Songara

The Songaras take their name from Suvarnagiri (the Golden Mountain of Jalore), where they established a sovereign realm renowned for peerless defiance against imperial Delhi. Under Rao Kanhadadeva and Prince Viramdeva, the Songaras wrote one of the most heroic chapters of Rajput resistance against Alauddin Khilji.

Detailed Historical Chronicle

Origins at Nadol and Jalore The Songara branch was founded in 1177 CE by Kirtipala (Kitu Chauhan), a son of Rao Alhana of Nadol. Kirtipala captured the fortress of Jalore from the Paramaras, making it the capital of the Songara branch. The golden sandstone hue of the hill gave the rulers the patronymic Songara.

The kingdom reached its zenith under Kanhadadeva Chauhan (r. 1292–1311 CE). In 1299 CE, when Alauddin Khilji sent his imperial army under Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan to invade Gujarat, Kanhadadeva refused to grant them passage through Jalore territory. On their return march laden with plunder and the fragmented sacred idol of Somnath, Kanhadadeva launched a daring night assault, routed the Khilji army, and rescued thousands of Hindu captives.

The Great Siege of Jalore (1308–1311 CE) Enraged, Alauddin besieged the allied Songara fortress of Siwana in 1308 (defended by Sitaldeva) and laid siege to Jalore in 1311. For years, the Songaras held the fort. When the traitor Bika Dahiya revealed a secret pathway, Kanhadadeva and his prince Viramdeva fell fighting heroically in the final Saka, while the women performed Jauhar.

The epic was immortalized by the poet Padmanabha in 1455 CE in the masterwork *Kanhadade Prabandha*.

Mother of Maharana Pratap: Rani Jaivanta Bai The proud blood of the Songaras flowed into the veins of Maharana Pratap Singh through his mother, Maharani Jaivanta Bai Songara, daughter of Rao Akhiraj Songara of Pali, who instilled in young Pratap his unyielding love for freedom and Dharma.