Medieval History Of Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK In English)

Before the advent of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Era in India, Jharkhand was governed by many small Hindu kingdoms. The most prominent among them were those in Palamu, Khokhra and Singhbhum. The Chhota Nagpur Plateau was free from the possession of Delhi Sultanate. To the Muslims of Delhi Sultanate this area of Chhota Nagpur Plateau was known as Jharkhand, this fact is clear from Abul Fazl's work 'Akbarnama' and 'Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi' of Shams i-Siraj Afif.

The Delhi Sultanate and Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK in English)

The Delhi Sultanate was a ruled over large parts of India for about 320 years. Five dynasties i.e. The Mamluk or the Slave dynasty (1206–1290), the Khilji dynasty (1290–1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414), the Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451) and the Lodi dynasty (1451–1526) ruled over Delhi Sultanate. The rule of these dynasties over Jharkhand is discussed below:

The Mamluk Dynasty and Jharkhand

▸ Qutb-ud-din Aibak, a Turkish General of Muhammad Ghori ruled over Northern part India and established the Mamluk dynasty in 1206 AD. During this period, there were only three rulers in Jharkhand. They were Harikaran Rai (1206-1234), Shivkaran Rai (1235-1276) and Benukaran Rai (1277-1299).
▸ In 1206, Bakhtiyar Khilji attacked Nadia (Bengal) after passing through Jharkhand. This attack took place during the reign of Qutb-ud-din Aibak whose slave was Iltutmish.
▸ The reign of Iltutmish and Balban didn't have any impact an Jharkhand because nagbanshi rulers of that time were very powerful.

The Khilji Dynasty

▸ This dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Turko-Afghan origin which ruled large parts of South Asia. It was founded by Jalal-ud-din Khalji. The most important ruler Alauddin Khalji defended his empire against Mongol invasions. In 1310, Alauddin Khalji's commander-in-chief Cnnajju Malik invaded Chhota Nagpur.

The Tughlaq Dynasty

▸ This dynasty started its rule in 1320, when Ghazi Malik assumed the throne under the title of Ghiyath al-Din Tughlaq or Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.
▸ In 1340, Muhammad bin Tughlaq sent his commander-in-chief Muhammad Ibrahim Baya in Chai Champa area of Hazaribagh to combat thieves who were plundering and looting royal treasure.
▸ Firoz Shah Tughlaq ruled from 1351-1388. He captured the Satgaon area of Hazaribagh with the ruler of Bengal, Ilyas Shah and made it as his temporary capital.
▸ Later, in 1372, he used this area when planning to attack Orissa. The successors of Firoz Shah Tughlaq ruled from 1388-1414. During this time, Chhota Nagpur was under the rule of Nagbanshi King Shivadasa Karan Rai. He established the Hapamuni Mahamaya Temple in Ghaghara (Gumla) in 1401 AD.

The Sayyid Dynasty

This dynasty lasted for merely 37 years.During this time, Jharkhand was ruled by the Nagbanshi King Udaykarna (1428-1457).

The Lodi Dynasty

▸ It was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he replaced the Sayyid dynasty.
▸ During the reign of Sikander Lodi (1489-1517), the King of Sandhya attacked and captured some areas of the Nagbanshi King in Jharkhand.

Mughal Empire in Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK in English)

At the time of Mughal Empire, Jharkhand was ruled by Rakshels of Palamu, Nagvanshis of Chhota Nagpur and Singh dynasty of Singhbhum.During Mughal period Jharkhand region was known as 'Khukhra' or Kukra. In 'Ain-e-Akbari, this region has been called 'Kokra' and 'Khankarah.'

Jharkhand during Babur and Humayun Period

▸ During the reign of Babur and Humayun, Jharkhand remained outside the rule of Mughals. It became the place of shelter of Afghan nobles, who had protested against the Mughal rule.
▸ During this period, Chero dynasty defeated Rakshels and established new dynasty in Palamu.

Jharkhand during Sher Shah Suri Period

▸ Sher Shah Suri captured Rohtasgarh in 1538. By this time, the Chero community had established themselves in this area. Sher Shah Suri was planning to capture Humayun's throne when he had to face attacks from the Cheros.
▸ Sher Shah Suri sent two of his commanders Khawas Khan and Dariya Khan with 4000 horsemen against Maharath Chero.
▸ Khawas Khan attacked the Cheros and defeated them in 1538. Ahmad Yadgar in 'Tarik-i-Shershah' has mentioned about the campaign against the Cheros. In 1539, Sher Shah Suri attacked on Humayun and defeated him in the battle of Chausa.
▸ Humayun regained his kingdom in 1555 and died in 1556. The Chhota Nagpur area was then ruled by King Vairisala from 1536- 1549. After him, his son Durjansala acceded the throne, during the reign of Akbar.

Jharkhand during Akbar's Period

▸ Akbar was the third and one of the greatest rulers of the Mughal Dynasty in India.
Akbar succeeded his father Humayun. During this time, the following clans were ruling in Jharkhand: — Nagvanshi in Kokra — Chero dynasty in Palamu — Singh dynasty in Singhbhum — King of Ramgarh in Hazaribagh district — King of Panchet in Dhanbad ▸ At the time of Mughal invasion, the ruler of Nagbanshi was Madhu Singh who did not accepted the possession of Mughals. Due to this, Akbar under the leadership of his General Shahbaz Khan Kambu in 1585 attack Naga dynasty and defeated them.
▸ Akbar took the possession of all three dynasties that were Naga dynasty, Chero dynasty and Singh dynasty.
▸ During the time of Akbar, the Mughals were entered in Singhbhum region. At that time the rulers of Singh dynasty in Porahat were Laxmi Narayan Singh, Narpat Singh I, Kameshwar Singh and Ranjit Singh.
▸ To capture Palamu under Chero dynasty, Akbar sent an army under the leadership of Mansingh. During this time, the ruler of Chero dynasty was Ranpat Chero.
▸ Mansingh defeated many small kings of Chhota Nagpur. Till 1589, Mansingh was able to capture Palamu by defeating the Cheros.
▸ In 1592, Mansingh also captured Porahat and defeated Ranjit Singh of Singh dynasty. In 1605, Akbar died and the Chero dynasty became independent again.
▸ The main reason for Akbar's attraction towards Jharkhand was diamonds founded in Koel river. He wanted to capture the area from where the diamond was found.

Jharkhand during the Jahangir's Period

▸ He was the fourth Mughal Emperor who was the eldest surviving son of Mughal Emperor Akbar and was declared successor to his father from an early age. In terms of Jharkhand, Jahangir's rule is seen in primarily two ways: (i) Mughal relations with the Chero community (ii) Mughal relations with the Nagabanshi community ▸ The Cheros of Palamu took advantage of the confusion created by the death of Akbar. They reasserted their independence and drove out the Mughal army from Palamu.
▸ Two Chero kings who were rulers of Palamu have been mentioned in history as Anant Rai and Sabhal Rai. Anant Rai had succeeded Bhagwat Rai and ruled for 31 years. He ruled during the early years of Jahangir's reign, as mentioned by Mirza Nathan.
▸ In the second year of Jahangir's reign, Afzal Khan, the son of Abu'l Fazl, was appointed the Governor of Bihar.
▸ In 1605, on ascending the throne of Mughal empire, Jahangir gave Mansingh's position to Afzal Khan. In 1611, he married Nur Jahan. In 1612, Jahangir made Zafar Khan as the Subedar of Bengal. Jahangir ordered Zafar Khan to invade Kokra as the area was known to be rich in diamonds.
▸ Jahangir had ordered a campaign against Anant Rai but due to the sudden death of Afzal khan in 1612, the campaign was suspended. After the death of Anant Rai, Sabhal Rai became a powerful ruler of Palamu.
▸ Jahangir ordered a Mughal campaign against Sabhal Rai and captured him. Sabhal Rai was brought to Delhi as a prisoner and made to fight a tiger which resulted in his death. It is clear from this that the Mughal-Chero relations were tensed during Jahangir's rule.
▸ In 1615, Ibrahim Khan was made the Subedar by Jahangir. Ibrahim Khan invaded Durjan Sal's territories and finally Durjan Sal was defeated and arrested.
▸ Chhota Nagpur (Kokra) was placed under the Mughal Empire. From Patna Durjan Sal was sent to Gwalior fort as a prisoner and his confinement lasted for 12 years.
▸ Durjan Sal was released from prison due to his expertise of identifying the quality of diamonds.
▸ In 1627, Durjan Sal returned to Jharkhand and gain the throne of Kokra.

Jharkhand during Shah Jahan's Period

▸ Shah Jahan was the fifth Mughal Emperor. He was the son of Emperor Jahangir.
Shah Jahan took throne in 1628. At that time, Mughals controlled a large part of Jharkhand.
▸ Mughals were interested in the Nagbanshi kingdom and Palamu. Durjan Sal knew this and wanted to protect his kingdom. Hence, he transferred his capital from Kokra to Doisa. Three sides of Doisa region were surrounded by lofty hills and the fourth side surrounded by river Koel.
▸ In Doisa, Durjan Sal constructed a beautiful palace called Navratangarh or Doisagarh. It was surrounded by a trench filled with water so that the enemies were not able to cross it. This palace is considered to be an excellent example of architecture of this time.
▸ Durjan Sal died in 1640. After Durjan Sal, Raghunath Shah ruled from 1640 to 1690. According to Tavernier, Shah Jahan had forced Raghunath Shah to pay taxes to the Mughal Empire.
▸ During Shah Jahan's period, Sabhal Rai died and Pratap Rai became the Chero ruler of Palamu. He was a powerful ruler but his reign was frequently disturbed by Mughal invasions. Thus, Mughal relations with Cheros continued to be bitter.
Palamu was given out as Jagir to the Governor of Patna in 1632 in return for an annual payment of ` 1,36,000.
▸ Pratap Rai found it difficult to meet the demands and thereby withheld the payment. When the matter was reported to Shah Jahan, he ordered an attack on Pratap Rai. The Mughal army attacked Palamu and defeated Pratap Rai. He surrendered and offered to compromise. Pratap Rai remained loyal to the Mughals until 1647.

Jharkhand during the Aurangzeb's Period

▸ Aurangzeb was the sixth Mughal Emperor and ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent. When Aurangzeb ascended the throne, Raghunath Shah was the ruler of Jharkhand. His capital was Doisa which had been established during the time of Durjan Sal.
▸ Raghunath Shah being a great patron of architecture established the Jagannath Temple in Ranchi, Madan Mohan Temple (Radha Krishna Temple) in Bodeya and Rama Sita Temple in Ranchi.
▸ During the reign of Aurangzeb, there had been only one Mughal attack on Jharkhand which has been described by the French traveller, Tavernier. The second attack was by the Chero king of Palamu, Medini Rai, who destroyed Navratangarh and captured the famous Nagpuri Gate and installed it in the new Palamu Fort.
▸ Medini Rai ruled from 1658-1674. Although, he was a powerful ruler, he accepted the governance of the Mughal Empire. While Aurangzeb was fighting for the throne, Medini Rai took advantage of the confusion prevailing among the Mughals and stopped paying taxes.
▸ On ascending the throne of Mughal Empire, Aurangzeb ordered Daud Khan, the Governor of Bihar to attack on Palamu. On 5th May, 1660, Daud Khan captured Palamu and later on the Kunda Fort. Chun Rai was the ruler of Kunda and was murdered by his brother Surwar Rai for converting to Islam.
▸ Aurangzeb ordered Medini Rai to accept Islam, pay the peshkash and retain his rule over Palamu, but Medini Rai refused. Due to this, the Mughals attacked the Cheros. Medini Rai fled into the jungle and took refuge in the Surguja kingdom.
▸ According to Alamgirnama, Aurangzeb appointed Mankali Khan as the Faujdar of Palamu in 1666. Later on, he was transferred and Palamu was put under the charge of the Governor of Bihar. Due to this Medini Rai regained his lost kingdom and ruled Palamu until 1674.
▸ The reign of Medini Rai is considered as the golden period because he made significant changes in the financial position of the kingdom.
▸ He also promoted agriculture. Medini Rai's rule ended in 1674 and was succeeded by Rudra Rai, who ruled from 1674 to 1680. After him, Drik Pal ascended the throne and ruled until 1697. Shabal Rai was the successor of Drik Pal, who ruled till 1716 AD.
▸ During Aurangzeb's reign, Mughal rule was remained confined to the areas of Palamu, Gumla, Ranchi, Latehar, Simdega and Lohardaga. Dhanbad and Purulia remained outside the Mughal rule.
▸ Hazaribagh consisted of five regions Kunda, Kendi, Kharagdiha, Ramgarh and Chai Champa. Kunda was located to the South of Hunterganj block of Chatra district, Kendi also existed in the Chatra district. Ramgarh was to the West of Kendi and Chai Champa was to the East. Kharagdiha was a part of the old Hazaribagh district.
▸ Nagbanshi king, Raghunath Shah's reign was the golden period for this community but during this time, due to the wrong policies adopted by Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire had begun to weaken.

Post Mughal Period and Jharkhand

▸ After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the Mughal Empire started to decline. Ram Shah was the ruler of Kokra region at that time. Yadhunath Shah (Nagvanshi ruler) succeeded him in 1715 and became a powerful ruler. He offered a nazrana of one lakh rupees to Surbuland Khan, subedar of Mughal Empire. Yadhunath shah shift their capital from Doisa to Palkot.
▸ Yadunath Shah died in 1724 and was succeeded by Shivnath Shah. Shivnath Shah died in 1733 after which Udaynath Shah became the ruler.
▸ After Udaynath Shah, his younger brother Shyam Sundar Nath Shah ascended the throne but ruled only for a short period of five years.
▸ During the time of Aurangzeb and later (1667-1724), Ramgarh was ruled by Dalel Singh. Dalel Singh defeated Magar Khan, the ruler of Chai, and killed him in 1718. Chai remained in possession of Dalel Singh from 1718 to 1724. In 1719, he helped Palamu ruler Ranjit Singh in capturing Tori Pargana of the Nagvanshi rulers.
▸ In 1724, Dalel Singh was defeated by Chai ruler and as a result the son of Magar Khan, Ranbast Khan regained the lost territories. Dalel Singh died in 1732 and was succeeded by Vishnu Singh.
▸ In 1741 AD, the Marathas were able to establish their control over Jharkhand. It was assumed that rulers of Surguja, Chhota Nagpur and Singhbhum started paying tributes to them. The Maratha invasions had left deep impact on the social and economic life of Palamu, Chhota Nagpur and Manbhum. Not only the Marathas, the Britishers also entered in the Singhbhum region in 1767.