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Depiction of Maharana Sangram Singh on horseback, 18th century

Maharana Sangram Singh (commonly known as Rana Sanga) (April 12, 1484 – March 17, 1528)

Sangram Singh who was popularly known as Rana Sanga was younger son of Rana Raimal of Mewar who succeed Rana Kumbha. He is famous for his daring military exploits and vast conquests across Western India in early sixteenth century.

Accession to throne[link]

A war of succession followed last days and death of Raimal – his sons jockeyed for power and in civil war that followed, all princes were killed except Sanga who had much earlier left for Malwa where he lived for a while incognito as a cattleherd. Rajput sardars of Mewar who found out Sanga, invited him to become Rana as there was no one left for throne. Thus Sanga became Rana in 1509. ^[1]

Unification of Rajasthan[link]

By war and diplomacy, he united all warring principalities of Rajasthan under his leadership – a remarkable feat when one consider the fact that no once could attain this after death of Prithviraj Chauhan in late 12th century AD.^[2]

Conquest of Malwa[link]

Once he brought whole of Rajasthan under his control, he made his move on Malwa – Malwa ruled by Mehmod Khilji was torn by dissensions – Mehmod was wary of overgrown power of his Rajput wazir Medini Rai and his followers and so Mehmod who lacked personal strength to deal with Medini Rai asked for help from Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi and Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. Medini Rai on his part requested Rana Sanga to come to his aid. ^[3]

This was the beginning of prolonged war between Mewar and allies on one hand and Muslim sultans of North India on other hand. Rana Sanga’s troops joined by Rajput rebels of Malwa beat back invading armies from Delhi and defeated Muslim army of Malwa in a series of hotly contested battles and even took Mehmod Khilji himself prisoner and he was let after he left his sons as hostages in Chittor. Thus whole of Malwa thus fell into Rana’s sphere of influence.^[4]

Victories over Ibrahim Lodi[link]

Rana then turned his attention towards North Eastern Rajasthan that was under control of Delhi. He invaded this province when a serious rebellion in Delhi had diverted attention of Ibrahim Lodi. Rajputs scored several successes and captured much territories that included impregnable fort of Ranthambore. Ibrahim Lodi was angry at this and decided to teach Rana Sanga a lesson and invaded Mewar after rebellion in Delhi was crushed.^[5]

Rana Sanga immediately invaded enemy country – Rajputs fought Afghans of Lodi at Khatauli (Gwalior) in 1517-18. Rana lost left arm and was crippled in one leg but he won a magnificent victory and captured lot of enemy land. Lodi stunned by this Hindu aggression that was not there for last 300 years, once more attacked Rana Sanga’s country in 1518-19 period but was humbled at Dholpur. Lodi repeatedly fought Rana Sanga only to be defeated on all occasion and lost a good part of his land in Rajasthan - boundary of Rana Sanga now extended within a striking distance from Agra.^[6][7]

War Between Sanga and Babur[link]

Now Rana Sanga became most powerful prince in whole of North India. Now his objective grew in scope – he now planned to conquer Delhi and bring whole of Hindustan under his control. He had crushed Gujarat and conquered Malwa and was now close to Agra. It was at this juncture that he heard that Babur had defeated and slayed Ibrahim Lodi and was now master of Delhi sultanate.

Rana Sanga who sensed that Babur had not plan to leave India, decided to fight him. As first move, he provided refuge to Afghan fugitive princes like Mehmod Lodi and Hasan Khan Mewati. Then he asked Babur to leave India. He hoped to attain this by talks with Babur and sent his vassal sardar Siladitya of Raisen as his emissary.^[8]

Rajput army supplemented by Afghan contingents of Hasan Khan and Mehmod Lodi met Babur’s army at Khanwa near Fatehpur Sikri in 1527. Battle lasted for 10 hours and it was hotly contested and exceedingly bloody. At critical moment of battle, defection of Siladitya and his contingent caused break up of Rajput front and Rana Sanga tried to rebuild front was wounded seriously and fell unconscious. Rajput army thought their leader was dead and fled in disorder.^[9][10]

Rana Sanga was whisked away to safety and once he became conscious learnt of betrayal and defeat. But Rana Sanga unwilling to admit defeat set out once more to rebuild his military and renew war with Babur. He vowed not to set foot in Chittor till Babur was defeated by him. In 1528, he once more set out to fight Babur at Chanderi to help Medini Rai who was attacked by Babur. But he fell sick at Kalpi and died in his camp. It is widely believed that he was poisoned by some of his nobles who thought his renewal of war with Babur as suicidal.^[11]

Evaluation & Legacy[link]

Rana Sanga was unique and first among medieval Indian leaders. He had a vision of reconquest of North India from Afghans and Turks. No Rajput leader before him had this kind of grandiose vision. He dominated much of Western and Central India and would have dominated whole of North India if not interrupted by misfortune and betrayal. Rana Pratap’s war of freedom on Akbar was also deeply inspired by memories of Rana Sanga.

Rana Sanga understood unlike his predecessors for last 300 years as to why Indians lost to Turks and Afghans. He identified 3 factors -

1. Lack of unity, 2. Lack of offensive military strategy, and 3. Lack of utilization of victories obtained.

It was in line with this thought that he united Rajputs of Rajasthan, then waged aggressive wars on Turco-Afghan neighboring kingdoms and used his victories over them to expand his territories and bring them under his control - like his conquest of Malwa and capture of North-East Rajasthan from Delhi.

Rightly called as "Lion of Rajputs"^[12], Rana Sanga is celebrated as embodiment of patriotism, courage and determination, though less know than his more famous grand-son Maharana Pratap. Rana Sanga had lost an eye and arm and was lame in one leg and had eighty scars on his body – all wounds of war. He came home with one scar wound fresh after each battle. He fought over one hundred battles and lost only to Babur in Khanwa. In spite of his physical handicap, he led his armies in person from front in all battles he waged. His vow not to set foot in Chittor till Babur was defeated resembled to pledge taken by Rana Pratap that he will not indulge in any princely luxury till his country was freed.

References[link]

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Ibrahim Lodi
Sultan of the Lodi dynasty
An old Afghan sketch of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi
Reign	1517-1526
Coronation	1517, Delhi
Buried	Panipat
Predecessor	Sikandar Lodi
Successor	None
Royal House	Lodi dynasty
Father	Sikandar Lodi

Ibrahim Lodi (Pashto: ابراهیم لودي, Hindi: इब्राहिम लोधी) (b.? - April 21, 1526) was one of the rulers of the Lodi dynasty who became the last Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate in India. He was an Afghan (specifically of the Ghilzai tribe of Pashtuns) who ruled over much of northern India from 1517 to 1526, when he was defeated by Babur's army.^[1]

Lodi attained the throne upon the death of his father, Sikandar Lodi, but was not blessed with the same ruling capability. He faced a number of rebellions. The Mewar ruler Rana Sanga extended his empire right up to western Uttar Pradesh and threatened to attack Agra. There was rebellion in the East also. Lodi also displeased the nobility when he replaced old and senior commanders by younger ones who were loyal to him. He was feared and loathed by his subjects. His Afghan nobility eventually invited Babur to invade India.

Ibrahim died in the Battle of Panipat, where Babur's artillery and the desertion of many of Lodi's soldiers led to his downfall, despite superior troop numbers.

An awards ceremony in the Sultan Ibrāhīm’s court before being sent on an expedition to Sambhal

Tomb[link]

His tomb is often mistaken to be the Sheesh Gumbad within Lodi Gardens Delhi, though is actually situated in near the tehsil office in Panipat, close to the Dargah of Sufi saint Bu Ali Shah Qalandar. It is a simple rectangular structure on a high platform approached by a flight of steps. In 1866, the British relocated the tomb during construction of the Grand Trunk Road and renovated it with an inscription highlighting Ibrahim Lodi’s death in the Battle of Panipat.^[2][3][4]

See also[link]

• Lodi dynasty

References[link]

External links[link]

• http://www.indohistory.com/lodhi_dynasty.html
• http://www.webindia123.com/history/MEDIEVAL/delhisultanate/delhi%20sultanate4.htm
• http://sify.com/itihaas/fullstory.php?id=13233620

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Anup Jalota
Anup Jalota at Bhubaneswar, Orissa
Background information
Born	(1953-07-29) 29 July 1953 (age 58)
Origin	Nainital, India
Genres	Bhajan, Ghazal
Occupations	Vocalist
Instruments	Harmonium
Years active	1985–present

Anup Ji with his Fan, Orissa

Anup Jalota (Hindi: अनुप जलोटा}{Urdu: انوپ جلوٹا) (born 29 July 1953) is an Indian singer/musician, best known for his performances in the Indian musical form, the bhajan and the Urdu form of poetry: ghazal.

He is popularly known as the Bhajan Samraat (Emperor of Bhajans).^[1] Padmashree for 2012 has been conferred upon him in the field of Art-Indian Classical Music- Vocal

Early life[link]

Anup Jalota was born in Nainital, Uttarakhand to Purushottam Das Jalota, a renowned exponent of bhajan and hails from the Sham Chowrasi Gharana of Punjab. He was educated in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Anup's brother, Ajay Jalota, currently lives in California. He has one older brother Anil Jalota and two sisters Anjali Dhir and Anita Mehra.

Career[link]

Jalota started his musical career as a chorus singer in All India Radio. He is usually backed by a santoor player, a dholak player, a sarod player, a sarangi player, a violinist, a sitar player, a tabla player and a guitarist. Some of his popular bhajans include: Aisi Lagi Lagan, Main Nahi Makhan Khayo, Rang De Chunariya, Jag Me Sundar Hai Do Naam, and Chadariya Jhini Re Jhini.

He met Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj in Mumbai and agreed to release several CDs of his compositions.^[2]

Personal life[link]

For Anup the first two marriages ended in divorce. Currently, Anup Jalota is married to Medha, niece of former Indian Prime Minister, Inder Kumar Gujral.^{[citation needed]} They have a 14 year old son, Aryaman, studying in Mumbai, India.^{[citation needed]}

Recognition[link]

Anup Jalota earned a record number of 100 certified gold, platinum and muti-platinum discs.

Discography[link]

The popular Bhajans and ghazals for which he is credited the most are given below

• Aisi Lagi Lagan
• Chaand Angdaiyaan Le Raha Hai
• Tumhare Shahar Ka Mausam
• Main Nazar Se Pee Raha Hoon
• Hum Se Achi to Kahin Aaine ki Khismat Hogi
• Rukh Se Parda Hata De
• La Pila De Saqiya
• Shree Hanuman Chalisa
• Mere Kabr Par Pate Huye
• Tum Kya Samjho Tum Kya Jano
• Kategi Ye Zindagi Ab Rote Rote
• Laga Chunari Mein Daag^[1]
• Rang De Chunariya
• Prabhuji Tum Chandan Hum Pani

References[link]

External links[link]

• Virtual Fan Club of Anupji… Devotional Harmony
• Anup Jalota Bay Area USA Live Concert 28th Aug 2009
• Listen Anup Jalota Online
• Anup Jalota - Official website
• Anup Jalota @ Last.fm (Listening examples)
• http://mysticamusic.com/anup-jalota.php

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