Dalpat Shah was the 49th ruler of the

Garha Kingdom The Garha Kingdom, also called Garha Mandla or Garha Katanga was northern part of Gondwana. History The first Gond king of Garha-Mandla was Jadurai. He became king after disposing the Kalchuri Rajputs of Garha-Mandla, where earlier he worked in ...

, which controlled the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

region of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

. His reign was short, he died in 1550, leaving the kingdom in the hands of his able wife

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 Sangr ...

, acting as a regent for their son Vir Narayan. Dalpat Shah was the son of a Kachavāhā Rajput who had been adopted by the raja of Gadha Mandla,

Sangram Shah Sangram Shah was a king of the Garha Kingdom of Gondwana, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Sangram Shah, who belonged to the Gond Dynasty in central India, was the 48th and most well known ruler of the dynasty, and during his reign he had c ...

, the 48th and the greatest ruler of Gadha Mandla. Dalpat is best known as the husband of

, one of the greatest Gond rulers in history, her bravery and for defending the

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

against the forces led by

Asaf Khan I Asaf Khan I was a Muslim Tajik nobleman of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Akbar. He was governor of Ilahabad Subah and participated in many Mughal military expeditions, leading the Mughal conquest of Garha in 1564 and serving in the Bat ...

sent by the mighty Mughal emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

Biography

Dalpat Shah was the adopted son of the 48th and greatest Gond ruler,

. He was said to be a brave lad with an outstanding personality.

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 Sangr ...

was a skilled and beautiful princess of a minor branch of the

Chandelas of Jejakabhukti The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called ''Jejakabhukti'') between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs. ...

which ruled at

Mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara image ...

, whose father was Keerat Rai or Shalivahan. Various tales describe why her father agreed to marry his daughter to a man of 'low' caste. A popular story says that

had heard how brave and handsome Dalpat Shah was and sent him a private message, asking him to come and win her hand by defeating her father. Dalpat Shah obliged and invaded Mahoba in 1544 AD with 50,000 troops (the number is extremely unlikely to be accurate), defeated Shalivahan and won Durgavati's hand in marriage. Other stories say that

wanted a high-born and beautiful princess like Durgavati as a bride for his son, matching his qualities as a part of his rise to high social status. Her father agreed, either because he gained a strong ally or because he was paid a large sum of money. Then Dalpat took Durgavati to Singhorgarh, the Gondi capital, and married her in c. 1542. He succeeded his father

as the king of

Garha-Mandla The Garha Kingdom, also called Garha Mandla or Garha Katanga was northern part of Gondwana. History The first Gond king of Garha-Mandla was Jadurai. He became king after disposing the Kalchuri Rajputs of Garha-Mandla, where earlier he worked in ...

. Many tales also describe Dalpat as belonging to a high caste to make their marriage much more acceptable. According to

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 ...

, who was childless, convinced one of his employees, Govind Das, a

Kachhwaha The Kachhwaha or Kachawa is a Rajput clan found primarily in India. Sometimes families within the clan ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states, such as Jaipur State, Jaipur, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Alwar State, Alwar and M ...

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

, to let his wife give birth in the palace and claimed the child as his own, making Dalpat Shah of

birth. In 1545, they had a son named Vir Narayan. When the boy was only four, Dalpat Shah fell severely ill and died in 1550, leaving the kingdom in the hands of his wife Durgavati, who would act as a regent on behalf of her son.

References

16th-century Indian monarchs {{more cats, date=October 2020