tation to Buhlul Lodi, the Afghan governor of Sirhind. The latter, being closer to Delhi, reached first and established the Lodi dynasty, while the disappointed Qiyam Khan retired with his army to Nagaur.
After his death in 1453 the succession to the Nagaur throne was disputed between the brothers Mujahid Khan and Shams Khan. Rana Kumbha, who had emerged victorious in the long war with the Sultan of Malwa and the Rathors, sent his army to aid Shams Khan who was installed as the Sultan. As a price of his support Kumbha demanded that a portion of the Nagaur fort be demolished, but this Shams Khan Dandani would not do—instead he formed a matrimonial alliance with Sultan Qutb-ud-din of Gujarat.
In 1456 Rana Kumbha defeated the allied Muslim army and again captured Nagaur. On this occasion the great mosque at Nagaur, built by Firuz Khan, was demolished by the Rajputs to signify Kumbha’s displeasure against Shams Khan and to impose the status of a vassal on him.
For the next two years the Sultans of Gujarat and Malwa formed an alliance to fight against Rana Kumbha, but by this time Mewar had again become the dominant power in North India—not the least because of a peace treaty with the Rathor clan.
Rao Jodha, the head of the Rathor clan, had founded a new capital called Jodhpur and had recovered most of his other forts from the Sisodias. The war between the two clans was brought to an end in 1458 by a treaty.But this did not make Nagaur independent—rather its territory became food for the hungry and fast multiplying Rathor clan.
Jodha’s son Bika, with a portion of the Rathor clansmen, captured the northern portions of Nagaur and founded a new city called Bikaner. Another son named Duda captured Merta lying to the east of Nagaur—the Sultanate of Nagaur was now shrunk to the main town and a few surrounding villages. The policy of the sultans was to maintain independence by either paying tribute to the head of the Rathor clan
