TravelTill

History of Mandla


JuteVilla
Mandla was called as Mahishmati nagari before 1500A.D.Gond queen,Rani Durgawati ruled Mandla province and fought against Akbar her valiant effort to save her kingdom is still subject of folklore. Rani Avanti bai of ramnagar later fought with British to save her kingdom from annexation.

The Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla commenced, according to an inscription in the palace of Ramnagar, in the fifth century, with the accession of Jadho Rai, a Rajput adventurer who entered the service of an old Gond king, married his daughter, and succeeded him to the throne. Alexander Cunningham placed the date two centuries later in 664 . The Garha-Mandla kingdom was a petty local chiefship until the accession of Sangram Sah, the forty-seventh king, in 1480. This prince extended his dominions over the Narmada Valley, and possibly Bhopal, Sagar, and Damoh and most of the Satpura hill country, and left fifty-two forts or districts to his son. In addition to Mandla, Jabalpur and Garha in Jabalpur District and Ramnagar in Mandla District served at times as capitals of the kingdom.

The control of the Garha-Mandla kings over their extended principality was, however, short-lived, for in 1564 Asaf Khan, the Mughal viceroy, invaded their territories. The queen Durgavati, then acting as regent for her infant son, met him near the fort of Singorgarh in Damoh District; but being defeated, she retired past Garha towards Mandla, and took up a strong position in a narrow defile. Here, mounted on an elephant, she bravely headed her troops in defence of the pass, and notwithstanding that she had received an arrow-wound in her eye refused to retire. But by an extraordinary coincidence the river in the rear of her position, which had been nearly dry a few hours before the action commenced, began suddenly to rise and soon became unfordable Finding her plan of retreat thus frustrated, and seeing her troops give way, the queen snatched a dagger from her elephant-driver and plunged it
previous123next
JuteVilla