Maharana Udai Singh and the Sur Emperors of Delhi
Summary
In this article, Arya Ramachandra G. Tiwari critiques Dr. D.C. Sircar’s assertion that Maharana Udai Singh of Mewar submitted to the Afghan ruler Sher Shah and later to Islam Shah of the Sur dynasty. Tiwari points out that Sircar’s argument relies primarily on a single inscription from Toda Raisingh and discounts the silence of Persian chronicles on the subject. He emphasises that, according to contemporary sources, Sher Shah’s invasion of Mewar led to the siege and temporary surrender of the fort of Chittor but not to Udai Singh’s personal submission. To appraise Udai Singh’s policy during this turbulent period, Tiwari urges historians to trace Mewar’s history from the battle of Kanwah (1527) onward and to re‑examine Persian texts and vernacular manuscripts. The article reviews the circumstances of the battle of Kanwah, attributing the Rajput defeat to the inflexibility of their cavalry formations and the superior tactics of Babur, such as flanking manoeuvres and artillery. Tiwari rejects the view that the Rajput confederacy collapsed after Kanwah; he notes that Rana Sanga continued to pursue Babur after the battle and that the confederacy endured until Sanga’s death. He recounts the internal politics of Mewar, including Sanga’s poisoning by his own ministers and the subsequent struggles for succession. The paper also analyses the strategic value of the Toda Raisingh inscription, arguing that it likely commemorates Udai Singh’s conquest of the town following Sher Shah’s death and that the inscription’s date has been misinterpreted. Tiwari concludes that Udai Singh maintained a policy of resistance against the Sur emperors and sought to restore Mewar’s independence. The article underscores the importance of correlating inscriptional evidence with Persian and vernacular sources rather than relying on isolated epigraphs, and it invites further research into the political and military history of Mewar during the mid‑sixteenth century.
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Conclusion
Tiwari’s reassessment challenges previous claims that Maharana Udai Singh capitulated to the Sur dynasty and instead portrays him as a resilient ruler who strove to preserve Mewar’s autonomy. By emphasising the need to corroborate inscriptional evidence with Persian and local sources, the paper underscores methodological rigour in historical reconstruction. Tiwari contends that the Rajput confederacy survived the battle of Kanwah and that Udai Singh’s policies were shaped by local dynamics rather than submission to Afghan emperors.