History of Udaipur, India

Udaipur revels in reputation of being once the capital of the Mewar principality. It takes pride in being one of the few Rajput states, which did not owe their allegiance to the Muslim power in the name of realpolitik.

Mewar was the seat of the famous Sisodia Rajputs suzerains, which makes the Mewar household the longest lasting of all ruling powers in Rajasthan, and perhaps the oldest surviving dynasty in the world.

When Udai Singh II ascended the throne of Mewar in 1537, it was clear that the splendid for of Chittor was destined to be doomed. Udai Singh looked for a suitable place for his new capital and settled for the area around Lake Pichola, protected on all sides by outcrops of the Aravalli Range. He laid the foundation stones of the city in 1559. When Chittor fell to the marauding armies of the Mughals, he shifted to the new capital of Udaipur.

After his death in 1572 Udai was succeeded by his son Pratap, a legendary hero whose refusal to submit to the Mughal suzerainty led to the battle of Haldighati, which, though indecisive, resulted in the great misery for Maharana Pratap.

With the passage of time, the city of Udaipur prospered in all directions. It emerged as a great center of commerce and arts. This finds expression in the famous miniature paintings and the amazing palaces on the lake and its shore. With the decline of the Mughals, Marathas became a dominat power in India. They attacked Mewar in 1736 and as a result the city was reduced to poverty and ruin. The British, whose role in the East India Company had until then been purely commercial, stepped in to pick up the pieces, presenting the ruler of Mewar with a treaty of "perpetual alliance and friendship" in 1818. Guaranteeing protection from invaders and restoration of all its hereditary territories, this treaty and the support of the British helped to put Udaipur on the road to recovery. Yet Mewar never distanced itself from its principle of not bowing down to a foreign power and its rulers never allowed the British to interfere in the internal affairs of the state.

After Indian Independence the maharana of Udaipur at the forefront of a campaign by the princely states to join the new democratic and independent India.