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Siege of Siwana


In 1308, the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji captured the Siwana fort located in present-day Rajasthan, India. The Delhi army breached the fort after a prolonged siege. Faced with a defeat, Sitala Deva, the ruler of the Siwana, tried to flee, but was captured and killed.

At the beginning of the 14th century, the present-day Rajasthan had several small principalities centered around hill forts. Most of these principalities had acknowledged Alauddin's suzerainty after his conquest of the powerful Ranthambore (1301) and Chittor (1303) kingdoms. However, the forts of Siwana and Jalore, located in the south-west end of Rajasthan, remained independent. Siwana, located near the Thar Desert, was controlled by a Paramara chief named Sitala Deva (also called "Satal Deo" or "Sital Dev" in medieval chronicles). A number of local chiefs acknowledged his suzerainty.

According to the Delhi courtier Amir Khusrau's Dawal Rani, the Delhi army had been besieging the Siwana fort for 5–6 years without any success. The legendary poem Kanhadade Prabandha claims that on one occasion, the Jalore Chahamana ruler Kanhadadeva sent an army in Sitala Deva's aid. The joint force defeated the Delhi army, killing the invading commanders Nahar Malik and Khandadhara Bhoja.

In 1308, Alauddin decided to personally lead an expedition to Siwana. He started his march from Delhi on 2 July 1308, and took charge of the siege operations in Siwana in August–September 1308. The Delhi army surrounded the fort from all sides, with Alauddin leading the contingent stationed on the eastern side of the fort. Malik Kamal al-Din 'Gurg' (or Kamaluddin) was in-charge of the siege engines (munjaniqs).


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