You all must have heard and read about many battles and wars. Most of the wars were done by the King-Maharaja to establish authority over another kingdom. However, today we are going to share with you about such a war, which happened only for a watermelon. Yes, this war was for a watermelon, there was no way to gain dominance over the land or any other reason. Thousands of soldiers died in this war, which took place about 376 years ago. In history, this war is known as ‘Matire Ki Raad’. Watermelon is also called Matira in many areas of Rajasthan, while Raad means fight.
Actually the border of Silva village of Bikaner state and Jakhanian village of Nagaur state were connected with each other. In this a watermelon tree came between the border of Bikaner and Nagaur state. Watermelon tree was planted by the people of Silva village, due to which they expressed their right over the watermelon fruit. Whereas the people of Jakhanian village said that the fruit is in their outskirts, so they have a right over it. A war broke out between the two princely states over the rights to the fruit.
In this war, Singhvi Sukhmal led the army of Nagaur while Ramchandra Mukhiya led the army of Bikaner. The war had started but till now the kings of the state were not aware of this. Raja Karan Singh of Bikaner was on a campaign during the war while Raja Amar Singh of Nagaur was engaged in the service of the Mughal Empire. Both these kings accepted the suzerainty of the Mughal Empire. When both the kings came to know about this war, they appealed to the Mughal rulers to intervene in the war. But by the time this matter reached the Mughal rulers, the war was over. The battle was won by the kingdom of Bikaner, thousands of soldiers from both sides were killed in this battle.