Gingee, also known as Senji or Jinji and originally called Singapuri, is a
panchayat town in
Viluppuram district in the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n
state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. Gingee is located between three hills covering a perimeter of 3 km, and lies west of the
Sankaraparani River.
History
The founding of the Kon dynasty established
Gingee Fort as a fortified royal center. The Gingee country then came under the rule of the
Hoysalas in the later part of the 13th and in the first half of the 14th century. From the Hoysalas, it passed to the first rulers of the
Vijayanagara empire
The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...
. The imperial Vijayanagara dominion gradually expanded over Southern India and divided the administration of the tamil country into three important provinces, which were assigned to the
Nayaks. These were the
Nayaks of Madurai,
Nayaks of Tanjore, and
Nayaks of Gingee. Information about the Gingee Nayaks and their rule is very scant. It is said that
Tupakula Krishnappa Nayaka (1490 to 1521) of a Chandragiri family was the founder of the Nayaka line of Gingee kings. He seems to have ruled along the coast from
Nellore
Nellore is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of the district, as well as Nellore mandal and Nellore revenue division. It is the List of cities in ...
to the
Kollidam River up to 1521. Under the Nayaks the forts were strengthened and the town was greatly enlarged.
![Krishnagiri Fort Hill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Krishnagiri_Fort_Hill.jpg)
The last Nayak of Gingee was forced to surrender to the invading
Bijapur Sultanate army towards the end of December 1649. The booty acquired by the
Turko-Persian
The composite Turko-Persian, Turco-Persian
''Turko-Persia in historical perspective'', Cambridge University Press, ...
sultan of Bijapur was 20 crore rupees in cash and jewels. Gingee assumed a new and enhanced strategic importance under the Bijapur governors. Bijapur was in possession of the fortress of Senji until 1677, when the
Maratha
The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...
monarch
Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj conquered it in his Carnatic expedition. The Marathas greatly strengthened and fortified its defences.
The
Mughal
Mughal or Moghul may refer to:
Related to the Mughal Empire
* Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries
* Mughal dynasty
* Mughal emperors
* Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia
* Mughal architecture
* Mug ...
s were then able to capture Gingee Fort from the
Maratha emperor Rajaram I
Rajaram Bhosle I (Pronunciation: aːd͡ʒaɾaːm – 3 March 1700) was the third ''Chhatrapati'' of Maratha Empire, who ruled from 1689 to his death in 1700. He was the second son of the Shivaji, the founder of the empire and younger half- ...
early in 1698, after a siege of seven years.
Zulfikar Khan, the son of
Asad Khan, the Grand Vizier in the court of the
Turko-Persian
The composite Turko-Persian, Turco-Persian
''Turko-Persia in historical perspective'', Cambridge University Press, ...
Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb
Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...
, was in command of the siege operation of Senji and later its governance till he left the Carnatic after about a year from its fall.
After that, Aurangzeb granted a mansab of 2,500 rank and
jagir
A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, start ...
of 12 lakhs to
Raja Swarup Singh, his
Bundela Rajput servant
A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
, along with the killedari (Fort Commandership) of Gingee in 1700. Raja Swarup Singh died of old age in 1714. His arrears of payments due to the
faujdari amounted to 70 lakhs, being a defaulter for ten years. The Nawab of Arcot reported this matter to the Mughal emperor at Delhi. Hearing about the death of his father,
Desingh
Raja Desingh or Raja Tej Singh was a king of the Bundela Rajput who ruled Gingee in 1714 CE.
Background
The Mughal Empire defeated the Maratha Empire at Gingee in February 1698.
In return for military services, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, ...
, the son of Raja Swarup Singh, started for Gingee from
Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion lyin ...
, his ancestral home.
On arriving at Gingee, Desingh assumed the governance of Gingee after performing the last rites of his father. Aurangazeb had granted a
firman
A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...
to his father and Desingh took formal possession of his father's jagir on the ground of his hereditary right. Desingh did not receive a warm welcome from the Mughal officers. The Nawab of Arcot,
Saadatullah Khan I
Sa'adatullah Khan I or Sa'adatullah Khan was Nawab of Carnatic (r.1710–1732) and founder of Nawayath dynasty. He was an adventurer from Konkan in Maharashtra.
Life
Mohammed Sayyid was the last mughal governor who was appointed as Nawab of ...
, who attempted to dispossess Desingh, pleaded that the firman was not valid. When Payya Ramakrishna, who was his secretary, informed him of the legal necessity of getting the firman renewed by the new Emperor before assuming the jagir, Desingh replied that he had got the firman of Aurangzeb and that he need not apply to anybody else.
In fact after capturing the fort from Marathas, Aurangzeb had first appointed Nawab Daud Khan as the deputy
subahdar
Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of India who w ...
of the Deccan. Nawab Daud Khan removed his headquarters from Gingee to the town of
Arcot
Arcot (natively spelt as Ārkāḍu) is a town and urban area of Ranipet district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Located on the southern banks of Palar River, the city straddles a trade route between Chennai and Bangalore or Salem, between t ...
, as he believed that the place was not healthy. This diminished the importance of Gingee. While shifting his headquarters, Daud Khan appointed Sadatullah Khan as his Diwan and Faujdar in 1708. Sadatullah Khan later became the Nawab of the two Carnatics in 1713, under Nizam-Ul-Mulk. He was the regular and acknowledged Nawab of the Carnatic between the years 1710 and 1732. After the death of Raja Swarup Singh he renewed the demand for the arrears of revenue with his son Raja Desingh. This led to a battle between the two, which unfortunately ended in the death of the young and valiant
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 ...
, Desingh on 3 October 1714. He struggled at the young age of 22, against the powerful Nawab Sadatulla Khan of Arcot in a struggle that was hopeless from the outset (Desingh's army consisted of only 350 horses and 500 troopers, while the Nawab's army had 8,000 horsemen and 10,000 sepoys). Ballads are sung in and around Gingee about his bravery. However, the fortress of Gingee lost its pre-eminent position and political importance within a few years of the extinction of the Rajput rule.
![Throne in Krishnagiri Fort](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Throne_in_Krishnagiri_Fort.jpg)
Subsequently, the English and the French competed for the control of Gingee and the French won it for themselves on 11 September 1750, under the initiative of
Marquis de Bussy
Charles Joseph Patissier, Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau (8 February 1718 or 8 February 1720 – 7 January 1785) or Charles Joseph Patissier de Bussy was the Governor General of the French colony of Pondicherry from 1783 to 1785. He served with dis ...
, the Governor-General of
Pondicherry. They took good care to secure the fort with a strong garrison, which was well supported with artillery and ammunition.
Gingee remained firmly in French possession until after the fall of Pondicherry to
Sir Eyre Coote
Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote, KB (1726 – 28 April 1783) was a British soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1780. He is best known for his many years of service with the British Army in India. His victory a ...
in January 1761. The English commander was Captain Stephen Smith. With the British conquest of Gingee, the French lost their last possession in the Carnatic.
![Throne in Gingee Fort Hill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Throne_in_Gingee_Fort_Hill.jpg)
Gingee regained its political importance for the last time in 1780, when
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...
of Mysore, helped by some able French officers, invaded the Carnatic with a force of 90,000 men. Hyder's men appeared before the fortress and easily carried it by their assault in November 1780. The English re-conquered it at the close of the
Second Mysore War
The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the conflict between Britain against the French and Dutch in t ...
from
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...
in 1799. After that Gingee had been free from the ravages and anarchy of war, but subject to desolation and decay. During the frequent Indo-French Wars, the British resident wanted the fort and the fortification to be demolished. Luckily his suggestion was not accepted and the Fort remains for us to experience and relive the history.
The presence of
Turko-Persian
The composite Turko-Persian, Turco-Persian
''Turko-Persia in historical perspective'', Cambridge University Press, ...
Muslim rulers in Gingee is evident from the inhabitants of a nearby village called Minambur, where the Urdu speaking Navaitha Muslims living with their unique culture and tribes such as Shakir, Koken, Bhanday Bhonday, Choudary, Pappa, Aghalay, Hazari, Amberkhani, Sayeed etc.
Gingee Fort
Gingee is famous for its
Gingee Fort, a popular tourist attraction. The
Kon dynasty laid the foundations for the Gingee Fort in 1190 CE. The fort was later built up by the
Imperial Cholas in the 12th century. It then passed from the
Hoysala Emperors to the
Emperors of Vijayanagara. In 1638, Gingee came under the control of the
Turko-Persian
The composite Turko-Persian, Turco-Persian
''Turko-Persia in historical perspective'', Cambridge University Press, ...
Bijapur Sultanate. In 1677, the great
Maratha
The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...
monarch
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adilsh ...
conquered it. In 1690, it was captured by the
Turko-Persian
The composite Turko-Persian, Turco-Persian
''Turko-Persia in historical perspective'', Cambridge University Press, ...
Mughal
Mughal or Moghul may refer to:
Related to the Mughal Empire
* Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries
* Mughal dynasty
* Mughal emperors
* Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia
* Mughal architecture
* Mug ...
s, when it became the headquarters of the
Carnatic. It changed hands to the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
in 1750, and then to the
British in 1762. During this time, many sculptural aspects of Gingee were shifted to
Pondicherry by the French.
To visit Gingee Fort, guides are available from archaeological office which is on the way to the fort. The office is open for visitors from 9:00 to 17:00 (9am to 5pm). The fee for visitors and tourists for visiting the fort is Rs.10.
Geography
Gingee is located at . It has an average elevation of 92 metres (301 ft).
The nearest towns with railway stations are
Tindivanam, 28 km away,
Viluppuram 38 km away and
Thiruvannamalai, 39 km away. Gingee is 147 km from
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
and 64 km from
Pondicherry. National Highway
NH 77 connects
Krishnagiri
Krishnagiri () is a city in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, and it serves as the administrative headquarters of Krishnagiri District formed in 2004. It is located at the bottom of Krishnadevaraya Hills, and the town is fully surrounded by hill ...
and
Pondicherry, passes through Gingee and State Highway SH 4 connects
Arcot
Arcot (natively spelt as Ārkāḍu) is a town and urban area of Ranipet district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Located on the southern banks of Palar River, the city straddles a trade route between Chennai and Bangalore or Salem, between t ...
and
Villupuram, passes through Gingee.
Demographics
Population
According to the
2011 census, Gingee had a population of 27,045 with a sex-ratio of 975 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.
A total of 2,893 were under the age of six, constituting 1,470 males and 1,423 females.
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
accounted for 19.8% and 1.12% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 76.4%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.
The town had a total of 6,259 households. There were a total of 10.936 workers, comprising 487 cultivators, 640 main agricultural labourers, 414 in house hold industries, 5,721 other workers, 3,664 marginal workers, 45 marginal cultivators, 1,867 marginal agricultural labourers, 330 marginal workers in household industries and 1,442 other marginal workers.
Politics
Gingee assembly constituency is part of
Arni (Lok Sabha constituency)
Arani is a Lok Sabha (Parliament of India) constituency in Tamil Nadu. Its Tamil Nadu Parliamentary Constituency number is 12 of 39. It was created during the 2008 assembly delimitation
Boundary delimitation (or simply delimitation) is the d ...
. Gingee itself a legislative constituency which is currently held by the DMK party and K.S.Masthan is currently the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Senji.
Landmarks
* Shiva temple, situated below the fort, was built during the reign of
Raja Desingh, the
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 ...
king of Gingee.
![Mel Sithamur Jain Math, Tamil Nadu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Mel_Sithamur_Jain_Math%2C_Tamil_Nadu.JPG)
*
Mel Sithamur Jain Math
Jina Kanchi Jain Math, Melsithamur, is a Jain Matha that is located near Gingee, Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu, India.
It is the primary religious center of the Tamil Jain community. It is headed by the primary religious head of this communit ...
is a
Jain Matha
A ''matha'' (; sa, मठ, ), also written as ''math'', ''muth'', ''mutth'', ''mutt'', or ''mut'', is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism. near Gingee. It is the primary religious center of the
Tamil Jain
Tamil Jains (Tamil Samaṇar, from Prakrit '' samaṇa'' "wandering renunciate") are Tamils from Tamil Nadu, India, who practice Jainism (Tamil ). The Tamil Jain is a microcommunity of around 85,000 (around 0.13% of the population of Tamil Nad ...
community.
It is headed by the primary religious head of this community,
Bhattaraka Laxmisena
Laxmisena, or Lakshmisena, is the name given to the head ( Bhattaraka) of the Mel Sithamur Jain Math.
Current position
Bhattaraka Laxmisena of the Mel Sithamur Jain Maṭha is the primary religious head of the Tamil Jain community. The Bhattara ...
Swami. The Viluppuram area has been an important centre of Jainism since ancient times. Historically, there was a Jain Math at
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...
but it was shifted to its current location here.
Gallery
Image:Gingee-Fort-Krishnagiri.jpg, Gingee Fort, Krishnagiri
Krishnagiri () is a city in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, and it serves as the administrative headquarters of Krishnagiri District formed in 2004. It is located at the bottom of Krishnadevaraya Hills, and the town is fully surrounded by hill ...
Image:GingeeFort-Rajagiri.jpg, Gingee Fort, Rajagiri Hill
Image:GingeeFort1.JPG, Gingee Fort View
File:Gingee_Jain_Temple_6.jpg, Gingee Jain temple
Image:Residence of Bhattaraka Laxmisena, Mel Sithamur Jain Math, Tamil Nadu.JPG, Residence of Bhattaraka Laxmisena
Laxmisena, or Lakshmisena, is the name given to the head ( Bhattaraka) of the Mel Sithamur Jain Math.
Current position
Bhattaraka Laxmisena of the Mel Sithamur Jain Maṭha is the primary religious head of the Tamil Jain community. The Bhattara ...
at the Mel Sithamur Jain Math
Jina Kanchi Jain Math, Melsithamur, is a Jain Matha that is located near Gingee, Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu, India.
It is the primary religious center of the Tamil Jain community. It is headed by the primary religious head of this communit ...
Notes
References
Questioning Ramayanas - by Paula RichmanThe Literary Cultures in History - by Sheldon I PollockFurther Sources of Vijayanagara History By K A Nilakanta SastryPenumbral Visions - by Sanjay Subrahmanyam*
External links
Gingee: History and Architecture
Gingee Fort
{{MarathaEmpire
Cities and towns in Viluppuram district
Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire