How Rani Durgavati Resisted Mughals; Chronological History of Garh Mandala

Rani Durgavati

Rani Durgavati and her heroic ultimate sacrifice to save her kingdom from Mughal invasion has immortalised the history of Garh Mandala or Garh Katanga kingdom. Geographically, Garh Mandala kingdom was northern part of Gondwana region.

 

The Garh Mandala kings trace back their ancestry from Jadu Rai who was a warrior of Rajput origin. Initially, JaduRai served Chedi Kings but later, he entered into service of Gond Raja Nagadev. He also married Ratnavali, only daughter of Raja Nagadev.

 

When Gond Raja Nagadev died in Vikrama Samvat 415 (358 CE), his son-in-law became the king of Garh Mandala and founded the rule of his dynasty. Total 47 kings reigned over Garh Mandala from Jadu Rai to Arjun Singh for the period from 358 CE to 1480 CE.

 

 

Name of King

Regnal

years

Vikrama

Samvat (57 BCE)

In CE

1

JaduRai

5

415

358-363 CE

2

Madhoo Singh

33

 

363-396 CE

3

Jugurnath

25

 

396-421 CE

4

Ragunath

64

 

421-485 CE

5

RoderDev

28

 

485-513 CE

6

Beharee Singh

31

 

513-544 CE

7

NarasinghDev

33

 

544-577 CE

8

SurajBhan

29

 

577-606 CE

9

Bas Dev

18

 

606-624 CE

10

Gopal Sa

21

 

624-645 CE

11

Bhupal Sa

10

 

645-655 CE

12

Gopinath

37

 

655-692 CE

13

Ramchand

13

 

692-705 CE

14

Surtan Singh

29

 

705-734 CE

15

HariharDev

17

 

734-751 CE

16

KishanDev

14

 

751-765 CE

17

Jagat Singh

9

 

765-774 CE

18

Muha Singh

23

 

774-797 CE

19

Durjan Mal

19

 

797-816 CE

20

Jaskaran

36

 

816-852 CE

21

Pratapaditya

24

 

852-876 CE

22

Jaschandra

14

 

876-890 CE

23

Manohar Singh

29

 

890-919 CE

24

Govind Singh

25

 

919-944 CE

25

Ramchandra

21

 

944-965 CE

26

Karan

16

 

965-981 CE

27

RatanSen

21

 

981-1002 CE

28

Kamal Nayan

30

 

1002-1032 CE

29

Vir Singh

7

 

1032-1039 CE

30

NarahariDev

26

 

1039-1065 CE

31

TribhuvanRai

28

 

1065-1093 CE

32

PritiRai

21

 

1093-1114 CE

33

Bharati Chandra

22

 

1114-1136 CE

34

Madan Singh

20

 

1136-1156 CE

35

OmkanSen

36

 

1156-1192 CE

36

Ram Subee

24

 

1192-1216 CE

37

Tarachand

34

 

1216-1250 CE

38

Adi Singh

15

 

1250-1265 CE

39

BhanuMitra

16

 

1265-1281 CE

40

Bhuvana Das

12

 

1281-1293 CE

41

Shiva Singh

26

 

1293-1319 CE

42

Harnarayan

6

 

1319-1325 CE

43

Subul Singh

29

 

1325-1354 CE

44

Raj Singh

31

 

1354-1385 CE

45

DadhiRai

37

 

1385-1422 CE

46

Gorakh Das

26

 

1422-1448 CE

47

Arjun Singh

32

 

1448-1480 CE

 

After the death of King Arjun Singh, his son Sangram Shah became the king of Garh Mandala. He was a great warrior and extended his kingdom from three or four districts to 52 districts. These 52 districts collectively had 32,330 villages. He built the fortress of Chauragarh. He reigned for 50 years.

 

Sangram Shah’s son Dalpat Shah succeeded him in VikramaSamvat 1605 (1530 CE). Dalpat Shah married Durgavati, daughter of Chandel King of Mahoba in 1544 CE. After untimely death of Dalpat Shah in 1548 CE, Durgavati became regent of her minor son Virnarayan who was just three years old. Durgavati constructed a great water reservoir known as “Rani Tal” about three miles from Jabalpur.

 

Asaf Khan, a Mughal governor invaded Garh Mandala Kingdom in 1563 CE. Rani Durgavati advanced herself on an elephant supported by her troops. She fought valiantly but an arrow struck in her neck. Finally, she snatched a dagger from her elephant driver and killed herself to save her honour.

 

Many ladies of Garh Mandala performed Jauhar. Virnarayan, the eighteen years old son of Rani Durgavati was also killed in this war. After acquiring immense wealth from the Garh kingdom, Mughal King Akbar returned the throne of Garh Mandala to Chandar Shah, younger brother of Dalpat Shah.

 

Total 16 kings reigned over Garh Mandala from Sangram Shah to Samir Shah for the period from 1480 CE to 1781 CE. Finally, Garh Mandala became part of Maratha Kingdom in 1781 CE. The last King Sameer Shah died in 1804 CE. The Chronology of Garh Kings from 1480 CE:

 

 

Name of King

Regnal

years

Vikrama

Samvat (57 BCE)

In CE

48

Sangram Shah

50

 

1480-1530 CE

49

Dalpat Shah

18

1605 (died)

1530-1548 CE

50

Virnarayan (Rani Durgavati)

15

 

1548-1563 CE

51

Chander Shah (his paternal uncle)

12

 

1563-1575 CE

52

Madhukar Shah

20

 

1575-1595 CE

53

Prem Narayan

1(11?)

 

1595-1596 CE

54

Hirdee Shah

71

1653-1724

1596-1667 CE

55

Chhatar Shah

7

 

1667-1674 CE

56

Kesari Shah

3

 

1674-1677 CE

57

Narendra Shah

54

 

1677-1731 CE

58

Maharaj Shah

11

 

1731-1742 CE

59

Shivraj Shah

7

 

1742-1749 CE

60

Durjan Shah

2

 

1749-1751 CE

61

Nizam Shah (his paternal uncle)

27

 

1751-1778 CE

62

Narhari Shah

3

 

1778-1781 CE

63

Samir Shah

9 months

 

1781 CE

 

Featured image courtesy: Google.

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Vedveer Arya

Vedveer Arya is a civil servant and an officer of 1997 batch of Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS). A postgraduate in Sanskrit from University of Delhi, he is author of 'The Chronology of India'.
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