Rana Kumbha (1438-1468) was an extremely brave and talented ruler.  Born to Rana Mokal and Sobhagya Devi, he established himself not only as a ruler but also in the cultural field, especially music.

The Musical

He was a patron of literature and art. Being a great musician himself, he was a very skilled “veena” player. His works comprise of “Sangeet Mimansa”, “Sangeet Raj”and “Sangeet Ratnakar” to name a few. He is known in history for his perfect understanding of music.

Victory tower of Chittor was erected to mark his victory, a tower well known as “Vijay stambh”(विजय स्तम्भ).

He belonged to the Sisodia clan of Rajputs. At a very young age, he took Mewar to heights during the time when rulers and invaders were trying to expand and establish themselves in various parts of India.

“Concrete” achievements

Rana Kumbha also built and repaired the entire Mewar state and it is said that out of the 84 forts that formed the defence wall of Mewar, 82 were built by Rana Kumbha. Kumbhalgarh fort built by Rana Kumbha is the highest fort in Rajasthan with the wall running upto 38 kilometres and evidently the 2^nd longest wall after the Great Wall of China. Apart from these, the other remarkable structures are Trailokya-deepak jain temple of Ranakpur, Kumbhaswani temple and Adivarsha temple of Chittor were also built during Kumbha’s rule.

The Kumbha palace in Chittor is well popular among tourists for its architecture. It is now in ruins. It had elephant and horse stables. This is the palace where Rani Padmini had done “jauhar” along with other women to prevent Alauddin Khilji from taking them away.

Rana Kumbha was killed by his own son Udai Singh I .