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Ruler

Rana Sanga

Maharana of Mewar, Babur’s foe at Khanwa

1482—1528

1482–1528 CE; reigned 1508–1528

Sangram Singh beat the Lodi Sultan of Delhi and the Sultan of Malwa, led the largest Rajput confederacy of his age, and fought Babur at Khanwa in March 1527, carrying the scars of some eighty wounds.

01Khatoli and Gagron

Sanga won the throne of Mewar in 1508 after a hard struggle with his brothers, in which he lost an eye. In 1517 he met Ibrahim Lodi at Khatoli near the Haraoti border and beat him; he lost an arm in the fighting and was lamed in one leg. In 1519 at Gagron he defeated Mahmud Khalji II of Malwa and took him prisoner, and then, in the old Rajput way, sent him back to his kingdom. By the 1520s his authority ran from the edge of Agra to Malwa and into Gujarat.

02Khanwa, 17 March 1527

Babur took Delhi at Panipat in April 1526. Sanga gathered the chiefs of Rajputana, among them Marwar, Amber, Chanderi under Medini Rai, and Hasan Khan Mewati, and marched on Agra. They met at Khanwa, west of Fatehpur Sikri. Babur dug in behind carts chained together, with matchlocks and cannon, and attacked the Rajput flanks with his cavalry. Sanga was struck and carried from the field unconscious. Babur, in his own memoirs, names him with the Raya of Vijayanagara as the two greatest Hindu rulers of Hindustan. Sanga swore not to return to Chittor without victory and was preparing a fresh campaign when he died at Kalpi on 30 January 1528; tradition says his own nobles poisoned him.

Guhilas and Sisodias of Mewar
Dynasty · c. 6th century–1949 CEGuhilas and Sisodias of MewarFrom Bappa Rawal to Maharana Pratap, the house of Mewar held its hills against every power that came from Delhi. It is among the longest-ruling royal lines in the world.Read →

Battles

Battle of Khatoli

As Rana Sanga pushed Mewar’s border north-east, Ibrahim Lodi marched against him and was beaten at Khatoli.

c. 1517–18 CE

Battle of Gagron

Mahmud Khalji II besieged Gagron, held by men of his former minister Medini Rai, who had gone over to Mewar. Sanga came to relieve the fort and captured the Sultan.

1519 CE

Battle of Khanwa

A year after Panipat, Rana Sanga led the largest Rajput army of the age against Babur. Cannon, matchlocks and Babur’s flanking horse decided the day.

March 1527 CE

Battle of Bayana

A month before Khanwa, Rana Sanga’s army fell on Babur’s men at Bayana and beat them twice. Babur himself records how badly his camp took the news.

February 1527

Places

ChittorgarhRuined
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Chittorgarh

The hill fortress of Mewar, 180 m above the plain and some 13 km round. It was besieged and taken three times, in 1303, 1535 and 1568, and each time the women chose jauhar. The Vijay Stambh still stands over it.

KalpiStanding
Company rule and the war of 1857

Kalpi

The old Kalapriya on the Yamuna, a Surya tirtha sacked by the Rashtrakutas, where Rana Sanga died in 1528 and where Rani Lakshmibai, Tatya Tope and Rao Saheb made their stand against Hugh Rose in May 1858. Tradition holds it the birthplace of Maharshi Vyasa.

Evidence

BaburnamaChronicle
Memoirs to 1529 CE

Baburnama

Babur’s own memoir of his wars from Ferghana to Hindustan, with his account of Panipat and Khanwa.

On the timeline

  • 1517–18 CE

    Rana Sanga defeats Ibrahim Lodi at KhatoliResistance

    Maharana Sangram Singh of Mewar routs the Delhi Sultan’s army at Khatoli near Kota; he loses an arm in the fight. Mewar now stands as the strongest power of the north.

  • 30 January 1528

    Rana Sanga dies at KalpiResistance

    Preparing to fight Babur again, Rana Sanga dies in camp at Kalpi; Mewar tradition holds that nobles who wanted no new war poisoned him. He bore eighty wounds and had lost an eye and an arm in battle.