed. During this era, Maharana Pratap Singh received handsome financial assistance from Bhamashah, a well wisher.

The Bhil tribal of the Aravalli hills provided Maharana Pratap Singh with their support during times of dangerous war and their expertise in living off the forests during times of peace. Later, Maharana Pratap Singh started to live in Chavand in the mountainous southeastern area of Mewar. The Mughals however did not stop harassing them and the exiles were continued in those ravines for many years by subsisted on wild berries and by hunting and fishing. Akbar kept sending expeditions against Maharana Pratap Singh, but never succeeded. He exhausted a lot of money and men in trying to defeat Maharana Pratap Singh but for almost 30 years Maharana Pratap Singh remained ahead of Akbar and in the last ten years of his life was able to release most of his kingdom. The only fort Maharana Pratap Singh could not recover was Chittor and that kept him disappointed throughout. However, his son Amar Singh managed to win that fort after Maharana Pratap Singh `s death. Maharana Pratap Singh had 17 sons and five daughters. The male-line descendants of Udai Singh II carry the patronymic title of "Ranawat".

Maharana Pratap died of severe injuries sustained in a hunting accident. Legends say that, when he was dying, Maharana Pratap Singh made his son and successor and asked Amar Singh to swear to maintain eternal conflict against the Mughals. Thus, his stressed circumstances did not overpower Maharana Pratap Singh even during his declining years; he remained brave to the end. Maharana Pratap Singh also did not sleep on a bed because of a vow that until Chittor was freed he would sleep on the floor and live in a hut despite the fact that he had retrieved back almost his entire kingdom from Akbar. On January 29, 1597, Maharana Pratap Singh died at Chavand, when he was aged fifty-six.

A remarkable bronze statue of Maharana Pratap Singh and his favorite and loyal horse, who was highly protective of his master and stood by him till his last breath, stands at the top of Moti Magri or the Pearl Mount overlooking Fateh Sagar. Local people climb the hill to pay homage to the great Maharana Pratap Singh and his faithful charger `Chetak`. There are the ruins of one of the first self-effacing palaces of Udaipur and a charming Japanese rock garden close by.
1597-1620: Amar Singh I
1620-1628: Karan Singh
1628-1652: Jagat Singh II
1652-1680: Raj Singh I
1680-1698: Jai Singh
1698 - 1710: Amar Singh II
1710 - 1734: Sangram Singh II
1734 - 1751: Jagat Singh II
1751 - 1753: Pratap Singh II
1753 - 1761: Raj Singh II
1761 - 1773: Ari Singh
1773 - 1778: Hamir Singh II
1778 - 1828: Bhim Singh
1828 - 1838: Jawan Singh
1838 - 1842: Sardar Singh
1842 - 1861: Sarup Singh
1861 - 1874: Shambhu Singh
1874 - 1884: Sujan Singh
1885 - 1930: Fateh Singh
1930 - 1947: Bhopal Singh

References
Udaipur in Genealogical Gleanings
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Udaipur capital of Mewar in Rajasthan
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Umeta in Bombay
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Umri (Bombay)
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Umri (Central India)
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Uni
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Untdi
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Upawara
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V
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Vijaranagra Empire
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Vadagam
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Vadal Bhandaria
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Vadali
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Vadhyawan
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Vadia (Wadia)
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Vadod (Gohilwar) (Devani)
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Vadod (Jhalawar)
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Vaghvadi (Vaghvori)
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Vijiria
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Vakhtapur in Bombay
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Vaktapur
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Vallabhpur
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VALA
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Vala Shri Amra Jetpur (Mandarda)
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Vala Shri Bhan Desa Jetpur (Barwala)
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Vala Shri Champaj Jasa Jetpur
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Vala Shri Mansia Nag (Jetpur Mendarda)
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VALASNA
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Vana
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Vanala
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Vangadhra
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Vanod in Saurashtra
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Varagam
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Varahi (Thana)
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Varnol Mal (Varnolmal)
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Varnoli Moti
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Varnoli Nani
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Varsoda
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Vasan Sewada (Sevada)
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Vasan Virpur
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Vasan in Bombay
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Vasavad
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Vasna
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Vatrak Kantha Thana
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Vavdi Dharvala
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Vavdi Vachhani
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Veja-no-ness (Vejanoness)
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Vekaria
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Vichhavad
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Vijanones
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VIJAYANAGAR

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VINCHUR

The Chief of Vinchur is a Dishast Brahman, descended from a gallant soldier, who acquired distinction in the service of the Raja of Sattara. His name was Vittal Rao Shivdeo. The Emperor of Delhi conferred upon him the title of Umditul Mulk Bahadur, and the district of Vinchur. His brother, Khande Rao Vittal, who succeeded him, distinguished himself in the battle of Khurda. He died in 1794. His son, Narsing Khande Rao, was raised to the rank of Mutalik: and, commanding the Peishwa's forces, went with Colonel Wallace to Khandeish, to suppress the Bhils. The present Chief, Raghunath Rao, was loyal to the British Government in 1857 ; and has received the Star of India. The possessions of this family are scattered over the Nassik, Ahmednagar, and Puna collectorates. (Aberigh-Mackay, p. 70)
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Virampura
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Virpur
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Virsoda
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Virva
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Vishalgad
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Vishalgarh vassal state
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Vithalgadh
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Vora
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W
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WADAGAM
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Wadi Estate in Bombay
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WADHWAN (Vadwan)
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Wadhwan District Thana
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Wadia Estate
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Wadia (Vadia)
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WAI, WAO, WAV
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Wanapurthy vassal state
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WANKANER
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Warahi
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Wasna
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Watrak Kantha Thana
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Western Kathiawar Agency
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