Talking about bravery, our country India is a bastion of stories of brave men and women.
It is a terrible irony that India, full of patriotism, human religion, scriptures, and sacrifice, is unfamiliar with the stories of its heroes and heroines. The details of the Mughal and British periods are also available in school books. But there too, very few stories of the country's original culture and bravery are found.
There is no mention of brave women. Not only the brave men but also the brave women opposed the Mughals with the same bravery.
There are great introductions like Shivaji Maharaj and Maharana Pratap.
Durgavati, the greatest queen of the Gaur dynasty, is remembered for her bravery and sacrifice.
Rani Durgavati was beautiful, courageous as well as a great patroness with administrative skills.
Like her ancestral dynasty, she constructed many lakes in her kingdom. She always respected scholars and also provided them patronage.
She respectfully welcomed Vitthalnath of the Vallabha sect to his kingdom and received initiation from her.
Even today, stories of the bravery of Queen Durgavati are very popular in Jabalpur. Taking on the Mughals, she sacrificed her life to protect her motherland and self-respect.
Let us know this story of indomitable courage and sacrifice…
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Early Life
Rani Durgavati was born on 5 October 1524 on Durgashtami day in Kalinjar Fort. She was born on the day of Durgashtami, hence she was named Durgavati.
Born in the family of Chandela Rajput King Shalivahan of the Mahoba Empire, Princess Durgavati was the only child of King Kirti Rai.
Raja Kirti Rai raised her daughter like a son. Since childhood, she was taught to use weapons. She was very courageous, at the age of 13-14 she could hunt even the biggest wild animals with ease.
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Marriage
Stories of the bravery of Princess Durgavati were famous far and wide. When the brave ruler of Gondwana, Dalpat Shah, came to know about the bravery of Princess Durgavati, he sent his priest to Kalinjar to propose marriage to King Kirti Rai.
At that time King Kirti Rai rejected the marriage proposal. Raja Kirti Rai knew that Raja Dalpat Shah was a Kshatriya of some personal rank compared to him. He rejected this world marriage proposal ignoring other things.
King Dalpat Shah got angry after hearing the arrogant reply of King Kirti Rai. And he attacked Kalinjar with his powerful army.
King Kirti Rai was defeated in this war but Dalpat Shah did not misbehave with the defeated king.
King Kirti Rai repented his mistake and got his daughter Durgavati married legally to King Dalpat Shah.
Raja Dalpat Shah was the son of Raja Sangram Shah. He was the ruler of Gondwana state. Which is currently Jabalpur city of Madhya Pradesh.
His army was so huge that even the Muslim ruler was afraid of attacking him.
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Took command of the state
In 1542 AD, Queen Durgavati married Dalpat Shah, the elder son of King Sangram Shah of the Garha Empire, which strengthened the relationship between the Chandelas of Mahoba and the Rajgaunds of the Garh Mandla dynasty.
Due to this when Sher Shah Suri attacked the Chandela ruler, King Kirti Rai got the help of his son-in-law Dalpat Shah. And Shershah Suri was killed in this war.
In 1554 AD, Queen Durgavati gave birth to a son, who was named Veer Narayan.
After a few years, Raja Dalpat Shah fell ill and died in 1550 AD. Due to this Queen Durgavati came in grief. She decided to commit Sati but was stopped by the well-wishers of Raja Dalpat Shah.
Yuvraj Veer Narayan was only 5 years old at the time of his father's death. Looking at her son, the queen changed her decision to end her life.
Due to the minor age of the heir apparent to the kingdom, Crown Prince Veer Narayan, the queen herself took over the reins of the Gondwana Empire as her guardian.
Dewan Adhar Kayastha and Minister Man Thakur assisted the queen in running the administration systematically and efficiently.
Rani Durgavati promoted trade, peace, and goodwill throughout her empire.
Rani Durgavati shifted the capital of her kingdom from Singorgarh Fort to Chauragarh Fort. It was a fort of strategic importance situated on the Satpura mountain range.
After the death of Sher Shah Suri, Shuja Khan captured Malwa. In 1556 AD, Shuja Khan declared his son Baz Bahadur as his successor.
As soon as he ascended the throne, Baz Bahadur attacked Gondwana. But Baz Bahadur had to suffer heavy losses in this attack.
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Mughal Invasion
In 1562 AD, Akbar defeated Malwa ruler Bazbahadur and took control over Malwa. Due to this the border of Rani Durgavati's kingdom Gondwana was now touching the Mughal Empire.
Rani Durgavati's contemporary was the Mughal commander Khwaja Abdul Majid Asaf Khan, who defeated Raja Ramchandra of Rewa.
Seeing the prosperity of Gondwana, Asaf Khan, to capture that kingdom, obtained the permission of Mughal Emperor Akbar and planned to attack Gondwana. This attack was the result of Akbar's expansionism and empire.
When Queen Durgavati got information about Asaf Khan's attack, she decided to protect her kingdom with all her might.
However, her Diwan Adhar Kayastha warned of the power of the Mughals and their very large army. But the brave queen did not step back. He considered it better to die with honor than to live with dishonor.
For this battle to protect her empire, she went towards Narrai which was situated between the hill range on one side and the two rivers Gaur and Narmada on the other side.
This was a war in which on one side a large number of Mughals' trained soldiers with modern weapons and on the other side trained and some untrained soldiers with Rani Durgavati's old weapons were fighting on their respective sides.
Rani Durgavati's soldier Arjun Das was martyred in the war. Then the queen herself led her army. As soon as the enemies tried to enter the creek, the queen's soldiers attacked them. Both sides lost their soldiers but Rani Durgavati drove the Mughal soldiers from the Khati.
Rani Durgavati's territories were considerably more federal than an average non-tribal kingdom. The districts of their territory were divided based on forts, where administrative units were formed. They were controlled either directly by the king or through subordinate feudal lords and junior kings.
About half the villages were under the feudal lords. These local kings recruited and contributed most of the soldiers. This decentralized structure suffered great losses during the war against the invading Mughals.
Given this level, the Queen reviewed her strategy with her advisors. She wanted to weaken the enemies by conducting guerrilla attacks at night. But he had to be discouraged here because his chieftains did not accept his advice.
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Queen's Sacrifice
By the next morning, Asaf Khan ordered the cannons. Rani Durgavati did not lose courage, neither got scared nor moved away. She came into battle riding her elephant Sarman.
Her son Veer Narayan also participated in this war. She forced the Mughals to retreat thrice. But in the end, she got injured and then she was sent to a safe place.
Rani Durgavati gave competition to the Mughals with her strategies and war skills. But during the war, she was injured by an arrow near her ear. One arrow hit her near her neck and she became unconscious. When I regained consciousness, defeat was near. Her mahout advised her to leave the battlefield.
But have you ever heard of heroes retreating? Never, that's just how brave Queen Durgavati was.
She did not want to fall into the hands of these Mughals and to protect her self-respect, she took out her dagger and stabbed herself in the chest.
On 24 June 1564, the brave queen Durgavati sacrificed her life.
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Memories
Madan Mahal Fort in Jabalpur belongs to Queen Durgavati and her son Crown Prince Veer Narayan.
In the year 1983, the Government of Madhya Pradesh renamed Jabalpur University as Rani Durgavati University in her memory.
A postal stamp was issued as a tribute by the Government of India on 24 June 1988.
The train running between Jabalpur Junction and Jammu Tawi was named Durgavati Express (11449/ 11450) in her honor.
Indian Coast Guard commissioned the third Inshore Patrol Vessel (IPV), empowered ICGS Rani Durgavati, on 14 July 2018.
The place where Rani Durgavati sacrificed her life has always been a source of inspiration for the freedom fighters.
So that every generation can know about their sacrifice and learn from their story, 24th June is celebrated every year as Sacrifice Day.
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