Hamir, Maharana of Mewar

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Rana Hamir was a 14th century ruler of Mewar in present-day Rajasthan, India. Following an invasion by the Delhi sultanate at the turn of the 13th century, the ruling Gehlot clan had been displaced from Mewar. Hamir, who belonged to an impoverished cadet branch of that clan, regained control of the region, re-established the dynasty, and became the first of his dynasty to use the royal title 'Rana'. Hamir also became the progenitor of the Sisodia clan, a branch of the Gehlot clan, to which every succeeding Maharana of Mewar has belonged.

[edit] Heritage

The ruling dynasty of Mewar had been founded, supposedly in 734 AD, by Bappa Rawal, a semi-legendary figure; the family had ruled its portion of southern Rajasthan from the fort of Chittor ever since. After many uneventful centuries, Chittor was besieged in 1303 AD by the marauding army of Alauddin Khilji, sultan of Delhi, who is said to have coveted Padmini, Rani of Chittor, a legendary beauty of her day. The famous Jauhar followed, wherein Rani Padmini, consort of Rawal Ratan Singh (the then ruler of Mewar), led the ladies of the fort into death by self-immolation, "to find security from dishonour in the devouring element" in the words of James Tod. The next morning, the menfolk of Chittor rode out to face certain death on the field of honour.

After the Jauhar took place and Chittor was lost, an extremely distant kinsman of Rawal Ratan Singh, by name 'Laksha' or Lakshman Singh, proclaimed himself Rana-in-exile. Laksha was descended in direct patrilineage from Bappa Rawal, and hence belonged to the Gehlot clan, but his claim to the throne was tenuous in the extreme: he was an eighth cousin twice removed of Rawal Ratan Singh. Laksha hailed from the village of Sisoda near the town of Nathdwara and hence his descendants came to be known as 'Sisodia'. Laksha was the father of nine sons, of whom the eldest, Ari, married Urmila, a lady from the nearby village of Unnava, who hailed from an impoverished rajput family belonging to the Chandana clan. Hammir was the only child of this couple.

[edit] Career

Both Laksha and Ari died in various skirmishes when Hamir was yet an infant; resultantly, Hamir grew up under the tutelage of his uncle Ajay, the second son of Laksha. Hamir gave his uncle an early proof of his valour when, at a young age, he killed a bandit named Munja who was wreaking havoc in the nearby area. It is said that this incident so impressed his uncle, that he forthwith invested Hamir with the claims of rulership. In actual fact, this investiture availed Hamir nothing; the clan were in exile and Mewar lay occupied.

The Khiljis had assigned their newly conquered territories to the administration of Maldeo, ruler of the nearby state of Jalore, who had allied with them during the recent war. In a bid to reconcile and co-opt the natives of the land to his rule, Maldeo arranged for the marriage of his widowed daughter Songari with Hamir, the scion of an impoverished cadet branch of the erstwhile ruling dynasty. Rana Hamir Singh re-established the state of Mewar in 1326 by engineering a coup d'etat against his father-in-law. The dynasty thus founded by Hamir, who was descended in direct patrilineage from Bappa Rawal, came to be known as Sisodia after Sisoda, the mountain village whence Hamir hailed.