Vikramaditya Singh

Vikramaditya Singh ^[1] (1517 - 1537), was the Maharana of Mewar Kingdom (r. 1531 – 1537). He was a Sisodiya Rajput and son of Rana Sanga and the elder brother of Udai Singh II. His mother was Rani Karnavati who send a Rakhi to Mughal Emperor Humayun to help her out, after the death of Rana Sanga when Bahadur Shah of Gujarat attacked Chittor. But unfortunately Humayun could not reach Chittor in time thus Karnavati committed Jauhar inside Chittor Fort. Humayun did defeat Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and reinstated Karnavati's son Vikramaditya Singh as the ruler of Mewar after the mass suicide.^[2][3]

Murder of Vikramaditya

Unfortunately, Vikramaditya's temperament had not improved even after the defeat in 1535 and, one day in 1536, he physically abused a respected old chieftain at the Court. This led the Mewar nobles to place Vikramaditya under palace arrest, leaving the object of Panna Dhai's love and loyalty, Udai Singh as heir-elect to the throne. The Court appointed a distant cousin, Banvir to act as his Regent. He was, allegedly, the illegitimate son of Udai's uncle, Prithviraj (Crown Prince Prithviraj had a fight with his younger brother, Sangram Singh, and was sent into exile where he died, never to succeed to his birthright as Maharana of Mewar). Banvir, who considered himself to be the rightful heir to the throne knew the time was right to act. One evening that 1537(some books writes in 1536 also), he assassinated the imprisoned Vikramaditya, then hurried towards the rawala to get rid of the only remaining barrier to his ambition, the 14-year-old Maharana-elect, Udai Singh.

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