The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.s2.148

Language: English

v3.c29.s2.148.1

The first was Bhīm Ballār, or Ballāl, Singh, whose capital was at Sirpur and his chief stronghold Mānikgarh, in the hills west of that town. His grandson was Hīr Singh, who induced the Gonds to cultivate the land and introduced a primitive land revenue system. Hīr Singh’s grandson, Dinkar Singh, was a patron of learning, and was succeeded by his son, Rām Singh, a just ruler and a successful soldier, who extended the frontiers of his kingdom. Rām Singh was succeeded by his son, Surja Ballāl Singh, ‘one of the most romantic figures of old Gondwāna.’ Owing to the absence of any written record it is impossible to say precisely at what period he reigned. The early part of the fifteenth century has been assigned as his date, but it appears to be at least as likely that he lived early in the fourteenth century. The romantic circumstances of his supposed visit to Delhi need not be recorded here, but it is probable that he visited that city, though the fact has not been deemed worthy of mention by any trustworthy historian. From the absence of any such mention it may be inferred that the Gond story of his rendering the king of Delhi an important service by capturing the fortress of a Rājput named Mohan Singh which the Muslim officers had failed to take is fiction, as is also the story that the king rewarded him for the exploit with the title of Shāh, which no Muslim king of Delhi would have conferred.

v3.c29.s2.148.2

It is certain, however, that Surja Ballāl and all who succeeded him on the throne of Chānda used this title, in the form ‘Sāh,’ and it appears that Surja Ballāl, who was known after his visit to Delhi as Sher Sāh Ballāl Sāh, assumed it in imitation of the king of Delhi. Surja Ballāl was succeeded by his son Khāndkia Ballāl Sāh, who suffered from some disease which caused tumours and swellings on his body. Seeking a healthier capital than Sirpur he built the town of Ballālpur on the opposite side of the river. While hunting he accidentally discovered near the site on which Chānda stands a pool of water in a river bed, and, having drunk and washed himself in the water, found his disease alleviated. It was decided that the spot was the resting-place of the great god Achaleshwar, ‘the Immovable One,’ and Khāndkia, having been perfectly restored to health by further use of the water, built a new capital near the site, naming it Chandrapur, or Chānda (the Moon City). Its walls were completed by his son and successor, Hīr Sāh, who induced or compelled his subjects to undertake the cultivation of fixed holdings, and constructed many reservoirs for irrigation. His revenue from the land was assessed on the ploughs employed. He also built the citadel and the palace of Chānda, parts of which still stand.

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Of Hīr Sāh it is recorded that he paid no tribute to any foreign king, from which statement it may be inferred that his predecessors had paid tribute, probably to the Bahmanī kings of the Deccan, but the relations between that kingdom and the southern Gond state are most obscure. The kings of Chānda were not, like those of Kherla, drawn into the disputes between the kings of the Deccan and their northern neighbours, and seem wisely to have avoided such entanglements; but when Fīrūz Shāh, the eighth king of the Bahmanī dynasty, marched northwards, in 1399 or 1400, to punish Narsingh of Kherla for having invaded Berar, the fortress of Māhūr was held by a 'misbeliever,' probably a Gond from Chānda who had joined Narsingh; but he was permitted to retain the command of the fortress as governor on behalf of Fīrūz, on making submission¹. The same governor was again in rebellion in 1424, and in the following year Ahmad Shāh, the successor of Fīrūz, dealt with him in the manner already described². Continuing his march northwards Ahmad found the fortress of Kalam in the hands of a Gond chief, whom he slew or expelled, and then led a raid into Gondwāna. He probably crossed the Wardha on this occasion, and, if so, this is the only recorded instance of the invasion of the Chānda kingdom by a Muslim king.