The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.106

v4.c20.106

Gondwāna, which covers much of the modern Central Provinces and stretches on both sides of the Vindhya range, was another storm-centre in Aurangzīb's reign on account of its vicinity to Mālwa and Berār. The great Gond kingdom of Garha had been dismembered and ruined by Akbar and its royal line sank into obscurity in the middle of the seventeenth century, when the predominance among the Gond people passed to the chiefs of Deogarh and Chāndā. Their accumulated treasure, herds of elephants and collections of gems locally quarried, made them objects of cupidity to the Mughul government. In 1637 the imperialists had invaded the land, stormed Nāgpur (the seat of the Deogarh raja) and exacted the promise of an annual tribute. Arrears in payment led to further invasions in 1655, 1667 and 1669, and the payment of large sums as the price of peace and the promise of heavier tributes from both Deogarh and Chāndā. The Deogarh royal family embraced Islām in order to retain their lands (1670). The Chāndā raja's tribute also fell into arrears. Bakht Buland, the converted Rājā of Deogarh, was deposed in 1691 and his throne given to another Muslim Gond named Dīndār. The latter proved refractory and was expelled by a Mughul force in 1696. A brother of the Chāndā raja now secured the throne of Deogarh by turning Muslim under the name of Neknām. As both these kingdoms were now under mere lads and their old ruling branches ousted, Bakht Buland seized this opportunity and escaped from the imperial army in the Deccan where he was serving as a captain. Returning to Deogarh he raised the standard of rebellion with remarkable tenacity, resourcefulness and success; Berār and Mālwa were his happy hunting grounds and he captured Deogarh and Garha (1699). He also invited the Marāthās and Chhatra Sāl Bundelā to his aid, and with the former as allies attacked 'Alī Mardān Khān, the governor of Berār, but was defeated (1701). His disturbances, however, continued. "During Bakht Buland's reign the rich lands to the south of Deogarh, between the Waingangā and Kānhan rivers, were steadily developed. Hindu and Muhammadan cultivators were encouraged to settle in them on equal terms with Gonds, until this region became most prosperous." Many towns and villages were founded; manufacture and commerce made advances. After the death of Aurangzīb, this chief extended his kingdom over the Seonī district and the old principality of Kherlā. But on the death of his successor, Chānd Sultān (1739), the Marāthā house of Nāgpur secured his kingdom.