Ranthambore Fort

Ranthambore Fort lies within the Ranthambore National Park, near the city of Sawai Madhopur, the park being the former hunting grounds of the Maharajahs of Jaipur until the time of India's Independence. It is a formidable fort having been a focal point of the historical developments of Rajasthan. The fort is believed to be constructed by the Chahamanas (Chauhans). In the 13th century the Delhi Sultanate captured it. The fort provides a panoramic view of the surrounding Ranthambore National Park and is now a popular tourist attraction.

In 2013, at the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee, Ranthambore Fort, along with 5 other forts of Rajasthan, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the group Hill Forts of Rajasthan.

• “In the year AH 689 (AD 1290), the Sultan led an army to Rantambhor… He took… Jhain, destroyed the idol temples, and broke and burned the idols…”
  • Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi by Barani. About Sultan Jalalu’d-Din Khalji (AD 1290-1296) conquests in Jhain (Rajasthan) Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own historians, Vol. III, p. 146

• “On Tuesday, the 3rd of Ziqad in AH 700 (10 July, 1301), the strong fort [of Ranthambhor] was conquered. Jhain which was the abode of the infidels, became a new city for Musalmans. The temple of Bahirdev was the first to be destroyed. Subsequently, all other abodes of idolatry were destroyed. Many strong temples which would have remained unshaken even by the trumpet blown on the Day of Judgment, were levelled with the ground when swept by the wind of Islam.”
  • Amir Khusrow. About Sultan ‘Alau’d-Din Khalji (AD 1296-1316) and his generals conquests in Jhain (Rajasthan). Amir Khusrow in S.A.A. Rizvi, Khalji Kalina Bharata, Aligarh, 1955, pp. 160

• “…and in the same year the Sultan for the second time marched against Ranthambhor, and destroyed the country round it, and overthrew the idols and idol-temples, but returned without attempting to reduce the fort…”
  • Sultan Jalalu’d-Din Khalji (AD 1290-1296) Ranthambhor (Rajasthan). `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni:Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh.

• 1. Jhain: “Next morning he (Jalalud-Din) went again to the temples and ordered their destruction… While the soldiers sought every opportunity of plundering, the Shah was engaged in burning the temples and destroying the idols. There were two bronze idols of Brahma, each of which weighed more than a thousand mans. These were broken into pieces and the fragments were distributed among the officers, with orders to throw them down at the gates of the Masjid on their return (to Delhi)” (Miftah-ul-Futuh).... 5. Ranthambhor: “This strong fort was taken by the slaughter of the stinking Rai. Jhain was also captured, an iron fort, an ancient abode of idolatry, and a new city of the people of the faith arose. The temple of Bahir (Bhairava) Deo and temples of other gods, were all razed to the ground” (Ibid.).
  • Amir Khusru. The instances cited relate to the doings of Jalalud-Din Firuz Khalji, Alaud-Din Khalji and the letter’s military commanders. Quoted in The Tip of An Iceberg (Indian Express, February 19, 1989) and in Shourie, A., & Goel, S. R. (1990). Hindu temples: What happened to them. [1]

• “He marched from it to Ranthanbhor. He first encamped at Jhayan and conquered it. He demolished temples and broke idols. He killed, captured and pillaged…”
  • Sultan Jalalu’d-Din Khalji (AD 1290-1296) Jhain (Rajasthan) Zafaru’l-Walih Bi Muzaffar Wa Ãlihi, Zafaru’l Walih Bi Muzaffar Wa Ãlihi, translated into English by M.F. Lokhand­wala, Baroda, 1970 and 1974, Vol. II, 626-8. As quoted in Goel, S. R. (1993). Hindu temples: What happened to them. Vol II, Ch. 7.

• “The King, after the decease of his son, marched his army towards Runtunbhore, to quell an insurrection in those parts, leaving his son Arkully Khan in Dehly, to manage affairs in his absence. The enemy retired into the fort of Runtunbhore, and the King reconnoitred the place, but, despairing of reducing it, marched towards Oojein, which he sacked. At the same time also, he broke down many of the temples of Malwa, and after plundering them of much wealth, returned to Runtunbhore.”
  • Firistha .Tãrîkh-i-Firishta. Sultãn Jalãlu’d-Dîn Khaljî (AD 1290-1296)Malwa (Madhya Pradesh)

• [Then in a single campaign Ranthambhor was conquered and] ‘ by the decree of God the land of infidelity became the land of Islam’. [In Amir Khusrau’s words,] ‘ When the sky-rubbing canopy of the Shadow of God cast its shade over the hill of Ranthambhor, the conqueror of the world, like the sun, stood over the unfortunate in his heat, and cast the days of their lives into decline.’
  • Amir Khusrow, Khazainu’l-Futuh. Quoted from Peter Hardy - Historians of medieval India_ studies in Indo-Muslim historical writing. (1960) p 79ff

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Ranthambore Fort