बुंदेलखंड का दिल ...झाँसी - Gateway to Bundelkhand.

Heart of  Bundelkhand - Jhansi

Jhansi is a historic city of northern India, in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj or Pushpavati River, in the extreme south of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative headquarters of Jhansi District and Jhansi Division. This district is on the banks of the Betwa River.

The ancient name of this historical city was Balwantnagar. From 1817 to 1854 Jhansi was the capital of the princely state of Jhansi which was ruled by Maratha Rajas.

Pahuj Dam ( Image courtesy : Atul Gaur ) 

Maharaja Chhatrasal, the Bundela ruler of Panna was beset by incursions into the Bundela country by the Muslim governors of theMughal Empire. In 1729 Mohammed Khan Bangash attacked Chattrasal so later in 1732 Chhatrasal called in the aid of the Marathas to fight Mughals. The Peshwa, Baji Rao I helped Maharaja Chattrasal and they jointly defeated the Mughal army.

The town of Jhansi and surroundings were the stronghold of the Chandela rulers. Balwant Nagar was the name of this place; however in 11th century Jhansi lost its importance. In 17th century under Raja Bir Singh Deo I (r. 1605–1627) of Orchha rose to prominence again. Raja Bir Singh Deo had good relations with the Mughal emperor Jehangir. In five year construction period (1613–1618) Raja Bir Singh Deo got constructed the Jhansi fort and around it got established a Balwant Nagar, which later on came to be known as Jhansi.

According to a legend the Raja of Orchha was sitting on the roof of his palace with his friend, the Raja of Jaitpur, and asked the latter whether he could discern this new fort that he had built on Bangara hill, and he replied that he could see it 'jhainsi' (meaning rather indistinct). This name 'Jhainsi' in course of time became corrupted to 'Jhansi'. It was one of the most strategically situated forts of central India being built on an elevated rock rising out of the plain and commanding the city and the surrounding country.

Peshwa Baji Rao I was rewarded by the bequest of one-third of the Maharaja's dominions upon his death two years later and Jhansi was included in this part, thus Jhansi became a Maratha territory.^[2]

The Maratha general developed the city of Jhansi, and peopled it with inhabitants from Orchha state. In 1742 Naroshanker was made thesubedar of Jhansi.^[3] During his tenure of 15 years he not only extended the Jhansi fort which was of strategic importance but also constructed some other buildings. The extended part of the fort is called Shankergarh. In 1757 Naroshanker was called back by the Peshwa; his successor was Madhav Govind Kakirde who was himself succeeded by Babulal Kanahai, who governed the area from 1757-66. Next in the line of subedars was Vishwas Rao Laxman (1766-1769) who was followed by Raghunath Rao II Newalkar. He was a very able administrator and succeeded in increasing the revenue of the state. The Maha Lakshmi Temple and the Raghunath Temple were built by him.

About A.D. 8oo the Parihar dynasty, are said to have been ousted by the Chandels, and Dangha Varma, a chief of the Chandel Rajputs, appears to have established the earliest paramount power in Bundelkhand, trying to unite most of the local chieftains, towards the close of the 10th century A.D. Under his dynasty the area attained its greatest splendour in the early part of the 11th century, when its raja, whose dominions extended from the River Jumna to the Narbadda river, marched at the head of 36,000 horse and 45,000 foot, with 640 elephants, to oppose the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni.

Although the early Bundelas appeared in 13th century AD, we don't know much about them till the middle of the 16th century when a Bundela chief called Rudra Pratap established base on the banks of the Betwa in  Orchha (literally 'hidden place'), near Jhansi, at a time when the Mughals were yet to establish their supremacy over North India.

Rudra Pratap and his immediate descendants built many magnificent structures including the Jhansi fort; the enormous Orchha fort that encloses most of the village even today;  and a soaring Ram Raja temple, the only place in India where Ram is worshipped as a king even today with martial honours.

The Bundela rulers of Orchha continued the Chandela tradition of building tanks.

Mughal rule in India was firmly established in the reign of Akbar. At this time, Orchha was ruled Rudra Pratap's grandson, Madhukar Sah, who increased the kingdom's territories and challenged the emperor's authority

When Akbar's son, Salim (later known as Jehangir) rebelled, a son of Madhukar Sah, Bir Singh, sided with Salim and arranged to kill Abul Fazl, a high ranking advisor of Akbar.

HH Saramad-i-Rajha-i-Bundelkhand Maharaja Mahendra Sawai Shri Sir VIR SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur

When Salim alias Jahangir ascended the Delhi throne, he rewarded Bir Singh by granting him Orchha and a high rank in the Mughal court.

In his later years, Bir Singh quarelled with his Mughal patron and there were feuds within the family itself, leading eventually to the creation of another Bundela state, Datia. Another state, Chanderi, had been formed even earlier.

These states were eventually recognised by Mughal rulers, in return for armed support supplied by Bundela in wars fought by the Mughal rulers in other parts of India, notably the Deccan.

While the Bundela states occupied parts of Chhatarpur, Lalitpur, Jhansi and Datia districts, much of the rest of Bundelkhand was under Mughal rule, under the subahs or provinces of Agra, Malwa and Allahabad.

Akbar's favourite minister, Birbal, held Kalinjar as his jagir.  Islamic religious and cultural centres came up at Kalpi (Hamirpur), Banda and Mahoba.

Maharaj Chhatrasal,

In the late 17th century, when Mughal power began to wane, arose one of Bundelkhand's great historical figures: Maharaj Chhatrasal,  founder of an independent kingdom and a second line of Bundela rulers.In his early life Chhatrasal did military service for the Mughals in the Deccan and during this time he is believed to have met Chattrapati Shivaji, who inspired him to found an independent kingdom.

Another influence on his life is believed to be a charismatic religious leader called Prannath, who founded the Pranami sect, which rejects caste barriers and reveres both Hindu and Muslim religious texts.The weak Moghul emperors who followed Aurangazeb recognised Chhattrasal's rule. 

However, as he expanded his territory into the district of Jhansi, the Mughal governor of Allahabad, Muhammed Khan Bangash, counterattacked with great force, compelling Chhatrasal to seek help from the other great power of the time, the Marathas, led by Peshwa Baji Rao in Pune.

Maratha armies helped the Bundelas deliver a humbling defeat to Bangash in 1729 and before he died two years later, Chhatrasal conferred a third of his kingdom to the Peshwa.