Siege of Siwana

01The fort on the ridge

Siwana stands on a ridge of the rugged hill country west of Jodhpur, the old road between Marwar and Jalore. In 1308 it was held by Sataldeva, a Paramara chief. Alauddin Khalji, who had taken Ranthambore in 1301 and Chittor in 1303, marched against it in person. Amir Khusrau, his court poet, describes the siege in the Khazain-ul-Futuh: the Sultan’s camp ringing the hill, the defenders holding out month after month in the heat. When the fort fell, Sataldeva was killed trying to break out.

02Khairabad

Khusrau says Siwana was renamed Khairabad and given to Kamaluddin Gurg, the general who went on to besiege Jalore. The local chronicles of Marwar, set down later by Muhnot Nainsi, remember Sataldeva as a hero and say the fort fell only after its water was fouled through treachery. Jalore fell in 1311, and Kanhadadeva of the Chahamanas died in its defence. Siwana passed back to Rajput hands within a few generations, and the Rathores of Marwar later held it as a refuge fort; Rao Chandrasen used it in his war against Akbar.