Rani Durgavati (5 October 1524 – 24 June 1564) was the ruling Queen of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final sta ...

from 1550 until 1564. She was born in the family of Chandel Rajput king Salibahan at the fort of

Mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara image ...

. She was married to Dalpat Shah the son of the king Sangram Shah of the Garha Kingdom.

Life

In 1542, she was married to Dalpat Shah, the son of the king Sangram Shah of the Garha Kingdom. According to Abul Fazl, Dalpat Shah was the son of a

Kachhwaha The Kachhwaha or Kachawa is a Rajput clan found primarily in India. Sometimes families within the clan ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states, such as Jaipur, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Alwar and Maihar. Subclans Rajawa ...

Rajput adopted by the Raja of Garha Mandla. The Chandel of

mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara image ...

and Rajgonds of Garha Kingdom dynasty (Garha Mandla) dynasties were allied because of this marriage. Dalpat Shah died in 1550 and due to the young age of Vir Narayan, Durgavati took the reins of the Gondwana kingdom. Diwan Beohar Adhar Simha and Minister Man Thakur helped the Rani in looking after the administration successfully and effectively. Rani Durgavati promoted peace, trade, and good will throughout her realm Rani Durgavati moved her capital to Chauragarh in place of Singorgarh fort. It was a fort of strategic importance situated on the

Satpura The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and ...

hill range After the death of

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

, Shuja Khan captured

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also sy ...

and was succeeded by his son

Baz Bahadur Bayazid Baz Bahadur Khan was the last Sultan of Malwa Sultanate, who reigned from 1555 to 1562. He succeeded his father, Shuja'at Khan. He is known for his romantic liaison with Roopmati. Baz Bahadur as sultan did not bother to look after hi ...

in 1556. After ascending to the throne, Baz attacked Rani Durgavati but the attack was repulsed In 1562,

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

vanquished the

ruler

and conquered

, made it a Mughal dominion. Consequently, the state boundary of the Rani touched the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. Rani's contemporary was a Mughal General, Khwaja Abdul Majid Asaf Khan, an ambitious man who vanquished Ramchandra, the ruler of Rewa. The prosperity of Rani Durgavati's state lured him and he invaded Rani's state after taking permission from Mughal emperor

. When Rani heard about the attack by Asaf Khan she decided to defend her kingdom with all her might although her Diwan Beohar Adhar Simha (Adhar Kayastha) pointed out the strength of Mughal forces. Rani maintained that it was better to die respectfully than to live a disgraceful life. To fight a defensive battle, she went to Narrai, situated between a hilly range on one side and two rivers

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

and Narmada on the other side. It was an unequal battle with trained soldiers and modern weapons in multitude on the Mughal side and a few untrained soldiers with old weapons on the side of Rani Durgavati. Her Faujdar Arjun Das was killed in the battle. Rani then decided to lead the defense herself. As the enemy entered the valley, the soldiers of the Rani attacked them. Both sides lost some men but Rani lost more. Rani's domains were very federal and feudal, much more decentralised than a usual non-tribal kingdom. There were fortress districts, which were administrative units, were controlled either directly by the queen or through subordinate feudal lords (jagirdars) and junior rajas. Around half of the villages were in the hands of feudal lords. These local rajas recruited and contributed much of the soldiers, and also contributed arms to the sovereign Rani during the times of war. The recruitment standards, training and equipment of these soldiers were not uniform, and were often substandard. Also, the feudal lords held much sway over sections of the army during a war. This decentralized structure created disadvantages during the war against mighty Mughals. At this stage, Rani reviewed her strategy with her counselors. She wanted to continue the attacks on the Mughals in the night, but her chiefs discouraged her and insisted that she took on the army in open combat in nightlight. But by the next morning, Asaf khan summoned big guns. Rani rode on her elephant Sarman and came for the battle. Her son Vir Narayan also took part in this battle. He forced the Mughal army to move back three times but at last, he got wounded and had to retire to a safe place. In the course of the battle, Rani also got injured badly near her ear with an arrow. Another arrow pierced her neck and she lost consciousness. On regaining consciousness she perceived that defeat was imminent. Her mahout advised her to leave the battlefield but she refused and took out her dagger and killed herself on 24 June 1564. Her martyrdom day (24 June 1564) is even today commemorated as "Balidan Diwas"

Legacy

The Madan Mahal fort Jabalpur is well associated with Rani Durgavati and her son Veer Narayan. In 1983, the Government of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

renamed the University of

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. ...

Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya (Rani Durgavati University), also known as University of Jabalpur, is a government university in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was named after the queen Rani Durgavati. History The university was constitu ...

in her memory. The government of India issued a postal stamp commemorating her death, on 24 June 1988. The train between

Jabalpur Junction Jabalpur (Station Code: JBP), is a railway station of Jabalpur City in Madhya Pradesh. Jabalpur city is the Headquarters of West Central Railway. See also * Madan Mahal railway station Madan Mahal Station (station code: MML) is the sec ...

and

Jammutawi Jammu Tawi (station code: JAT) is a railway station in Jammu city in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Background Jammu Tawi is the largest railway station in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a major railhead for other places in the ...

is known as

Durgavati Express The Durgavati Express is a weekly Express train service run by West Central Railway, It runs between Jabalpur Junction railway station of Jabalpur, a military hub of Eastern Madhya Pradesh state and Katra railway station of Jammu & Kashm ...

(11449/11450) after the name of the Queen. Indian Coast Guard on 14 July 2018 commissioned ''ICGS Rani Durgavati'', the third Inshore Patrol Vessel (IPV) of its kind. Delivery_of_ICGS_Rani_Durgavati

References

*https://www.magadhuniversity.ac.in/download/econtent/pdf/Satish%20Chandra%20-%20History%20of%20Medieval%20India%20(2018,%20Orient%20Blackswan)%20-%20libgen.lc.pdf

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durgavati, Rani 1524 births 1564 deaths History of Madhya Pradesh People from Madhya Pradesh Indian military personnel who committed suicide Indian women in war Regents of India Women in 16th-century warfare People from Banda district, India 16th-century Indian women 16th-century Indian people 16th-century women rulers Indian queen consorts Hindu monarchs Rajput rulers Suicides in India 16th-century suicides