Nagpur Kingdom,India

Nagpur Kingdom,India

Dr Uday Dokras

Graduate Diploma in Law, Stockholm University,Sweden

Ph.D (Management) Stockholm University, Sweden

CONSULTANT- Gorewada International Zoo, Nagpur,India- Largest Zoo and Safari in Asia

SRISHTI DOKRAS

B.Arch. (Institute for Design Education and Architectural Studies) Nagpur India Visiting Architect, Australia & USA

Zero Mile pillar signifies Center of India-which is what Nagpur is!

A B S T R A C T

Nagpur,India is where I stay. However I really did not know anything ancient about this city which has grown in prominence and size over the years. The Kingdom of Nagpur was a kingdom in east-central India founded by the Gond rulers of Deogarh in the early 18th century. It came under the rule of the Marathas of the Bhonsale dynasty in the mid-18th century and became part of the Maratha Empire. The city of Nagpur was the capital of the state. After the Third Anglo-Maratha War, it became a princely state of the British Empire in 1818, and was annexed to British India in 1853 becoming Nagpur Province. Here is the story from pre-historic times till present.

Towns and cities have a long history, although opinions vary on which ancient settlement are truly cities. The benefits of dense settlement included reduced transport costs, exchange of ideas, sharing of natural resources, large local markets, and in some cases amenities such as running water and sewage disposal. Possible costs would include higher rate of crime, higher mortality rates, higher cost of living, worse pollution, traffic and high commuting times. Cities grow when the benefits of proximity between people and firms are higher than the cost. There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities. Some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces. The conventional view holds that cities first formed after the Neolithic revolution. The Neolithic revolution brought agriculture, which made denser human populations possible, thereby supporting city development. Whether farming immigrants replaced foragers or foragers began farming is not clear. The increased food production per unit of land supported higher population density and more city-like activities. In his book, Cities and Economic Development, Paul Bairoch takes up this position in his argument that agricultural activity appears necessary before true cities can form.

According to Vere Gordon Childe, for a settlement to qualify as a city, it must have enough surplus of raw materials to support trade and a relatively large population.[3] Bairoch points out that, due to sparse population densities that would have persisted in pre-Neolithic, hunter-gatherer societies, the amount of land that would be required to produce enough food for subsistence and trade for a large population would make it impossible to control the flow of trade. To illustrate this point, Bairoch offers an example: "Western Europe during the pre-Neolithic, [where] the density must have been less than 0.1 person per square kilometre".[4] Using this population density as a base for calculation, and allotting 10% of food towards surplus for trade and assuming that city dwellers do no farming, he calculates that "...to maintain a city with a population of 1,000, and without taking the cost of transport into account, an area of 100,000 square kilometres would have been required. When the cost of transport is taken into account, the figure rises to 200,000 square kilometres. Bairoch noted that this is roughly the size of Great Britain. The urban theorist Jane Jacobs suggests that city formation preceded the birth of agriculture, but this view is not widely accepted.

In his book City Economics, Brendan O'Flaherty asserts "Cities could persist—as they have for thousands of years—only if their advantages offset the disadvantages" . O'Flaherty illustrates two similar attracting advantages known as increasing returns to scale and economies of scale, which are concepts usually associated with businesses. Their applications are seen in more basic economic systems as well. Increasing returns to scale occurs when "doubling all inputs more than doubles the output [and] an activity has economies of scale if doubling output less than doubles cost". Similarly, "Are Cities Dying?"a paper by Harvard economist Edward L. Glaeser, delves into similar reasons for city formation: reduced transport costs for goods, people and ideas. Discussing the benefits of proximity, Glaeser claims that if a city is doubled in size, workers get a ten percent increase in earnings.Glaeser furthers his argument by stating that bigger cities do not pay more for equal productivity than in a smaller city, so it is reasonable to assume that workers become more productive if they move to a city twice the size as they initially worked in. The workers do not benefit much from the ten percent wage increase, because it is recycled back into the higher cost of living in a larger city. They do gain other benefits from living in cities, though.[which?]

Childe’s ten criteria

The first true towns are sometimes considered large settlements where the inhabitants were no longer simply farmers of the surrounding area, but began to take on specialized occupations, and where trade, food storage and power were centralized. In 1950 Gordon Childe attempted to define a historic city with ten general metrics.

These are:

1. Size and density of the population should be above normal.

2. Differentiation of the population. Not all residents grow their own food, leading to specialists.

3. Payment of taxes to a deity or king.

4. Monumental public buildings.

5. Those not producing their own food are supported by the king.

6. Systems of recording and practical science.

7. A system of writing.

8. Development of symbolic art.

9. Trade and import of raw materials.

10. Specialist craftsmen from outside the kin-group.

This categorisation is descriptive, and it is used as a general touchstone when considering ancient cities, although not all have each of its characteristics.

Geography and Topography

Nagpur is located at the exact centre of the Indian peninsula. The city has the Zero Mile Stone locating the geographical centre of India, which was used by the British to measure all distances within the Indian subcontinent.

The city lies on the Deccan plateau and has a mean altitude of 310.5 meters above sea level.The underlying rock strata are covered with alluvial deposits resulting from the flood plain of the Kanhan River. In some places, these give rise to granular sandy soil. In low-lying areas, which are poorly drained, the soil is alluvial clay with poor permeability characteristics. In the eastern part of the city, crystalline metamorphic rocks such as gneiss, schist and granites are found, while in the northern part yellowish sandstones and clays of the lower Gondwana formations are found. Nagpur city is dotted with natural and artificial lakes. The largest lake is Ambazari Lake. Other natural lakes include Gorewada Lake and Telangkhedi lake. Sonegaon and Gandhisagar Lakes are artificial, created by the city's historical rulers. Nag river, Pilli Nadi, and nallas form the natural drainage pattern for the city. Nagpur is known for its greenery and was adjudged the cleanest and second greenest in India after Chandigarh in 2010.

The Foundation year of NAGPUR is the year of 1702. The history of Nagpur, in central India, spans over 5,000 years, including the Kingdom of Nagpur in the 18th and 19th century. Nagpur is named after the river Nag which flows through the city. The old Nagpur (today called 'Mahal') is situated on north banks of the river Nag. The suffix pur means "city" in many Indian languages.

One of the earlier names of Nagpur was "Fanindrapura". It derives its origin from the Sanskrit word fana (फणा; meaning hood of a cobra). Nagpur's first newspaper was named Fanindramani, which means a jewel that is believed to be suspended over a cobra's hood. It is this jewel that lights up the darkness, hence the name of the newspaper. B. R. Ambedkar claimed that both the city and the river are named after "Nag people".During British rule, the name of the city was spelt and pronounced as "Nagpore".

Human existence around present-day Nagpur city (in Maharashtra, India) can be traced back 3,000 years to the 8th century BC. Menhir burial sites at Drugdhamna (near Mhada colony) indicate megalithic culture existed around Nagpur and is still followed in present times. The first a reference to the name "Nagpur" is found in a 10th-century copper-plate inscription discovered at Devali in the neighbouring Wardha district. The inscription is a record of grant of a village situated in the visaya (district) of Nagpura-Nandivardhana during time of Rastrakuta king Krishna III in the Saka year 862 (940 CE). Inscription found at Ramtek show that during the 12th century AD Nagpur and its surrounding regions formed the part of the thickly wooded country called Jhadimandala under Yadavas of Devagiri. However, tradition ascribes the founding of Nagpur to Bakht Buland Shah, a prince of the Gond kingdom of Deogarh in the Chhindwara district.

he Nagardhun Fort near Nagpur

The Palace at Nagpur

The mysterious underground Temple

THE OLDEST VESTIGES OF HABITATION IN THE NAGPUR DISTRICT are furnished by dolmens and other sepulchral monuments which can be noticed within a radius of about 48,280 km. (thirty miles) round Nagpur in the vicinity of the villages of Koradi, Kohali, Junapani, Nildhoa, Borganv, Vathora, Vadganv, Savar-gailv, Hingana, etc. Some of these were opened first by Pearson and then by Hislop but their detailed reports are not available. They require to be excavated and studied scientifically. Hislop describes the as follows: “They are found chiefly as barrows surrounded by a circle of stones, and as stone boxes, which when complete are styled kistvaens, and when open on one side, cromlechs. The kistvaens, if not previously disturbed, have been found to contain stone coffins and urns.”

Such sepulchral monuments are generally found to contain copper and bronze weapons, tools and earthen vessels. Some scholars find in these copper and bronze objects traces of the migration route of the Vedic Aryans. This culture is supposed to be later than that of the Indus Valley, of which no traces have yet been noticed in Vidarbha.

With the advent of the Aryans we get more light on the past history of this region. It was then covered by a thick jungle. Agastya was the first Aryan who crossed the Vindhya and fixed his hermitage on the bank of the Godavari. This memorable event is commemorated in the mythological story which represents Vindhya as bending before his guru Agastya when the latter approached him. The sage asked the mountain to remain in that condition until he returned from the south, which he never did. Agastya was followed by several other sages who established their hermitages in different regions of the south. They were constantly harassed by the original inhabitants who are called Raksasas in the Ramayana. “These shapeless and ill-looking monsters testify their abominable character by various cruel and terrific displays. They implicate the hermits in impure practices and perpetrate the greatest outrages. Changing their shapes and hiding in the thickets adjoining the hermitages, these frightful beings delight in terrifying the devotees. They cast away the sacrificial ladles and vessels; they pollute the cooked oblations, and utterly defile the offerings with blood. These faithless creatures inject frightful sounds into the ears of the faithful and austere hermits. At the time of the sacrifice they snatch away the jars, the flowers, the fuel and the sacred grass of these sober-minded men.” (Muir’s Original Sanskrit Texts, quoted in the previous edition of Nagpur District Gazetteer)

In course of time a large kingdom was founded in this region by king Vidarbha, the son of Rsabhadeva. His capital was Kundinapura in the Amravati district, which is still known by its ancient name. The country came to be known as Vidarbha after the name of its first ruler. Agastya married his daughter Lopamudra. He is ‘the Seer’ of some hymns of the Rgveda. His wife Lopamudra is also mentioned in Rgveda I. 179, 4, though Vidarbha is not named therein.

The (part of the) country became well-known in the age of the Brahmanas and the Upanisads. Bhima who is called Vaidarbha (i.e., the King of Vidarbha), is mentioned in the Aitareya Brahmana (VII, 34) as having received instruction regarding the substitute for soma juice. The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad mentions the sage Kaundinya of Vidarbha. Among those who asked questions about philosophical matters in the Prasnopanisad there was one named Bhargava from Vidarbha. The Ramayana in the Uttarakanda states the story of king Danda in whose time Vidarbha was devastated by a violent dust-storm. Danda was the son of Iksvaku and grandson of Manu. He ruled over the country between the Vindhya and Saivala mountains from his capital Madhumanta. He led a voluptuous life and once upon a time violated the daughter of the sage Bhargava. The sage, then cursed the king that his whole kingdom would be devastated by a terrible dust-storm. The whole country between Vindhya and Saivala extending over a thousand yojanas was consequently turned into a great forest which since then came to be known as Dandakaranya. It was in this forest that the Sudra sage Sambuka was practising austerities. (Ep. Ind. Vol. XXV, p.11). As this was an un-religious act according to the notions of those days, Rama beheaded him and revived the life of a Brahmana boy who had died prematurely.

That the Nagpur region was included in the Dandaka forest is shown by the tradition which states that Sambuka was practising austerities on the hill near Ramtek, about 45.062 km. (28 miles) from Nagpur. The site is still shown on that hill and is marked by the temple of Dhumresvara. This tradition is at least seven hundred years old, for it is mentioned in the stone inscription of the reign of the Yadava king Ramacandra fixed into the front wall of the garbhagrha of the temple of Laksmana on the hill of Ramtek.(Ibid, Vol. XXV, p.7.f) The Ramayana the Mahabharata and the Puranas mention several sacred rivers of Vidarbha such as the Payosni (Puma), Varada (Wardha) and the. Vena (Wainganga) and name many holy places situated on their banks. The royal house of Vidarbha was matrimonially connected with several princely families of North India. The Vidarbha princesses Damayanti, Indumati and Rukmini, who married Nala, Aja and Krsna, respectively, are well-known in Indian literature. Several great Sanskrt and Marathi poets from Kalidasa onwards have drawn the themes of their works from their romantic lives.

This section on ancient history is from an article part of which was contributed by Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. V. V. Mirashi, Nagpur University, Nagpur. India

Intermediate era; As stated below, the region round Nagpur was flourishing in the early centuries of the Christian era, but the name of Nagpur is noticed for the first time in a record of the tenth century A.D. A copper-plate inscription of the Rastrakuta king Krsna III dated in the 8aka year 862 (A.D. 940), discovered at Devali in the Wardha district, records the grant of a village situated in the visaya (district) of Nagpura-Nandivardhana, which was well-known as an ancient capital of the Vakatakas, is now represented by the village Nandardhan, about three miles from Ramtek. Nagpur, which was situated near it, may have marked the original site of the modern town of that name. Tradition, however, gives the credit for settling the town of Nagpur to the Gond king Bakht Bulanda of Devagad. He is said to have included in the new town twelve hamlets, laid streets and erected a wall for its protection. It is not unlikely that Bakht Bulanda chose to call the new town by the name of Nagpur since it was associated with the place from ancient times. Coming to historical times, we find that the country was included in the empire of the great Asoka. The thirteenth rock edict of that great Emperor mentions the Bhojas as the people who follow his religious teachings. The royal family of Bhoja was ruling over Vidarbha in ancient times. Since then the people came to be known as the Bhojas. A territorial division named Bhojakata (modern Bhatkuli in the Amravati district) is mentioned in a grant of the Vakatakas. (Fleet, C.I.I., Vol. III, p. 341) An inscription probably issued by the Dharmamahamatra placed by Asoka in charge of Vidarbha, has been found at Devatek in the Canda district.(Mirashi, Studies in Indology, Vol. I, p.109 f.) It records an order promulgated by the Dharmamahamatra interdicting the capture and slaughter of animals. It is dated in the fourteenth reigning year, evidently of Asoka.

After the overthrow of the Maurya dynasty in circa B.C. 184, the imperial throne in Pataliputra (Patna) was occupied by the Senapati Pusyamitra, the founder of the sunga dynasty. His son Agnimitra was appointed Viceroy of Malva and ruled from Vidisa, modern Besnagar, a small village near Bhilsa. Vidarbha, which had seceded from the Maurya Empire during the reign of one of the weak successors of Asoka was then ruled by Yajna-sena. He imprisoned his cousin Madhavasena, who was a rival claimant for the throne. The sister of Madhavasena escaped to Mii!vii and got admission as a hand-maid under the name of Miilavikii ( Malavika) to the royal palace. Agnimitra, who had espoused the cause of Madhavasena and had sent an army against the king of Vidarbha, fell in love with Miilavikii and married her. The Malava army defeated the king of Vidarbha and released Madhavasena. Agnimitra then divided the country of Vidarbha between the two cousins, each ruling on one side of the Varada (modern Wardha). Eastern Vidarbha thus comprised Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Chanda, Seoni, Chindvada and Balaghat_ districts. It was bounded on the east by the country of Daksina Kosala (Chattisgad).

The land of Kalidasa: From the Mahabharata one learns that the province of Venakata bordered on that of Kosala. The story of Malavika forms the plot of the play Malavikagnimitra of the great Sanskrt poet Kalidasa. Kalidasa does not state to what royal family Yajnasena and Madhavasena belonged and these names do not occur anywhere else. Still it is possible to conjecture that they may have been feudatories of the Satavahanas. From the Hathigumpha inscription at Udayagiri near Bhuvanesvar, we learn that Kharavela, the king of Kalinga, who was a contemporary of Pusyamitra, sent an army to the western region not minding Satakarni (Ep. Ind., Vol. XX, p. 71 f. Jayaswal’s and Banerji’s reading Musika in line 4 of this inscription is incorrect. Barua reads Asika which seems to be correct. For the identification of this country, see A.B.O.R.I., XXV, p. 167 f.).

The latter evidently belonged to the Satavahana dynasty as the name occurs often in that family. Kharavela’s army is said to have penetrated up to the river Kanhabenna and struck terror in the hearts of the people of Rsika. The Kanhabenna is the river Kanhan which flows about 10 miles from Nagpur. Kharavela’s army, therefore, invaded Vidarbha. He knew that as the ruler of Vidarbha was a feudatory of king Satakarni, the latter would rush to his aid. When Vidarbha was thus invaded, the people of Rsika (Khandes) which bordered Vidarbha on the west, were naturally terror-striken. No actual engagement seems however to have taken place and the army retreated to Kalinga perhaps at the approach of the Satavahana forces.

The Satavahanas, who are called Andhras in the Puranas, held Vidarbha for four centuries and a half from circa B.C. 200 to A.D. 250. Their earliest inscriptions, however, which record their performance of Vedic sacrifices and munificent gifts to Brahmanas are found in the Poona and Nasik districts. Towards the close of the first century A.D. they were ousted by the Saka Satraps from Western Maharashtra. They then seem to have found shelter in Vidarbha. No inscriptions of the Satavahanas have indeed been found in Vidarbha, but in one of the Nasik inscriptions Gautamiputra Satakarni, who later on exterminated the Sakas and re-occupied Western Maharashtra, is called Benakatakasvami, the lord of Benakatakataka

(Ep. Ind., Vol. VIII, p. 65 f.). No satisfactory explanation of this expression was possible until the discovery of the Tirodi plates of the Vakataka king Pravarasena. II(Ibid., Vol. XXII, p. 167 f.).

Plates have been found that record the grant of a village- III in the Benakata, which must have comprised the territory on both the banks of the Benna or the Wainganga, now included in the Balaghat and Bhandara districts. Gautamiputra, was, therefore, ruling over the country of Benakata (or Venakata), before he. reconquered Western Maharashtra from the Saka Satrap Nabhapana. Gautamiputra was a very powerful king whose kingdom extended from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal and comprised even Malva, Kathiavad and parts of Rajputana in the north. His son Pulumavi was similarly the undisputed master of the whole Deccan. Yajnasri also, a later descendant of the family, retained his hold over the whole territory as his inscriptions and coins have been found in the Thana district in the west and the Krsna district in the east. Two hoards of Satavahana coins have been found in Vidarbha, one in the Brahmapuri tahsil of the Chanda district.

(P.A.S.B for 1893, pp. 116-17.)And the other at Tarhala in the Mangul tahsil of the Akola district (J.N.S.I., Vol.II, pp. 83 f).

The latter hoard, which was discovered in 1939, contains coins of as many as eleven kings. beginning from Gautamiputra Satakarni. Some of them such as (Gautamiputra) Satakarni, Pulumavi, Sivasri Pulumavi, Yajnasri Satakarni and Vijaya Satakarni are mentioned in the Puranas, while some others such as Kumbha Satakarni, Karna Satakarni and Saka Satakarni are not known from any other source. This hoard shows that the Satavahanas retained their hold over Vidarbha to the last. The Satavahanas were liberal patrons of learning and religion. As stated above, the early kings performed Vedic sacrifices and lavished gifts on the Brahmanas. Gautamiputra, Pulumavi and Yajnasri excavated caves and donated villages to provide for the maintenance, clothing and medicine of Buddhist monks. They also patronised Prakrt literature. The Sattasai, an anthology of 700 Prakrt verses, is, by tradition, ascribed to Hala of the Satavahana dynasty. About A.D. 250 the Satavahanas were supplanted by the Vakatakas in Vidarbha. This dynasty was founded by a Brahmana named Vindhyasakti I, who is mentioned in the Puranas (D.K.A., pp. 48 and 50.) as well as in an inscription in Cave XVI at Ajantha (Mirashi, C.I.I., Vol. VI, p. 102 f.). The Puranas mention Vindhyasakti, the founder of the dynasty, as a ruler of Vidisa (modern Bhilsa near Bhopal)( R. C. Majumdar and A. S. Altekar: The Vakataka-Gupta Age, p. 96.). His son Pravarasena I ruled over an extensive part of the Deccan. He performed several Vedic sacrifices including four asvamedhas and assumed the title of Samrat (Universal Emperor). According to the Puranas he had his capital at Purika which was situated at the foot of the Rksavat or Satpuda mountain (Mirashi, C.I.I., Vol VI, p. xviii, f. n. 5.)

(D.K.A., p. 50. I accept Jayaswal’s reading Purikam Canakari-ca vai in place of Purim Kancanakam-ca vai.) (Altekar mentions that Purika is connected with Vidarbha (modern Berar) and Asmaka by ancient geographers. The Purika province is mentioned along with Vidarbha and asmaka in the Markandeya Purana ( R.C. Majumdar and A.S. Altekar : The Vakataka – Gupta Age,p.96)

He had four sons among whom his empire was divided after his death. Two of these are known from inscriptions. The eldest son Gautimi-putra had predeceased him. His son Rudrasena I held the northern parts of Vidarbha and ruled from Nandivardhana, modern Nandardhan, near Ramtek. He had powerful support of the king Bhava-naga of the Bharasiva dynasty who ruled .at padmavati near Gwalior who was his maternal grandfather Rudrasena

(R. C.Majumdar and A.S.Altekar. The Vakataka-Gupta Age, p. 102). Rudrasena was a fervent devotee of Mahabhairava. He has left an inscription incised on the aforementioned slab of stone found at Devatek, which contains a mutilated edict of the Dharma-mahamatra of Asoka. It records his construction of a Dharma-sthana (temple). (Ibid., Vol. VI, p. 1f.) Rudrasena I was followed by his son Prthivisena I, who ruled for a long time and brought peace and contentment to his people. During his reign this branch of the Vakatakas became matrimonially connected with the illustrious Gupta family of north India. Candragupta II-Vikramaditya-married his daughter Prabhavatigupta II to Prthivisena I’s son, Rudrasena II, probably to secure the powerful Vakataka king’s help in his war with the Western Ksatrapas. Rudrasena II died soon after accession, leaving behind two sons Divakarasena and Damodarasena alias Pravarasena II. As neither of them had come of age, Prabhavatigupta ruled as regent for the elder son Divakarasena for at least thirteen years (Ibid., Vol. VI, pp. 5 f). According to Altekar, she carried on the administration for a period of about twenty years. (R. C.Majumdar and A. S. Altekar, The Vakataka-Gupta Age, p. 112). She seems to have been helped in the government of the kingdom by military and civil officers sent by her father Candragupta II. One of these was the great Sanskrt poet Kalidasa, who, while residing at the Vakataka capital Nandivardhana, must have visited Ramagiri (modern Ramtek), where the theme of his excellent lyric Meghaduta suggested itself to him. (Mirashi, Studies in Indology, Vol. I, p. 12 f.)

Prabhavatigupta has left us two copper-plate inscriptions. The earlier of them, though discovered in distant Poona, originally belonged to Vidarbha. It was issued from the then Vakataka capital Nandivardhana (Mirashi, C.I.I., Vol. VI, p. 6.) and records the dowager queen’s grant of the village Danguna (modern Hinganghat) to a Brahmana after offering it to the feet of the Bhagavat (i.e., Ramacandra) on Kartika sukla dvadast evidently at the time of Parane after observing a fast on the previous day of the Prabodhini Ekadasi. (Nandivardhana is most probably Nagardhan (also spelt as Nandardhan) near Ramtek about 13 miles north of Nagpur. This City is also identified with Nandpur, 34 miles north or Nagpur (R.C. Majumdar and A.S.Altekar: The Vakataka-Gupta Age,p. 114). Some of the boundary villages can still be traced in the vicinity of Hinganghat.

Divakarasena also seems to have died when quite young. He was succeeded by his brother Damodarasena, who on accession assumed the name Pravarasena of his illustrious ancestor. He had a long reign of thirty years and was known for his learning and liberality. More than a dozen land-grants made by him have come to light. One of them which was made at the instance of his mother Prabhavatigupta in the nineteenth regnal year is noteworthy. The plates recording it were issued from the feet of Ramagirisvamin (i.e., God Ramacandra on the hill of Ramagiri) and record the grant which the queen-mother made as on the previous occasion, viz., after observing a fast on the Prabodhini Ekadasi. (Ibid., Vol. VI, p. 34.)

Pravarasena II founded a new city which he named Pravara-pura, where he shifted his capital some time after his eleventh regnal year. Some of his later land-grants were made at the new capital. He built there a magnificent temple of Ramacandra evidently at the instance of his mother who was a devout worshipper of Visnu. Some of the sculptures used to decorate this temple have recently been discovered at Pavnar on the bank of the Dham, 9.656 km. (6 miles) from Wardha, and have thus led to the identification of Pravarapura with Pavnar. (Ibid., Vol. VI, p. lx f.)

Pravarasena II is the reputed author of the Setubandha, a Prakrt kavya in glorification of Ramacandra. This work has been greatly praised by Sanskrt poets and rhetoricians. According to a tradition recorded by a commentator of this work, it was composed by Kalidasa who ascribed it to Pravarasena. (Ibid, Vol. VI, p. liv.) Pravarasena is also known from some Prakrt gathas which were later interpolated in the Sattasai. He was succeeded by his son Narendrasena, during whose reign Vidarbha was invaded by the Nala king Bhavadatta-varman. The latter penetrated as far as the Nagpur district and even occupied Nandivardhana, the erstwhile Vakataka capital. The Rddhapur plates record the grant which Bhavadatta had made while on a pilgrimage to Prayaga. The plates were issued from Nandivardhana which was evidently his capital at the time (Ep. Ind., Vol. XIX, pp. 100 f.). In this emergency the Vakatakas had to shift their capital again. They moved it to Padmapura, modern Padampur near Amganv in the Bhandara district. A fragmentary inscription which was proposed to be issued from Padmapur has been discovered at the village of Mohalla in the Durg districts. (Mirashi, C.I.I., Vol. VI, p. 75 f.)

The Nalas could not retain their hold over Vidarbha for a long time. They were ousted by Narendrasena’s son Prthivisena II, who carried the war into the enemy’s territory and burnt and devastated their capital Puskari which was situated in the Bastar State (Ibid., Vol. VI, p. xxvii.). Prthivisena II, taking advantage of the weakening of Gupta power, carried his arms to the north of the Narmada. Inscriptions of his feudatory Vyaghradeva have been found in the former Ajaigad and Jaso States (Ibid., Vol. VI, p. 88 f.).

This elder branch of the Vakataka family came to an end about A.D. 490. The territory round Nagpur was thereafter included in the dominion of the other or Vatsagulma branch.

The Vatsagulma branch was founded by Sarvasena, a younger son of Pravarasena I. It is also known to have produced some brave and learned princes. Sarvasena, the founder of this branch, is well-known as the author of another Prakrt kavya called Harivijaya, which has received unstinted praise from several eminent rhetoricians. The last known king of this branch was Harisena, who carved out an extensive empire for himself, extending from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal and from Malva to the Tungabhadra.

The Vakatakas were patrons of art and literature. In their age the Vaidarbhi riti came to be regarded as the best style of poetry as several excellent works were then produced in Vidarbha. Three of the caves at Ajintha, viz., the two Vihara caves XVI and XVII and the Caitya Cave XIX were excavated and decorated with paintings in the time of Harisena (Ibid, Vol. VI, p. lxv f.). Several temples of Hindu gods and goddesses were also built. The ruins of one of them have come to light at Pavnar (Mirashi, Studies in Indology, Vol. II, p. 272 f.). Others are known from references in copper-plate grants.

The Vakatakas disappear from the stage of history about A. D. 550, when their place is taken by the Kalacuris of Mahis-mati, modern Mahesvar in Central India. They also had a large empire extending from Konkan in the west to Vidarbha in the east and from Malava in the north to the Krsna in the south. The founder of the dynasty was Krsnaraja, whose coins have been found in the Amravati and Betul districts (Mirashi, C.I.I., Vol. IV, p. xlvi.). He was a devout worshipper of Mahesvara (Siva). That Vidarbha was included in his Empire is shown by the Nagardhan plates of his feudatory Svamiraja dated in the Kalacuri year 322 (A.D. 573) (Mirashi, C.I.I., Vol. VI, p. 611 f.). These plates were issued from Nandivardhana which seems to have maintained its importance even after the downfall of the Vakatakas. Svamiraja probably belonged to the Rastrakuta family.

About A.D. 620 the Kalacuri king Buddharaja the grandson of Krsnaraja was defeated by Pulakesin II of the Early Calukya dynasty, who thereafter became the lord of three Maharastras comprising 99,000 viIlages (Ep. Ind., Vol. VI, p. 1 f.). One of these Maharastras was undoubtedly Vidarbha. The Rastrakutas, who were previously feudatories of the Kalacuris, transferred their allegiance to the Calukyas and, like the latter, began to date their records in the Saka era. Two grants of this feudatory Rastrakuta family have been discovered in Vidarbha-one dated Saka 615 was found at Akola and the other dated Saka 631 was discovered at Multai. They give the following genealogy (Mirashi, Studies in Indology, Vol. II, p. 29 f). A bout the middle of the eighth century A. D. the Early Calukyas were overthrown by the Rastrakutas. No inscriptions of the Early Calukyas have been found in Vidarbha, but their successors the Rastrakutas have left several

records. The earliest of them is the copper-plate inscription of Krsna I discovered at Bhandak and dated in the Saka year 694 (A. D. 772) (Ep. Ind., Vol. XIV, p. 121 f.). It records the grant of the village Nagana to a temple of the Sun in Udumbaramanti, modern Rani Amravati in the Yavatmal district. Thereafter several grants of his grandson Govinda III have been found in the Akola and Amravati districts of Vidarbha (See e.g.Ep.ind., vol.XXIII,pp. 8f.; Vol. XXIII, p. 204 f., etc.). The Rastrakutas of Manyakheta and the Kalacuris of Tripuri were matrimonially connected and their relations were generally friendly. But in the reign of Govinda IV, they became strained. The Kalacuri king Yuvarajadeva I espoused the cause of his son-in-law Baddiga-Amoghavarsa III, the uncle of Govinda IV and sent a large army to invade Vidarbha. A pitched battle was fought on the bank of the Payosni (Purna) 16.093 km. (10 miles) from Acalapura, between the Kalacuri and Rastrakuta forces, in which the former became victorious. This event is commemorated in the Sanskrt play Viddhasalabhanjika of Rajasekhara, which was staged at Tripuri in jubilation of this victory. (C.I.I., Vol. VI, p. lxxix f.)

The next Rastrakuta record found in Vidarbha is the aforementioned Devali copper-plate grant of the reign of Baddiga’s son Krsna ITI, which mentions the visaya of Nagapura-Nandi-vardhana.The Rastrakutas were succeeded by the Later Calukyas of Kalyani. Only one inscription of this family has been found in Vidarbha. It is the so-called Sitabuldi stone inscription of the time of Vikramaditya VI (Ep. Ind., Vol. III, p. 304 f.; Studies in Indology, Vol. II, p. 231 f.). From the account of Vinayakrav Aurangabadkar this record seems to have originally belonged to the Vindhyasana hill at Bhandak. It is dated the Saka year 1008 (A. D.1087) and registers the grant of some nivartanas of land, for the grazing of cattle, made by a dependant of a feudatory named Dhadibhandaka. Another inscription of Vikram – aditya’s reign was recently discovered at Dongarganv in the Yavatmal district. (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXII, P. 112 f.). It sheds interesting light on the history of the Paramara dynasty. It shows that Jagaddeva, the youngest son of Udayaditya, the brother of Bhoja, left Malva and sought service with Vikramaditya VI, who welcomed him and placed him in charge of some portion of Western Vidarbha. This inscription is dated in the Saka year 1034 (A.D. 1112).

Though western Vidarbha was thus occupied by the Later Calukyas, the Paramaras of Dhar raided and occupied some portion of eastern Vidarbha. A large stone inscription now deposited in the Nagpur Museum, which originally seems to have belonged to Bhandak in the Canda district, traces the genealogy of the Paramara Prince Naravarman from Vairisimha. (Ibid., Vol. II, p. 180 f.). It is dated in the Vikrama year 1161 corresponding to A. D. 1104-05, and records the grant of two villages to a temple which was probably situated at Bhandak ; for some of the places mentioned in it can be identified in its vicinity. Thus Mokhalipataka is probably Mokhar, 80.47 km. (50 miles) west of Bhandak. Vyapura, the name of the mandala in which it was situated, may be represented by Vurganv 48.280 km. (30 miles) from Mokhar. After the downfall of the Vakatakas, there was no imperial family ruling in Vidarbha. The centre of political power shifted successively to Mahismati, Badami, Manyakheta and Kalyani. Men of learning who could not get royal patronage in Vidarbha, had to seek it elsewhere. Bhavabhuti,

who ranks next to Kalidasa in Sanskrt literature, was a native of Vidarbha. In the prologue of his play Mahaviracarita he tells us that his ancestors lived in Padmapura in Vidarbha. As stated above, this place was once the capital of the Vakatakas and is probably identical with the village Padampur in the Bhandara district. (Mirashi, Studies in Indology, Vol. I, p. 21 f.). With the downfall of the Vakatakas this place lost its importance. In the beginning of the eighth century when Bhavabhuti flourished there was no great king ruling in Vidarbha. Bhavabhuti had therefore, to go to Padmavati, the capital of the Nagas in North India, and had to get his plays staged at the fair of Kalapriya-natha (the Sun-God at Kalpi) (Ibid., Vol. I, p. 35 f.). Later, he obtained royal patronage at the court of Yasovarman of Kanauj. Rajasekhara, another great son of Vidarbha, was probably born at Vatsagulma, (modern Vasim), which he has glorified in his Kavyamimamsa as the pleasure-resort of the god of love. He and his ancestors Akalajalada, Tarala and Surananda had to leave their home country of Vidarbha and to seek patronage at the court of the Kalacuris at Tripuri. Rajasekhara’s earlier plays, viz., the Balaramayana, the Balabharata and the Karpuramanjiri, were put on the boards at Kanauj under the patronage of the GurjaraPratiharas.

Modern History starts from 1743, the Maratha leader Raghoji Bhonsale of Vidarbha established himself at Nagpur, after conquering the territories of Deogarh, Chanda and Chhattisgarh by 1751. After Raghoji's death in 1755, his son and successor Janoji was forced to acknowledge the effective supremacy of the Maratha Peshwa of Pune in 1769. Regardless, the Nagpur state continued to grow. Janoji's successor Mudhoji I Bhonsale (d. 1788) came to power in 1785 and bought Mandla and the upper Narmada valley from the Peshwa between 1796 and 1798, after which Raghoji II Bhonsale (d. 1816) acquired Hoshangabad, the larger part of Saugor and Damoh. Under Raghoji II, Nagpur covered what is now the east of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.

In 1803 Raghoji II joined the Peshwas against the British in the Second Anglo-Maratha War. The British prevailed, and Raghoji was forced to cede Cuttack, Sambalpur, and part of Berar. After Raghoji II's death in 1816, his son Parsaji was deposed and murdered by Mudhoji II Bhonsale. Despite the fact that he had entered into a treaty with the British in the same year, Mudhoji joined the Peshwa in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1817 against the British, but was forced to cede the rest of Berar to the Nizam of Hyderabad, and parts of Saugor and Damoh, Mandla, Betul, Seoni and the Narmada valley to the British after suffering a defeat at Sitabuldi in modern-day Nagpur city. The Sitabuldi fort was the site of a fierce battle between the British and the Bhonsale of Nagpur in 1817. The battle was a turning point as it laid the foundations of the downfall of the Bhonsales and paved the way for the British acquisition of Nagpur city. The site of the Battle of Sitabuldi in 1817- SITABULDI Fort is located atop a hillock in central Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. The fort was built by Mudhoji II Bhonsle, also known as Appa Sahib Bhosle, of the Kingdom of Nagpur, just before he fought against the British East India Company during the Third Anglo-Maratha War. The area surrounding the hillock, now known as Sitabuldi, is an important commercial hub for Nagpur. To the south is Nagpur Railway Station and behind it is Tekdi Ganapati, a temple of Ganesha. The fort is now home to the Indian Army's 118th infantry battalion.

Battle: Sitabuldi Fort, a major tourist attractions in Nagpur, is situated on two hillocks: "Badi Tekri", literally meaning "big hill", and "Choti Tekri", meaning "small hill" in Hindi. The Sitabuldi hills, though then barren and rocky, were not entirely unoccupied. Tradition holds that Sitabuldi got its name from two Yaduvanshi brothers – Shitlaprasad and Badriprasad Gawali, who ruled the area in the 17th century. The place came to be known as "Shitlabadri", which during British rule became "Seetabuldee", and later assumed its current form, "Sitabardi" or "Sitabuldi". The Battle of Sitabuldi was fought in November 1817 on these hillocks between the forces of Appa Saheb Bhonsle of Nagpur and the British. After the death of Shivaji on 3 April 1680, the Marathas continued the battle with Mughals (Aurangzeb), Sambhaji, Rajaram and then the Shahu (son of Sambhaji). the Maratha Empire was under the governance of the Peshwas of Pune under the Flagship of Chatrapati ShahuSatara, who had appointed the Gaekwads of Baroda, the Holkars of Indore, the Scindias of Gwalior, while the Bhonsles of Nagpur were Independent Sansthan. The Maratha confederacy, as the five families were known, was still a formidable force.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Marathas tried to overcome the gradual supremacy of the East India Company, while the British prepared to suppress the Marathas. At the beginning of the 19th century, during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, the victorious British annexed territories of the Marathas. Mudhoji II Bhonsle, also known as Appa Sahib, ascended the throne of Nagpur in 1816. On 23 November 1817, he told the British resident that he intended to receive a Khilat sent to him by the Peshwa which would make him Senapati of the Marathas. The British Resident, Jenkins, "did not like this idea and the growing contact between Mudhoji and Baji Rao," but Appa Saheb ignored him and proceeded with the ceremony.[4]

On 24 November 1817, Appa Sahib publicly received the Khilat and accepted the commission appointing him Senapati of the Maratha armies. He then mounted his elephant and addressed his principal Sardars. Surrounded by his troops, he proceeded to the camp at Sukhardara. The royal standard was displayed, the army drawn up, salutes fired from artillery stations, and nothing was omitted which could add to the pomp of the ceremony.

On the morning of 25 November 1817, communication between the residency and the city was prohibited. The resident Harakars were refused permission to carry a letter to the darbar and the markets were closed to English troops. The resident decided to delay taking any decisive measures. Towards noon of 25 November, a group of 2,000 Bhosla cavalry left their camp at Bokur, five miles north-east of the city, and approached the residency. The alarm had now spread to the market frequented by the people of the residency, which soon became almost deserted. All classes, both rich and poor, removed their families and property from the vicinity of Sitabuldi.

The resident now knew that an attack on the residency was imminent. He sent orders to Lieutenant Colonel Scott at about 2:00 pm to march immediately from his cantonment at Telankheri. The force arrived near the residency and occupied the twin hills of Sitabuldi. This movement was executed only just in time, as a large group of Arabs, hired as mercenaries by the Maratha army, were awaiting final orders to secure this position. A message was also sent to General Doveton to come immediately with the Second Division of the Army from Berar.

Battleground

The high ground of Sitabuldi is rocky and devoid of trees, so it was not possible to dig any entrenchments on the two hills in the available time. Choti Tekri, the northernmost of the two hillocks, is lower in height, but was within musket range of Badi Tekri, so securing that ground was considered essential. The suburbs of the city came close to Choti Tekri.

British forces

A brigade of two Battalions of 20 and 24 Madras Native Infantry

Two companies of Native Infantry

Three troops of Bengal Native Cavalry

Four six-pounder guns marines by Europeans of the Madras Artillery

Resident Escorts (British Imperial Army)

Disposition of British troops, 26 November 1817

• Chotti Tekri: 24 Battalion Madras Native Infantry with one 6-pounder gun

• Badi Tekri: 20 Battalion Madras Native Infantry with two 6-pounder guns

• Residency: Resident escorts, three troops of Bangal Native Cavalry, two infantry companies, and one 6 pounder gun

Marathas forces

Infantry: About 18,000 troops

Cavalry: 2000 Maratha Cavalry

Artillery: 26 or 36 guns

Battle

Badi Tekri was occupied by about 800 men under Lieutenant Colonel Scott. About 300 men of the 24th Regiment under Captain Saddle were posted on Choti Tekri with one 6-pounder gun. On the other side of the hill, the suburbs gave cover to the Maratha troops, especially the Arabs, who throughout the day on 26 November were gathering in large numbers. The Arabs began the battle in the evening by opening fire on Choti Tekri. The engagement lasted until the early hours of the morning, when it slackened somewhat. Several times during the night the Arabs tried to capture the hill. Although they were repulsed, they inflicted heavy casualties. Captain Saddle was shot and killed. As the ranks of 24th Regiment were thinned, reinforcements were sent down from the 20th Regiment, who were occupying the upper hill. At dawn on 27 November, the British troops were still holding on in an isolated position. At 5:00 am, the few remaining men of the 24th Regiment, being utterly exhausted, were withdrawn. Their place was taken by the Residents Escorts, with orders to confine their defence to the summit of the lower hill. The fight continued until 9:00 the next morning, when the Arabs charged and captured the hill. They turned the captured gun against the higher hill position.

The Maratha Cavalry and Infantry closed in from all sides and prepared for a general assault. The Arabs broke into the huts of the English troops and ransacked them. Some Maratha cavalry entered the residency compound. Captain Fitzgerald, in command of three troops of Bengal Cavalry and some horsemen of the resident escorts, had been requesting permission to charge, but his request was repeatedly turned down. Seeing the impending destruction, he made a last request. "Tell him to charge at his peril", Colonel Scott replied. "At my peril be it", said Captain Fitzgerald. He and his troops then charged some of the enemy cavalry, killed some of their supporting infantry, and captured their two guns. When the infantry posted on the hill witnessed this exploit, they became freshly animated. Just then an explosion of ammunition took place amongst the Arabs on the lower hill. The British troops rushed forward and pursued the Arabs down the hill, took two of their guns, and returned to their position. The Arabs rallied with the intention of attempting to recover the lost ground. As they we getting ready to come up, a troop of cavalry under Colonel Smith ced around the base of the hill, attacked the Arabs in the flank, and dispersed them. The British troops now advanced from the hill, drove the infantry from the adjoining hills, and by noon the conflict was over. The British lost 367 killed and wounded, including 16 officers.

British soldiers who died in the battle of Sitabuldi were buried in graves in the fort. After their defeat in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Tipu Sultan's grandson, Nawab Kadar Ali, and eight of his associates were hanged on the ramparts of Sitabuldi fort. A mosque is maintained in the fort to mark the location of the hangings. The graves and mosque are maintained by the Indian Army as a mark of respect for the gallantry of all who died. A separate memorial has also been constructed to the soldiers who fell during the colonial period.

Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned in the fort from 10 April to 15 May 1923. King George V and Queen Mary of the United Kingdom gave audience to the people of Nagpur from the fort during their visit to British India. A pillar to commemorate the event stands in the fort. The royals were greeted by a huge crowd gathered at the area towards the present Nagpur Railway Station.

Administgration by the British: Mudhoji was deposed after a temporary restoration to the throne, after which the British placed Raghoji III Bhonsale the grandchild of Raghoji II, on the throne. During the rule of Raghoji III (which lasted till 1853), the region was administered by a British resident. In 1854 the British annexed Nagpur, after Raghoji III had died some months before without leaving an heir.

Central Provinces and Berar, 1903. Princely states are shown in yellow. In 1861, the Nagpur Province (which consisted of the present Nagpur region, Chhindwara, and Chhattisgarh and existed from 1854 to 1861) became part of the Central Provinces and came under the administration of a commissioner under the British central government, with Nagpur as its capital. Tata Group started the country's first textile mill at Nagpur,[6] formally known as Central India Spinning and Weaving Company Ltd. The company was popularly known as "Empress Mills" as it was inaugurated on 1 January 1877, the day Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India.

Hislop college was the first and foremost college in Nagpur and it was established in 1846. In June 1885, the second college in Nagpur was established, the Morris College, Nagpur, and it was the first government college. All Saints Cathedral is the first Anglican Church. Bishop Cotton School is the first school which was established by Anglicans in Nagpur. References are to be found in The History Of All Saints Cathedral. Berar was added in 1903. Political activity in Nagpur during India's freedom struggle included hosting of two annual sessions of the Indian National Congress. The Non-cooperation movement was launched in the Nagpur session of 1920. In August 1923, the University of Nagpur was established by the education department of Central Province Government. In 1925, K. B. Hedgewar founded RSS, a Hindu nationalist organization in Nagpur with an idea of creating a Hindu nation.

After Indian Independence in 1947, Central Provinces and Berar became a province of India, and in 1950 became the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, again with Nagpur as its capital. However, when the Indian states were reorganized along linguistic lines in 1956, the Nagpur region and Berar were transferred to Bombay state, which in 1960 was split between the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. At a formal public ceremony on 14 October 1956 in Nagpur, B. R. Ambedkar along with his supporters converted to Buddhism starting Dalit Buddhist movement which is still active. In 1994, the city witnessed its most violent day in modern times due to the Gowari stampede deaths.

The Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle) are a prominent group within the Maratha clan system. Traditionally a warrior clan, some members served as rulers of several states in India, the most prominent being Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha Empire which displaced the Mughal Empire as the preeminent political and military power in India. His successors ruled as Chhatrapatis (maharajas) from their capital at Satara, although de facto rule of the empire passed to the Peshwas, the Maratha hereditary chief ministers, during the reign of Shahu I. In addition to the Bhonsle chhatrapatis of Satara, rulers of the Bhonsle clan established themselves as junior branch of chhatrapatis at Kolhapur, and as maharajas of Nagpur in modern-day Maharashtra in the 18th century. After the British defeat of the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, the four Bhonsle dynasties continued as rulers of their princely states, acknowledging British suzerainty while retaining local autonomy. The states of Satara, Thanjavur, and Nagpur came under direct British rule in the mid-nineteenth century when their rulers died without male heirs, although the British allowed titular adoptions to take place. Kolhapur state remained autonomous until India's independence in 1947, when the rulers acceded to the Indian government.

Akkalkot State, Sawantwadi Stateand Barshi were amongst other prominent states ruled by the Bhonsles.

Origins: The Bhonsles originated among the populations of the Deccani tiller-plainsmen who were known by the names Kunbi and Maratha. At the time of coronation of Shivaji, Bhonsles claimed their origin from Suryavanshi Sisodia Rajput. Dr. Busch, Professor at the University of Columbia states that Shivaji was not a Kshatriya as required and hence had to postpone the coronation until 1674 and hired Gaga Bhatt to trace his ancestry back to the Sisodias. While the preparations for the coronations were in process, Bhushan, a poet, wrote a poem about this genealogy claimed by Bhatt in "Shivrajbhushan". Using this example, Busch shows how even poetry was an "important instrument of statecraft" at the time.]Some scholars suggest that Pandit Gaga Bhatt was secured in charge of authoritatively declaring him a Kshatriya. He was made a compliant, and he accepted the Bhonsle pedigree as fabricated by the secretary Balaji Avji, and declared that Rajah was a Kshatriya, descended from the Maharanas of Udaipur. The Brahman acknowledgement of Kshatriyahood is therefore taken as political. The

passage from the Dutch records suggest the plausibility of this argument. The report of Shivaji's coronation in the contemporary Dutch East India Company archives indicates that Shivaji's claim was contested twice at the ceremony itself. Firstly the Brahmins did not want to grant him the status of Kshatriya and then they refused him the recitation of the Vedas, indicating Shivaji was admitted to the fold of the higher varnas as far as the sign of the sacred thread was concerned, but restricted in their use of the concomitant ritual rights including the recitation of the Vedas. Historians such as Surendra Nath Sen and V. K. Rajwade reject the Sisodia origin by citing the temple inscription of Math, dated to 1397 A.D and holds the view that the genealogy was forged by Shivaji's men. According to R. C. Dhere, Bhonsles are descendants of the founder of Shikhar, Balip. He argues that the name Bhonsle is linguistically descended from

'Hoysala'. There is a branch of Bhonsle clan extant in Maharashtra that goes by the name 'Śirsāṭ Bhosale' and Balip's full name, from inscriptional sources cited by Dhere, was 'Baliyeppā Gopati Śirsāṭ'. Some Mudhol firmans in the possession of the Rajah of Mudhol claim the descent of the Ghorpades under the Adil Shahs and the Bhonsles, from the Sisodia Rajputs of Udaipur. However historians consider these firmans spurious as these are the copies (not originals), written by a scholar of Bijapur dated to c.1709, much after the coronation of Shivaji. André Wink, a professor of History at University of Wisconsin–Madison, states that the Sisodia genealogical claim is destined to remain disputed forever.

Following historical evidence, Shivaji's claim to Rajput, and specifically Sisodia ancestry may be interpreted as being anything from tenuous at best, to inventive in a more extreme reading.

House of Nagpur

• Raghoji Raje Bhonsle of Nagpur

• Raghoji I (1738–1755)

• Janoji (1755–1772)

• Mudhoji I (1772–1788)

• Raghoji II (1788–1816)

• Mudhoji II (1816–1818)

• Raghoji III (1818–1853)

Gond kingdom

The historical record of the Nagpur kingdom begins in the early 18th century, when it formed part of the Gond Kingdom of Deogarh, in what is now Chhindwara District. Bakht Buland, the ruler of Deogharh, visited Delhi and afterwards was determined to encourage the development of his own kingdom. To this end he invited Hindu and Muslim artisans and cultivators to settle in the plains country, and founded the city of Nagpur. His successor, Chand Sultan, continued the development of the country, and moved his capital to Nagpur.

Raghoji I Bhonsale (1739–1755)

An inside view of Nagardhan Fort in Nagpur district, commissioned by Raghoji Bhonsale.

On Chand Sultan's death in 1739, there were disputes as to his succession, and his widow invoked the aid of the Maratha leader Raghoji Bhonsale, who was governing Berar on behalf of the Maratha Chatrapati. The Bhonsale family were originally headmen from Deur, a village in Satara District. Raghoji's grandfather and his two brothers had fought in the armies of Shivaji, and to the most distinguished of them was entrusted a high military command and the role of collecting chauth (tribute) in Berar. Raghoji, on being called in by the contending Gond factions, replaced the two sons of Chand Sultan on the throne from which they had been ousted by a usurper. Raghoji then retired back to Berar with a suitable reward for his assistance. Dissentions, however, broke out between the brothers, and in 1743 Raghoji again intervened at the request of the elder brother and drove out his rival. But he had not the heart to give back, for a second time, the country he held within his grasp. Burhan Shan, the Gond raja, though allowed to retain the outward insignia of royalty, became practically a state pensioner, and all real power passed to Raghoji Bhonsale who became the first Maratha ruler of Nagpur. Bold and decisive in action, Raghoji was the archetype of a Maratha leader; he saw in the troubles of other states an opening for his own ambition, and did not even require a pretext for plunder and invasion. Twice his armies invaded Bengal, and he obtained the cession of Cuttack. Chanda, Chhattisgarh, and Sambalpur were added to his dominions between 1745 and 1755, the year of his death.

Janoji, Madhoji I, and Raghoji II Bhonsale (1755–1816)

Main entrance of the Nagardhan Fort, built by the Bhonsale dynasty of the Maratha Empire His successor Janoji took part in the wars between the Peshwa and the Nizam of Hyderabad. After he had in turn betrayed both of them, they united against him and sacked and burnt Nagpur in 1765.

On Janoji's death on 21 May 1772, his brothers fought for the succession, until Mudhoji shot the other on the battlefield of Panchgaon, six miles (10 km) south of Nagpur, and succeeded to the regency on behalf of his infant son Raghoji II Bhonsale who was Janoji's adopted heir. In 1785 Mandla and the upper Narmada valley were added to the Nagpur dominions by treaty with the Peshwa. Mudhoji had courted the favor of the British East India Company, and this policy was continued for some time by Raghoji II, who acquired Hoshangabad and the lower Narmada valley. But in 1803 he united with Daulatrao Sindhia of Gwalior against the British. The two leaders were decisively defeated at the battles of Assaye and Argaon, and by the Treaty of Deogaon of that year Raghoji ceded Cuttack, southern Berar, and Sambalpur to the British, although Sambalpur was not relinquished until 1806.

Until the close of the 18th century the Maratha administration had been on the whole good, and the country had prospered. The first four of the Bhonsales were military chiefs with the habits of rough soldiers, connected by blood and by constant familiar interaction with all their principal officers. Descended from a class of cultivators, they favored and fostered that order. They were rapacious, but seldom cruel to the lower castes. Up to 1792 their territories were seldom the theater of hostilities, and the area of cultivation and revenue continued to increase under a fairly equitable and extremely simple system of government. After the treaty of Deogaon, however, all this changed. Raghoji II was deprived of a third of his territories, and he attempted to make up the loss of revenue from the remainder. The villages were mercilessly rack-rented, and many new taxes imposed. The pay of the troops was in arrears, and they maintained themselves by plundering the cultivators. At the same time the raids of the Pindaris commenced, who became so bold that in 1811 they advanced to Nagpur and burnt the suburbs. It was at this time that most of the numerous village forts were built; on the approach of these marauders the peasantry retired to the forts and fought for bare life, all they possessed outside the walls being already lost to them.

Mudhoji II Bhonsale (1817–1818)

On the death of Raghoji II in 1816, his son Parsoji was supplanted and murdered by Mudhoji II Bhonsale, also known as Appa Sahib, son of Vyankoji, brother of Raghoji II, in 1817. A treaty of alliance providing for the maintenance of a subsidiary force by the British was signed in this year,[1] a British resident having been appointed to the Nagpur court since 1799. In 1817, on the outbreak of war between the British and the Peshwa, Appa Sahib threw off his cloak of friendship, and accepted an embassy and a title from the Peshwa. His troops attacked the British, and were defeated in the action at Sitabuldi, and a second time close to Nagpur city. As a result of these battles the remaining portion of Berar and the territories in the Narmada valley were ceded to the British. Appa Sahib was reinstated to the throne, but shortly afterwards was discovered to be again conspiring, and was deposed and sent to Allahabad in custody. On the way, however, he bribed his guards and escaped, first to the Mahadeo Hills and subsequently to the Punjab.

Raghoji III (1818–1853) Bhonsale and British rule

A grandchild of Raghoji II was then placed on the throne, and the territories were administered by the resident from 1818 to 1830, in which year the young ruler known as Raghoji III was allowed to assume the actual government. He died without a male heir in 1853, and the kingdom was annexed by the British under the doctrine of lapse. The former kingdom was administered as Nagpur Province, under a commissioner appointed by the Governor-General of India, until the formation of the Central Provinces in 1861. During the revolt of 1857 a scheme for an uprising was formed by a regiment of irregular cavalry in conjunction with the disaffected Muslims of the city, but was frustrated by the prompt action of the civil authorities, supported by Madras troops from Kamptee. Some of the native officers and two of the leading Muslims of the city were hanged from the ramparts of the fort, and the disturbances ended. The aged princess Baka Bai, widow of Raghoji II, used all her influence in support of the British, and by her example kept the Maratha districts loyal.

About: The Raj Gond. Gondi (Gōndi) or Gond or Koitur are an Indian ethnic group. They speak Gondi language which is a Dravidian language. They are one of the largest tribal group in India. They are spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra (Vidarbha), Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. They are listed as a Scheduled Tribe for the purpose of India's system of positive discrimination. They are an Adivasi group (indigenous people) of India.

The Gond are also known as the Raj Gond. The term was widely used in 1950s, but has now become almost obsolete, probably because of the political eclipse of the Gond Rajas. The Gondi language is closely related to the Telugu, belonging to the Dravidian family of languages. The 2011 Census of India recorded about 2.98 million Gondi speakers.

According to the 1971 census, their population was 5.01 million. By the 1991 census, this had increased to 9.3 million and by the 2001 census the figure was nearly 11 million. For the past few decades they have been witnesses to the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency in the central part of India. Gondi people, at the behest of the Chhattisgarh government, formed the Salwa Judum, an armed militant group to fight the Naxalite insurgency.

History:

Scholars believe that Gonds ruled in Gondwana, now in eastern Madhya Pradesh and western Odisha, between the 13th and 19th centuries AD. Muslim writers described a rise of Gond state after the 14th century. Gonds ruled in four kingdoms (Garha-Mandla, Deogarh, Chanda, and Kherla) in central India between the 16th and 18th centuries. They built number of forts, palaces, temples, tanks and lakes during the rule of the Gonds dynasty. The Gondwana kingdom survived until the late 16th century. They also gained control over the Malwa after the decline of the Mughals followed by the Marathas in 1690. The Maratha power swept into Gondland in the 1740s. The Marathas overthrew the Gond Rajas (princes) and seized most of their territory, while Some Gond zamindaris (estates) survived until recently.

Science

Many astronomical ideas were known to ancient Gonds Gonds had their own local terms for the Sun, Moon, constellations and Milky Way. Most of these ideas were basis for their time-keeping and calendrical activities. Other than Gonds, the Banjaras and Kolams are also known to have knowledge of astronomy. Most Gond people follow folk Hinduism which retained the animist beliefs of nature and ancestor worship. Some Gonds also practice Sarnaism. Gonds worship a high god known as Baradeo, whose alternate names are Bhagavan, Sri Shambu Mahadeo, and Persa Pen, and Baradeo oversees activities of lesser gods such as clan and village deities, as well as ancestor. Baradeo is respected but he does not receive fervent devotion, which is shown only to clan and village deities, as well as ancestor and totems.

Their typical reaction to death has been described as one of anger because they believe it is caused by magical demons. Pola, a cattle festival, Naga panchami and Dassera are their major festivals.

Religion:

Many Gonds worship Ravana, whom they consider to be the tenth dharmaguru of their people and the ancestor-king of one of their four lineages. They also worship Kupar Lingo as their supreme deity and their ancestor before Ravana. On Dussehra, the Gondi inhabitants of Paraswadi carry an image of Ravana riding an elephant in a procession to worship him, and protest the burning of Ravana's effigies. Their worship of Ravana is also a way to resist pressure from Christian missionaries and right-wing Hindu groups and preserve their own culture.

The Kalidas Memorial at Kamptee

Early Modern History

From 1853 to 1861, the Nagpur Province (which consisted of the present Nagpur region, Chhindwara, and Chhattisgarh) became part of the Central Provinces and Berar and came under the administration of a commissioner under the British central government, with Nagpur as its capital. Berar was added in 1903. The advent of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIP) in 1867 spurred its development as a trade centre. Tata group started its first textile mill at Nagpur, formally known as Central India Spinning and Weaving Company Ltd. The company was popularly known as "Empress Mills" as it was inaugurated on 1 January 1877, the day queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India.

The non-co-operation movement was launched in the Nagpur session of 1920. The city witnessed a Hindu–Muslim riot in 1923 which had profound impact on K. B. Hedgewar, who in 1925 founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organisation in Mohitewada Mahal, Nagpur with an idea of creating a Hindu nation. After the 1927 Nagpur riots RSS gained further popularity in Nagpur and the organisation grew nationwide. After Indian independence

After India gained independence in 1947, Central Provinces and Berar became a province of India. In 1950, the Central Provinces and Berar was reorganised as the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh with Nagpur as its capital.[54] When the Indian states were reorganised along the linguistic lines in 1956, Nagpur and Berar regions were transferred to the state of Bombay, which was split into the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960. At a formal public ceremony held on 14 October 1956 in Nagpur, B. R. Ambedkar and his supporters converted to Buddhism, which started the Dalit Buddhist movement that is still active. In 1994, the city of Nagpur witnessed its most violent day in modern times in the form of Gowari stampede. Nagpur completed 300 years of establishment in the year 2002. A big celebration was organised to mark the event.