Singorgarh Fort, is a

hill-fort A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late European Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some were used in the post- Roman period. The fortif ...

located in Damoh district in the

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 ...

state of Central

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is about 45 km from

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

city, on the way to

Damoh Damoh is a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is known for The Bade Baba Temple at Kundalpur, a Jain pilgrimage site. It is one of the major cities of Madhya Pradesh. The city is also the district headquarters of Damoh district ...

town. It is presently under the

Archeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

. In its peak years, thousands of people lived in the fort, which was spread over large area. Many of its former watch towers are still visible. The fort was attacked in June of 1564 during the invasion of the Garha Kingdom by 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 ...

forces. At that time,

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 ...

, the ruling Queen of

Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...

, resided there; she later moved to Chouragarh Fort in

Narsinghpur Narsinghpur is a city in Madhya Pradesh in central India. It is a district under Jabalpur division. Narsinghpur has a large temple dedicated to Narasimha, Lord Narasimha. As of 2001, Narsinghpur is the most literate district of the state. Hist ...

Etymology

Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly crea ...

and other archaeologists believe that the name "Singorgarh" is derived from ''Gajasimhadurga'' meaning "fortress of Gaj Singh". The earliest inscription found in Singorgarh is dated 1307 AD and the fort is called ''Gaja-Singhadurggye'', meaning the "hill fortress of Gaja Singh". Gajsimha or Gaja Singh Pratihar was a Pratihar

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

ruler after whom the fort is believed to be named.

History

Singorgarh is believed to have been founded by the Pratihar

Rajputs Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

, who ruled in the

region during the 14th century. Behram H. Mehta states that the fort was built by the

s and later strengthened by the

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

of Garha Kingdom. The known Pratihar rulers of Singorgarh are Gajsimha or Gaja Singh Pratihar, ''Maharajaputra''

Sri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...

Vaghadeva and Kumara

Shri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...

Vaghadeva. ''Maharajaputra''

Vaghadeva was a feudatory of the

Chandela The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called ''Jejakabhukti'') between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs. T ...

king

Bhojavarman Bhojavarman (reigned c. 1285-1288 CE) was a king of the Chandela dynasty of central India. He ruled in the Jejakabhukti region (Bundelkhand in present-day Madhya Pradesh). Bhojavarman succeeded Viravarman, whose last inscription is dated 1342 ...

(1285-1288 CE) and

Hammiravarman Hammira-Varman (IAST: Hammīravarman, c. 1288-1311 CE) was a king of the Chandela dynasty of central India. He ruled in the Jejakabhukti region (Bundelkhand in present-day Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh). During his reign, the Delhi Sultan Al ...

(1288-1311 CE).Thomas, F.W., ''Epigraphia Indica, Vol XVI'', p.10-11 The Pratihara rule over Singorgarh probably ended with the invasion of the Delhi Sultan

Ala-ud-din Khalji Alauddin Khalji (; ), born Ali Gurshasp, was a ruler from the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrative changes in the Delhi Sultanate, related to reven ...

's forces, who were going to the

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

and conquered

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central and North India. It corresponds to the Post-Vedic Chedi kingdom. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Prad ...

on their march. In the 16th century, the fort was conquered by the Gond ruler of Garha-Katanga,

Sangram Shah Raja Sangram Shah Madavi was a king of the Garha Kingdom of Gondwana, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Raja Sangram Shah, who belonged to the Gond Dynasty in central India, was the 48th and most well known ruler of the dynasty, and during ...

Accessibility

It is about 45km from

city, on the way to

town. The fort is 4 miles away from the nearest settlement, the

Singrampur Singrampur is a historical place where final battle fought between Rani Durgawati and Mughal king Akbar's Senapati Asaf Khan. The town in named after ''Sangram'' which in Hindi means war. Singrampur comes under district Damoh, Madhya Prades ...

town, and 28 miles south-east of

town. The site must be accessed by bike, car or bus as there is proper road to it.

References

{{Reflist Forts in Madhya Pradesh Damoh district