Ajanbahu Jatbasha (also known as Jatba or King Jatav) is considered by historians to be founder of the Gond dynasty of Chhindwara and Nagpur, which ruled the present days territories of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, Chhattisgarh and part of Maharashtra in the 16th-18th centuries. Documentation of his origins and rise to power have not survived, but he is the first historical leader of the mountain

Gondi people The Gondi (Gōndi) or Gond or Koitur are a Dravidian ethno-linguistic group. They are one of the largest tribal groups in India. They are spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Prad ...

Background

The title ''ajanbahu'' means "his arms were long and his fingers reached up to his knees when standing". His family surname was "Uike". Originally, the Gond house of Devagad hailed from Haraya or Harayagad, but later on it was shifted to Devagad about 24 miles from Haraya under Jatba.

Reign

The ''Gauli'' princes were the predecessors to the Gond house of Deogarh, ruling for 70 years from 1472 to 1542. The Gond dynasty of Deogarh was founded by Jatba. ''The Indian Antiquities'' says that Jatba was a servant under two Gaoli princes, Ransur and Ghansur, and that he treacherously deposed them. In 1600, during the reign of Krishna Shah (1597-1647), the Gond king of Chanda, the independence of the Deogarh kingdom was recognized by a treaty. By this time the Gond house of Chanda had weakened and Jatba forced it to recognize its independence. thereafter the Gonds of Chanda were hostile towards Deogarh. Jatba extended his kingdom as far as

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

, constructing a fort there as an outpost. He gave '' jagirs'' mostly to

Korku people The Korku are a Munda ethnic group predominantly found in the Khandwa, Burhanpur, Betul and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh and adjoining areas near the Melghat Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra. They speak the Korku language, which is a m ...

and Ahirs. He gave the Chhater zamindari toGond zamindar of Fatehpur-Tekripur by a sanad in 1595. He was succeeded by one of his sons, Dal Shah in 1620.

Relations with the Mughals

In 1564, Akbar's general Khwaja Abdul Majid Asaf Khan had attacked Panna and made it a feudatory state. Then he attacked & defeated Garha-Katanga ruled by

Rani Durgavati Rani Durgavati (5 October 1524 – 24 June 1564) was the ruling Queen of Gondwana from 1550 until 1564. She was born in the family of Chandel Rajput king Salibahan at the fort of Mahoba. She was married to Dalpat Shah the son of the king San ...

and made it also a feudatory state with reduced boundaries. However, hee did not invade Deogarh and treated it as a border semi-independent state. He was satisfied with Deogarh accepting his suzerainty. The Mughal governors of the province allowed the Deogarh rulers to rule of their territory on payment of yearly tribute. The '' Ain-i-Akbari'' by

Abul Fazl Abul is an Arabic masculine given name. It may refer to: * Abul Kalam Azad * Abul A'la Maududi * Abul Khair (disambiguation), several people * Abul Abbas (disambiguation), several people * Abul Hasan * Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi * Abu'l-Fazl ibn ...

records that Jatba, the Gond king of Deogarh, was an ennobled vassal of Akbar and was paying annual tribute to him. It is said that Akbar visited Deogarh during Jatba's reign. The '' Ain-i-Akbari'' by

says that Jatba possessed 2,000 horses, 50,000 foot soldiers and 100 elephants- "To the east of the Kherla Sarkar lay the territories of a ''zamindar'' named Chatwa who possessed 2000 cavalry, 50,000 footmen and more than 100 elephants". This 'Chatwa' was probably Jatba. ''

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

'' Jatba visited the Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1616.

References

{{Reflist 16th-century Indian monarchs History of Chhattisgarh History of Madhya Pradesh History of Nagpur