The Mori or Maurya is a Rajput clan which controlled the

Chittor Fort The Chittorgarh (literally Chittor Fort), also known as Chittod Fort, is one of the largest forts in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort was the capital of Mewar and is located in the present-day city of Chittorgarh. It sprawls o ...

in ancient period. The Mori Rajputs were probably the most powerful power in this region before the rise of

Pratiharas The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the ...

. Mori is also considered a sub clan of

Parmar Parmar is a Rajput clan found in Northern and Central India, especially in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Kutch, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and North Maharashtra. See also * Paramara Dynasty * Panwar Dynasty * Pawar * Panw ...

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

History

Chitrangada Mori Chitrangada Mori was a ruler from the Mori clan who laid the foundation of the fort of Chittorgarh, which is the largest fort in India. Chitrang had his capital at Chittorgarh. He reigned in the 8th century AD, and the ruins of his palace stil ...

, a Mori Rajput ruler, laid the foundation of the fort of

Chittorgarh Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghol ...

. The Mori clan of Rajputs are decendents from

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an empi ...

, the founder of

Mauryan Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

. A Mori ruler of Chittor has known to have assisted the Chahmana king Visaldeva in a battle against the Turk invaders, probably led by sultan

Khusrau Shah Khusrau Shah (also spelled Khosrau Shah, Khosrow Shah, and Khusraw Shah) was the last king of the Justanids from 972 to ca. 1004. He was the son and successor of Manadhar. The words " Khosrow" and "Shah" are both Persian words that mean "king". ...

or Bahram Shah of Ghazna. The Moris also allied with the Kachhwaha of Amber. Moris controlled the

and the surrounding region before the

Guhila dynasty The Guhilas of Medapata colloquially known as Guhilas of Mewar were a Rajput dynasty that ruled the Medapata (modern Mewar) region in present-day Rajasthan state of India. The Guhila kings initially ruled as Gurjara-Pratihara feudatories be ...

. The fort of Chittor was a well established citadel in the 8th century under the Moris. The Chittorgarh inscription dated 713 AD gives four names of Mori Rajput rulers of Chittor. The Mori rulers were the ''lords of

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

''. Mahlot, a Mori king of Chittor has also been mentioned in the

Chach Nama ''Chach Nama'' ( sd, چچ نامو; ur, چچ نامہ; "Story of the Chach"), also known as the ''Fateh nama Sindh'' ( sd, فتح نامه سنڌ; "Story of the conquest of Sindh"), and as ''Tareekh al-Hind wa a's-Sind'' ( ar, تاريخ اله� ...

as a relative of King Rai Sahasi of Sindh. Shyam Manohar Mishra of

Lucknow University The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher edu ...

theorized that

Bappa Rawal Bappa Rawal (c. 8th century) was a king of the Mewar kingdom in Rajasthan, India. The bardic chronicles describe him as a member of the Guhila Rajput Clan, and some of them consider him to be the founder of the Guhila dynasty. He is credited w ...

was originally a vassal of the last Mori ruler Manuraja alias Man Singh Mori. Manuraja is identified with Māna, mentioned in the Chittorgarh Māna-sarovara inscription of 713 AD. Māna was described as the son of Bhoja. Māna's great - grandfather was named Maheśvara. Bappa probably led the campaign of Moris against the Arabs, which made him a renowned name. Later, he either deposed Manuraja and became the king of Chittor with the help of other nobles or became the king after Manuraja died childless. The Moris were expelled from

Defeat by the Arabs

According to C.K. Majumdar, the Moris were ruling at Chittor when the Arabs (mlechchhas) invaded north-western India around 725 CE. The Arabs defeated the Moris, and in turn, were defeated by a confederacy that included

References

Bibliography

* * * * Rajput clans {{India-ethno-stub