Hambir Malla Dev (also known as Bir Hambir, Beera Hambeera, and Veer Hambir) was the forty-ninth king of

Mallabhum Mallabhum (The Country originally known as Mallabhoom or Mallabani bn, মল্লভূম or Bishnupur kingdom ) was the kingdom ruled by the Malla kings of Bishnupur, primarily in the present Bankura district in Indian state of West Beng ...

. He ruled from 1565 to 1620 AD.Malabhum, Bishnupur-Chandra, Manoranjan; 2004; Kolkata. Deys Publishing

Personal life

Hambir was the 49th ruler of the

Malla dynasty Malla may refer to: Places ;Bolivia *Malla, Bolivia, a locality * Malla Jawira, a river * Malla Jaqhi, a mountain * Malla Municipality * Malla Qullu, a mountain ;India * Mallapuram, Tamil Nadu *Malla (tribe), an ancient republic, one of the s ...

who flourished around 1586 AD and ruled in 16th-17th century, and was a contemporary of the

Mughal emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Akbar. He fought on the side of Akbar against the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

s and paid an annual tribute to the Mughal governors of Bengal and thus acknowledged their suzerainty.O’Malley, L.S.S., ICS, ''Bankura'', ''Bengal District Gazetteers'', pp. 21-46, first published 1908, 1995 reprint, Government of West Bengal Bir Hambir was a pious man who started following

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

. A story in two Vaishnava works (Prem-vilasa of Nityananda Das (alias Balaram Das) and Bhakti Ratnakara of Narahari Chakrabarti) recounts the manner in which Srinivasa and other devotees were robbed by Bir Hambir while travelling from

Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance in Hinduism as Krishna spent most of his childho ...

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

with a number of Vaishanava manuscripts. However, Bir Hambir was so moved by Srinivasa’s reading of Bhagavata that he converted to Vaishnavism and gave Srinivasa a rich endowment of land and money. He introduced the worship of

Madan Mohan Madan Mohan is a form of the Hindu god, Krishna. Krishna is celebrated as ''Madan Mohan'', who mesmerizes everyone. His consort, Radha is glorified as Madan Mohan's ''Mohini'', who can even mesmerise Madan Mohan (her Kahn). Radha is known as th ...

to Bishnupur.

Dev Title

During his regime (1565 to 1620), Dev title was suffixed after title Malla and Mallabhum was very safe and secured.

Battle of Mundamala Ghat

During the

Pathan Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

rule of Soleiman Karrani in Gaur, the kingdom of Bishnupur stood in a unique glory in the Rarh region of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. His reckless son

Daud Khan Karrani Daud Khan Karrani (died on 12 July 1576) was the last ruler of Bengal's Karrani dynasty as well as the final Sultan of Bengal, reigning from 1572 to 1576. During the reign of his father Sulaiman Khan Karrani, Daud commanded a massive army of 40 ...

dreamed of seizing the whole of Bengal. In this situation, in 1575 AD, Daud Khan attacked Bishnupur with a large number of Pathan troops. Revered Fakir Narayan Karmakar Mahasaya writes - "Dawood Khan suddenly came and encamped at a village called Ranisagar near Bishnupur with more than one lakh soldiers and similar ammunition." The people of Ranisagar were embarrassed by the sudden attack of Dawood Khan's army of lakhs. The Bishnupur army was still not ready for battle. At this moment, the heroic prince of Bishnupur, Hambir Malla, started the war by arming the army. The army of Bishnupur, intoxicated with the dream of victory, proceeded to subdue the enemy by worshiping the Maa Mrinmayee, the kuladevi of Mallabhum. The state of Bishnupur had total twelve forts, one of which was the Mundmal fort. Near this Mundmal Garh, the Mallabhum army attacked the

forces. After a fierce battle between the two sides, Hambir Malla defeated the

forces in such a tragic manner that the battlefield at the eastern gate of the fort was filled with the corpses of Pathan soldiers. The defeated Dawood Khan was taken prisoner. He waited for death in a state of siege. But the noble Hambir arranged for his release and reached a safe place. "There were so many corpses of the dead Nawab's soldiers at the eastern gate of the fort that it was called" Mundmalaghat ". It is said that Hambir Malla cut off the heads of the invading

soldiers, made a garland (mundamala) and offered it as a gift to the demon-destroying Maa Mrinmayidevi. He was awarded the title of "Bir Hambir" for accomplishing that difficult task.

Rashmancha

The Rashmancha is a historical building located at Bishnupur. It was commissioned by Malla king Bir Hambir in 1600 CE. During the Vaishnava Ras festival, all the Radha Krishna idols of Bishnupur town used to be brought here to be worshipped by the citizens.

Dal Madal Kaman (Cannon)

During the reign of Bir Hambir the Dal Madal, one of the largest-bored cannons even made, was founded, demonstrating the skill of artisans of that time. Dal Madal was made by Jagannath Karmakar. "Dal Madal" means "destruction of enemy". Another, eminent historian Maniklal Sinha writes, the well-known Dalmadal of the Malla Rajas. There are distinct critiques regarding the name of the cannon. Common people think that Dal and Madal are two cannons. The concept of Sanskrit-educated people is Dalmadal, came from Sanskrit name Dalmardan. However, each of the above thoughts is incorrect. Actually, Mallabhum, kingdom of Malla Rajas was dominated by Dharmathakura and a Dharamshila is known as Dalmadal. His study also suggests that the ancestor of the Karmakar family, Jagannath Karmakar who built the Dalmadal cannon and named the cannon as Dalmadal

References

Sources

website on Bankura
*

Kumkum Chatterjee Kumkum Chatterjee (née Banerjee; 12 June 1958, in Kolkata – 13 December 2012, in State College, Pennsylvania) was an Indian American historian, best known for her works ''Europe Observed: Multiple Gazes in Early Modern Encounters'' (2008) and ' ...

. "Cultural flows and cosmopolitanism in Mughal India : The Bishnupur Kingdom" in ''Indian Economic and Social History Review'' Vol. 46 (2009), p. 147-182. * *O’Malley, L.S.S., ICS, Bankura, Bengal District Gazetteers, pp. 21–46(25), 1995 reprint, first published 1908, Government of West Bengal {{Mallabhum 1620 deaths Vaishnavism Year of birth missing Date of death missing Kings of Mallabhum Mallabhum temples Artillery of India 16th-century Indian monarchs