Consider the following statements about Rana Kumbha of Mewar: 1. He wrote a commentary on Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda. 2. He wrote four dramas in which he is said to have made use of four provincial languages. 3. He erected Kirtistambha in Chitor in commemoration of his victory over Gujarat. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a)1, 2 and 3
- (b)2 and 3 only
- (c)1 and 2 only
- (d)3 only
Correct — A, 1, 2 and 3. Rana Kumbha of Mewar, who ruled through the middle of the fifteenth century, was a soldier, a builder and a scholar, and the official key accepts all three descriptions of him. He did write a commentary on Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, along with an exposition of the Chandisatakam. He was also the author of four dramas, in which he used Sanskrit, Prakrit and the local Rajasthani speech rather than a single learned language — the point statement 2 is making about his use of provincial languages. And he raised the great victory tower inside Chittorgarh Fort, put up to celebrate his triumph over the combined armies of Malwa and Gujarat led by Mahmud Khalji. With no statement to strike out, the answer is all three.
- (b)2 and 3 only — Drops statement 1, but the commentary on Jayadeva's Gitagovinda is one of the works most firmly attributed to Kumbha.
- (c)1 and 2 only — Drops statement 3, but the victory tower at Chittor is Kumbha's best-known monument and the key accepts the statement.
- (d)3 only — Reduces Kumbha to a builder alone. He was also a writer, credited with the Gitagovinda commentary and with four plays.
Rana Kumbha ruled Mewar in the fifteenth century from Chittor, fought long wars against the Sultanates of Malwa and Gujarat, and built a chain of hill forts including Kumbhalgarh. He was equally a patron and a practitioner of learning — Sanskrit commentaries, music theory and drama are all associated with his court, which is why he appears in examinations as the soldier-scholar of Rajput history.
Two things about statement 3 are worth saying plainly, because a differently worded question could turn on them. The tower Kumbha raised inside Chittorgarh Fort is normally called the Vijaya Stambha, the Tower of Victory; the Kirti Stambha standing in the same fort is an older Jain tower put up by a merchant family and not by Kumbha at all. Several school textbooks nonetheless call Kumbha's tower the Kirti Stambha, and the campaign it commemorates is usually described as a victory over the combined armies of Malwa and Gujarat under Mahmud Khalji — so 'his victory over Gujarat' is loose rather than untrue. UPSC's official key marks all three statements correct and the answer is (a). Learn the reasoning as well as the answer, and note that the paper prints the fort's name as Chitor, an older spelling of Chittor.
- Rana Kumbha wrote a commentary on Jayadeva's Gitagovinda and an explanation of the Chandisatakam.
- He was the author of four dramas in which he used Sanskrit, Prakrit and local Rajasthani speech.
- The victory tower he raised at Chittorgarh commemorates his triumph over the combined armies of Malwa and Gujarat led by Mahmud Khalji.
- The Kirti Stambha at the same fort is an earlier Jain tower and was not built by Kumbha.
- Assuming a ruler famous as a warrior cannot also be a credited author — Kumbha is both.
- Confusing the Vijaya Stambha, Kumbha's victory tower, with the older Jain Kirti Stambha in the same fort.
- Attaching the tower to a victory over Delhi or over the Mughals; it belongs to the fifteenth-century wars with Malwa and Gujarat.
Asked as a three-statement item on a single ruler, mixing his literary output with his best-known monument.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The great victory tower inside Chittorgarh Fort is associated with which ruler?
- (a)Rana Sanga
- (b)Rana Kumbha
- (c)Rana Pratap
- (d)Bappa Rawal
Answer(b) Rana Kumbha — he raised it to commemorate his victory over the combined armies of Malwa and Gujarat.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Gitagovinda, on which Rana Kumbha wrote a commentary, was composed by
- (a)Kalidasa
- (b)Bhavabhuti
- (c)Jayadeva
- (d)Banabhatta
Answer(c) Jayadeva — the twelfth-century Sanskrit lyric on Radha and Krishna.