Ajanbahu Jatbasha (also known as Jatba or King Jatav) is considered by historians to be founder of the Gond dynasty of Chhindwara and Nagpur, which ruled the present days territories of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

and part of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

in the 16th-18th centuries. Documentation of his origins and rise to power have not survived, but he is the first historical leader of the mountain

Gondi people The Gondi (Gōṇḍī) or Gond people, who refer to themselves as "Kōītōr" (Kōī, Kōītōr), are an ethnolinguistic group in India. Their native language, Gondi language, Gondi, belongs to the Dravidian languages, Dravidian family. They ...

Background

The title ''ajanbahu'' means "his arms were long and his fingers reached up to his knees when standing". Originally, the Gond house of Devagad hailed from Haraya or Harayagad, but later on it was shifted to Devagad about 24 miles from Haraya under Jatba.

Reign

The ''Gauli'' princes were the predecessors to the Gond house of Deogarh, ruling for 70 years from 1472 to 1542. The Gond dynasty of Deogarh was founded by Jatba. ''The Indian Antiquities'' says that Jatba was a servant under two Gaoli princes, Ransur and Ghansur, and that he treacherously deposed them. In 1600, during the reign of Krishna Shah (1597-1647), the Gond king of Chanda, the independence of the Deogarh kingdom was recognized by a treaty. By this time the Gond house of Chanda had weakened and Jatba forced it to recognize its independence. thereafter the Gonds of Chanda were hostile towards Deogarh. Jatba extended his kingdom as far as

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

, constructing a fort there as an outpost. He gave ''

jagir A jagir (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar ...

s'' mostly to

Korku people The Korku are a Munda ethnic group predominantly found in the Khandwa district, Khandwa, Burhanpur district, Burhanpur, Betul district, Betul and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh and adjoining areas near the Melghat, Melghat Tiger Reserve ...

and

Ahir Ahir or Aheer (derived from the Sanskrit word: abhira) is a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most of whom now use the Yadav surname, as they consider the two terms synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...

s. He gave the Chhater zamindari toGond zamindar of Fatehpur-Tekripur by a sanad in 1595. He was succeeded by one of his sons, Dal Shah in 1620.

Relations with the Mughals

In 1564,

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

's general Khwaja Abdul Majid Asaf Khan had attacked Panna and made it a feudatory state. Then he attacked & defeated Garha-Katanga ruled by

Rani Durgavati Rani Durgavati (5 October 1524 – 24 June 1564) was the queen regent of Gondwana in 1550–1564 AD. She married King Dalpat Shah, the son of King Sangram Shah of Gondwana. She served as regent of Gondwana during the minority of her son, Vir Na ...

and made it also a feudatory state with reduced boundaries. However, hee did not invade Deogarh and treated it as a border semi-independent state. He was satisfied with Deogarh accepting his suzerainty. The Mughal governors of the province allowed the Deogarh rulers to rule of their territory on payment of yearly tribute. The ''

Ain-i-Akbari The ''Ain-i-Akbari'' (), or the "Administration of Akbar", is a 16th-century detailed document regarding the administration of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu'l Fazl, in the Persian language. It forms ...

'' by

Abul Fazl Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (14 January 1551 – 22 August 1602), also known as Abul Fazl, Abu'l Fadl and Abu'l-Fadl 'Allami, was an Indian writer, historian, and politician who served as the grand vizier of the Mughal Empire from his appointment ...

records that Jatba, the Gond king of Deogarh, was an ennobled vassal of

and was paying annual tribute to him. It is said that Akbar visited Deogarh during Jatba's reign. The ''

'' by

says that Jatba possessed 2,000 horses, 50,000 foot soldiers and 100 elephants- "To the east of the Kherla Sarkar lay the territories of a ''zamindar'' named Chatwa who possessed 2000 cavalry, 50,000 footmen and more than 100 elephants". This 'Chatwa' was probably Jatba. ''

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

'' Jatba visited the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

in 1616.

References

{{Reflist 16th-century Indian monarchs History of Chhattisgarh History of Madhya Pradesh History of Nagpur