Durga Wati came out to battle, in hands swords two,
Fury made her face copper brown,
ambers were eyes two,
Reins she held between teeth, in hands swords two.
The area around Jhansi is known as Bundelkhand and the area around Jabalpur, the capital of Bidis (small cheap cigars) is called Gondwana. Durga Wati was the queen of Raja Dalpatshah of Garhamandala of the Gondwana region. She, by birth was the princess of the Bundelkhand. Durga Wati picked up her sword to battle against the mighty Moghul of Delhi, Emperor Akbar. The Moghul commander Asif Khan commented, “I could never imagine that a woman could be so brave and battleworthy!”
She fought for the independence and laid down her life. Her memorial exists in a village called Barana near Jabalpur. Thousands of people visit the memorial to pay homage to the warrior queen. The locals worship her as a deity and pray her for the fulfilment of wishes.
Today Bheels and Gonds are listed in the scheduled tribes. But in the 15th century the land of Gonds, Gondwana was a powerful state. The areas around Sagar and Jabalpur constituted the Gondwana state. Near Jabalpur there used to be a huge fort of Garhamandla and it was the capital of that state. The state was founded by a Gond ruler named Sangram Singh. Through valiant efforts he had extended the boundaries of his kingdom far and wide. There were about 50 major forts in the state.
His son Dalpatshah was equally brave and courageous. Rani Durgawati was the wife of this mighty Gond ruler Dalpatshah. After the death of her husband Durgawati ruled the state and faced the challenges of Moghuls and proved she was not a push over. She had put a heavy price on her freedom.
Even greater and mightier then Gondwana was the state of Mahoba. The rulers of Mahoba were known as Chandels. They too prided over their bravery. Bundelkhand was the central point of Mahoba. At one side it had Gondwana as its neighbour. Durgawati was the daughter of the Chandel king Keertisingh. From the very childhood Durgawati was a beauteous, naughty and very courageous. She liked to ride, hunt, swordery, arrow shooting and battle-craft. However, she was little interested in learning letters.
Durgawati was not only a skilled battler but a courageous one who would not run away from challenges. She could rein in any rebellious horse. The elephants obediently saluted her by raising their trunks. It made quite a sight. Naturally she became the talk of the royal families of the land. The kings and the princes dreamt of marrying her. Her father Raja Keertisingh wanted a groom befitting the exceptional talents of his daughter, someone capable of working a miracle in daredevilry.
The fame of the beauty and valour of Durgawati reached the ears of Gondwana prince Dalpatshah. He naturally wanted her to be his wife. Having made up his mind, he wrote a letter to Raja Keertisingh revealing his wish.
Raja Keertisingh replied, “You are a Gond tribal and Durgawati is a Rajput girl. Only a Rajput deserves her. If you really want to marry Durgawati you must fight a battle against Mahoba army to prove your eligibility. If you win we may consider our daughter’s marriage with you.”
Compared to Mahoba the state of Gondwana was new and smaller in size with a smaller army. Raja Keertisingh knew that Dalpatshah was brave but he had smaller army. He dared not challenge the might of the Mahoba army and would forget about Durgawati. But Dalpatshah was now determined to marry her. He began to prepare for a battle after getting the letter.
Meanwhile, Keertisingh selected a Rajput groom for Durgawati and began preparation for the marriage. Although Dalpatshah was the ruler of Gondwana and a very valiant one but he was a Gond tribal who used to be bonded slaves of Chandels. The caste factor had always vitiated the minds of the Hindus and had led them to disaster after disaster. The caste infected mind of Raja Keertisingh had only contempt for the Gond.
But Durgawati had become admirer of the valour and the bravery of Dalpatshah. She had emotionally accepted him as her husband. Upon seeing the preparations of her marriage to a nobody Rajput she wrote a desperate letter to Dalpatshah which read—I want to marry you. But my father is preparing for my marriage to some other person. You must attack Mahoba and prove your valour if you really want to marry me.
The letter worked. Now Dalpatshah was bound to marry Durgawati as a matter of honour. With a renewed enthusiasm he began to organise his battle force. After preparation he attacked Mahoba. The too armies clashed. Mahoba soldiers were greater in numbers and they prided over their being Rajputs. But the Gonds were no less in bravery. They were experts in shooting arrows as it came to them naturally being hunters of the forests. And their commander Dalpatshah was a warrior of repute and a fine battle planner. He handed out defeat to Mahoba army. Raja Keertisingh kept his promise and got Durgawati married to Raja Dalpatshah of Gondwana.
Now the Chandel princess was the queen of Gondwana. A year later she gave birth to a son who was named Veer Narain. Durgawati was not a traditional wife. In running the state and keeping the army organised she played active role. But their happy days did not last for long. Raja Dalpatshah passed away just five years after their marriage. Their son Veer Narain was only a four year old child then. The entire responsibility of looking after the affairs of the state fell on the shoulders of Durgawati as Rajmata (Queen mother). She initiated several public welfare schemes like building roads, sinking wells, digging canals, planting trees, laying gardens and setting up free inns for the pilgrims and the travellers. During the next five years Gondwana made considerable progress to become a prosperous state.
The subjects of Gondwana treated Rajmata Durgawati as the incarnation of Goddess Durga. The people were ready to lay down their lives blindly at her command. Such respect she invoked amongst her people.
The prosperity of Gondwana made other states far and near envious. To them it appeared like a prize they could grab forcibly. The king of Gondwana was yet a child of 8-9 years. Rajmata Durgawati was a woman who couldn’t last long in a battlefield. The neighbourhood states started war preparations covertly. Each feared that other might grab the prize first. Durgawati learnt about the nefarious designs of her neighbours. To teach them a lesson she began to take them one by one. She defeated them and merged their states into Gondwana. Due to her courage and bravery Gondwana was now a big kingdom.
In Delhi the great Moghul Akbar was in power. He had conquered almost entire Rajputana and made it a part of his empire. He wanted to spread his empire southwards but Gondwana was a big hurdle in his way.
Akbar had heard a lot about the valour and battle skills of Rani Durgawati. Emperor Akbar besides being a great conqueror was a crafty diplomat as well. He held discussion with his ablest ministers called ‘Nine Gems’ (Navratna) about Gondwana and their tactical move to it. A great many gifts were sent to Raja Veer Narain of Gondwana. For Durgawati the Moghul emperor sent a big basket as his personal gift to her. When Rani Durgawati opened it she found inside a spinning wheel. Through the wheel Akbar had conveyed to her a cryptic message—’Rani Durgawati, you are a woman. The duty of women is to run domestic life and spin yarn at home. Why do you dabble in the affairs of state?
Durgawati was not only a brave person but a very intelligent diplomat. As a tit for tat she sent a big wooden box to Akbar as her personal gift to the emperor. It contained a dhunki, (an implement shaped like a bow. used for whipping up cotton) and a spindle. Her cryptic message was—’If for being woman my job is to spin yarn you too are no person of royal origins. To me you are a weaver. Stop playing an emperor and whip cotton to make a living by weaving material.’
At the command of the Moghul Emperor, Asif Khan reached Gondwana with a sizable force. He laid a siege around the state carefully but before starting the battle he wished to talk peace with Durgawati and try to reason with her.
He sent a message to her—”You must accept the hegemony of the Moghul Empire and come with me to Agra. The emperor won’t take away your kingdom. You will get many other estates as gifts. A royal welcome you will be given at Agra and the mighty emperor will gift you back your kingdom.”
By then Rani Durgawati had spent 14 years ruling the state. Her son Veer Narain was now 18 years old youngman. Durgawati dictated her reply to Asif Khan, ‘No one can enslave me or my kingdom. You are a slave of Akbar and I advise you to join my service. You will get bigger salary than you are earning now. If you don’t accept my offer and want to battle then we are ready for it.”
The language of the letter was harsh and the enrarged Asif Khan launched an attack on Gondwana at once. A fierce battle raged on. The soldiers of Durgawati were waging a brave fight against the force of Asif Khan. The battle was being fought near a river bank and the army of Rani was on the river side. Suddenly the river water was on rise. Gondwana soldiers got caught in the flooding waters. Asif Khan’s army attacked the enemy trapped in swirling currents. A number of Rani’s soldiers got washed away or killed by the enemy. Raja Veer Narain got badly injured. Durgawati sent him to Chauragarh fort in the care of some confidants. Durgawati was left with only 300 soldiers. The enemy soldiers were too many. Nevertheless Durgawati led a fierce attack on her enemy. She was wreaking havoc. Suddenly an arrow pierced through her right eye. She tried to pull out the arrow but it snapped and the arrow head remained embedded in the eye socket. Then another arrow zipped in and went into her other eye. Rani pulled it out and threw it down.
Rani Durgawati had lost both her eyes and she was grievously injured yet she continued to battle. With the reins of her horse held between her teeth she charged around blindly with swords in both hands. She appeared like embodiment of fury. Blood was streaming out of her eye sockets. Her swords were swishing through air cutting down anyone that got caught in their arcs of charges.
One more arrow zipped in and went through the neck of Rani Durgawati. Rani fell off her horse. She was still breathing. She wouldn’t accept falling into the hands of the Moghul soldiers. So, Durgawati drew out her dagger and managed to plunge it into her chest deep to embrace death in honour. Thus, for her freedom Rani Durgawati became a martyr and earned everlasting glory.
