01Meera’s Charbhuja
Rao Duda, a son of Rao Jodha of Jodhpur, made Merta his own seat in the 1460s, and his line became the Mertiya Rathores. He built the temple of Charbhuja, Vishnu with four arms, worshipped here as Krishna. His granddaughter Meera, daughter of Ratan Singh, was born around 1498 at Kudki nearby and brought up in Duda’s household. The story told in Merta is that as a small girl she was given a murti of Krishna and took him for her husband. She was married in 1516 to Bhojraj, son of Rana Sanga of Mewar, and after his death left the palace for the company of sadhus, singing the padas that are sung across Bharat today. The Charbhuja temple is now known as the Meera mandir, and a memorial museum to her stands beside it.
02Jaimal and the wars
Meera’s cousin Jaimal Mertiya held Merta until Akbar’s army took it in 1562. He then went to Chittor, and in the siege of 1567–68 he commanded its defence beside Patta of Kelwa; both fell when the fort was stormed in February 1568, and Akbar later set up their statues on elephants at the gate of Agra fort. In 1790 the Rathores were beaten at Merta by Mahadji Scindia’s brigades under Benoît de Boigne.
The life of this place
- c. 1462Rao Duda founds Merta and the Charbhuja temple.
- c. 1498Meerabai is born at Kudki near Merta.
- 1562Akbar’s army takes Merta from Jaimal.
- 1790Battle of Merta: de Boigne defeats the Rathores.
