Bakht Buland Shah was a ruler of the Rajgond dynasty. He added to his kingdom, the territories of Chanda and

Mandla Mandla is a city with municipality in Mandla district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandla District. The city is situated in a loop of the Narmada River, which surrounds it on three sides, and ...

, and portions of

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 ...

Balaghat Balaghat is a city and a municipality in Balaghat district, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Balaghat District. Wainganga River flows beside the town. Geography Balaghat is located at . It has an ...

Seoni Seoni is a city and a municipality in Seoni district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This tribal household dominated district was formed in the year 1956. Rudyard Kipling used the forests in the vicinity of Seoni, or as was spelled dur ...

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and the adjoining Rajput kingdom of Kherla/Khedla. The present districts of

Chhindwara , other_name = Corn city , nickname = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , p ...

and Betul also fell under his control. A great warrior, he went on to conquer Pauni, Dongartal, Sivni & Katangi.

Ascension to the throne

Bakht Buland's initial name was Bhagtu. After his father Kok Shah's death, a war of succession broke out. He was the younger son of Gorakh Shah, the Gond ruler of Deogarh. To save his throne from his brother, Bakht Buland went to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

in 1686 and reluctantly accepted

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

to get military assistance from the 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 ...

against his brother but with an understanding that he would dine with Muslims but continue to accept brides from the Gonds. As a result, his descendants continued to have marital relations with the Rajgonds and performed marriages according to Hindu rites followed by those of the Islamic religion. In exchange, he was recognized as the Raja of Deogarh. With

's help, he was firmly established as the ruler of Deogarh in 1668.

Reign

Bakht Buland Shah later rebelled against the Mughals in 1700 and snatch portions of their territory, when the empire had grown weak due to the long Mughal war against the Marathas. He even plundered the Mughal territory on both sides of the

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the north, west and south bound ...

. Thus Deogarh, for a brief period, stood as a semi-independent or practically independent kingdom. Thus he earned the disfavour of

. Aurangzeb thereupon ordered that the title Bakht Buland meaning ‘of high fortune’ should be changed to Nigun Bakht-of mean fortune. Nothing is known of the army sent to punish Bakht. He was ceded the district of Seoni, Chauri, Dongartal and Ghansour by Narendra Shah of Mandla for his aid against the latter's cousins. He also added large parts of the Chanda Kingdom to his domain. His kingdom included the present day districts of

Chhindwara , other_name = Corn city , nickname = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , p ...

, Betul,

, Sivni (Seoni) and

. History idolizes him as the founder of the

city. Bakht Buland Shah founded the city of Nagpur in 1702/1703 (according to different sources) by joining the twelve small villages formerly known as Rajapur Barsa or Barasta. He built roads and a strong wall around the city. In 1702 Many towns and villages were founded. All the smaller villages were merged. According to Sir Richard Jenkins- "He indiscriminately employed Musalmans and Hindus of ability to introduce order and regularity into his immediate domain. Industrious settlers from all quarters were attracted to Gondwana, thousands of villages were founded, and agriculture, manufacture and even commerce made considerable advances. It may be said that much of the success of the Maratha administration was owing to the groundwork established by him." After giving a proper shape to his kingdom, he encouraged people to settle and thus facilitated trade & Commerce. His rule epitomizes an era of great reforms. Agriculture, trade, and commerce made considerable advances. He constructed a Mosque in the Fort of Nagpur which initiated the Islamic religion & culture in Nagpur. He died in about 1706 and was succeeded by his elder son

Chand Sultan Chand Sultan (1706-1739) was a Muslim king of Nagpur. He was the eldest son and successor of Bakht Buland Shah of Deogarh. He ascended the throne of Deogarh in 1706 and shifted his capital from Deogarh to Nagpur. He carried out further reforms i ...

References

{{reflist History of India History of Nagpur History of Maharashtra Maharajas of Nagpur