The Gond Kingdom of Garhaगढ़ा का गोंड राज्य

Overview

From the late medieval period until 1781, the land around Jabalpur was ruled by a Gond dynasty. Its first seat was Garha, today a neighbourhood of the city. Historians call the state the Garha, or Garha-Mandla, kingdom, and Mughal writers used the name “Garha-Katanga” [1]. The district administration names the Gonds alongside the Kalachuris as the area’s formative dynasties [5].

When the kingdom began is not settled. The Jabalpur Cantonment Board says Gond chiefs took the area in the 13th century [2]. Wikipedia, following later histories, dates the founding to the 1440s under a king called Jadurai [1]. Tourism material dates the Gond fort at Madan Mahal to around 1116 (see Madan Mahal Fort). These dates cannot all be right. Much of the early king-list comes from genealogies written down centuries later.

Key moments

• Founding. According to tradition, Jadurai served at the court of the earlier rulers, then replaced them [1].
• Sangram Shah (1513–1543). He is also called Aman Das. Under him the kingdom grew to about 52 forts (garhs), the traditional figure. Some lists give 53 [1].
• Durgavati’s regency (1550–1564). After Dalpat Shah died, his widow ruled for their son Vir Narayan. See Rani Durgavati.
• 1564: the Mughal invasion. Akbar’s general Asaf Khan invaded. A 1906 Imperial Gazetteer volume says he defeated Durgavati’s army at Singorgarh, after which Damoh was occupied on Akbar’s behalf [3]. Durgavati died in the campaign. The capital moved to Chauragarh, which also fell [4].
• 1567: a reduced kingdom. Akbar returned the kingdom to Chandra Shah, who ceded ten forts to the Mughal province of Malwa [4].
• 17th century.
  • The Bundela ruler of Orchha, Jhujhar Singh, killed King Prem Narayan.
  • Mughal intervention then installed Hriday Shah (1634–1668), who moved the capital to Ramnagar near Mandla and stayed on good terms with the Mughals [1].
• Decline.
  • In 1742 Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao attacked and killed Maharaj Shah. The kingdom then paid tribute [1].
  • In 1780 Mudhoji Bhonsle took its southern lands [1].
  • In 1781 the Marathas of Sagar annexed what remained [1][2].

People and events

• The rulers: Sangram Shah, Dalpat Shah, Rani Durgavati, Vir Narayan, Chandra Shah and Hriday Shah.
• The capitals: the kingdom moved its seat from Garha to Singorgarh, then Chauragarh, then Ramnagar [1]. Each move followed military pressure from outside.

Why it matters

The Gond kingdom is one of the few large states in Indian history founded by an Adivasi dynasty. Durgavati’s resistance to Akbar remains central to Jabalpur’s identity, and the city’s university is named after her.

What survives today

• In Jabalpur: Madan Mahal fort on its granite ridge, and tanks associated with Durgavati’s time.
• Further afield: sites at Mandla and Ramnagar outside the district.
• Collections: objects in the Rani Durgavati Museum.

Which tanks date from Gond rule needs checking site by site.

Myths and documented history

Documented:

• the 1564 Mughal invasion;
• Chandra Shah’s restoration in 1567;
• the 1742 Peshwa attack;
• the 1781 annexation.

Disputed:

• the founding date;
• the antiquity of Madan Mahal.

Tradition:

• the exact count of “52 garhs”.

Further reading

• Eyre Chatterton, The Story of Gondwana (1916).
• Suresh Mishra, Gadha Ka Gond Rajya (2008).
• D. S. Chauhan, “A study of the later history of the Rajgond kingdom of Garha-Mandla” (1966).