Rao Maldeo Rathore was a king of the Rathore dynasty, who ruled the kingdom of Marwar in present day state of Rajasthan. Maldeo ascended the throne in 1532, inheriting a small ancestral principality of Rathores but after a long period of military actions against his neighbours, Maldeo captured significant territories which included parts of present day Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Sindh. He refused to ally with either the Sur Empire or the Mughal Empire.