Rani ki vav was constructed during the rule of the Chaulukya dynasty. It is located on the banks of Saraswati river.[1] Prabandha-Chintamani, composed by the Jain monk Merutunga in 1304, mentions: "Udayamati, the daughter of Naravaraha Khengara, built this novel stepwell at Shripattana (Patan) surpassing the glory of the Sahasralinga Tank". According to it, the stepwell was commissioned in 1063 and was completed after 20 years. It is generally assumed that it was built in the memory of Bhima I (r. c. 1022 – 1064) by his queen Udayamati and probably completed by Udayamati and Karna after his death but whether she was a widow when she commissioned it is disputed. Commissariat puts the date of construction to 1032 based on the architectural similarity to Vimalavasahi temple on Mount Abu built in the same year.[2][3][4]

The stepwell was later flooded by the Saraswati river and silted over.[5] In the 1890s, Henry Cousens and James Burgess visited it when it was completely buried under the earth and only the well shaft and few pillars were visible. They described it as being a huge pit measuring 87 metres (285 ft). In Travels in Western India, James Tod mentioned that the material from the stepwell was reused in the other stepwell built in modern Patan, probably Trikam Barot ni Vav (Bahadur Singh stepwell).[6][7] In the 1940s, excavations carried out under the Baroda State revealed the stepwell. In 1986, a major excavation and restoration was carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). An image of Udayamati was also recovered during the excavation. The restoration was carried out from 1981 to 1987.[2][5]

Rani ki vav has been declared a Monument of National Importance and protected by the ASI. It was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India on 22 June 2014.[8][9] It was named India's "Cleanest Iconic Place" at the 2016 Indian Sanitation Conference.[10]