RAS question
The Battle of Sarangpur (1437) was fought between Rana Kumbha and:
Correct answer: (D) Mahmud Khalji of Malwa.
The Battle of Sarangpur in 1437 was fought between Rana Kumbha of Mewar and Mahmud Khalji of Malwa.
Explanation
The Battle of Sarangpur belongs to the Mewar-Malwa rivalry in the fifteenth century. Mewar under Rana Kumbha was pursuing an aggressive policy of subduing and assimilating neighbouring Rajput chiefs, which made it a direct threat to Malwa. Mahmud Khalji therefore had to face Rana Kumbha as early as 1437. At Sarangpur, Mahmud Khalji was defeated and taken prisoner. Kumbha's decisive victory was later commemorated through the Vijay Stambh at Chittorgarh. So the opponent in the 1437 battle was not a Delhi, Gujarat, or Marwar ruler, but the Malwa sultan Mahmud Khalji.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Bahlol Lodi of Delhi is not linked to Sarangpur; the battle is identified as Rana Kumbha's clash with Mahmud Khalji of Malwa.
- (B) Ahmad Shah I of Gujarat did fight Rana Kumbha in the broader regional politics, but the Sarangpur battle specifically involved Mahmud Khalji of Malwa.
- (C) Rao Jodha of Marwar was a Rajput contemporary, but the Sarangpur episode concerns Malwa's Mahmud Khalji opposing Rana Kumbha.
Concept
This tests the political history of fifteenth-century Rajasthan, especially Mewar's conflicts under Rana Kumbha. RAS repeatedly asks such battle-opponent pairs because they connect rulers, regional powers, and monuments like Vijay Stambh.