RANI DURGAVATI
CONTEXT:
- Recently, Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh launched the six-day Rani Durgavati Gaurav Yatra.
ABOUT RANI DURGAVATI:
- Rani Durgavati is said to have been born in 1524, in Mahoba’s Chandela dynasty.
- The region comes under present-day Uttar Pradesh, near the southern border with MP.
- Her father was Raja Salbahan of Ratha and Mahoba, and the Chandelas were known for building the famous Khajuraho temples in the 11th century.
- She was later married to Dalpat Shah, the son of the Gond King Sangram Shah of the kingdom of Garha-Katanga.
- This kingdom included the Narmada Valley and parts of northern MP.
- It was first welded together by Sangram Shah and is noted as one of the most powerful kingdoms of the Gond tribe.
- Durgavati, however, was widowed in 1550, a few years after her marriage.
- Her young son Bir Narayan presided over the throne in name and she then “ruled the country with great vigour and courage.”
- Historian Satish Chandra, in his book Medieval India, describes her as a good marksman, skilled at using guns, bows, and arrows.
- It was noted at the time that she was so intent on hunting tigers that “whenever she heard that a tiger had appeared she did not drink water until she shot it.”
ABOUT YATRA:
- Starting from Balaghat, Chhindwara, Singrampur (Damoh district), Dhauhani, and Kalinjar Fort in Uttar Pradesh – the natal home of the queen – the five yatras will reach Shahdol in MP on June 27.
- Home Minister Amit Shah was to inaugurate the rally in Balaghat, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to conclude the Gaurav Yatra.
- The PM was also scheduled to flag off two Vande Bharat trains from Bhopal as part of the visit to the state.
MORE ABOUT THE NEWS:
- In 2021, an award was instituted in the name of the Gond king Sangram Shah, the father-in-law of Queen Durgavati, of Rs 5 lakh for works in tribal art and culture.
- Another Gond queen, Rani Kamlapati, had Bhopal’s Habibganj station renamed after her recently.
SYLLABUS: PRELIMS, MEDIEVAL HISTORY
