MEWAR
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The kingdom of Mewar
was situated in what is
now Rajasthan in Northern India. It was bestowed on Bappa Rawal in 734 A.D.
by the great devotee of Lord Shiva (Shri Eklingji), Sage Harit Rashi of the
Lakulish Cult. As the armies
of the Mughal emperor Akbar moved to occupy Mewar in 1568, the then ruler,
Maharana Udai Singh, father of Rana Pratap Singh, retired to safety at
Udaipur, in the foothills of the Aravalli Range. It was at Udaipur that
Pratap supplanted his father as head of the Sesodia clan. Rana Pratap's son
Amar Singh was resident at the time of his father's death in exile. Udaipur
remained the capital of the state until it acceded unto the Union of India in
1947. Immediately
after Rana Pratap's death, the Sisodias became vassals of the Mughals, and
served them faithfully for nearly two centuries. When the Mughal empire went
into terminal decline in the 18th century, the Sisodias ventured a measure of
autonomy, but were subdued by the Marathas, who exacted crippling tributes
from them annually. To add to the woes of the land, the Sisodia rulers of
this period dissipated much energy and resources in petty quarrels with their
neighbours. As the relentless turmoil drained both the country and its ruling
family; in the early decades of the 19th century, the Sisodia rulers
repeatedly petitioned the British Raj for protection from their neighbours
and from the Marathas. Finally, in 1818, Mewar entered into subsidiary
alliance with the British and became a Princely state in the Rajputana
Agency. This arrangement continued until the independence of India in 1947,
when Mewar acceded unto the Union of India; it was later integrated into the
Indian state of Rajasthan. |
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In the heraldry of Mewar the sun plays a major role as the emblem of the empire, the emblem of the kingdom and the emblem of the Maharana. In the 19th century the faced sun came to refer to the Hindu sun-god Surya from which the Royal House of Mewar, belonging to the Rajput Suryavanshi lineage, claimed its descent. |
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The picture in the head of this section shows the national emblem of the Mughal Empire consisting of a sun surrounded by twenty-four stars. This emblem was granted to the main vassals of the Empire. Such a screen is part of the royal insignia in the 12th century Sangrahani Sutra manuscript. [1] It is depicted on a miniature showing the Maharajas of Jodhpur and Jaipur and the Maharana of Mewar received by Emperor Shah Alam in 1708. It is carried on a pole by the ensigns of these rulers. [2]
Soon there were embellished versions of this emblem as we may see on this detail of “Maharana Sangram Singh on his Royal Mount, Jambudvipa” (1725 ca.) [3] On this miniature we can see that the screen consisted of black ostrich-feathers. |
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In the beginning of the 19th century this emblem evoluated by adding a face to the sun and by leaving out the stars. On a picture of 1851 an umbrella is added. A modern version shows the sun flamboyant.
The screen in 1802, 1851
and today |
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Once the faced
sun was introduced, it became the emblem of the Maharana. Its design
evolutaed from a sun radiant or flamboyant charged with a
simple head, to a sun charged with the head of the sun god Surya from which
the Royal House traced its descent. As such, this head or face is
symbolizing each ruler of Mewar. It
also distiguishes the Mewar sun from for example the sun of Jaipur and
some other Indian Princely states. |
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Evolution
of the Sun radiant of Mewar, 1860 -
’90 ca. |
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The faced sun
was placed on the fans and standards. Of these two sets have been preserved.
The oldest set consists of a sun-banner, a moon-banner and a fan. |
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Generally speaking the banners are the symbols of the ruler and of the state, the moon without the face implying that the ruler was not the head of state, and thus, that the government of Mewar was an autonomous body. This would be the case whenever the ruler was not able to govern and the state affairs were looked after by a regency. This would also be the case in a constitutional monarchy. |
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Another set consists
of two fans and a sun-banner:
This set was still used in the interbellum. |
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A quasi-achievement was in the audience hall (Mor Chowk or Peacock Hall) of the palace of Udaipur, itself built by Rana Karan Singhji (1620-’28). It showed the imperial emblem of the sun radiant, supported by female servants bearing a tray with offerings. After Mewar had resigned from the Mughal Empire in 1818, this emblem was defaced by painting the sun-disc black. This, at least, can be seen on this picture of Bhim Singh receiving Charles Metcalfe in the Mor Chowk in 1826. [4] Somewhat later, maybe by Sajjan Singh, the emblem was repainted. It shows a sun radiant now, charged with the head of the sun god Surya in full color. This version can be seen on a picture of Fateh Singh receiving a British diplomat in 1890. It seems to have been the model after which the achievement of 1877 was designed by Robert Taylor. For the occasion the female servants were replaced by a Bhil and a Rajput warrior. When the Durbar Hall was begun and decorated in 1909 the sun and servants were redesigned again. The number of servants was augmented to four and the trays in their hands were replaced by morchals and chaoris. The rays of the sun were made of mirrors and the head of Surya was made of gold. Above the head there is an umbrella and two hovering angels. |
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Bhim Singh receiving Charles Metcalfe, 1826
(detail). |
Fateh Singh receiving a diplomat,
1890 (detail) |
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Sajjan Singh |
1874-1884 |
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Maharana Sajjan
Singh was granted an achievement western style in 1877:
Arms: Gules, a sun in splendour Or charged with a
kings-head proper. Crest: On a helmet guardant, lambrequined Gules and
Or, a sword erect. Supporters: A Bhil and a Rajput warrior
attired for forlorn hope proper. Motto: JO DRDH RAKHE
DHARMA KAU TIHI RAKHE KUTAR. (Taylor 1877/1902 n° 65) í Bhils are a tribal group in
Central India. In feudal and colonial times, many Bhils were employed
by the ruling Rajputs in various capacities, e.g. as Shikaris because
of their knowledge of the terrain. Many had even become warriors in armies.
They were in the Mewar army of Rana Pratap Singh (1572-’96) at the battle of
Haldighati (1576), and were experts in guerilla warfare which the Mughals had
so much trouble handling. Today, there is a
Mewar Bhil Corps. í The Rajput warriors enjoyed a
reputation as valuable soldiers for centuries. From them several lineages
sprang up which played a major role in Rajputana. The Rajput warrior in this
achievement has the sun radiant as a crest on his helmet, referring to the
Suryavanshi lineage, claiming descent from Surya, the solar deity. The House
of Mewar belonged to this lineage. |
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Fateh Singh |
1884-1929 |
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Soon after its adoption in 1877 the achievement was changed to fit better Hindu culture:
Arms: Or, a sun in splendour Or, charged with a
kings head proper. Crest: A linga and yoni and a sword
erect proper. Supporters: A Bhil and a Rajput warrior attired
for forlorn hope proper. Compartment: A grassy ground. Motto: JO
DRDH RAKHE DHARMA KAU TIHI RAKHE KUTAR. í The Linga and Yoni is one of the most common objects of worship in Hinduism, wether in the temple or in the household cult. It consists of the erect male organ Linga, rising from the female counterpart Yoni, as the base. |
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The national achievement dates from the reign of Maharana Shambhu Singhji (1861-‘74). Arms: A landscape showing fort Chittorgarh, proper. Crest: The sun radiant charged with the head of Surja proper. Supporters: A Bhil and a Rajput warrior
attired for forlorn hope proper. Motto: JO DRDH RAKHE DHARMA KAU TIHI
RAKHE KUTAR. (The Almighty protects those who stand
steadfast in upholding righteousness)
The national achievement above the entrance of the Durbar Hall in Udaipur and a goldcoin of Udaipur (1928) showing the seal of Mewar. |
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National Flag and Royal
Ensign as displayed nowadays in the Durbar Hall of Udaipur |
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The “Procession to
Eklinghi” miniature (detail) |
Relatively much is known about the heraldry of the Mewar Armed Force. The armed force of Mewar is said to trace its origin back to 1303. A picture of “Maharana Bhim Singh of Mewar in Procession to Eklingji” dated 1802 shows some ensigns of this armed force. [5] In the first place there is the war ensign consisting of a red rectangular triangular cloth (not shown on the detail). The ensigns of the infantry and of the cavalry are triangular, the first red, charged with a yellow kutar, the second of three piles orange, red and orange, the red pile also charged with a yellow kutar. Two infantry units have rectangular ensigns, the first red, charged with a golden sword per fess, a sun radiant, a crescent-and-star and two stars, within a green bordure, the second orange with the same charges and bordure. Behind these infantry ensigns a banner is displayed, consisting of a white forked triangular flag charged with a red Hanuman, a crescent-and-star and a sun radiant. This may be the Royal banner. [6] |
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This picture is the more interesting as it shows the intricate and precious headdresses of the Mewar generals. Also, the uniforms of the Mewar army are visible. After Mewar had entered into
alliance with the British new ensigns were designed for the infantry and the
cavalry. They do not differ very much from the examples given on the picture
of 1802. |
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These modern reconstructions of
the ensigns show an orange triangular flag charged with a faced sun and a kutar.
This flag is called the “royal standard”. And a red triangular flag
charged with a kutar between a sun and a crescent. This flag is called
the standard of Mewar State. [7] Indeed, the faced sun should be
the royal emblem and the sun and the crescent the symbols of the Mewar
kingdom and the state. This would mean, taking the flags on the Procession
to Eklingi picture into account, that, in the time of the protectorate,
the cavalry was his majesty’s own armed force and that the infantry was the
army of the kingdom, paid by the government. [8] The ensigns of the two infantry
units from this time remain to be discovered. |
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Also, it is said, the royal
banners introduced in 1874 were red with a faced sun, the first on a forked
flag the second on a flag of two triangles.
These we can compare with the war ensign and the royal standard on the
Procession to Eklingi picture. It implies that the kingdom and its
institutions all had become royal as had been the case in Great Britain
itself for many centuries. These flags are the predecessors
of the flags in the preceding section. |
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Modern Times |
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Emblem of the Mewar Army, Udaipur. In modern times the kutar as a symbol of the armed force was replaced by two swords in saltire in combination with the royal emblem. This probably was borrowed from the British army which had, after long deliberations, adopted two swords in saltire and the royal crest as its emblem in 1938.
Arms of the Supreme
Commander of Mewar: Gules, a sun radiant
charged with two swords in saltire and the head of Surya, Or. In the Mewar Armed Force we meet again the two infantry- and the single cavalry units. In the interbellum (1939) the Udaipur (Mewar) State Forces consisted of one squadron of Lancers and two battalions of Infantry. They were the: Mewar
Lancers Mewar
Bhupal Infantry (named after Bhupal Singh (1930-’55)) Mewar
Sajjan Infantry (named after Sajjan Singh (1874-’84)) Mewar
Bhupal Training Company and were all stationed in Udaipur. The 1st Mewar Infantry, tracing its origin to 1303, was first affiliated to the Rajputana Rifles and came over to the Grenadiers in 1953 as the 9th Battalion (Mewar). The arms of the Mewar Supreme Commander on the grill of his Rolls Royce and ensigns of Mewar armed
units hanging in Durbar Hall, Udaipur. Other ensigns in the Durbar Hall of Udaipur show the Armed Force emblem on a red cloth. Still others have the outlines of the national achievement on a red background. |
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© Hubert de Vries 2010.01.28. Updated 2012-04-26