By Girish Kale

June 24, 1564. Back to back arrows on her arm & neck from the soldiers of Asaf Khan, who was one of the commander in chief of the Akbar’s Mughal army, made her seriously injured. The Gondwana army who was witnessing their royal queen fighting bravely against all the odds with the Mughal army suddenly realized the incoming defeat and fighting spirit was scattered seeing their beloved mother bleeding. Seeing the end, Rani Durgavati asked her trusted minister (Pradhan) to kill her. This was a scary demand from the queen and her soldiers were shocked to hear this. She was aware that if the Mughals caught her alive, her entire life would be ruined and she would be a slave of the Mughal empire. Seeing the hesitation from her soldiers, which was obvious, she took out her katar knife (dagger), and got herself stabbed with it. 3 months before she could have turned 40, Queen Durgavati laid down her life protecting Bharat and the beloved land of Gondwana.

Bharat has been the land of brave kings & queens who defended the motherland against the invaders for the last 1000+ years. May it be the British empire or the Mughals, Bharat has been at the receiving end for several decades. However, the befitting reply from most kingdoms against these invaders was one of the major reasons for limiting the spread of these foreign attackers in the majority of the country. Throughout the glorious history of Bharat, we have had several inspirational daughters and sons of Bharat Mata who not only protected the motherland but in several cases, laid down their lives which is the biggest sacrifice of patriotism. The janjaati (tribal) kingdoms & soldiers have always been at the forefront for protecting the Bharata Mata. We are all aware about the sacrifices of Bhagwan Birsa Munda, RaghojiBhangare, Tantya Bheel, Siddh-Kanho and many other freedom fighters from the janjati community. Alon with all these men, the janjati women were also fearlessly fighting against the invaders but unfortunately, thanks to the biased historians, they could never make our historical readings / books similar to the janjati men freedom fighters. To name a few apart from Rani Durgavati, Rani Fulkavar, Phulo-Jhano sisters, Jhalkaari bai, Rani Gaidenliu and several brace daughters from janjati families have contributed to Bharat’s freedom struggle.

Ashtami, October 05, 1524. The good news of the birth of a princess on the fortress of Kalinjar of Mahoba kingdom showered happiness across the entire kingdom. The Rajput king Kirti Singh and the family named her Durgavati as she was born on the Ashtami. Durgavati grew up watching her king father ruling the kingdom. Not only was she trained in war tactics but she acquired the ruler instincts from her father. At the age of 20, Durgavati was married to Dalpat Shah, the eldest son of the king Sangram Shah of the Garha-Mandla (Gondwana) kingdom. In 1545, both kingdoms welcomed the birth of the son of Dalapt Shah & Durgavti, who was named Vir Narayan.

The happiness didn’t last for longer though. King Dalpat Shah died in 1550 when Vir Narayan was just 5 years old. Queen Durgavati crowned her son as the king of the Gondwana kingdom and rose as the regent for the kingdom. She was well aware about the invasion of the Mughals and serious threat to her kingdom. To counter this, she built her army and acquired a few of the neighboring kingdoms to face the challenges in the future. Not only she focused on strengthening the army and securing the kingdom borders, but worked in parallel for the betterment of the kingdom and people as well. She relentlessly worked for public & social welfare. She built many lakes to address the recurring issues of water scarcity for domestic as well as irrigation usage. She was of the firm opinion that for any kingdom to flourish, the people of that kingdom should be happy. Then only they will be able to contribute for the betterment of the kingdom. In drought situations, not only the taxes were canceled but also support was extended to the people from the queen. We can see several of the lakes today as well which were built five centuries back in her kingdom. She used to treat everyone as a family and was fondly called ‘Mother’ by the people of her kingdom. The prosperity of the kingdom can be read in the notes of historian Abul Fazal.

But then we had the invaders surrounding and waiting for the opportunity to demolish the Hindu states, kingdoms and the religion. Jealous with the prosperous state and with an intention to acquire it, Akbar sent a message to Rani Durgavati to surrender and handover his key minster Aadhar Singh and her favorite white Elephant. There was no way that she could accept the terms and prepare herself for the war. The Mughals attacked the Gondwana army led by brave Rani Durgavati but were defeated two times. During the third attack, they came up with modern armor including canons. The Gondwana army, although weakened with the earlier battles, was ready to defend the motherland. However, with a strength of only a few hundred soldiers, it was difficult to face the Mughal army. The Queen had moved her son to a safe place but he was killed during the battle. Ignoring the personal tragedy, she focused on fighting for the Gondwana state till her last breath.

This year, we are celebrating 500th birth anniversary of this great daughter of Bharat and the ruler of Garha-Mangala Gondwana kingdom, Rani Durgavati. The spirit to work for the people of the country and to protect the motherland from foreign invaders was the objective of her life. Today, when we are seeing several foreign funded / initiated disruptions in our beloved Bharat, it’s our duty to follow the steps of Rani Durgavati. In this battle, the arms and ammunition is the false narration being created by the divisive forces. Our armed forces are capable of handling any threat at the borders but within the country, we need to be soldiers of our Bharat-Mata. The invaders are still working on the same formula of the Britishers –‘Divide and rule’. Targeting the janjati communities to uproot the rich tribal Hindu culture, efforts are being made to project them different from the Hindu religion. As always, like for the last several hundred years, we will fight together this invasion and will continue to be the united people of Bharat. As the saying is, “Gramvasi, Nagarvasi, Vanvasi, Hum sab Bharatavasi”, (Village dwellers, City dwellers or Forest dwellers, We all are Indians), let’s continue to work together to make our Bharat more prosperous.

Let’s join together to pay our tributes to Rani Durgavati and all the brave janjati freedom fighters who fearlessly fought to defend our rich culture and heritage.