Maharana Amar Singh I, Fifty-Fifth Ruler of The Mewar Dynasty

Maharana Amar Singh I, fifty-fifth ruler of the Mewar Dynasty (r.
1597-1620); eldest of the

seventeen sons of the hero Maharana PRATAP SINGH I, he succeeded his father, January 19,
1597 at CHAVAND, aged 38, and ruled for twenty-three years from Udaipur. Because Pratap
Singh had insisted on quitting the comforts of Udaipur and fighting the Mughals in guerilla
warfare conditions in the Aravalli Hills, Amar Singh's first job after succession was to make
Udaipur the capital of Mewar once more. He had to persuade his subjects, who had followed
Pratap Singh (under orders) into the wilderness, to return to the city. With the death of Mughal
emperor Akbar, eight years after Pratap's demise, it was hoped that Mewar would enjoy peace
for the first time in many decades. Amar ensured the status quo by not pursuing aggression
against the Mughals. Although the peace was not to last, Amar pursued a vigorous programme
to better the condition of his war-scarred subjects.He remodelled his country's institutions,
reassessing land holdings and distribution of fiefs, and established a new system of ranking for
the nobility. He regulated sumptuary laws, those that control personal habits that offend a
community's moral or religious conscience. Adding to the City Palace, he built the lower
gateway, Badi Pol. Amar Singh had been his father's constant companion during Pratap's
extensive campaign as a guerilla fighter. He was a faithful and loyal son and companion, yet he
caused his father concern that he would not pursue independence as he had, but surrender
Mewar's freedom to the Mughals. Earnestly, the chiefs pledged themselves "by the throne of
Bappa" that the dying ruler's fears would not eventuate. To some degree, Pratap's predictions
would turn out to be correct, even though Amar Singh eventually fought many more battles than
his father did. In North India, following Akbar's death, Prince Salim succeeded as Emperor
Jahangir (1605-1627). Shortly thereafter, he dismissed the peace treaty and renewed the war
against Mewar with vigour. From 1605 to 1614, successive Mughal generals tried to conquer
Mewar: Asaf Khan, 1606-1608; Mahabat Khan, 1608-1609; Abdullah Khan, 1609-1611; Raja
Basu, 1611; Aziz Koka, 1611-1614; and Jahangir's ablest son, 32-year-old Prince Khurram,
1614. Villages and towns were sacked; crops, orchards and forests were destroyed
indiscriminately; and temples were razed. Once more the people of Mewar suffered great
distress. At first, Amar Singr relocated his court to Ajmer near Mewar's northern border, and
mounted an overwhelming force to crush Maharana Amar Singh. Amar followed his father's
example, and moved into the Aravalli jungles, while Jahangir, in a wide sweep, annexed the
areas of Kapasan,
Untala, Debari, Gogunda, Chavand, Bari Sadri, and finally Udaipur itself. Amar
retaliated, recapturing the areas of Untala, Mandal, Badnore, and Malpura. Next,
Jahangir appointed his son, Prince Parvez, commander of the Mughal army. However,
Maharana Amar, flushed with his recent successes, and with the help of Punja,
chieftain of Pandevi (Panawara), whose force containefierce Bhil warriors, again routed the
Mughal army in the pass near Khamnor, the scene of many bloody combats in the past,
including the famous Battle of HALDIGHATI. Parvez fled the battlefield and retreated to Ajmer in
disgrace. By then, Maharana Amar had fought seventeen pitched battles, but each victory had
meant the loss of many more of Mewar's most experienced veterans.In 1614, a substantial
army now led by Prince Khurram (known to history as Emperor SHAH JAHAN) headed out from
Ajmer to attack Mewar. He camped with his Mughal army at GOGUNDA, 36 km. northeast of
Udaipur. Although Amar had tried to carry out his father's policies for seventeen years, he could
muster only a handful of chieftains to meet the approaching enemy. The Mewar generals and
ministers (the nobles), dismayed by the heavy odds against them and dejected by their earlier
losses in the continuous battles of the past, pressured Amar into negotiating a peace treaty with
Emperor Jahangir. With reluctance, the Maharana sent two of his nobles, Haridas Jhala and
Shubh Karan (the Maharana's maternal uncle), to Khurram with a peace proposal. In turn,
Prince Khurram sent a message to his father, Emperor Jahangir, in Ajmer, recommending there
was no surer way of earning the approbation of the Maharana than by maintaining friendly
relations with Mewar. The emperor agreed and issued a farman (decree) for the ramification of
the negotiated terms, which were based on Maharana Amar Singh's own conditions.

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Maharana Amar Singh I, fifty-fifth ruler of the Mewar Dynasty (r.

1597-1620); eldest of the

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