Man Singh Tomar

2021-08-26T20:45:12Z

2405:201:4019:70F7:C8A2:7A2A:6F0D:F6DA:

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox monarch
| name = Man Singh Tomar
| title = [[Maharaja]] of [[Gwalior]]
| image = Maharaja Mansingh Tomar Gwalior 2014-07-13 18-32.jpg
| reign = 1486–1516
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| predecessor = Kalyanmal Tomar
| successor = Vikramaditya Tomar
| spouse = Rani Mrignayani Gurjar
| issue = Vikramaditya Tomar and many others
| royal house = [[Tomaras of Gwalior|Tomar/Tanwar dynasty]]
| father = Raja Kalyanmal Tomar
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Gwalior]]
| death_date = 1516 A.D.
| death_place = Gwalior
}}

'''Man Singh Tomar''' ([[IAST]]: '''Mānasiṃha''') was a [[Tomaras of Gwalior|Tomar]] [[Rajput]] ruler of [[Gwalior]] who ascended the throne in 1486 CE.<ref>Chob Singh Verma , The glory of Gwalior, page 68</ref><ref>[[Matthew Atmore Sherring]], ''Hindu Tribes and Castes'', Volume 1, Page 139</ref><ref>Sir Alexander Cunningham, Archaeological Survey of India, Four reports made during the years, 1862-63-64-65, Volume 2, Page 387</ref><ref>Chob Singh Verma, The glory of Gwalior, page 68</ref>

== History ==
Maharaja Man Singh Tomar was born to Raja Kalyanmall, the [[Tomaras of Gwalior|Tomar]] [[Rajput]] ruler of Gwalior.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Romila Thapar|author-link=Romila Thapar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HqmyEbLScZ4C&q=Rajput|title=The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300|date=2003|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-0-14-193742-7|language=en|page=179|quote=Other claiming to be Rajput and descent from Solar and lunar lines established themselves as local kings in Western and Central India. Among these were the Chandelas present in 12th century in Bundelkhand, The Tomaras also subject to the earlier Pratiharas ruling in Harayana region near Dhilaka now delhi in around 736 A.D and later established themseleve in Gwalior region}}</ref> He ruled for over 30 years. In his years the Tomar were sometime at feud with and sometimes allies with the sultans of Delhi. Amongst others, he married famous Gujari 'Mrignayani'. Tradition has it that a queen, Mrignayni, was very beautiful and courageous woman who said no to veiling her face like other queens did . She resided in a separate palace made exclusively for her, the Gujari Mahal and did not sit among other queens during ritual bathing or musical shows.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Raja Man Singh was a great warrior and great patron of music. One of the nine gems of his court was the Hindustani classical musician [[Tansen]].<ref>Girīśa Caturvedī, Sarala Jag Mohan, Tansen, page 20</ref> He was patron of [[Dhrupad]] genre from [[Hindustani_classical_music|Hindustani Classical Music]].<ref>Ritwik Sanyal, Richard Widdess, Dhrupad: tradition and performance in Indian music, page 48</ref>

In 15th century Man Singh Tomar built [[Gujari Mahal Archeological Museum|Gujari Mahal]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freepressjournal.in/gorgeous-gwalior/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-09-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306065927/http://www.freepressjournal.in/gorgeous-gwalior |archive-date=6 March 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> a monument of love for his Gujari Mrignayani.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.patrika.com/news/gwalior/gurjari-mahal-of-gwalior-is-a-symbol-of-king-mansingh-tomar-mrignayni-love-story-1078203/|title = हिंदी खबर, Latest News in Hindi, हिंदी समाचार, ताजा खबर}}</ref>

One of the nine gems of his court was [[Tansen]]. Maharaja Man singh is credited to have defeated [[Sikander Lodi]] , who was Delhi Sultan at that time.

== Conflict with Sikander Lodi ==
[[File:Man Singh Palace as viewed in the early hours of the morning.JPG|thumb|The Man Singh (Manasimha) palace at the Gwalior fort]]
The newly crowned Man Singh Tomar was not prepared for an invasion from Delhi, and decided to avoid a war by paying [[Bahlul Lodi]] a tribute of 800,000 ''tanka''s (coins).{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|p=155}} In 1489, [[Sikandar Lodi]] succeeded Bahlul Lodi as the Sultan of Delhi. In 1500, Manasimha provided asylum to some rebels from Delhi, who had been involved in a plot to overthrow Sikander Lodi. The Sultan, wanting to punish Manasimha, and to expand his territory, launched a punitive expedition against Gwalior. In 1501, he captured [[Dholpur]], a dependency of Gwalior, whose ruler Vinayaka-deva fled to Gwalior.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|p=174}}

Sikander Lodi then marched towards Gwalior, but after crossing the [[Chambal River]], an epidemic outbreak in his camp forced him to halt his march. Manasimha used this opportunity to reconcile with Lodi, and sent his son Vikramaditya to the Lodi camp with gifts for the Sultan. He promised to expel the rebels from Delhi, on the condition that Dholpur be restored to Vinayaka-deva. Sikander Lodi agreed to these terms, and left. Historian [[Kishori Saran Lal]] theorizes that Vinayaka Deva hadn't lost Dholpur at all: this narrative was created by the Delhi chroniclers to flatter the Sultan.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|p=175}}

In 1504, Sikander Lodi resumed his war against the Tomaras. First, he captured the [[Mandrayal]] fort, located to the east of Gwalior.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|p=175}} He ransacked the area around Mandrayal, but many of his soldiers lost their lives in a subsequent epidemic outbreak, forcing him to return to Delhi.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|p=176}} Sometime later, Lodi moved his base to the newly established city of [[Agra]], which was located closer to Gwalior. He captured Dholpur, and then marched against Gwalior, characterizing the expedition as a ''[[jihad]]''. From September 1505 to May 1506, Lodi managed to ransack the rural areas around Gwalior, but was unable to capture the Gwalior fort because of Manasimha's hit-and-run tactics. A scarcity of food resulting from Lodi's destruction of crops forced Lodi to give up the siege. During his return to Agra, Manasimha ambushed his army near Jatwar, inflicting heavy casualties on the invaders.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|p=177}}

Having failed in capturing the Gwalior fort, Lodi decided to capture the smaller forts surrounding Gwalior. Dholpur and Mandrayal were already in his control by this time. In February 1507, he captured the Uditnagar (Utgir or Avantgarh) fort lying on the [[Narwar]]-Gwalior route.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|pp=177-178}} In September 1507, he marched against Narwar, whose ruler (a member of the Tomara clan) fluctuated his allegiance between the Tomaras of Gwalior and the [[Malwa Sultanate]]. He captured the fort after a year-long siege.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|p=179}} In December 1508, Lodi placed Narwar in charge of Raj Singh Kachchwaha, and marched to Lahar (Lahayer) located to the south-east of Gwalior. He stayed at Lahar for a few months, during which he cleared its neighbourhood of rebels.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|p=179}} Over the next few years, Lodi remained busy in other conflicts. In 1516, he made a plan to capture Gwalior, but an illness prevented him from doing so. Manasimha died in 1516, and Sikander Lodi's illness also led to his death in November 1517.{{sfn|Kishori Saran Lal|1963|p=184}}

== Palaces ==
The 15th century Gujari Mahal is a monument of love by Raja Man Singh Tomar for his Gurjari queen, [[Mrignayani]]. After he had wooed her after promise to fulfill his three wishes. Mrignayani demanded a separate palace with a constant water supply from the River Rai, she demanded to be always with the king in war. The outer structure of the Gurjari Mahal has survived in an almost total state of preservation, the interior has been now converted into an archaeological museum.

Within [[Gwalior Fort]], also built by Mansingh Tomar, is the [[Man Mandir Palace]],<ref>[[R. Nath]], Islamic architecture and culture in India, page 63</ref> built between 1486 CE and 1517 CE. The tiles that once adorned its exterior have not survived, but at the entrance, traces of these still remain. Vast chambers with fine stone screens were once the music halls, and behind these screens, the royal ladies would learn music from the great masters of those times.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===

{{ref begin}}
* {{cite book |author=Kishori Saran Lal |title=Twilight of the Sultanate |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E8QeAAAAMAAJ |year=1963 |publisher=Asia Publishing House |oclc=500687579 }}
{{ref end}}

[[Category:15th-century Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:16th-century Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:1516 deaths]]
[[Category:History of Gwalior]]
[[Category:Rajput rulers]]

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Man Singh Tomar