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Rathores of Marwar

Rao Siha’s clan came into the desert in the thirteenth century; Rao Jodha built Mehrangarh in 1459. In the war after 1679 the Rathores, led by Durgadas, saved their infant king from Aurangzeb and fought for him for nearly thirty years.

  1. Rao Sihad. 1273
  2. Rao Chundac. 1394–1423
  3. Rao Jodha1438–1489
  4. Rao Ganga1515–1532
  5. Rao Maldeo1532–1562
  6. Rao Chandrasen1562–1581
  7. Udai Singh (Mota Raja)1583–1595
  8. +7
Period: 13th century–1949 CERegion: Marwar, the Thar desert country of western Rajasthan; a branch at BikanerCapitals: Mandore, Jodhpur
Photo: unidentified artist · Public domain

01Siha to Jodha

A memorial stone at Bithu near Pali records the death of Rao Siha in 1273. His descendants spread over the sandy country, and Rao Chunda took the old fort of Mandore around 1394. Rao Jodha moved to a rocky ridge a few miles south and in 1459 laid the foundation of Mehrangarh; the city of Jodhpur grew below it. One of his sons, Rao Bika, went north and founded Bikaner in 1488.

02Maldeo and the Mughals

Rao Maldeo made Marwar the strongest Rajput state of the 1530s. In 1544 Sher Shah Suri faced his army at Sammel (Giri-Sumel); the Rathore chiefs Jaita and Kumpa fought to the death, and Sher Shah won only narrowly. After Maldeo, Udai Singh accepted Mughal service in 1583, and Rathore princes served as Mughal generals for a century. Jaswant Singh, the most powerful of them, died at Jamrud in the Khyber in 1678.

Mandore (Mandavyapura)
Place · Seat of the Pratiharas of Mandore from c. 6th century; Rathore capital 1394–1459; royal cenotaphs 17th–18th centuryMandore (Mandavyapura)The old capital of Marwar, eight kilometres north of Jodhpur, held first by a Pratihara line and then by the Rathores until Rao Jodha moved to the new fort in 1459. Its gardens hold the cenotaphs of the Rathore kings.Read →

03Durgadas and the thirty years’ war

Jaswant Singh left no living son, and Aurangzeb took Marwar under direct rule. Two posthumous sons were born; one, Ajit Singh, was smuggled out of Delhi in 1679 by Durgadas Rathore and his men, who cut their way through the Mughal guards. Durgadas hid the boy, allied with Mewar, and kept the war going in the desert for decades. In 1707, on Aurangzeb’s death, Ajit Singh entered Jodhpur. The Rathores ruled Marwar until it joined India in 1949.

The rulers

  1. 1Rao SihaFounder of the Marwar Rathoresd. 1273
  2. 2Rao ChundaTook Mandorec. 1394–1423
  3. 3Rao JodhaFounded Jodhpur and Mehrangarh, 14591438–1489
  4. 4Rao Ganga1515–1532
  5. 5Rao MaldeoFought Sher Shah at Sammel, 15441532–1562
  6. 6Rao ChandrasenHeld out against Akbar1562–1581
  7. 7Udai Singh (Mota Raja)1583–1595
  8. 8Jaswant Singh IDied at Jamrud1638–1678
  9. 9Ajit SinghSaved by Durgadas; entered Jodhpur 17071679–1724
  10. 10Abhay Singh1724–1749
  11. 11Vijay Singh1752–1793
  12. 12Man SinghPatron of the Nath yogis; Mahamandir1803–1843
  13. 13Umaid SinghBuilt Umaid Bhawan palace1918–1947
  14. 14Hanwant SinghMarwar joined India1947–1949

What they left

  • Mehrangarh fort, Jodhpur (1459)
  • The cenotaphs and temples of Mandore
  • Jaswant Thada and Umaid Bhawan
  • Marwari painting of the Jodhpur court

People

Durgadas RathoreWarrior
1638–1718 CE

Durgadas Rathore

Saved Marwar’s heir from Aurangzeb

Places

Mandore (Mandavyapura)Ruined
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Mandore (Mandavyapura)

The old capital of Marwar, eight kilometres north of Jodhpur, held first by a Pratihara line and then by the Rathores until Rao Jodha moved to the new fort in 1459. Its gardens hold the cenotaphs of the Rathore kings.

Mehrangarh, JodhpurStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Mehrangarh, Jodhpur

The Rathore fortress on Bhaurcheeria hill, about 125 m above Jodhpur. Rao Jodha moved here from Mandore in 1459; the fort was held by the Mughals from 1679 until Ajit Singh and Durgadas Rathore won Jodhpur back in 1707.

MertaStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Merta

The Rathore town of the Mertiya clan, where Meerabai grew up worshipping Krishna as Charbhuja in her grandfather Rao Duda’s temple. Its Mertiya chiefs, Jaimal among them, were famous fighters.

Karni Mata Temple, DeshnokeStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Karni Mata Temple, Deshnoke

The temple of Karni Mata, the Charan woman revered as a form of Durga and the kuldevi of the Rathores of Bikaner. Thousands of kabas, the holy rats of her family, live in the temple and eat from the same bowls as the pilgrims.

Battles

Battle of Giri Sumel

Sher Shah marched on Rao Maldeo of Marwar and, by the chroniclers’ account, used forged letters to make Maldeo doubt his own nobles. Maldeo withdrew; Jaita and Kumpa stayed and attacked.

January 1544 CE