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Queen

Rani Durgavati

Queen of Garha-Mandla, fell fighting the Mughals

1524—1564

1524–1564 CE

A Chandela princess married into the Gond house of Garha, Durgavati ruled for her young son for fourteen years and died on 24 June 1564 fighting the Mughal army of Asaf Khan at Narai, near Jabalpur.

01Regent of Garha

Durgavati was born at Kalinjar on 5 October 1524, in the line of the Chandelas who built Khajuraho, and married Dalpat Shah, son of the Gond king Sangram Shah of Garha-Mandla. Dalpat died around 1550 and she ruled for their son Vir Narayan. Abul Fazl describes her kingdom as rich, with tens of thousands of villages and a large stable of war elephants. She ruled from Singorgarh, kept Chauragarh in the Satpura hills as her stronghold, built reservoirs around Jabalpur, of which the Rani Tal still keeps her name, and beat back raids by Baz Bahadur of Malwa.

02Narai, 24 June 1564

In 1564 Akbar’s governor at Kara, Asaf Khan, marched on Garha with a large force. Durgavati took the field on her elephant and won the first day’s fighting in the narrow valley of Narai. The next day, as the Mughal guns came up and a flooded stream cut off her line of retreat, she was struck by arrows in the eye and the neck. Rather than be taken, she drove her own dagger into herself. Vir Narayan fell defending Chauragarh soon after. Her samadhi stands at Barela near Jabalpur, and 24 June is kept in Madhya Pradesh as her Balidan Divas.

Kalinjar Fort
Place · Ancient hill-fort; walls and Neelkanth temple mainly Chandela, 9th–12th centuriesKalinjar FortA flat-topped Vindhya hill in Bundelkhand, sacred to Shiva as Neelkanth, the one who held the poison. As the great fortress of the Chandelas it was besieged by Mahmud of Ghazni, taken by Qutbuddin Aibak, and it killed Sher Shah.Read →

Battles

Battle of Narrai: Rani Durgavati’s last stand

Rani Durgavati had ruled the Gond kingdom for fifteen years as regent for her son Vir Narayan. When Akbar’s governor Asaf Khan invaded, she met him in battle herself.

24 June 1564 CE

Places

Kalinjar FortRuined
The long resistance: Sindh to Tarain

Kalinjar Fort

A flat-topped Vindhya hill in Bundelkhand, sacred to Shiva as Neelkanth, the one who held the poison. As the great fortress of the Chandelas it was besieged by Mahmud of Ghazni, taken by Qutbuddin Aibak, and it killed Sher Shah.

Chauragarh FortRuined
The Mughal era and the resistance

Chauragarh Fort

The Satpura hill fort where Rani Durgavati kept her treasure and her stronghold. After she fell fighting in 1564, her son Vir Narayan died defending it and the women of the fort burned themselves rather than be taken.

Jabalpur and GarhaStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Jabalpur and Garha

The city on the Narmada that grew around Garha, seat of the Gond kingdom Rani Durgavati ruled and died defending in 1564. Before the Gonds, Tripuri nearby was the capital of the Kalachuris, and at Bhedaghat their Chausath Yogini temple still crowns a hill above the marble gorge.

Madan Mahal Fort, JabalpurRuined
The Mughal era and the resistance

Madan Mahal Fort, Jabalpur

A small fort-palace perched on a granite boulder ridge above Jabalpur, built by the Gond kings of Garha and linked by tradition with Rani Durgavati, who died fighting Akbar’s army near here in 1564.

On the timeline

  • 24 June 1564

    Rani Durgavati dies fighting at NarraiResistance

    The Gond queen of Garha-Katanga, wounded by arrows in battle against Akbar’s general Asaf Khan near Jabalpur, takes her own life rather than be captured. The day is kept as her Balidan Diwas.