GREAT WOMEN

IN INDIAN
HISTORY
Jijabai is also known as Rajmata
Jijabai, mother of Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj, founder of the
Maratha kingdom.

The mother of Shivaji, who was

the protector of the country as
well as religion. She was the guide
who shaped his mind from his
early years.

She was the embodiment of self-

respect. That great mother
suffered in silence and became a
source of inspiration to her heroic
The true importance of a mother in an individual’s
life can be judged from the fact that while on one
hand, she has been to be the first guru, on the
other hand, the very heaven is said beneath her
holy feet.

Such a mother and brave woman were Jijabai who

was not only his friend, guide but also a great
source of inspiration. She never lost courage and
patience in case of difficulties and adversities.

She imparted moral values and ideals to her son.

As a result, her son grew up to be a great protector
of the Hindu society and came to be known
as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
 Early Life
Jijabai was born on 12 January 1598 in a village
named Sindkher. Her father’s name was Lakhuji
Jadhav and her mother was Mahalasabai Jadhav.
Lakhuji Jadhav belonged to Deulgaon, near
Sindkhed, in the present-day Buldhana district of
Maharashtra.

He was equally brave and ambitious and proud of his

lineage. He was proud of his family and ancestry
without being unduly clannish. Impresses by his
enviable qualities, the Nizam made him the chief of
an army.
Jijabai was not only beautiful but was rich in qualities, her
personality was a fine blend of her father’s courage and pride
and mother’s qualities.
Jijabai was the only daughter of Lakhuji Jadhav, and as
per the customs that prevailed in those days Jijabai was
married at an early age (at the age of 8 years)
to Shahaji Bhosle, son of Maloji Bhosle of Verul
village. The wedding was held in Sindkhed on 5 Nov
1605. Jijabai was eight years old and her husband was
hardly twelve years old. As per the custom of those
days, Jijabai remained with her parents for several years
before joining her husband.

Jijabai’s father-in-law, Maloji Bhonsle, had begun his

career as a shilledar serving under the command of her
father, Lakhujirao Jadhav. Her father was not happy
with the marriage of his daughter due to the difference
in the background and status of both families.
Jijabai bore Shahaji as many
as eight children (six
daughters and two sons). All
the daughters died in infancy
and only the two
sons, Sambhaji and Shivaji,
 reached adulthood. 

Sambhaji was the elder son

and Shivaji was the younger.
In 1630, three years after
Shivaji’s birth, Jijabai
received a co-wife into her
household after Shahaji
married Tukabai.
Shahaji was a valiant, courageous, and brave
Sardar of the Marathas. He himself aspired
to establish a Swaraj. Initially, he was in the
service of the Nizamshahi.

He tried to save the Nizamshahi from the

combined forces of Adilshahi and Mughals.
But he could not withstand the combined
forces of Adilshahi and Mughals. After the
Nizamshahi wiped out, Shahaji became a
Sardar in the court of Adilshahi.
He was granted Jagir of Bengaluru and as per the
terms of the treaty forced to move to Bengaluru.
While Shivaji and Jijabai were at Bengaluru, Shahaji
provided excellent education to Shivaji.

While Sambhaji was with his father Shahaji, in

Karnataka, Jijabai along with young Shivaji and a few
chosen associates shifted to Pune.
In those days, a large part of Maharashtra was under
the rule of Nijamshah of Ahmadnagar and Adilshah
of Bijapur.
These two rulers were in a constant fight with
each other to prove their dominance over the
parts of Maharashtra. Along with these rulers,
there are Siddis along the coastline of
Konkan, the Portuguese, the British, the
Dutch, and the French.

All these foreign invaders constantly tried to

prove their dominance over Maharashtra. Due
to all these factors, there was instability and
insecurity in Maharashtra. The condition of
the common man was miserable.
There were many great Sardars of Marathas but they
were worked either for the Adishah or Nizamshah.
They concerned with their own jagirs and at constant
conflicts with each other.

Jijabai was not happy that her husband and her

father were serving under the Muslim rulers. She
always had a vision for an independent kingdom.

Nijamshah deceitfully murdered Jijabai’s father

Lakhuji Jadhav and his sons in his royal court. This
incident had a deep impact on Jijabai.
An inspiration
Jijabai was a very pious and intelligent woman with
a great vision for an independent
kingdom. Shivaji grew up and began his fight for
freedom.

At the young age of sixteen, he captured the fort of

Thorangadh. Shivaji would not take any important
decision without consulting his mother.

Jijabai is widely credited with raising Shivaji in a

manner that led to his future greatness.
She inspired Shivaji by telling stories
from Ramayana, Mahabharata. Right from his
childhood, Jijau would tell Shivaji about the lives of
Shriram, Maruti, Shrikrishna to make him pious
and patriotic. Right from his childhood, she sowed
the seeds of devotion to the nation.

She instilled in him many values like courage,

modesty, truthfulness, fearlessness. She inspired
him to the establishment of Hindavi Swaraj. In
Shivaji’s spotless character and courage, Jijabai’s
contribution is enormous. It was through the efforts
of Jijau that Shivaji became an Ideal administrator
and ruler.
Even to Shivaji companions, Jijabai was a source of
inspiration, she treated them as affectionately as
she did her own son. She felt very sad like a mother
when brave Maratha soldiers, after fighting
heroically, fell one after another sacrificing their
lives for their motherland. After the news of
Shivaji’s brother Sambhaji Maharaj’s death and
her husband’s death, she was completely broke
and could not manage herself.

She died soon after the coronation of Shivaji on

June 17, 1674, in the village of Pachad. Shivaji was
heartbroken by her death, she was not only a
mother to Shivaji but also a source of inspiration.
Jijabai has navigated through life without
assistance, She had been wedded off at the age of
seven. The moment she stepped into the Bhonsale
household, she absorbed and adapted to their
customs and traditions.

She had cemented a concrete resolution in life – to

cultivate Shivaji into an exemplary king, one who
would abode by the ideals of secularism, whose
subjects would have sufficient to survive on and in
whose kingdom, the female species would be
treated with due honor and respect. She realized
this cherished dream through Shivaji.
Chand Bibi has a strong family background as she was
daughter of Sultan of Ahmednagar and wife of Sultan of
Bijapur.
Though there are very few female rulers popular
culture and media have adopted, the story of Chand
Bibi, regent to two of the most powerful Deccan
sultanates has been reduced to the 100 word plaque
outside her tomb. The Deccan queen not only
managed to rule the two states despite the constantly
mutinying generals, she also pioneered a Deccan
confederation and defended them against the
Mughal army twice.

Chand Bibi  was the daughter of Hussain Nizam

Shah who was the sultan of Ahmednagar. After death
of her father, her brother Burhan Nizam Shah II,
became the Sultan of Ahmednagar.
Early Life
Chand Bibi was born in 1550 to Sultan Hussain Nizam Shah and Sultana
Khanzada Humayun of Ahmadnagar in present day Maharashtra. As a child
she was very interested in the arts and learnt to play the Sitar and was also
highly trained in painting. She was interested in sporting activities such as
hawking, which was usually reserved for princes and sultans, not women.
Beyond all this, it was her strategical thinking and military acumen which
allowed her to flourish and become Chand Sultana.
In her early teens she was married to Sultan Ali Adil Shah of
Bijapur as a military alliance between the two states against the
kingdom of Vijaynagar
Sultan Ali Adil Shah I of Bijapur was a man who lived a rich and
eventful life. A devout Muslim, he was also the adoptive son of
the Hindu ruler of Vijayanagara, though this did not preclude
war between their forces in 1565.

It was on the eve of that 1565 battle against Vijayanagara that

Chand Bibi was given in marriage to Ali by her father, Hussain
Nizam Shah I of Ahmednagar. Barely in her teens, she was at
best an instrument of politics at this juncture. But her family
circumstances—where her father allowed her mother
considerable influence—had shaped her personality, and
Chand Bibi would never be relegated to the background.
Chand bibi’s relationship with her husband was rewarding. She
joined him on his campaigns, and was entrusted with matters
of state when the couple sat in durbar. A sitar player who also
enjoyed outdoor sports, she and Ali met as intellectual equals—
she spoke, for instance, about five languages.

With Ali murdered, however, Chand Bibi was pushed more fully
into the limelight. She remained at first in Bijapur, navigating
endless intrigue to protect the interests of her husband’s heir.
She ousted one nobleman who seized power, but the next
outsmarted her and threw her in prison. From jail, the
resourceful Chand Bibi conspired with another faction, whose
leader soon rode to her rescue. But for all this, she had no future
in Bijapur—the heir was not her son, and, with Ali dead, she
became an outsider.
Rivalries with her own paternal kingdom of
Ahmednagar resumed, and Chand Bibi’s
loyalties were questioned on more than one
occasion. So when a Bijapur princess was given
in marriage to Ahmednagar as part of a
tenuous political alliance,
the begum “escorted" the bride to her
homeland. And there she spent her future, till
she was enshrined as one of the Deccan’s
tragic heroines.
Regency of Bijapur
In her time as the Sultana of Bijapur, she had set
herself apart by accompanying her husband in his
military endeavours and involving herself in the
regular management of the state. So when Sultan
Adil Shah died in battle leaving his 9 year old
nephew king, Chand Bibi ruled as regent.
Within the few years until the young king, Ibrahim
Adil Shah II attained majority, she thwarted three
attempts at usurping the throne. Firstly her trusted
minister Kamal Khan attempted to remove her from
her position. Chand dealt with this by allying with
another noble, Haji Kishwa Khan.

However, in a few years he too grew hungry for

power and brewed rebellion among the nobles.
Eventually he imprisoned her and the young Sultan
in the Satara fortress and declared himself Sultan.
However, he could not consolidate his position within the
nobles, who conspired with Chand to overthrow him. The
leader of the conspiring generals, a Habshi minister Ikhlas
Khan was then appointed regent by Chand, who kept him as a
close ally. However, within a few months instability grew
again as Ikhlas Khan declared dictatorship.

Sensing weakness neighbouring states of Ahmadnagar and

Golkonda attacked. Ikhlas Khan couldn’t fend off this joint
attack and returned the leadership to Chand. With her knack
for creating alliances and military strategy, she called on the
Maratha forces to cut of the enemy’s supply lines, forcing the
Ahmadabad-Golkonda force to retreat.
In 1582, Chand Bibi’s brother, Sultan of
Ahmadnagar married Khadija Sultana of
Bijapur. Appointing general Dilavar Khan
the regent, Chand returned to her
homeland.
Regency of Ahmadnagar

Once again, within a short

period of her arrival, Chand’s
brother was killed in a battle
with the Mughal Prince
Murad.
(Shahzada Murad Mirza-15
June 1570 – 12 May 1599, was a
Mughal prince as the second
surviving son of Mughal
emperor Akbar. )
This left his infant son as heir with Chand as his
regent. However, rebelling noble Mian Manju put 12
year old Ahmed Shah on the throne.

To contend the great disapproval and conspiracies of

the generals he called Prince Murad’s army to
Ahmadnagar.

Emperor Akbar’s son who was then in Gujrat to

march his army to Ahmednagar, Murad who was
waiting for an opportunity to invade Deccan
promptly accepted this invitation.
Soon Mian Manju realised his mistake however it was too late
to uninvite the Mughals. He gave up power to Chand Bibi.

 Mian Manju now repented of his earlier mistake of sending an

invitation to Prince Murad and decided to resist Prince Murad
in the interest of Nizam Shahi So he marched out of
Ahmednagar with Ahmed in his possession and requested
Chand bibi to accept regency and protect the fort and repulse
the attack of Prince Murad. 

Chand Bibi accpeted this regency and proclaimed Bahadur

Shah king of Ahmednagar,  Prince Murad attacked the fort of
Ahmednagar but his attack was bravely repulsed by Queen
Chand Bibi.
When the Mughals arrived they were faced with a
prepared and united army. Prince Murad’s strategy
to take over the fort was to build five mines around
it.

It is said that to encourage her troops who were

suffering from famine, and to safe guard her
homeland, Chand Bibi herself with her generals dug
out two of the five mines before they could explode.

She also in an unprecedented moment ran out of the

palace with a sword and armour worn with a veil to
lead her troops against the Mughals.
She devised a strategy which allowed them to
continuously attack the Mughals exhausting
them of their supplies. Prince Murad, worried
of rebellion among his forces decided to
negotiate, taking a small district in return for
peace.

In this period of peace, Chand Bibi reached

out to the other Deccan Sultanates, as her
father had done to form a confederate against
the Mughals.
So the next time Prince Murad attempted to
secretly annex outskirt towns of
Ahmadnagar he was met with the joint force
of all Deccan states. Though Prince Murad
won this battle, he was called back by Akbar
before he entered the city.

Now christened Sultana Bibi, the Deccan

confederate became such a strong force that
the next attempt of invasion was lead by
Emperor Akbar himself.
This proved fatal as it was during a time of great
internal instability in the region, with several
generals and factions fighting attempting to over
throw Chand bibi.

In 1599 Akbar dispatched Prince Danyal Mirza and

Khan Khanan to ahmednagar Prince Danyal laid
siege to the fort Sultana Chand Bibi could not bring
about an effective resistance . 
So she decided to negotiate terms with Prince
Danyal. But Hamid Khan, one of the noblemen in
the fort ran cut in the streets saying that Chand Bibi
was  in treaty with the Moguls for the delivery of the
apartment and put her to death. 

Thereupon the Moguls entered the fort and

conquered it Bahadur was arrested and sent to Delhi
and afterwards confined in the fort of Gwalior.  Then
Emperor Akbar made over Khandesh Ahmednagar
to Prince Danyal.
Legacy of Chand Bibi

More often than not, the legacy of women is said

to lie in the greatness of her offsprings. But in the
case of Chand Sultana, it lay in the unity of the
Deccan sultanates, which today has formed the
state of Maharashtra. Though almost erased from
history, paintings of her hawking sit at at the
Metropolitan Museum of Arts.
GOND QUEEN
DURGAWATI
Content
Introduction
Rani Durgavati took the rein of Gond
dynasty
Warrior Rani Durgavati
Choosing death to dishonour
Legend of Rani Durgavati
During the 16th century, the role of elite
women in India was in transition. Unlike
royal women of a preceding age, the mothers,
wives and sisters of monarchs began to
exercise increasing influence on the course of
government policy.

The Rani Durgawati was a case in point.

Introduction
Rani Durgavati was born on October 5, 1524 in the
family of famous Rajput Chandel Emperor Keerat
Rai.
She was born at the fort of Kalanjar (Banda,UP).
Chandel Dynasty is famous in the Indian History for
the defense of king Vidyadhar ,who repulsed the
Muslim attacks of  Mahmud Ghaznavi.

His love for sculptures is shown in the world famed

temples of Khajuraho and Kalanjar fort.
Rani Durgavati's achievements further enhanced the
glory of her ancestral tradition of courage and
patronage of arts In 1542, she was married to Dalpat
Shah, the eldest son of king Sangram Shah of Gond
Dynasty.

Chandel and Gond dynasties got closer as a

consequence of this marriage and that was the
reason Keerat Rai got the help of Gonds and his son-
in-law Dalpat Shah at the time of muslim invasion of
Sher Shah Suri in which Sher Shah died.
Durgawati's husband died in 1548, four years after
their marriage, and she became the regent of
Gondwana, ruling successfully in the name of her
young son Bir Narayan.

Noted for her religious devotion, Durgawati

patronized many religious figures, including the
Brahmin Vitthaleshvara, and she built seven
religious houses for the wellknown devotee of
Krishna. When Vitthaleshvara traveled abroad, he
was always escorted by a large contingent of
Durgawati's troops.
Durgawati ruled Gondwana for 16 years, with the assistance of
her two able ministers, Adhaz Kayastha and Man Brahman.
Known as a moderate and skillful monarch, she excelled at
both diplomacy and conquest.

During her reign, the kingdom prospered economically.

Gondwana could field a well-equipped army of 20,000 calvary
and 1,000 war elephants, along with an indeterminate number
of infantry.

However, the Mughal Empire controlled access to the best

horses imported from Iran, central asia and Arabia, thus in
this regard opponents like Gondwana were at a distinct
disadvantage.
The rani followed in the
footsteps of her predecessors
by enlarging the size of her
domain. She was noted for her
martial skills and qualities as a
general.

Of the 23,000 villages in her

kingdom, 12,000 were under
the control of the crown, while
the remainder were
administered by her vassals.

As Abul Fazl, the 16th-century

intellectual, noted:
“She was not lacking in any of the essentials of bravery
and effort, and did great things by dint of her far-
seeing abilities. She had great contests with Baj
Bahador [of Malwa] and the Mianas [Afghans of Sironj
in Malwa] and was always victorious…. She was a good
shot with gun and arrow, and continually went a-
hunting, and shot animals of the chase with her gun. It
was her custom that whenever she heard that a tiger
had made his appearance, she did not drink water till
she shot him. There are stories current in Hindustan of
her exploits in the assemblies of peace and in the fields
of battle.”
Asaf Khan, who had led a successful military
expedition against Raja Ramchand of Pannah, was
appointed as the Mughal governor of Kara Manipur,
a province on the border of Gondwana.

Initially, he encouraged peaceful trade with the

rani's subjects. However, the wealth of Gondwana
soon attracted his interest. By various means, Asaf
Khan attempted to force Durgawati into
acknowledging Akbar the Great's sovereignty over
Gondwana.
The governor sent spies into Gondwana to ascertain the
strength of its army and the size of its treasury. Next, he
employed a policy of destabilization, by raiding villages along
the border.

The rani sent her minister Adhaz Kayastha to negotiate with

Emperor Akbar, but this proved unsuccessful. Akbar seems to
have demanded the cession of certain territories, but
Durgawati's ambassador refused.

In retaliation for the Mughal raids into Gondwana, Durgawati

sent her own forces across the border into Pannah. A wasting
border war soon erupted. In 1564, acting upon his own
initiative, but with the Emperor Akbar's permission, Asaf Khan
invaded Gondwana with an army of 50,000 troops.
Durgawati did not expect a full-scale invasion that year. Many
of her cavalry defected to the Mughal imperial side, led by the
petty chiefs of Garha. The rest of her army was dispersed; she
had only 500 troops with her in the capital of Chanragarh.

Before she could gather more of her military strength,

however, she marched against the invaders, much to the
dismay of her ministers Man Brahman and Adhaz Kayastha.

Durgawati blamed Adhaz Kayastha for the mismanagement of

her military forces. She is reputed to have answered his
objections by saying, "How could I, who have for years
governed the country, think of flight? It is better to die with
glory than to live with ignominy."
Although Asaf Khan suggested a negotiated settlement,
Durgawati refused the offer, considering it an insult that she
should deal with a mere governor. Had the emperor come in
person, the outcome might have been different. A game of
cat and mouse began.

Dogged by the Mughal imperial army, Durgawati marched

her army swiftly around the countryside, seeking to gain
time, hoping to enlarge her force by local recruiting and a
general call to arms. She received scant support, however,
since many of the local chiefs were intimidated by the
approach of the massive Mughal force.
Proceeding through dense forest and difficult terrain,
Durgawati led her small army to the town of Garh. Then she
moved north, to Narhi.

The village of Narhi was surrounded by mountains and

bordered by the Gaur and Narmade rivers on both sides,
natural obstacles that made Narhi an excellent defensive
position of great strategic value.

The only possible access to the town was through a narrow

and difficult mountain pass. Durgawati was advised by her
ministers to avoid battle, partly to win time in order to raise
more troops. But she was outraged by the suggestion. "How
long am I to shelter among the trees?" she replied.
Asaf Khan's army attacked through the mountain
pass protecting Narhi. Donning armor and
mounting an elephant, Durgawati surprised the
enemy with her troops, holding the pass and driving
them back down the other side.

The Mughals retreated, pursued by the rani's troops,

who took bloody revenge on the fleeing soldiers of
Asaf Khan's army.
Durgawati's next maneuver was to suggest a
preemptive strike on the Mughal imperial camp
during the night. But the majority of her chiefs
were against such a risky undertaking, and so she
relented, privately grumbling as to their lack of
courage.
Without a night attack, Asaf Khan easily recaptured
the cliffs overlooking the pass the next morning.
After a brief skirmish, he then fortified them with
artillery. Canons were one of the factors that
accounted for the military superiority of Mughals,
and much of their knowledge had been acquired
from the Turks.
It was an unequal battle with trained soldiers and
modern weapons in multitude on one side and a few
untrained soldiers with old weapons on the other side.
Her Faujdar Arjun Daswas killed in the battle and
Rani decided to lead the defence herself. As the
enemy entered the valley, soldiers of Rani attacked
them. Both sides lost some men but Rani was
victorious in this battle. She chased the Mughal army
and came out of the valley.
Choosing death to dishonor
At this stage Rani reviewed her strategy with her
counselors. She wanted to attack the enemy in the
night to enfeeble them but her lieutenants did not
accept her suggestion. By next morning Asaf khan
had summoned big guns. Rani rode on her elephant
Sarman and came for the battle. Her son Vir Narayan
also took part in this battle. He forced Mughal army to
move back three times but at last he got wounded and
had to retire to a safe place.
In the course of battle Rani also got injured near
her ear with an arrow. Another arrow pierced her
neck and she lost her consciousness. On regaining
consciousness she perceived that defeat was
imminent. Her Mahout advised her to leave the
battlefield but she refused and took out her
dagger and killed herself. Her martyrdom day
(24th June 1564) is even today commemorated as
"Balidan Diwas"
Glory of Rani Durgavati
Rani Durgavati's was a personality with varied facets.
She was valiant, beautiful and brave and also a great
leader with administrative skills. Her self-respect
forced her to fight till death rather than surrender
herself to her enemy.
She, like her ancestral dynasty, built so many lakes in
her state and did a lot for the welfare of her people.
She respected the scholars and extended her patronage to
them. She welcomed the Vitthalnath of Vallabh
community and took Diksha from him. She was secular
and appointed many eminent Muslims on important posts.
The place where she sacrificed herself has always been a
source of inspiration for freedom fighters.

In the year 1983, the Government of Madhya Pradesh

renamed the University of Jabalpur as Rani Durgavati
Vishwavidyalaya in her memory.

Government of India paid its tribute to the valiant Rani by

issuing a postal-stamp commemorating her martyrdom, on
24th June 1988