Gondwana

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Gondwana is a region of India, named after the Gondi people who live there.

Variants

• Gonds
• Gondi people
• Gondwana Kingdom
• Gondwana region
• Rajgonds

Origin

The name of the ancient continent of Gondwanaland was derived from Gondwana, because some of the earliest rock formations of this continent were first investigated in part of the region, in modern Odisha

Scholars believe that Gond people ruled in Gondwana between the 13th and 19th centuries AD. Gondwana currently comes under the eastern part of Madhya Pradesh and the western part of Odisha. Some Muslim writers mark the 14th century as the rise of the Gond tribe.

Gondwana Kingdoms

The Gondwana Kingdoms were the ruling kingdoms in the Gondwana region of India. The Gondwana region includes the core region of the eastern part of the Vidarbha of Maharashtra, Garha Kingdom, parts of Madhya Pradesh immediately to the north of it, and parts of western Chhattisgarh. The wider region extends beyond these, also including parts of northern Telangana, western Odisha and southern Uttar Pradesh.

The Gondwana Kingdoms were ruled by Rajgonds. The Rajgonds are the ruling class among the Gond. The Gond is the dominating Community in the Gondwana region. The name Gondwana is named after the Gondi people.

Gonds are followers of the nature-based religion Gondi Religion/Koyapunem.

Gondwana means "Country inhabited by Gonds".

In the early period, the Gondwana kingdom consisted of majorly four kingdoms — The Northern Gondwana was Garha Katanga or Garha Mandla Kingdom of Jabalpur and Southern part was Chanda Kingdom of Chandrapur. The western past was Kherla Kingdom of Betul and in 16th century Deogarh Kingdom of Nagpur and Chhindwara emerged as a strong kingdom.

The Gonds were first mentioned in 14th-century Muslim chronicles. From the 14th to the 18th century, the area was held by powerful Gond dynasties, which during Mughal times remained independent or served as tributary chiefs. When in the 18th century the Gonds were conquered by the Marathas, the greater part of Gondwana was incorporated into the dominions of the Bhonsle Rajas of Nagpur or the Nizams of Hyderabad. Many Gonds took refuge in relatively inaccessible highlands and became tribal raiders.

Between 1818 and 1853 the greater part of the region passed to the British, although in some minor states the Raj Gonds continued to rule until Indian independence in 1947.

Deogad-Nagpur Kingdom

The second kingdom of Deogad (Chhindwada in Madhya Pradesh and Nagpur in Maharashtra), was created by King Jatba in the 15th century.[4] One of his successors, Bakht Buland Shah, converted to Islam to win the favour of emperor Aurangzeb. However, he did not demand conversion from his subjects and married a Gond woman. He fell into disfavour in Delhi after he plundered some Muslim kingdoms of Deccan. The city of Nagpur was founded by the king of Deogad Raja Bakht Buland Shah in 1702. The kingdom of Nagpur and later came under the rule of the Nagpur Bhonsles.

Chanda Kingdom

The 10th ruler of the Gond dynasty of Chanda, Khadkya Ballal Shah (1472 -1497 CE), who made Chandrapur his capital. The Chanda kingdom (Chandrapur in Maharashtra), a contemporary of the Kherla and Deogadh kingdoms, produced several remarkable rulers who developed excellent irrigation systems and the first well defined revenue system among the Gond kingdoms.

Raj Gond Dynasty

Raj Gond Dynasty:

Source - http://narsinghpur.nic.in/history.htm

After the establishment of Raj Gond dynasty, area of piece & prosperity begins in this area. The credit goes to Yadav Rao (Yadurao) who laid the foundation of a strong Kingdom at a place called Garha Katanga & started a process of strong mighty rule. One of the rulers was Sangram Shah (1400-1541) won 52 Forts (Garh) and strengthened the Gond Empire. The fort of Choura Garh (Chougan) at Narsinghpur was constructed by Sangram Shah, which is still an evidence of bravery of Veer Narayan, son of Queen Rani Durgawati.

Among the descendants of Sangram Shah, Dalpati shah ruled for a period of 7 years peacefully. After, this Rani Durgawati took the reign, & gave a proof of courage & bravery & ruled for period of 16 years (1540-1564). In year 1564 Queen died, while Fighting bravely, giving tough fight to Asiaf Khan, the Mughal General of Akbar the Great. In Narsinghpur district at the fort of Chauragarh, Asaf Khan trapped prince Veer Narayan & killed him by his Cunning tactics. Thus Garha Katanga comes under control of Mugals in the year 1564. After Gonds and Mughals the area was under control of various officers & administrative & hereditary chiefs during the Maratha’s rule. So, the boundaries of area continued to change according to the powers & influence of their people. Chawarpatha, Barha, Saikheda, Gadarwara, Shahpur, Singhpur, Shrinagar & Tendukheda were headquarters of various parganas.

The Bundela Invasion:

Source - Central Provinces District Gazetteers Narsinghpur District by R.V. Russell, 1906, p.24

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[p.24]: In the reign of Prem Narayan, the grandson of Chandar Sa (1599-1610), the Mandla territories were invaded by Jujhar Singh, the Bundela Raja of Orchha. The real cause of the incursion is said to have been the omission of Prem Narayan to pay a ceremonial visit to the Orchha Raja on his way down from Delhi, but the story current in local folklore is that it was the result of the indignation of the Bundelas at the use of the cow for ploughing by the Gonds. Prem Narayan took refuge in Chauragarh, where he was for months closely besieged. On his death by treachery, the fort fell, and all the other garrisons of Garha-Mandla followed its example. Prem Narayan still lives in local tradition, and it is related how his headless corpse wielding a magic sword, the gift of the goddess Devi to whom he had offered his head, pursued the Bundelas from Chauragarh to the Narmada; and how on another occasion the Bundelas, retreating after a successful foray and having crossed the Narmada at Barmhan, said boastfully as they ascended the further bank: ‘We have singed his beard well’ ; on which, of their own accord, their cannon with teams and drivers rolled back down the bank into the Nerbudda and were lost ; after which the Bundelas came no more south of the Nerbudda. Prem Narayan’s head and body are supposed to have been turned into stone after he had cut off his head and offered it to the goddess, so that she might grant him victory, and the stones are pointed out, that representing the head being in the fort, and the body at the foot of the hill. Prem Narayan’s successor, Hirde Sa, repulsed the Bundelas and re-established his power by the aid of the Muhammadan chief of Bhopal, to obtain which, however, he had to cede territory containing 300 villages. From this time the fortunes of the Mandla kingdom gradually declined, until in 1781, the last scene of their history again took place in Chauragarh, Narhar Sa, the last king, seeking refuge here when pressed by the Maratha Subah of Sagar.

The Gond prince was betrayed and ended his days in imprisonment at Khurai, while his dominions fell into the hands of his conquerors.

The Later Raj-Gonds

Source - Madhya Pradesh District Gazetteers Narsinghpur District by P.N. Shrivastav, 1971, p.48-52

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In any case the kingdom was soon after restored to the Garha kings. Chandra Shah, the next ruler obtained recognition of Akbar to his succession, by the cession of the ten districts which later formed the principality of Bhopal. At the same time, he seems to have recognised the Mughal Emperor as his over-lord, as the two princes Madhukar Shah and Prem Narayan of Garha dynasty visited the Mughal Court to pay their respects to him.

Chandra Shah’s rule lasted for a few years. He was succeeded by his second son, Madhukar Shah, who came to the throne after murdering his elder brother. Afterwards the remorse of his crime drove him madly to burn himself to death in the hollow of a dry pipal tree. The District was again the scene of historic events in 1634 A. D. When the news of Madhukar Shah’s self-immolation reached the ear of Prem Narayan, his son, who was with the Emperor, he returned post-haste to Garha, leaving in turn his eldest son, Hirde Shah, at the Court. It is said that while passing through Orchha, he failed to pay a courtesy call on Raja Bir Singh Deo. On his death-bed the offended king instructed his son Jujhar Singh to avenge the insult by the conquest of the Gond Kingdom. The story current in local folk-lore is that the subsequent conquest was the result of the indignation of the Bundelas, at the use of the cow for ploughing by the Gonds.

Consequently, in 1634 A. D., Jujhar Singh led an unprovoked attack against Raja Prem Narayan. Finding himself unable to oppose him in the field, Prem Narayan threw himself into the fort of Chauragarh where he was for some months closely besieged. The Raja in distress attempted to come to terms with the invader but Jujhar Singh declined all a such overtures. Upon this, Prem Narayan sent a messenger to Shahjahan to

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[p.49]: solicit his help against the aggression. The Emperor only despatched a man to desist Jujhar Singh from his offensive against Chauragarh, but the latter discarded the suggestion with contempt. However, Jujhar pretended at last to raise the siege. He feigned weariness, withdrew his army to some distance from Chauragarh, and sent a messenger to Prem Narayan, indicating his readiness to retire from Gondwana, and asking for a meeting to settle terms of peace. Prem Narayan came out of the fort in the faith of a solemn oath and accompanied by his minister Jaideo Bajpai, proceeded to the tent of his enemy only to discover that he was the victim of a foul treachery. Vindictive Jujhar Singh immediately ordered his enemy’s head to be severed. The latter, in a fit of desperation killed his women and died fighting along with his two or three hundred brave followers. The fort with all the money and valuables it contained was occupied by Jujhar Singh.

A place is still shown to the south of the fort called ‘Bundela Kot’, commemorating a traditional Bundela attack. A Gond story, however, depicts Prem Narayan in the midst of his hostile enemies and in despair dedicating his head to his patron goddess. It further pictures the goddess placing her magic sword in the hands of the headless worrier and his foes in dismay flying before him. Another story narrates how the immortal soul of Prem Narayan took his revenge on the Bundelas by sinking their cannon and army after they crossed the Narmada at Barmanghat.

Jujhar’s triumph was, however, short-lived. Hirde Shah, son of Prem Narayan, complained to the Emperor of this unprovoked attack and his father’s brutal assassination. Shahjahan had, by now, ample reasons to be angry, because the Bundela ruler had invaded the country of a fellow tributary chieftain without his previous sanction and had dishonoured the expressed Imperial order. He despatched to Orchha, Sundar Kavi Rai to induce the Bundela Chief to return Chauragarh to its lawful owner and to pay his overlord a fine of one million rupees. He made it sufficiently clear to Jujhar that in case he wanted to retain those lands, which were forcibly taken, he was to cede an equivalent portion from his own country. Shahjahan chastised Jujhar Singh because it was thought impolitic to leave unperished a powerful chieftain on the edge of the Deccan road.

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[p.50]: Shahjahan’s letter to Jujhar Singh ran as follows :—

“Jt was improper for you to attack Prem Narayan without our sanction, but worse than that was that you played false to your plighted word. Now what is done cannot be undone; and the only way to expiate your offences is to surrender the territories which you have forcibly occupied. You are also to send to court one million rupees from the treasure of Prem Narayan, which has fallen into your hands. But if you want to retain those lands, you must cede an equivalent thereof from your own country.’’

The letter lays bare the sordid intentions of Shahjahan. Evidently, the Emperor wanted to appropriate all the fruits of Jujhar’s efforts, at the expense of one of his tributary subjects. Jujhar Singh refused to part with all his monetary and territorial gains and dismissed the royal messenger. He sent instructions to his son Jugraj or Vikramajit, to join him secretly from the Deccan.

Shahjahan sent a large army of 20,000 with three eminent generals under the supreme command of Aurangzeb, who defeated the Bundela army at Koluri. Jujhar begged for a compromise, but the Imperial terms were stricter. He was to pay a fine of three million rupees and to surrender the sarkar of Biyanwan in lieu of Chauragarh. Jujhar Singh followed a scorched earth policy within and outside the Chauragarh palace. He removed all provisions and destroyed the guns of the fortress, burnt all the property he had and blew up the dwellings which Prem Narayan had built within the fort. Jujhar then marched hurriedly with his son and retinue towards south via Shahpur, with whatever goods he could carry. The Imperial army quickened its pace and occupied Chauragarh. Their general, Khan Dauran mounted on the top of its main temple, called the Azan from there and recited prayers in the name of Shahjahan. At Shahpur, Raghu Chaudhari furnished intelligence of the fleeing ruler. His party was hotly pursued and soon overpowered. The Bundelas killed some of their ladies or disfigured their features to save their honour, fought a desperate battle and fled into the woods, where they were killed with great cruelty by the local Gond inhabitants.

On receiving the news of father’s tragic assassination, Hirde Shah, then in attendance upon the Emperor hastened back to his country. Near the fortress of Chauragarh he is said to have met his old nurse, and on being recognised by her, was told where his father had deposited a large sum of money which, with her assistance, he got in his possession. He then contacted a number of powerful and influential landholders of the country who brought all their followers to his support. Hirde Shah launched a vigorous attack, reoccupied Chauragarh and

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[p.51]: other parts of his kingdom and inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy at Koluri village, in Narsimhapur District. Thus, the District again became the scene of the Gond activity, under the overall suzerainty of the Mughals. Maasir-ul-Umra tells us that one Sardar Khan was appointed tuyufdar of Chauragarh in the 17th year (1644 A.D.) of Shahjahan’s reign; but on account of his inability to control that territory, he was soon removed from the post. Later, Raja Pahar Singh Bundela, brother of Jujhar Singh, was appointed as jagirdar of Chauragarh after the removal of Sardar Khan. When he reached the vicinity of Chauragarh, Hirde Shah is stated to have fled towards Rewa.

The Garha dynasty was, thus, finally dispossessed of its territory in Narsimhapur in the 24th year of the reign of Shahjahan, i.e.,in A.D. 1651. We further read that four years later, in 1655 A.D., Iftikhar Khan Khwaja Abdul Baqa was appointed tayuldar and faujdar of Chauragarh and was promoted to the rank of a mansabdar of three, thousand horse.

In order to protect his depleted kingdom from his greedy neighbours, Hirde Shah built the magnificent Gond palace at Ramnagar, and shifted his head-quarters to this fortress near Mandla. This migration was a confession of the diminishing authority of the Raj Gond rulers, for they had to retire from their great fort of Chauragarh to the obscure neighbourhood of Mandla. Under his orders a genealogy of the Royal-house of Garha was prepared and inscribed in an enduring form on the walls of his new palace.

From Hirde Shah onwards the history of North Gondwana lost much of its princely glory. None of its later rulers could exploit the great political confusion after Aurangzeb’s death for their territorial expansion or political supremacy. Instead, they indulged only in dynastic feuds, resulting in the steady shrinking of their borders. No one arose to arrest its decay, nor took a spirited stand against any invader who deprived them of their possession in slices. They were of easy and unambitious disposition, cager only ta ward off the evil day of dissolution by buying off enemies with their steadily diminishing revenue. When at last the Marathas appeared there was no power left in them to resist their insolent demand.

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[p.52]: In 1781 the last scene in the history of the Gond dynasty of Garha took place in Chauragarh again. Narhar Shah, the last king, sought refuge in Chauragarh on being pressed by the Maratha ruler of Sagar. The Gond king was betrayed and he ended his days in imprisonment at Khurai while his dominions fell into the hands of the Marathas.