Rani Durgavati- An epitome of bravery

A wise ruler, a bold queen and a graceful highness Rani Durgavati was a lot
more than just a Gond queen. She was named after the fierce Hindu goddess
Durga, who is worshipped highly by the Hindus in almost every Indian state.
She fought against the Mughal rulers courageously and was hence known for
her stance against the Mughals.
Rani Durgavati was born on October 5,1524 to Raja Salbahan of Ratha and
Mahoba. She was born in Kalinjar, which is a famous fort city in Uttar
Pradesh,India. According to the Indian Culture, it is said that “Durgavati was
born on the day of Durgashtami and hence she was called so”. Ratha and
Mahobas are famous descendants of the Chandelas who built the magnificient
Khajurao temple and defended attacks of Mahmud Ghazni in the past. At the
age of 18, she was married to Dalpat Shah, the son of a Gond King, Sangram
Shah, hence bridging an alliance between the two royalties. They belonged to
the Garha-Katanga clan.
Dalpat Shah died in 1548. Now their minor son Bir Narayan was the only heir
to the throne. Durgavati decided that her son would accede to the throne and she
would take over the administration. She was assisted by two very able ministers
Man Brahman and Adar Kayastha. Her reign was so strategic and booming that
her kingdom began to flourish. It is said that people paid taxes in gold and
elephants. She was a queen who supported education highly, and hence also
allowed Acharya Bitthalnath to establish a seat of the Pushtimarg Cult at Garha.
Rani Durgavati led her armies and went to the battlefield to fight her enemies.
She had a large empire, stretching in all four directions – east,west, north and
south. It is estimated that she had 20000 cavalry, 1000 elephants and a large
infantry.
In 1556, after the death of Sher Shah Suri,Shuja Khan captured the Malwa
plateau. Later Shuja khan’s son Baz Bahadur ascended to the throne. He
attacked Rani Durgavati’s kingdom but the attack was repulsed bravely by the
queen. Further in 1562, Akbar defeated Baz bahadur and took over his
kingdom. Now the Mughals were in close proximity to Garha.
A Mughal general, Khwaja Abdul Majid Asaf Khan was very much impressed
and attracted by the wealth and prosperity of Rani Durgavati’s state and hence
with the permission of Akbar he invaded her kingdom.
When Durgavati heard about Asaf Khan’s attack she decided to defend her
kingdom. She planned out her best strategies. Her ministers pointed out the
flaws but as it is famous in history Durgavati states that “it is better to die
fighting, than to die a humiliated death.” She decides to enter the battlefield.
It is said that she set out with just 500 men, while the enemy had 10,000. She
collected people on her journey, crossing hills and valleys and reached Narhi.
Narhi was a strategic location. It had steep hills on one side and the crossing of
two rivers- Narmada and Gaur. This makes the entry and exit to this place a
hard task. Asaf khan was unable to locate her for a while.
But soon he found out she was at Narhi. Now the Rani called a meeting and
decided that it is a do or die situation. All her men, now 5000 decided to stay
and fight. The next day the Mughal troops captured the heads of the ravines that
led to Narhi. The commander of Rani’s war elephants, Arjun Das Bhai, died
defending the pass. On hearing this the Rani, herself led her soldiers to war. Her
strategy worked on that day. She ordered her men to move slowly to allow the
enemy to enter the pass. Then she led her men to attack them from all sides. Her
small force was able to defeat the Mughals and, at the end of the day, 300 men
of the enemy were killed while the others were chased away. The same night
she called a meeting of the war council and proposed to carry out a night attack
on the Mughals. This would prevent them from bringing their artillery inside the
pass.
Her generals did not agree with her plan. But the Rani was right about her
intuition. The next day Asaf Khan brought his huge guns inside the pass. The
Rani now had to face this battle. Ready with her armour she mounted on her
favourite elephant, Sarman,along with her son and led their army to fight. They
were able to push back the Mughal soldiers at least three times. The battle went
on till 3 in the afternoon. Bir Narayan was badly wounded and had to exit from
the battlefield. The Rani continued fighting until two arrows struck her. She
pulled them out but fell unconscious. On regaining consciousness, she realised
that she had lost the day.
She asked her ‘mahout’ Adhar Baghela, to kill her with his dagger. Baghela
refused. He said he would take her to a safe place. The Rani realised that they
would not be able to go too far and would soon fall into the hands of the enemy.
She now took out her dagger and stabbed herself in her heart. Thus, on the 24th
of June 1564, died the brave Rani Durgavati, with honour and not humiliated.
Her men cremated her in a narrow mountain pass some 12 miles from Jabalpur.
There are certain notable things that the Rani has done. She was a person who
believed in secularism and promoted religious integrity in her kingdom and
hence she appointed generals from all religions. She built several wells and
made sure to conserve lakes. She built orphanages and old age homes. She was
a kind hearted lady, an epitome of a noble queen.
The Madhan Mahal fort of Jabalpur is associated with Rani durgavati and her
son. The Jabalpur university was also renamed as rani durgavati Vishwa
Vidyalaya in her memory. The Indian government also released a stamp in her
honour on 24th June,1988. ICGS Rani Durgavati, a coast guard ship which is an
Indian patrolling vessel is also dedicated to her. The durgavati express train is
also named after the brave queen.
She was not just an ordinary queen, she was limitless, she was brave, she was
graceful and yet she could shatter the enemies with her sword. This is the story
of Rani Durgavati- An epitome of bravery.