"The most Potent Ruler of Hindustan"
- Firishta
"greatest of the rajas of Hind"
- Nizamuddin Ahmad ( Tabaqat-i-Akbari )
( Maharaja of jodhpur )
9 May 1532 – 7 November 1562
He was the eldest son of Rao Ganga and padma kumari ( deora chauhan ), he led rathore army to help maharana sanga in siege of bayana and battle of khanwa. when maharana fell unconscious in the battle of khanwa, rao carried the wounded maharana out from the battlefield.
Rao Maldev Rathore ascended throne in 1532 Rao Maldeo inherited only areas around Jodhpur and Sojat (pali), from his father Rao Ganga.
It was Rao Jaita and Rao Kumpa, who played important role in expanding Marwar’s territory in all directions and they died defending Marwar in Sumel-Giri. after death of maharana sanga he emerged most powerful rajput ruler.
'' he seized the lands of friends and foes alike''
he defeated sindhals of raipur and bhadrajun.
1532 CE
bahadur shah invaded mewar, rao maldeo sent his army to help rana vikramaditya.
1534 CE
Rao seized nagaur and drove the khan away.
1534 CE
Rao Maldev asked Biramdev to hand ajmer over to him. after getting refusal he snatched merta and latter conquered ajmer.
Biramdev sought shelter in suri's court.
• seige of jaisalmer •
1537 CE he besieged jaisalmer. rawal lunkaran sued for peace and married his daughter umade bhatiyani to rao maldeo.
1538 CE
Rao Maldev attacked Jalore, imprisoned sikandar khan. annexed siwana, bhinmal, radhanpur and khabad and plundered nabhara( gujarat )
1539 CE
he took advantage of conflict between suri and humayun and conquered bayana, tonk and toda.
1539 CE
taking advantage of ongoing civil war in mewar he established garrison in jaunpur ( mewar) and annexed sambhar, kasli, fatehpur, rewasa, chota udaipur ( gujrat ) sanchor, malwarna, chatsu and lawan. He also established military posts in ranthambore, bundi and bhilwara.
Which led bitter rivalry between rao maldeo and rana udai singh.
1540 CE
Rao Maldev sent his rathore army to secure throne for rana Udai Singh from banbir and took possession of khairwa ( udaipur ) and a large part of godwad.
• battle of pahoba •
1542 CE Rao used boundary dispute as an excuse and invaded bikaner and annexed entire Kingdom of bikaner.
Rao jait singh was killed in this battle. his sons kalyanmal and bhim sought shelter in suri's court.
1542 CE
Defeated humayun was called to marwar by rao for shelter. but his armyman k!lled a cow on their way to marwar.
Rao refused to help him and ordered to attack the mughals. Humayun was put to flight by rathores.
• Battle of giri-sumel •
1543 CE
Sher shah conquered sidh and made up his mind to attack marwar which was a threat for sur Empire. its boundary jujjhar was only 50 km away from delhi.
Rao Maldeo camped at giri. after one month of skirmishes sher shah wanted to retreat because he had limited resources for his large army, while rao maldeo was in advantageous position. But sher shah got a ploy.
he dropped forged letters near rao's camp. rao maldeo became suspicious on his generals. angered rao headed towards jodhpur with a large part of his army ( 40k rathores), rao jaita and kumpa wanted to prove their loyalty and innocence they were wandering in a village heard a woman saying ''we don't need to fear the invaders until jaita and kumpa are with us''
10,000 rathores decided to die an honourable death instead of retreating. they planned to attack on night but only half of them were able to reach sumel.
They desperately attacked in center bringing havoc in suri's army. his army was pushed back. Afghans came to Sher Shah and shouted in their native tongue ''Mount for the infidels are routing your army'' he was ready to retreat but jalal khan arrived with a fresh army. when news reached that jaita and kumpa have been killed sher shah suri sat on ground, prayed and said
''एक मुट्ठी भर बाजरे के लिए हिंदुस्तान की सल्तनत खो देता’''
It was a Pyrrhic victory for suri his army was devastated.
• according to badauni
using elephant troops helped
(Names of some of the brave warriors who sacrificed their life in Battle of Sumel-Giri, while defending Marwar.)
Sher shah to emerge Victorious. khawas khan took possession of jodhpur. and occupied territories from ajmer to mount abu ( sirohi ).
Sher shah returned bikaner to kalaynmal and merta to biramdev.
• battle of jodhpur •
1545 CE sher shah died of an explosion, at kalanja. Rao maldeo reassembled his army and attacked on jodhpur defeated afghan garrisons and reoccupied his lost territories. Rao Maldeo was eager to reoccupie his lost territories. he attacked on amer, defeated raja bharmal and annexed 4 districts of amer Kingdom. Kachwaha raja sought help from haji khan of alwar.
Rao maldeo then attacked on alwar.
mewar and bikaner came to help haji khan. and forced maldeo rathore to retreat.
• Battle of harmoda •
1557 CE
rana udai singh threatened haji khan for war. haji khan fled to marwar for help. combined army of rao and khan defeated Rana Udai Singh and captured merta. Rao further invaded amer and forced the Kachwaha raja to become his vassal. Jalaludin akbar sent several campaigns in marwar to avenge his father's insult, and annexed ajmer nagaur and merta. He wanted Rao to accept his suzerainty, but it was refused by Rao. 1562 his glorious rule came to an end and was succeeded by his son Rao Chandrasan rathore, barmer was also part of his kingdom which he annexed from mahecha rathores ( sub clan )
He was an ambitious king during his reign rathore clan reached the zenith of expansion, might and glory Where he won 52 battles in his reign of 30 years.
" Maldev was the most powerful ruler of the region both in rank and position and for the number of servants and the extent of his territories''
- Abul Fazl
"Maldev's kingdom comprised of almost the whole of western and eastern Rajasthan including Sambhal and Narnaul (In Haryana). His armies could be seen as far as the outskirts of Agra. Chandra also says that, Maldev had the mirage of reviving the 8th century Rashtrakuta empire.
But unlike Prithviraj Chauhan and Rana Sanga Maldev did not have the support of the Rajput tribes and politically no empire based in Rajasthan alone could challenge or defeat an empire that stretched from Punjab to the Upper Ganga valley."
- Satish chandra
''Rao Maldeo whose territory once extended up to hinduan bayana fatehpur sikri and mewar and whose assistance was sought even by emperor humayun against sher shah, breathed his last in 1562.
had not the sentiments of the rajputs by slaughtering a cow and had not the internal dispute between Rao Maldeo and Biramdev taken place the Rao whould have moulded the marwar state into quite a different shape worthy of his name''
- Reu
Source : glory of marwar and glorious rathores ( Reu )
Medieval india ( satish chandra )
The mughal empire ( majumdar )
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