Siege of Chittorgarh (1303)

In 1303, the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji captured the Chittor Fort from the Guhila king Ratnasimha, after an eight month long siege. The conflict has been described in several legendary accounts, including the historically unreliable Padmavat, which claims that Alauddin's motive was to obtain Ratnasimha's beautiful wife Padmini.

The Mewar region in north-western India was ruled by the Guhila dynasty, whose seat was located at the Chittor Fort (Chittorgarh). In 1299, Alauddin's general Ulugh Khan had raided the Mewar region on his way to Gujarat. However, this appears to have been a light raid rather than a serious invasion, and the Guhila king Samarasimha protected his country from the raiders, possibly by paying a tribute.

In 1301, Alauddin conquered Ranthambore, which was located between Delhi and Chittor, and then returned to Delhi. The same year, Ratnasimha ascended the throne of Chittor. The later legends based on Malik Mohammad Jaisi's epic poem Padmavat state that Alauddin invaded Chittor to obtain Padmini, the queen of Ratnasimha (called Ratan Sen or Ratan Singh in these legends). According to these legends, a man named Raghava told Alauddin about the extraordinary beauty of Padmini. However, Padmini does not find a mention in the earliest records of Alauddin's conquest of Chittor, such as the chronicles by Amir Khusrau, Barani and Isami. Most modern historians have rejected the authenticity of the Padmini legend.

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