History of Idar
Idar is a town in Sabarkantha district located in northern Gujarat, India. Recorded in epic history, this town was ruled by the Bhil tribe and descendants of Maitraka of Vallabhi, with its history traced back to the 7th century. The region was ruled by Rajput clans. Initially, Parihar Rajput refounded Idar and ruled until its chief died in the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192. It was then ruled by a Koli chieftain named Hathi Sora, who was succeeded by his son Samalio. The Rathod clan's prince, Sonangji, defeated the former ruler and assumed control, establishing the Rao dynasty that would govern the region for numerous generations. After numerous changes of fortune and many struggles with the Muslim rulers of Gujarat, the Rao rulers left Idar. In 1728, they were succeeded by the Rathod dynasty from Marwar. They ruled Idar State for generations and became part of the Mahi Kantha agency under British rulers. Following the independence of India in 1947, Idar became part of the Union of India and later the Republic of India.
Legends
Idar is first known in tradition as Ilvadurg, the residence in the Dvapara Yuga, or third age according to many myths of Hinduism, of Elvan the Rakshasa, and his brother Vatapi. These demons who harassed and laid waste to the surrounding country were at last destroyed by the seer Agastya. The town is mentioned in Mahabharata and Bhavishottar Puran as 'Ilvadurg'. In the Kali Yuga, or present age, when Yudhishthira was ruling over Hastinapur at the endof the Kurukshetra War of Mahabharata, Veni Vachh Raj ruled in Idar. He owned a magic gold figure which gave him money for building the Idar fortress and reservoirs. Veni Vachh Raj's queen was a Nagputri, the daughter of one of the Snake Kings of the under world. After a period of contented coexistence, while seated in an oriental window in Idargadh, a funeral procession passed by, with mourners in tow. Inquiring about the nature of the procession, the Rani was informed that one of the individuals had died, prompting her to remark, "Let us depart from a place where lives are lost." Subsequently, both the Rani and the king journeyed to the hill of Taran Mata. They ventured into a crevice in the rock, near the present-day site of goddess worship, disappearing from sight forever. Then the land lay desolate for many years.
Early history
The first clear tradition shows Idar in the possession of Bhils. When Vallabhi fell in 770, Pushpavati or Kamalavati, one of the queens of Maitraka king Shiladitya, was at the Arasur shrine of Amba Bhavani at Ambaji, fulfilling a vow, for the goddess had heard her prayer and she was with child. On her way back Pushpavati heard that Vallabhi had fallen and that she was a widow. Taking refuge in a mountain cave, she gave birth to a son, whom she named Gruhaditya or 'Goha', the Cave-born. Leaving the baby in the charge of a Brahman woman, and telling her to bring him up as one of her own sons but to marry him to a Rajput's daughter, she committed Sati by mounting the funeral pile. Idar was then in the hands of the Bhils, and the young Goha, leaving his Brahman mother, took to the woods with the Bhils, and, by his daring, won their hearts. One day the Bhils in sport choosing a king, the choice fell on Goha, and one 'of the children of the forest' cutting his finger rubbed the blood on Goha's forehead as the sovereign mark, tilak. Thus Goha, the son of Shiladitya, became lord of the forests and mountains of Idar. His descendants are said to have ruled for seven generations, till the Bhils tired of strangers, attacked and slew Nagaditya or Aparajita, the eighth prince of the line. His infant son Bappa Rawal, then only three years old, was saved to become, twelve years later, the founder of the Mewar dynasty. Then the city fell into ruins.The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang mentions a place which he calls O-clia-li, the Chinese way of writing Vadali, a village nearby. British General Cunningham identified this place with Idar. He further noted that in the eleventh century Vadali or Vadari was the capital of a family of chiefs claiming descent from Raja Bhara Gupta, whom the General believed to be the same as the above-mentioned Bappa.
Parihar Rajput rule
Some time after, a band of Parihar Rajputs, from Mandovar in Marwar, binding the garland upon its gates, refounded Idar, and ruled there for several generations. In the time of one of these Parihar rulers, Amarsingh by name, the Raja of Kanauj, performing a sacrifice in honour of his daughter's marriage, sent letters of invitation to the neighbouring kings. Idar was then subject to Chittor, and Samarsinh Rawal of Chitor, invited by his brother-in-law Prithviraj to accompany him to the marriage, summoned his vassal Amarsingh to attend him. The Parihar chieftain, with his son and a body of five thousand horse, went to Chittor, and took part with Prithviraj Chauhan, king of Delhi, against the Ghurid Sultanate and was killed in the Battles of Tarain. When the news reached Idar, many of the queens cast themselves from the steep cliff to the north of the town, still known as the 'Ranis' Leap' or 'Murder Hill'. Idar then fell into the hands of a Koli named Hathi Sora who was succeeded by his son Samalio.Rao rule (1257–1300)
Driven south by the Muslims, the Rathores, about the end of the twelfth century, under the guidance of Siyoji, the grandson of Jaychand of Kanauj, established themselves in the sandy deserts of Marwar. Siyoji's second son, Sonangji, repaired to the court of Anhilwad Patan, whose sovereign, probably Bhim Dev II of Chaulukya dynasty, assigned him the fief of Sametra in the district of Kadi. And not many years after the Rathods won for themselves the fort aud lands of Idar in 1257. The local story of this conquest is, that Samalio Sora by his tyranny roused his subjects' discontent. His chief adviser, a Nagar Brahmin, had a beautiful daughter, whom Samalio demanded in marriage. The father, not daring to refuse, begged half a year's delay. This was granted, and in the interval he paid a visit to Sametra, and after introducing himself to Sonangji, asked him if he was bold enough to take Idar. Sonangji agreed to try, and the Brahmin, returning home, declared that he was making preparations for the marriage and was assembling his relations. By twos and threes a hundred carriages, supposed to contain Brahmin women, brought to the minister's mansion the Rathod warriors and their leader. The minister at length gave out that all was ready, and asked Samalio and his relations to the feast. After the arrival of the bridegroom and his party, intoxicating drugs and liquor were freely served, and, on the minister's ordering his servants to bring the second course, the Rajputs rushed forward and surrounded the banquet hall. Samalio strove to cut his way through his enemies and regain the fortress, but, within a short distance of the gate of Idargadh, fell mortally wounded. When Sonangji came to the spot where he lay dying, Samalio, raising himself for the last time, made the royal mark on the victorious Rathod's brow, and with his dying breath begged that each Rathod Rao on mounting the royal cushion should be marked with the tilak by a Sora, who should draw the blood from his own right hand, and say 'May the kingdom of Samalio Sora flourish.' Spots on the ascent to Idargad, still pointed to as Samalio's blood stains, are marked by the Hindus with vermilion on Kali Chaudas and other days on which Hanuman is worshipped. Later when a descendant of Sonangji when took charge of the lands of his ancestors in their last retreat at Polo, a Koli of Sarvan marked his forehead with blood in token of his unsurrendered title to Samalio's domains. For the next four generations the Idar territories remained unchanged. Then Ranmal, the fifth in descent from Sonangji, took from a Yadav family the country called the Bhagar between Idar and Mewar.Rao during Muslim rule (1300–1731)
During Delhi Sultanate
During this time Muslim power had spread over Gujarat, and Idar had been forced to acknowledge its supremacy. According to one account Muzaffar, one of Alauddin Khalji's general took Idar, and it seems probable that Idar was unable to avoid sharing in the general submission enforced by Alph Khan in the early years of the fourteenth century. Muhammad bin Tughluq, about forty years later, on entering Gujarat to quell a revolt, first turned his arms against the chiefs of the northeast frontier, and Idar was probably included in the settlement of the province, a work on which he spent the next three years. Under the weaker rulers that followed Tughluq, Idar would seem to have been left unmolested.During Gujarat Sultanate
Near the close of the 13th century, Zafar Khan, later known as Muzaffar Shah I, founded Gujarat Sultanate. In 1393, the Idar chief refused to pay his tribute. The governor invaded his fort, and after a long siege, forciedthe garrison to surrender and extorted a large payment of money and jewels. Five years later Zafar Khan, determining to reduce Idar, besieged the fort and laid the country waste. While the garrison held out, news came of Timur's victory against Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi, and concluding a peace with Ranmal, Zafar Khan returned to Anhilwad Patan. After three years, according to one account, he again marched to levy the tribute of Idar when the chief fled to Visalnagar leaving Zafar Khan to occupy his capital. If this account is correct the Idar chief must soon after have been restored, for, in the revolt that followed tho death of Muzaffar Shah, two of the rebels, Moiduddin Firoz Khan the cousin, and Masti Khan the uncle of Sultan Ahmed Shah I who founded Ahmedabad, were aided by Ranmal the Idar chief, and took refuge in his fortress. Ahmad Shah I sending troops against the rebels forced them to flee to Nagor, and Rao Ranmal despairing of success made peace with the king by surrendering his horses, elephants, and other war materials. About thirteen years later, Ahmed Shah I again marched against Idar, defeated the force brought to meet him, and drove Rao Punja, the successor of Ranmal, to the hills. Idar was difficult to subdue, for, when his country was threatened, the chief could retire to his hills where he could not easily be followed. As a permanent check on his movements Ahmed Shah I, in 1427, built the fort of Ahmednagar, later known as Himmatnagar, on the banks of the Hathmati River. In the following year, on 29 February 1428, during a frontier foray, Rao Punja, repulsed and pursued by the Muslim cavalry, gallopped towards Idar, and, as he passed along a path at the edge of a ravine, his horse shied, and, falling into the chasm below, killed his rider. After Rao Punja's death, Ahmed Shah I marched on Idar and did not return till Punja's son Narandas had agreed to pay a yearly tribute of £300. Next year Narandas failing to pay his tribute, Ahmed Shah again marched to Idar, and, on 14 November, stormed one ofthe chief forts in the province, probably Idargadh, and built in it a magnificent mosque.
In 1445 Muhammad Shah II, the son and successor of Ahmed Shah, marched against Rao Bhan, the brother and successor of Narandas, who by the Muslims is called Bir or Vir Rai. The Rao appears to have remained quiet during the reign of Mahmud Begada, as, from 1459 to 1513 no mention is made of any expedition against him. Rao Bhan left two sons, Surajmal and Bhim. Surajmal ruled for only eighteen months, leaving a son Raimalji, whose place was, in his minority, usurped by his uncle Bhim. In 1514 Rao Bhim defeated Ain-ul-mulk, governor of Patan, who on his way to Ahmedabad had turned aside to attack the Rao. Advancing with a great army he found Idar abandoned, and destroyed it. At this time Muzaffar Shah II was anxious to advance into Malwa, and, on receiving a large sum of money, made peace with the Rao. Rao Bhim, on his death, was succeeded by his son Bharmal, who soon after was deposed by Rana Sanga of Chittor, whose daughter was married to Raimal the son of Surajmal. In 1515 Bharmal sought the aid of Sultan Muzaffar, and he sending Nizam-ul-mulk, one of his chief officers, replaced Bharmal as ruler of Idar. Raimal did not despair, and two years after again appearing in Idar, defeated a Muhammadan officer Zehr-ul-mulk, the Jher Khan of Hindu tradition. Soon after this Raimal died, and Bharmal became the undisputed chief. But his capital remained in the hands of the Muslims. In 1519 in the presence of Mubariz-ul-mulk, governor of Idar, someone praised the bravery of Rana Sanga of Chittor. Mubariz, to show his contempt, ordered a dog to be tied to the gate of the Idar fort, and to be called Rana Sanga. Hearing of this insult, Rana Sanga marched against Idar. Mubariz having only 900 men retired to Ahmednagar, and Sanga taking Idar and marching against Ahmednagar defeated Mubariz and plundered the town. In the next year Sultan Muzaffar marched on Idar and again took it. During the Muslim occupation of their capital, the Raos are said to have lived at Sarvan, the village held by the descendants of Samalio Sora, formerly in Idar and later in Mewar. The Muslims do not seem to have held Idar for any length of time. Rao Bharmal again occupied his capital and was twice attacked by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat Sultanate in 1528 and in 1530. The second expedition seems to have reduced Rao Bharmal to obedience, as mention is made that in 1530 Bahadur led an army into Bayad and the kings of Idar and Dungarpur were present and served in his camp. Dying in 1543, Bharmal was succeeded by Punjaji. During Punjaji's time the power of the Gujarat Sultanate greatly declined, and, as he is never mentioned, the Idar chief probably left in almost complete independence. Afterwards in the reigns of the last Gujarat Sultanate kings, the Rao of Idar was freed from the demand of tribute on agreeing to serve with 2000 horse. Punjaji was succeeded by his son Narandas, a great ascetic, who lived only on grain that had first been eaten by cows.