Many of us are well-acquainted with the story of Queen Padmavati of Chittor (Because of Padmavat Movie) who committed jauhar to save herself from being disgraced by the Alauddin Khilji.
My father always tells me about Biram Dev ji Sonigara of Jalore, Whenever we visit Jalore.
Jalore fort
So I thought of studying about him and I was surprised to know that Alauddin had one daughter who, too, was obsessed with the longing to marry a Rajput prince.
Khilji had annexed few small and big kingdoms into his empire. But he could not annex Jalore though it was a small kingdom.
Jalore:
It was also known as suvarnagiri, was ruled by different dynasties over time.
Gurjaras-pratiharas in the 8th-9th centuries.
Paramars in 10th century followed by Rajput Chauhans.
Songara Rajput prince kirtipal (The youngest son of Alhana, the chahamana ruler of nadol) captured jalore from the parmar's in 1181.
After two more successive generations, kanhadadev became king of jalore.
His sons Biram dev and maldev helped him in the administrative affairs of jalore.
Furthermore, Alauddin khilji planned a military expedition to Gujarat to attack,to loot and plunder the state and destroy temples.
He sent envoys to various kingdoms to facilitate safe passage for his army enroute from Delhi to Gujarat.
All the kings agreed for the safe passage, except kanhadadev, the king of Jalore.
According to padmanabha's kanhadadev prabandha,kanhadadev did not trust khilji.
He felt khilji's army, while moving through his kingdom, might involve in destroying the villages, enslaving women, looting, killing people and torturing cows.
As a political stratagem, Alahuddin Khilji sent invite to Kanhadadev, the Raja of Jalore to Delhi.
However, Kanhadadev sent his son Biram Dev instead who was renowned for his beauty, expert in wrestling, and had incredible strength of character.
Khilji had planned to get Biram Dev killed in the hands of his invincible wrestler Punju during the match. But, it happened the other way round and Biram Dev ended up killing Punju.
Alauddin Khilji had a love child from his maid Asamani Khavas, who he named Firoza.
Princess Firoza, who was present during the match, was floored by Biram Dev’s manliness and lost her heart to him.
After the game was over, She approached Biram Dev and proposed him for marriage.
Biram Dev refused the proposal .Firoza then approached her father.
She pleaded Khilji to get her married to Biram Dev and pledged that she would commit suicide if her wish was not fulfilled.
Although reluctant initially, Khilji agreed to his daughter’s wish understanding well the political gains he would get by forming an alliance with the kingdom of Jalore.
Khilji Sent the marriage proposal of Biram dev and firoza to jalore king kanhadadev along with his condition that Biram dev have to convert to Islam after marriage.
As soon as it was read in the kanhadadev's court, Biram dev stood with red face ( so much of anger) before all the rajputs and said
Seeing Biram dev's response kanhadadev and all other Rajput's felt proud of him and clapped.
Biram Dev denounced khilji's marriage proposal which made him(khilji) irritated and insulted.
During the same time, khilji's army was returning to Delhi from Gujarat.
Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan were commanding the army which plundered Gujarat, destroyed city's forts and temples.
The Muslim invaders converted the city's temples into mosques.
Ulugh Khan and his army sacked the Somnath temple. The priests and people who offered resistance were all killed.
The invaders looted the treasury and started their journey to Delhi with shiv ling.
They planned to smash the shiv ling in Delhi.They had also taken hundred's of thousands of Hindus as slaves from Gujarat.
Though kanhadadev of jalore had refused passage of the army, the latter ignored the refusal.
They entered jalore and camped for the night at a place called sakarana (present sankarna).
The king expressed displeasure over this act of Muslim army and also learnt how they sacked temples in Gujarat and had imprisoned Hindus.
Kanhadadev sent a huge army to attack the Muslim army.
Jalore army succeeded in defeating the enemy. They snatched the booty along with the shiv ling and set free the Hindu prisoner's.
As a result, Alauddin khilji sent an army under the commandment of General Nahar Malik and Bhoja to attack jalore.
They first laid an attack on sivana fort. The Rajput gave a stiff resistance and defeated the khilji's army, killing it's generals.
Khilji laid another attack on sivana fort bad he won this time. The brave Rajput died fighting in the battle field while the Rajput women inside the fort performed jauhar to save themselves from being caught and disgraced.
Khilji sent a huge army under the commandment of kamaluddin gurg to besiege the fort of jalore.
The jalore bravely resisted the attack and the battle continued for two years without fail.
Kanhadadev and Biramdev breathe their last in the battle, defending jalore.
Many Rajput women performed jauhar, following the king's death. It was the year 1311.Instead of getting dishonored at the hands of enemy, the brave Rajput women preferred to be burnt to ashes.
Finally, Firoza also jumped into the river when she heard that Biram Dev is no longer alive.
According to some legends, Firoza jumped into the river with the decapitated head of Biram Dev in her hands.
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