After winning Chittaur Akbar moved towards Ajmer to pray at Dargah of Khwaja. In March, 1568 Akbar returned to Agra after his Ajmer visit. Now his eyes were set on the magnificent fort of Ranthambhor of Rajasthan. He wanted to gain it and began to make plans.
Ranthambhor fort was under the control of Rao Surjan Singh. In 1558-59 a commander called Hazi Khan of Shershah Suri had sold it to Chauhan of Handa, Rao Surjan Singh. After aquiring it Rao had added several palaces and buildings to it. It was a natural hill fort. At several places steep hill surfaces formed its natural walls. It was situated between two hills called Ran and Thambhor that made its name Ranthambhor. It was situated in north of Boondi and north-east of Jaipur.
At the end of 1568 Akbar made preparations for Ranthambhor expedition. In February, 1569 the siege began to be laid. But a glance at the fort told Akbar that winning it won’t be as easy as conquering Chittaur. He learnt that Rao Surjan Singh was prepared to fight to the last.
So he decided to use diplomatic route. He sent Kunwar Man Singh to negotiate a deal. The talk with Rao Surjan Singh took unexpectedly positive turn and he agreed to surrender the fort without a fight in return for some special concessions and compensations.
The following were the concessions :
1. Handa won’t pay any Dola (a fee).
2. Handa Chauhans would be allowed in the Moghul General Court with their arms.
3. Handa Chauhans would enter the Red Gate of the capital with their kettle-drums sounding.
For Chauhan pride such liberties in protocol meant a lot. After taking over Ranthambhor Akbar allowed Rao Surjan Singh to reside in Varanasi as desired by him. Later, he was given a command of 2000 soldiers and made the governor of the city, During his reign of Varanasi Rao Surjan Singh got several ghats and temples constructed and lot added to the glory of the holy city of Hindus.
