Kota, Rajasthan, India

The Hadas are Agnivanshi Rajputs and direct descendents of Manik Rao, the ancestor of the Chauhan clan. Rao Anuraj, a descendent of Manik Rao, was the progenitor of the Hada Clan. The Hada Chauhans were forced to flee Ajmer in the face of Muhammad Ghori’s feared invasion in 1192 AD. Hada Rao Deva conquered and founded Bundi State in 1241 AD and Kota in 1264 AD. The area covered by the State came to be known as “Hadauti,” a derivative of the word “Hada.”

The Hadoti region includes the present-day districts of Baran, Bundi, Kota, and Jhalawar. Hadoti is bounded on the west by the Mewar region of Rajasthan and on the south by the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh State. Hadoti has a wealth of beautifully sculpted temples that seem frozen in time. Gods have been very kind to Hadoti region. They have blessed it with the mighty Chambal River and lots of water.

The City of Kota was founded in 1264 AD after Jaitsa, the third son of Samarsi of Bundi, killed an Ujala Bhil chieftain named Koteya, and then annexed his territories. The Kota State was created in 1579 AD when it broke away from the larger State of Bundi. It was during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, that the ruler of Bundi, Rao Ratan Singh, gave the smaller principality of Kota to his son, Madho Singh.

Madho Singh, born in 1565 AD, the battle-hardened 14 year old Rajput, went to war against Aurangzeb in 1579 AD. The battle was fought on behalf on the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan. Rao Ratan Singh, the ruler of Bundi and the father of Rao Madho Singh, lost five of his six sons. Madho Singh survived the battle as a glorious hero. Shah Jahan was so fascinated by Madho Singh’s valor that he issued a Royal Farman (dictat) and bestowed the Kingdom of Kota upon him. When Rao Madho Singh died in 1651 AD at the age of 86, he left his expanded Kingdom to his five sons. Rao Mukund Singh, the eldest was made the chief of Kota by mutual consent.