Topic summary
Conquest of Junagadh
Tughlaq Khan
Alam Khan Faruqi †
The Conquest of Junagadh was a series of military campaigns led by Sultan Mahmud Begada of the Gujarat Sultanate against Rao Mandalika III of the Chudasama dynasty of Junagadh in Kathiawar (Sorath) between 1467 and 1470 in present-day Gujarat, India. The war against lasted for nearly four years and involved at least three campaigns leading the annexation of Junagadh.
Mahmud Begada sought the conquest of Junagadh to eliminate the most powerful independent Rajput principality in Kathiawar and bring the entire peninsula under direct control. The Chudasama rulers had long paid only irregular tribute, sheltered rebels, and were bitter enemies of Gujarat Sultanate. Mahmud also viewed it as a religious duty to spread Islam. In the first campaign in 1467, Mahmud besieged Mahabala before accepting temporary submission and tribute. In the second campaign in 1468 he despatched a large force to demand the surrender of Mandalika's royal insignia. The Rao complied to avoid further conflict. The decisive campaign began in late 1469. After rejecting offers of tribute and insisting on the Rao's conversion to Islam, Mahmud besieged first the Uparkot fortress at Junagadh and then the hillfort of Girnar. Despite heavy Rajput resistance Mandalika was compelled to surrender Girnar on 4 December 1470 and accept Islam, ending Chudasama independence. The annexation brought the entire state of Junagadh under direct Gujarat Sultanate control extending the sultanate's frontiers to the sea. Junagadh was renamed Mustafabad. The conquest paved further expansion in Kathiawar peninsula.