Rana Kumbha, was the ruler of Mewar kingdom of western India. He belonged to the Sisodia clan of Rajputs.Rana Kumbha was born in a Hindu Rajput family of Sisodia clan. Kumbha was a son of Rana Mokal Singh of Mewar by his wife, Sobhagya Devi, a daughter of Jaitmal Sankhla, the Paramara fief-holder of Runkot in the state of Marwar. He was the 48th Rana of Mewar and succeeded Rana Mokal Singh in the year 1433 CE as the ruler of Mewar.
The Battle of Mandalgarh and Banas were two major battles fought between Rana Kumbha of Mewar and Mahmud Khalji of Malwa which resulted in decisive defeat of the latter. In 1442 Rana Kumbha left Chittor to invade Haraoti. Finding Mewar unprotected, the Sultan of Malwa, Mahmud Khalji, burning with a desire to take revenge and wipe off the disgrace of his defeat in the Battle of Sarangpur in 1437, invaded Mewar.
Mahmud Khalji, Sultan of Malwa, commenced a series of attacks on Mewar. In 1442 the Sultan destroyed the Bana mata temple and started for Chittor, however he was intercepted by the Rana and a battle was fought at Mandalgarh.
When Rana Kumbha heard of these events, he left Haraoti to return to his dominions and came upon the Sultan's army near Mandalgarh. A battle was fought here without any decisive result. A few days later the Rana made another attack on the Sultan who was utterly defeated and fled towards Mandu.
To retrieve this disaster, Mahmud set about preparing another army, and four years later, on 11-12 October 1446 A.D. he went towards Mandalgarh with a large army. Rana Kumbha attacked him while he was crossing the Banas River, and having defeated him drove him back to Mandu. Mahmud Khalji suffered defeats at the hands of Rana Kumbha and was humbled thrice. For about 10 years after these defeats, Mahmud Khalji did not venture to take offensive against Rana Kumbha.
Kumbha is credited with having worked assiduously to build up the state again. Of 84 fortresses that form the defense of Mewar, 32 were erected by Kumbha. The chief citadel of Mewar, is the fort of Kumbhalgarh, built by Kumbha. It is the highest fort in Rajasthan (MRL 1075m).
Rana Kumbha commissioned the construction of a 37 metre high, nine-storey tower at Chittor. The tower, called Vijay Stambha (Tower of Victory), was completed probably between 1458-68, although some sources date it to 1448.The tower is covered with sculptures of Hindu gods and goddesses and depicts episodes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Kumbha was himself well versed in veena playing and patronised musicians as well as artists in his court. He himself wrote a commentary on Gita Govinda of Jaidev and explanation on Chandisatkam. He also wrote treatise on music called "Sageet raj", "Sangeet mimansa"; "Sangeet ratnakar" and "Shudprabandha". He was author of four dramas in which he used Sanskrit, Prakrit and local Rajasthani dialects. In his reign the scholars Atri and his son Mahesa wrote Prashashti on Kirti stambha. He was well versed in Vedas, Upanishad, and Vyakrana.
Kumbha was murdered in 1468. Kumbha was killed by his son Udaysimha (Udai Singh I), who thereafter became known as Hatyara (Murderer). Udai himself died in 1473, with the cause of death sometimes being stated as a result of being struck by lightning but more likely to have also been murder.