Maharani Durgavati was born on 5th October 1524 to the
famous Rajput Chandel Emperor Keerat Rai. She was married to Daalpat Shah of
Gond Dynasty in 1542. Soon after, she gave birth to a son who was named Vir
Narayan. However, Daalpat Shah died in 1550 and the Queen decided to rule the
kingdom as heir Vir Narayan was only five years old.
Rani Durgavati ably ruled over her Kingdom with the help of
two ministers Adhar Kayastha and Man Thakur. She shifted her capital to
Chauragarh in place of Singaurgarh as a strategic initiative, since the fort
was situated in the Satpura hill range.
Now, the Malwa region had been captured by Sujat Khan who
was succeeded by his son Bajbahadur in 1556 A.D. Now Bajbahadur decided to
attack Rani Durgavati’s kingdom in a bid to expand his own territory. However,
he was defeated by the Queen and sustained heavy losses in the battle. The
decisive win helped spread Rani Durgavati’s name and fame across kingdoms.
In 1562, Malwa was annexed by Akbar and the region came to
be ruled by Mughal General Khwaja Abdul Majid Asaf Khan. As a part of Akbar’s
expansion plans, the Mughal forces planned to invade the kingdom of Rani
Durgavati.
Rani Durgavati knew that her small army was vastly
outnumbered by the Mughal forces and the Mughal soldiers were well trained and
carried modern weapons. However she decided to go ahead and fight the battle
rather than accepting defeat and live in dishonour.
The Rani with her army took up a defensive position near
Narrai (Madhya Pradesh). The valley was guarded by hills on one side and the
rivers Narmada and Gaur on the other side. Even though, the Mughal forces
attacked from both sides of the valley the Rani with her small army fought
valiantly. Her leading general Faujdar Arjun Das was killed in the battle and
she began to lead the battle herself. Soon after the Mughal soldiers were
forced to retreat from the valley. Rani Durgavati was keen to attack the
Mughals during the night, thus giving them no chance to recover the losses and
turn around. However, her generals advised her against the move.
The next morning the battle commenced again and this time
the Mughals had managed to bring forth their heavy artillery during the cover
of the night. Vir Narayan, fought bravely and led his army to push back the
Mughal forces thrice. However, he was gravely injured during the course of the
battle and was taken away from the field.
The Rani, riding her elephant Samran began to lead the
battle. Even though she fought with all her might, her forces and weapons were
greatly outnumbered by the Mughals. She sustained heavy injuries from two
arrows during the battle.
Rani Durgavati realized that defeat was imminent and she was
advised to escape the battle. However, she preferred death and took out her
dagger and killed herself.
She is regarded as a martyr who died defending her kingdom
from the Mughals. The day, 24th June 1564 is celebrated as Balidan Divas. In
1983, University of Jabalpur was renamed as Rani Durgawati Viswavidalaya by
government of Madhya Pradesh in her honour. A postal stamp was also issued by
the Indian Government commemorating her death, on 24 June 1988.
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