THE STORY OF GONDWANA


THE STORY OF
GONDWANA
Printsd by Sir Isaac Pitmam &
Sons, Ltd., London, Bath, Nbw
York and Mslbourns 1916
THE STORY OF
GONDWANA
Bt The Riobt Rbvebbmd
EYRE CHATTERTON, D.D.
Bishop ov Naopur
WITH A FOREWORD BY
THE HON. SIR BENJAMIN ROBERTSON,
K.O.SJ.. K.C.M.G.
Chtvf OoiaassioNER of the Central
PBOVINCE8
London
SiK Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., 1 Amen Corner, E.C.
And at Bath, New York and Mblbournb
1916
CHBST OF THE GOKD KINGS
V6^t(f^-0-tf*/
FOREWORD
■ ■
It gives me much pleasure to write a few introductory words to the Story of Gondwana which the Bishop of Nagpur has put together from the l^ends and history of the past. I can remember when a boy — ^long before I had any thought that my lot would be cast in India — treading Forsyth's
Highlands of Central India and being captivated by the charm of the country which he described.
For the greater part of twenty-five years I have lived in the Central Provinces, the Gondwana of
the Bishop's story ; I have wandered over its hills and jungles, and have to the full imbibed
the fascination which it exercises over all who know it, be they district officers closely in touch
with the simple lives of its people, or sportsmen in pursuit of the noble game which its widespreading
forests contain. Over none has it cast its spell more completely than the luthor of
this little book. And to him it has, I know, been a labour of love to tell in simple language something
of the old Gond kingdoms which flourished on and around the Satpuras, and briefly to trace
FOREWORD the later history of the country which was once
tinder their sway. May the Story of Gondwana help to spread more widely some knowledge of
these central uplands^ of their ancient past and of their manifold attractiveness at the present day.
B. Robertson.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Tee purpose of this little book is to tell briefly the Story of Gondwana^ the modem Central
Provinces of India. Moving up and down its plateaux and plains during the last thirteen
years, seeing its old fortresses and other monuments
of the past, reading isolated bits of its history in Government Gazetteers and elsewhere,
I have long felt that it would be well if somecme would weave together for us these scattered records into something like a connected story. Not that Gondwana made history in the brilliant
&shion which Rajasthan, and many other regions of India, did. Its earUer history is more
that of one of the child races of the world. The tact, however, that it has got its own stories of
romance and pathos, and that for well nigh four centuries it had its four kingdoms, ruled over by
its ovm Gond rulers, makes all that we possess of its history worthy of being more widely known
than it is at present. A few words at the conclusion of the story on
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Maratha rule in Gondwana^ followed as it has been by our British Administration^ redeem the
narrative from its otherwise rather antiquarian character^ and will it is hoped give our readers
some idea of what their fellow-countrymen are doing in this part of India.
I have to thank Miss Alice Woodward for her diarming illustrations of the Story of Lingo^
and also Mr. Hands^ Jubbulpore^ Mr. Shalom^ Nagpur^ Messrs. Herzog and Higgins^ Mhow^
and Mr. Lawrie^ Jubbulpore^ for some of the illustrations in the book^ which were specially
taken at my request.. $
EYRE NAGPUR.
V111
To My Wife
who has been my constant companion in
my iourneyings in Gondwana

CONTENTS
FOSEWOKD V
author's preface vii
L OLD GONDWANA 1
n. GARHA AND THE NORTHERN GOND KINGDOM 13
m. CHAURAGARH AND THE NORTHERN GOND KINGDOM 23
IV. HIRDB SHAH AND THE PEDIGREE OF THE GOND
KINGS OF GARHA-MANDLA .... 30
V. DEOGARH AND THE EASTERN MIDDLE GOND
KINGDOM 41
VL KHERLA AND THE WESTERN MIDDLB GOND
KINGDOM 48
Vn. THE SOUTHERN GOND KINGDOM ... 53
Tm. CHANDA AND THE SOUTHERN GOND KINGDOM 60
NAGPUR— THE MARATHA PERIOD (1743-1853) 72
A PLEA FOR THE OLD JOHN COMPANY. 88
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE— EARLY DAYS 100
Xn. GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE .106
Zm. SOME STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS IN
GONDWANA 120
XIV. A FEW WORDS ON MISSION WORK IN GONDWANA . 136
THE STORY OF UNGO — 151
PART I. THE CREATION OF THE GOND PEOPLE
AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT BONDAGE . 154
„ n. THE BIRTH, LIFE, AND DEATH OF LINGO 161
„ m. THE REVIVAL OF LINGO, AND HIS
DELIVERY OF THE GONDS FROM
BONDAGE Id4
IV. THE SUB-DIVISION OF THE GONDS INTO
TRIBES-— THE INSTITUTION OF WORSHIP
— ^THE PASSING OF UNGO . . 206
INDEX 225
xi
ILLUSTRATIONS
MADAN'S pleasure palace at GARHA . ffontispUce
A BIT OF SATFUSA SCENERY 2
DHUPGARH, PACHXARHI 4
RAXTEK— THE SUMMIT OF THE HILL . .6
LAKE AND TEMPLES, RAMTEK 8
THE OLD GOND PALACE AT GARHA .... 14
A LAKE AT GARHA 18
THE TOMB OF QUEEN DURGAVATl .... 22
CHAURAGARH FORT— A TANK ON SUMMIT 24
,, „ A WATCH TOWER ... 26
THE PALACE AT RAMNAGAR, NEAR MANDLA ... 28
THE TEMPLE OP SIDDHNATH, MANDHATA ... 36
DEOGARH, FORTRESS 40
DEOGARH, NAGARKHARA 42
THE RUINED THRONE . . 44
DEOGARH, THE TOMB OF THE GOND KINGS . . , 46
THE FORTRESS OF KHERIA 48
THE FAMOUS FORTRESS OF ASIRGARH .... 50
YIEW FROM SUMMIT OF ASIRGARH .... 52
THE PATHANPURA GATE, CHANDA .... 56
THE CITY WALLS, CHANDA, WITH ACHALESHWAR TEMPLE
AND TOMBS OF GOND KINGS 62
THE MAHA KAU TEMPLE, CHANDA .... 68
NAGPUR-— THE FORT OF SITABALDI SEEN ACROSS JUMA
TALAO 76
THE BATTLE OF SITABALDI — ^THE EXPLOSION OF THE
TUMBRIL 82
THE BATTLE OF SITABALDI — ^FITZGERALD'S CHARGE 84
GATEWAY AT OLD GOND PALACE, NAGPUR . 102
• • •
XIU
ILLUSTRATIONS
THB MARBLE ROCKS NEAR JUBBULPORE
THE FALLS OF THE NERBUDDA NEAR JUBBULPORE
KEATING POINT, PACHMARHI
WATERS ICEET, PACHMARHI ....
A PORTION OF THE OLD GOND FORT, NAGPUR
MANDHATA ISLAND ON THE NERBUDDA
ENTRANCE TO " CHAMBER OF HORRORS/' DEOGARH
THE ONKAR TEMPLE AND BIRKHILA CUFF, MANDHATA .
THE RAJAH OF BASTAR IN HIS TRIUMPHAL CAR AT
DASEHRA FESTIVAL
ALL saints' CATHEDRAL, NAGPUR ....
THE LONELY GRAVE AT KARANJIA ....
REVERENCE OF A SECT OF SIKHS FOR SIR DONALD MCLEOD
MARPHA MISSIONARY SETTLEMENT
PATPARA LEPER SETTLEMENT
THE INCARCERATION OF THE GONDS— EPIC OF UNGO .
BIRTH OF UNGO . . .
THE GIANT AND HIS SPOUSE DANCE, WHILE LINGO PIPES
KAGESAR SPRINKLES THE BODY OF LINGO .
lingo's wonderful FUGHT
LINGO AND THB FOUR GONDS CROSSING THE RIVER
THE SACRED POOL AT AMARKANTAK WHERE THE HOLY
NERBUDDA RISES
MAP
104
108
110
112
116
120
122
124
128
136
142
144
146
148
156
162
178
196
206
210
222
225
XXV
THE
STORY OF GONDWANA
CHAPTER I
OLD GONDWANA
More than a generation has passed since Captain
Forsyth^ in his well-known work on the Highlands
of Central India^ first sounded the praises of Gondwana.
How well it deserves those pi'aises can
only be fully understood by those who, while
living in the Central Provinces, retain some recollections
of the deserts of Rajputana, the dusty
plains of the Punjab, or the damp and low-lying
country of Bengal.
The name Gondwana seems to have been given
originally to a tract of country which lies to the
immediate south of the Satpura Mountains, in the
northern part of the modem State of Hyderabad,
a region in which certain tribes of the Gond lace
then lived. Later on, however, it was extended
to the whole of the modem Central Provinces of
India.
Gondwana of old seems to have stood quite
apart from the main Ufe and civiUsation of India*
Its dense forests and hilly country cut it off
completely from the outer world ; and those who
1
I— <355i)
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
moved down from Hindustan into the Deccan,
whether armies of invasion or peaceful traders^
generally passed along its western side by way of
the fortress of Asirgarh^ and seldom penetrated
into the heart of its wild jungles: And for this
reason one may search in vain for anything more
than a passing reference to it in general Indian
history.
Certainly by far the fullest and most interesting
reference to old Gondwana is to be found in the
writings of Abu-1-Fazl, the Mosleni chronicler of
Akbar's days. Although as a highly-cultured
Moslem he clearly felt contempt for the ignorant
aborigines of Gondwana^ still his description seems
to have been fairly accurate and is decidedly
amusing. It occurs when he is writing of a
projected invasion of the country by Asaf Khan^
the Moslem Viceroy of Manikpur.
** In the vast territories of Hindustan there is a
country called Gondwana. It is the land inhabited
by the tribe of Gonds^ a numerous race
of people, who dwell in the wilds, spend their
time in eating and drinking and in the procreation
of children. Thev are a very low race, and are
held in contempt by the people of Hindustan, who
look upon them as outcast from their religion
and their laws. The length of the district is
300 miles. On the north Ues Panna. On the
south the Deccan. On the west it borders on
Raisin, belonging to Malwa, and on the east
Ratanpur. The country is called Garha Katanka,
and contains 70,000 villages. Garha is the name
OLD GONDWANA
of its chief eity^ and Katanka is the name of a
place near it. These two places have given their
names to the whole country. The seat of government
is the fort of Chauragarh. In former times
there was no one supreme ruler, but the country
was ruled by several Rajahs and Rais, and at the
present time, when by the will of fortune it belongs
to this race, there are several Rajahs such as
Rajah Garha. The fighting men of this country
are chiefly infantrjr, horsemen being few. From
the earUest establishment of the Mohammedan
power in India no monarch has been able to
reduce the fortresses of this country, or annex its
territory."
Now, were one asked to describe the special
charm of Gondwana, a charm which distinguishes
it from so much of the rest of India, one would, I
think, at once point to the beautiful Satpura
hills and plateaux, which he at its very heart.
Strange to say few, save those who live in Gondwana,
or enterprising sportsmen in search of its
big game, know of the real beauty which lies
hidden away in this still rather inaccessible part
of India. Even the name Satpura is hardly
recognised, and the term Vindhyan, which, strictly
speaking, belongs to the long range of hills and
moimtains which he to the ncoth of the Nerbudda,
is still regarded by many as covering these widespread
Satpura uplands which lie to the south
of that river, and which reach from Khandesh to
Amarkantak.
How this range received its name of Satpura is
3
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
not quite c&tain. Some have suggested that it
is a coiTuption of the Indian word '' Satputras/'
which would make it mean ''seven sons/' the
offspring of the Vindhyans I It seems more
probable^ however^ that it comes from the word
"pura/* or valley^ and that it is but a name
poetically descriptive of the range with its many
deep valleys cutting across the main mass of
mountainous coimtry.
It is^ indeed^ a splendid stretch of broken highland
country. Whether one finds oneself in the
Gawalgarh Range near Chikalda, in the Mahadeo
Range near Pachmarhi^ or on the Maikal Range
on the sacred plateau of Amarkantak^ one is all
the time in jthese beautiful Satpuras^ far from the
enervating influences of the Indian plains and
enjoying an almost European climate.
What the Central Provinces would be without
the Satpuras one hardly cares to think. A^thin
its hills rise the sacred Nerbudda^^ the most
picturesque river in tndia^ with a course of 750
miles^ the Tapti with its wild and rocky bed, the
Sone, the Wainganga — ^not to mention numerous
lesser streams.
Timber of various kinds, especially teak and
sal, may be seen On its hill-sides and in its valleys ;
and this in spite of the wanton destruction of its
forests, both by axe and fire, in days gone by.
Over its hills and in its valleys roam tiger,
^ Written by old writers Narmada, " the river of soft
water."
OLD GONDWANA
panther, bear, bison, buffalo, wild pig, deer, stag,
and antelope. Nowhere in all India is there a
r€|;ion more beloved by the sportsman I
Nor is this region, wild though it be, without
some of those sacred places of pilgrimage which
are found dotted about most parts of the Indian
Peninsula, and which play such a large part in
the life of millions of the people of the country.
Few "Tirth Sthans"* can compare in sacredness,
so the Brahmans of the Central Provinces
say, with Amarkantak, where rises the holy
Nerbudda, the southern rival of Mother Ganges.
Every year at certain seasons come flocking to its
shrines Hindu pilgrims from all parts of India —
some of whom make their pilgrimage on foot
from the mouth of the river to its soiuxe, and
their " darshan '' * obtained, journey homewards
on the other side of the sacred stream.
To the mysterious Cave of Mahadeo in the side
of a mountain hard by Pachmarhi ; to the ancient
temples of Mandhata on the Nerbudda; to the
temples of Ramtek, about twenty-five miles north
of Nagpur ; to the temples of Vishnu and the Ten
Incarnations on the Wainganga, as well as to
numerous smaller shrines on hill-top and by river
side, thousands and thousands of the people of
India journey every year, seeking "mflkti" or
salvation.
Here is the land in which from early days the
Gonds have Uved. Not that the name Gond is
^ Places of Pilgrimage. * The vision of the God.
5
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
the name which they have called themselves by ;
for to themselves they are, and always have been,
simply Koitor, or "Men/* Possibly the name
Gond came to them, because in early days this
part of India formed the western portion of the
Old Gaur Kingdom of Bengal, and so the Dravidian
Koitors, who lived in Gaur land, became known
as Gonds.
Those who know Risley's work on The People
of India will remember that the earliest and most
numerous of the seven races, to which he would
ttace all the present people of India, is the Dravidian
race. It is to this race " the ancient Britons
of India,'' which includes Tamil, Tel^;u, and
Canarese, and with which nearly all the conquering
races of India — ^Aryans, Scythians, and
Mongols — ^have so largely intermingled, that the
Gond belongs.
Where these Dravidian Koitors dwelt, before
they settled in the plains and uplands of the
Central Provinces, is a question which cannot now
be answered. The existence of a small tribe of
Brahuis in Beluchistan, resembling Gonds in
language and in some of their customs, have suggested
to some a northern origin. The more
probable view, however, is that the Gonds were
an unciviUsed branch of the Dravidians, who in
early times moved up from the Deccan into
the Central Provinces, where they made their
home in company with other aboriginal races,
Kols, Kurkus, and Bhils. Here they Uved their
6
IT'A
OLD GONDWANA
primitive life in the ways they loved best,
hunting always, seldom settling for long in one
place, and cultivating, frequently in ways most
destructive to the forests.
Then with the coming of the Aryan into India,
the beginnings of a larger and more civiUsed life
dawned for Gondwana. Hindu sages and ascetics
began to appear in its wild r^ons, seeking for
fit places for contemplation and retirement.
There is an amusing passage in the Epic of the
Ramayana which shows how the highly civiUsed
Aryans of those early days r^arded the Gonds,
at a time when what was known of them was
principally from the mouths of those '' Sadhus ''
or holy men. As we read it we can easily picture
how these Hindu Saints were often disturbed in
their devotions by the ignorant curiosity, if not
worse, of the wild Gonds, who but faintly understood
the meaning of the self-inflicted hardships
and tortures to which these Aryan strangers from
the north subjected themselves.
''The shapeless and ill-looking monsters (the
Gonds) testify their abominable character by
various cruel and terrific displays. These basebom
wretches implicate the hermits in impure
practices, and perpetrate the greatest outrages.
Changing their shapes, and hidmg in the thickets
adjoining the hermitages, these frightful beings
delight in terrifying the devotees. They cast
away the sacrificial ladles and vessels, they pollute
the cooked oblations, and utterly ddUe the offerings
with blood. These faithless creatures inject
7
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
frightful sounds into the ears of these faithful and
austere eremites. At the time of sacrifice they
snatch away the jars, the flowers, the fuel, and
the sacred grass of these sober-minded men."
The '* holy men " were soon followed by Rajput
adventurers, who came partly as knights-errant
to protect the "Rishis,"* and partly from the
love of adventure to seek out fortunes in pastures
new. Some of these Rajput knights, the younger
sons of princes, married the daughters of Koitor
chieftains, and quickly established themselves
as rulers over parts of Gondwana. One such
kingdom, the Hai^Haiya Bansi, a semi-Rajput
Dynasty, had its capital at Tripuri or Tewar,
about six miles from our modem Jubbulpore.
Another dynasty akin to this Hai-Haiya established
itself at Ratanpur, in the Bilaspur district,
and remained Hindu during the Gond ascendency
and on into Maratha days. Kingdoms of the
semi-Rajput order arose near Seoni in the Satpuras,
and south of the Satpuras, close to the
modem City of Chanda. Another kingdom,
whether semi-Rajput, Gaoli, or aboriginal, had
its capital near to the modem town of Chhindwara.
It was these kingdoms which, without doubt,
laid the beginnings of civilisation among our
Gond Koitors.
Then came that strange movement in Gondwana,
which makes its history almost unique in India,
when, taught by their Aryan or semi-Aryan
^ Hindu sages.
8
OLD GONDWANA
conquerors, there arose in various parts of Gondwana
rulers of the same race as their Gond subjects,
who, having deprived the semi-Hindu rulers of
their power, began a rule which was destined to
last for nearly four centuries.
Everything that we know of the rule of these
Gond Rajahs points to the fact that their subjects
were happy and content. Life for the most part
seems to have been fairly secure both within and
without. Occasional invasions from north or
east, from Bundelkhand, Manikpur, or Malwa,
were either repelled, or did not lead to a long
occupation of Gondwana. A simple system of
land settlement and land revenue was introduced
in many parts, traces of which still survive in
some districts pf the Central Provinces.
The value of water storage was fully reaUsed
by these old Gond rulers. In 1865, after visiting
the northern part of the Chanda district through
which the Wainganga flows^ and referring to a
nimiber of tanks which had been made by the old
Gond Rajahs of Chanda in that district, Sir R.
Temple says
" The number and size of these tanks is certainly
remarkable. In some parts they cluster thick
round the feet of the hills. From the summit of
one hill, no less than thirty-seven tanks were
visible. They are, as the people themselves told
me, the very life of the place, and the object to
which much of the industry and capital of the
people are devoted. The two staple foods of the
district, rice and sugar-cane, are entirely dependent
9
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
on the water-supply from these tanks. Not only
have these large sheets of water been formed by
damming up streams with heavy earthwork dykes,
but masonry escapes and sluices, and channels,
have also been constructed. Some of the sluices,
as headworks for irrigation channels, present an
elaborate apparatus, creditable to the skill and
ingenuity of the people."
Well-built fortresses like Deogarh, Chauragarh,
and Kherla, splendidly situated on hiU-tops, as
well as other buildings all more or less of a modified
Saracenic or Islamic pattern, arose in various
parts of the country. In fact so much of civilisation
was introduced into Gondwana by these
Gond rulers, that some have thought, and still
think, that we are mistaken in regarding them as
Gonds pure and simple. Undoubtedly there were
cases when Gond princes married Rajput wives
(as was the case with the famous queen Durgavati),
but it does not seem that we have solid ground for
believing that this was other than exceptional.
For the most part we may think of the Rajahs of
these four dynasties as Gonds pure and simple,
who had raised themselves by superior ability
and force of character to the position of rulers
over their people. Nor need we r^ard this as
making too great a claim for the capacity of an
aboriginal race, when we see what education has
done, and is doing, for a kindred race, the aborigines
of Chhota Nagpur, and when we meet some
of the present Gond rulers of our Feudatory
States in the Central Provinces.
10
OLD GONDWANA
And so it came abcmt that nearly 600 years
ago^ four independent Gond kingdoms arose, more
or less simultaneously, in Gondwana; the
northern Mdth its chief city at Garha, only three
miles from Jubbulpore ; the two central with
their capitah at Deogarh, in the Chhindwara
district, and at Kherla in the Betul district ; and
the southern with its capital, first at Sirpiu*, and
then at Chanda. And these kingdoms lasted on
for nearly four centuries until the Maratha for
a time introduced chaos into this primitive cosmos.
Then for nearly 100 years the Maratha held a by
no means beneficial sway over this fair land, until
a brighter day dawned for Gondwana, when law
and order of a type far higher than had been seen
before was introduced by the coming of British rule.
The story of these four Gond kingdoms is the
theme of the early portion of our narrative. That
a full history of the Gond Dynasties can ever be
written is vain to expect, as the materials for
such a history simply do not exist. We must
remember that reading and writing were unknown
to the Gonds, save what was introduced amongst
them by the Hindus. No Gond literature was
ever produced. That some sort of culture, however,
existed in and around the Gond courts of
Mandla, Garha, Kherla, Deogarh, and Chanda, is
fairly certain. Brahmans were generally to be
found in attendance on the old Gond Rajahs
whose services were used for the casting of horoscopes,
for purposes of worship and sacrifice, and
11
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
for many domestic^ social^ and ceremonial functions.
Moslem influence^ too, came into the
courts of these Rajahs as history records, and as
the ruined buildings at Chauragarh, Deogarh,
Chanda and elsewhere clearly indicate.
And though the Gondwana of the days of the
Four Kingdoms has passed away, and wild
regions, in which formerly the roar of the tiger, the
chatter of the monkey, and other such denizens
of the jungle, alone disturbed its deep and long
silences, resound to-day with the shrill shriek of
the locomotive and the horn of the motor, still the
broad-faced Gond hves on in his old surroundings
in number about 2,000,000. Nor, too, amidst all
the highly organised machinery of British rule, or
the growing evidences of our western civilisation,
in coal and manganese mining, as well as in other
forms of industrial life, have all traces of Gond
rule quite faded away. For Gond Rajahs may
still be seen who rule their small Feudatory States
on the borders of British administered districts ;
and petty Gond chieftains still live on in their
villages and " Jagirs " as did their ancestors,
riding on their elephants, and accompanied by
their miniature escorts.
12
CHAPTER II
GARHA AND THE NORTHERN GOND KINGDOM
The Kingdom of the Gonds is gone,
But noble memories remain.
And with a loving awe we scan
The battle page, which ends thy reign.
— ^DuRGAVATl, Pekin.
Few stations in the plains of India can compare
with Jubbulpore for the charm of its surroundings.
L3ang close to the northern edge of the Satpuras^
and in the valley of the Nerbudda^ not far from
where that picturesque river leaves the wilder
regions of Mandla^ and enters a broad stretch of
fertile country which Ues between the Vindhyan
and Satpura ranges, it is certainly set in a most
attractive stretch of country.
What however most impresses one, at first sight,
in its immediate neighbourhood, are certain of its
hills covered as they are by huge fantasticallyshaped
boulders. There they lie like the moraine
of a great glacier, which may have covered this
valley in bygone ages, when this part of India was
held fast in the grip of the ice age. Nowhere are
these great boulders scattered more widely, and
in greater disorder, than in one long low range of
hills lying to the west of Jubbulpore, J>eneath
which at one time lay the capital of Northern
Gondwana.
13
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Few of those who, on their way to the famous
Marble Rocks, pass through the long straggling
village of Garha, realise that this was a royal
city for nearly 500 years, and that the quaint
building, the Madan Mahal, which stands out like
a watch-tower on the summit of the hill, poised
on two gigantic rocks, was part of the pleasure
palace which the Gond Rajah Madan Singh reared
for himself, and from which he used, doubtless, to
gaze down complacently on his pretty capital
and the rich valley whidi lay beyond it.
Yet there are not wanting even to-day silent
witnesses to the times when kings lived and ruled
in Garha. Tanks built by many a Rajah, and
especially by the famous Gond Queen Durgavati ;
temples, now fast decaying, built to commemorate
victories, or to propitiate gods and goddesses;
vast plantations of mango trees planted by one
famous Gond Rajah, all recall the bygone days of
the greatness of Garha.
With the Buddhist, or Hindu dynasties, which
ruled in this part of India, centuries before the
Gonds rose to power, we are not here concerned.
Doubtless it was by them that the first elements
of Aryan civiUsation were introduced amongst
the aboriginal Gonds. One semi-Rajput dynasty,
the Kalachiui kings of the Hai-Hai Bansi Une,
certainly reigned in these regions for more than
two centuries, before the Gonds came into power.
Their capital, however, was not at Garha but at
Tewar or Tripuri, three or four miles beyond it
14
GARHA
on the road to the Marble Rocks. Then at lengthy
after centuries of foreign rule^ probably about the
thirteenth century of our era, the subject race
produced a man of its own fit to rule over it, and
the Hindu ruler had to give place to the Gond.
Jadurai was the Gond hero who first came to
the front. Coming as a young man from his
home in the r^ion of the river Godaveri, he
entered the service of the Kalachuri Rajah.
There he learnt his first lessons in state-craft, and
there also he learnt the weak points in his master's
characttf and rule* Having learnt these lessons
he departed, but only for a season. A successful
marriage with the daughter of the Gond Chieftain
Nagdeo, of the fortress town of Mandla, sixty
miles further up the Nerbudda river, was the next
step in his career, which gave him the status
which his lowly birth as the son of a village patel
had hitherto denied him. His position was now
assured amongst the Gonds. Associating with
himself a clever adventurer, one Surbhi Pathak,
who had once, like himself, been in the service of
the Kalachuri Rajah, he carefully laid his plans,
and eventually succeeded in overturning the rule
of the Kalachuris and usurping their power.
From this time the Gond rule b^an in northern
Gondwana, a rule which was destined to last for
fully four centuries.
There is, however, another version of the story,
as told in Sir W. Sleeman's history of Garha
Mandla, which differs considerably from the above.
15
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
According to it Jadurai was a Hindu who took
service with a certain Hindu Rajah, and accompanied
his master on pilgrimage to Amarkantak,
the source of the Nerbudda. One night while
guarding the Royal Tent he chanced to see two
Gond men and a woman followed by a large
monkey. As they passed him, the monkey gazed
into his face, and dropped some peacock's feathers,
and at the conclusion of his watch retired
to rest. In his sleep the goddess Nerbudda
appeared to him in a dream, and told him that the
people he had seen were not mortals, but were
no less than Rama, Sita, and Laxman, the monkey
being the God Hanuman. The feathers were a
sign that he would one day attain to sovereign
power. He was, however, to visit as soon as
possible a Brahman recluse at Ranmagar, named
Surbhi Pathak, who would be his " Guru." *
Jadurai immediately gave up his post with the
Rajah and proceeded to Ranmagar. There he
found Surbhi Pathak, who to his amazement informed
him that the goddess Nerbudda had also
appeared to him, and told him of Jadurai's great
destiny. He then led Jadurai into the midstream
of the Nerbudda, and made him take a solemn
oath, that if ever he should become king he would
appoint him as his first minister. The oath taken,
he advised Jadurai to proceed to Garha and offer
his services to the Gond Rajah. At this time, the
Rajah had an only child, a daughter named
^ Rdigbus teacher.
16
GARHA
Ratana Vali^ and finding himself in declining
health, and without hope of a son, he took counsel
of his leading advisers as to the choice of a son-inlaw.
They bade him leave the choice to God, and
as a means of ascertaining the Divine vdll, advised
him to assemble a great multitude of his subjects
on the river bank, and then let loose a blue jay
amongst them. If the bird alighted on the head
of any one, he was clearly marked out to be the
one chosen of God to succeed him. The Prince
was delighted with this simple solution of his
difficulties, and on the day appointed released a
jay in the midst of an inun^ise concourse of his
people. It flew straight to Jadurai, and alighted
upon his head. At first, Jadurai, being a Hindu,
felt some scruples about allying himself with a
Gond maiden, but the difficulty was soon got over
by his astute spiritual guide, who stipulated that
Jadurai should never eat from the hand of his
bride, though their issue, if any, should be heirs
to the throne.
Of Jadurai's immediate successors we know
nothing save their names, which are duly recorded
in a genealogy prepared by order of the Gond king
Hirde Shah, and now foimd on a Sanskrit tablet
on the walls of the Gond palace at Ranmagar,
near Mandla.
It is to Sangram Shah that northern Gondwana
owes its real greatness and fame. Until he came
to the " Gadi,'* * about a.d. 1480, the sway of the
^ Throne.
17
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Gond kings was confined entirdy to the country
around Jubbulpore and Mandla. A mian of large
ambitions and high courage, he was not content
with his small kingdom, and during his reign
annexed large portions of the Nerbudda Valley
and the districts now called Saugor and Damoh^
as well as much of the modem state of Bhopal.
At his death the original four districts which
formed this kingdom had become no less than
fifty-four. Desiring to defend his new possessions
in the Nerbudda Valley, he built the stronghold
of Chauragarh about ninety miles west of Jubbulpore,
from which he could keep guard over a large
part of the valley, and to which he and his descendants
could always retreat when their country was
invaded. Later on we shall have occasion to
speak more fully of this splendid fortress.
Nor did he forget to add to the beauties of his
capital at Garha, for to the present day one of its
most picturesque little lakes bears his name, and
one of its finest temples, dedicated to the fierce
god Bhairava, was built by him.
Sangram Shah was tmdoubtedly the most distinguished
prince of the northern kingdom.
Thoughtful for the future of his kingdom, and
proud of his son Dalpat's daring and splendid
appearance, Sangram Shah decided that he must
find for him a worthy partner. His choice fell on
Durgavati, the daughter of the Chandela Raja of
Mahoba, a woman of great beauty and, as events
proved, of even greater character. But for a
18
GARHA
time the fates seemed adverse to the marriage.
Though it was clear that Durgavati was ready
and desirous to wed with this splendid Qond youth^
another suitor of Rajput blood also sought her
hand^ and objections to the marriage on the
ground of caste were raised by the Rajah of
Mahoba. Only one way was open to Dalpat^ so
Durgavati privately informed him. He must win
her by his sword^ or else for ever cease to think of
her. And Dalpat Shah joyously accepted the
challenge^ and with his army of Gonds marched
northwards to do battle with a hostile prospective
&ther-in-law and a hated rival. Fortune smiled
on his efforts^ and at the end of the battle victory
was his. It was a romantic wooing^ but the union
which followed was destined to last only for four
short years. Then Dalpat^ still young in years^
though great in valour^ was gathered to his
fathers^ and Durgavati was left with her threeyear
old son, Bir Narayan, to guard the great
inheritance which Sangram had bequeathed to
Dalpat. It is to the way in which she fulfilled
this trust that she owes her unique name, and
fame, in the annals of Gondwana.
From time to time in the history of India
women have appeared, around whose hves a halo
of romance must for ever linger. Who that has
read the story of the Ramayan can ever forget
Sita, the heroine of that great epic, the faithful
wife, who wore the '* white flower of a blameless
life " ? And Sita has had many spiritual daught^s
19
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
in succeeding ages whose faithfulness^ courage^
purity^ and devotion^ have added fresh laurels to
Indian womanhood. No one who has visited the
famous fortress of Chitor in Rajputana^ and read
of its prolonged and deadly struggles with Delhi,
will forget the story of the beautiful Padmani, who
pref^red death to the harem of Akbar, and led a
great company of the ladies of her court into the
flames, while the flower of Rajput chivalry was
dying under its walls, overpowered by the hosts
of the MoghuL Nor can anyone who has visited
Mandu, most fascinating of India's ruined cities,
on the slopes of the Vindhyans, read the somewhat
similar story of Queen Rupmati's devotion and
death without some thrill of S3mipathy. It is in
this noble company of Indian heroines that Dalpat
Shah's young widow Durgavati is worthy to be
placed.
For fifteen years after Dalpat's death, Durgavati
reigned over the widespread territories of
Sangram wisely and well. Strong fortresses which
still stand, though in decay, such as Chauragarh
in the Narsinghpur district, Singorgarh in the
Damoh district, thirty miles north of Jubbulpore
(for a time Dalpat's capital), and fortresses in
Bhopal, such as Chaukigarh and Gunergarh, all
remind one of the strength and extent of her
kingdom.
Her son Bir Narayan was approaching manhood,
when a terrible blow fell on the northern
Gond kingdom, which was to end her happy rule.
20
GARHA
For some time Asaf Khan^ the Moghul Viceroy at
Manilq)ur^ to the north of Damoh^ had been gazing
with covetous eyes on the great fertile valley of
the Nerbudda^ then administered by Durgavati.
The prize seemed easy to win. The reports of her
great beauty and wealth had made its acquisition
doubly desirable.
Asaf Khan's mind was soon made up. At the
head of an army he marched southwards on
Garha. The news of his advance aroused no fear
in the mind of this Rajput Boadicea. At the
head of her troops, mounted on her royal elephant,
she moved forth to meet him from Singorgarh, the
most northern fortress of her dominions.
But the Gonds, though brave, were no match
for Asaf Khan's trained soldiers, and Durgavati
was compelled to retreat. Hard pressed by the
army of Asaf Khan, the battle was resumed some*
where between Garha and Mandla. Again Moghul
arms proved too strong, and Durgavati, who had
herself been wounded, was preparing to fly, when
it was discovered that the river (most probably the
Hinghan, one of the tributaries of the Nerbudda)
on the line of her flight, was in flood, and escape
was impossible. Then true to the traditions of
her race, she preferred death to dishonour, and
died by her own hand, rather than fall into the
hands of Akbar's Viceroy.
So perished this noble woman, whose name
should always be cherished as amongst the noblest
of India's daughters. One fine stretch of water
21
THE STORY OF GONDWANA'
between Jubbulpore and Garha still bears her
name^ the Rani Tal ; and her simple tomb^ called
appropriately by the villagers the *'Chabutra/'
about ten miles from Jubbulpore^ is still held in
reverence by all who live in its neighbourhood
and by strangers who pass it by.
22
TOMB OF QUEEN DURGAVATl
CHAPTER III
CHAURAGARH AND THE NORTHERN GOND
KINGDOM
The death of Durgavati was a deep calamity to
her devoted people. Bit Narayan was still but a
youth^ who had as yet hardly faced any of the
responsibihties of life. From the battle-field near
Jubbulpore he was hurried by his advisers to the
fortress of Chauragarh^ which his grandfather
Sangram Shah had built on the northern crest of
the Satpuras.
No one who visits Chauragarh to-day can fail
to be impressed with the enormous natural
strength of the fortress^ embracing as it does
within its circle of defences two long and lofty
hills which approach one another at an angle of
45^ and which are connected by a slight depression.
It was clearly a fortress capable of holding
a large garrison^ and must in olden days have been
almost impregnable. Thither in hot pursuit of
the young Gond prince came Asaf Khan and his
army. Asaf Khan was more than a match for
his youthful adversary. By treachery or darings
or by a combination of both^ Chauragarh soon
passed into his hands. Bir Narayan fell in the
sack of the fortress^ and the ladies of the court,
in wild fear lest they should sufEer dishonour, set
fire to the palace. Only two of them survived —
23
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Bir Narayan's betrothed wife, and Queen Durgavati's
sister. For them an unkind ifate decreed
places in Akbar's harem at Delhi. If indeed the
record of the loot which fell into Asaf Khan's
hands is to be trusted, the wealth of the northern
Gond kings must at this time have been considerable:
— " 101 cooking pots full of large and
valuable gold coins besides jewels, gold and silver
plate and images of the gods," these were but
portions of the spoil. Greatest of all were the
number of elephants which Asaf Khan took, and
which numbered fully 1,000.
The story, however, goes on to say that Asaf
Khan took good care that none of the jewels got
further than Manikpur, and that his royal master, as
the result of the conquest of northern Gondwana,
only received 300 indifier^it elephants I
For some years after these tragic events Asaf
Khan appears to have held Garha as an inde*
pendent principality, probably with the intention
of remaining there. Warnings, however, from
Delhi made him realise the wisdom of renouncing
any idea of breaking away from his allegiance to
the Emperor, and so in due course he returned to
Manikpur. Asaf Khan's invasion clearly marks
an epoch in the history of North Gondwana.
Writing in 1825, Sir W. Sleeman tells us that
** from this time onwards local tradition speaks
of regular intercourse between this Gond kingdom
and Delhi." For the future the Moghuls exercised
something like suzerainty over North Gondwana.
24
GHAURAGARH
It is interesting to note that the oldest rupees
which have been unearthed in this region belong
to the reign of Akbar.
On Asaf Khan's withdrawal^ Chandar Shah^ an
uncle of the ill-fated Bir Narayan and younger
brother of Dalpat Shah^ was proclaimed Raja of
Garha-Mandla, and was recognised as such by the
Emperor Akbar. In view of this recognition,
Chandar Shah was persuaded by the astute Akbar
to part with that portion of his territory which
now forms the kingdom of Bbbpal. Chandar
Shah's successor, Madhukar Shah, came to the
throne of his fathers with the fatal stain of his
ekier brother's blood on his hands. That he felt
his crime deeply is evidenced by the fact that some
years later his rehiorse drove him to take his own
life by voluntarily incarcerating himself in a dry
hollow pipal tree (one of the sacred trees of India),
and then being burnt to death.
Of Madhukar Shah the fact is recorded that he
was the first of his line to visit the Moghul Court
for the purpose of doing homage to the Emperor.
After this it seems to have been customary for the
eldest son and heir of Northern Gondwana to
spend some time at Delhi, where doubtless he was
initiated into the manners and customs of courts
and the mysteries of diplomacy and state-craft.
The news of Madhukar Shah's self-inmiolation
came to the ear of his eldest son Prem Narayan
while with the Emperor at Delhi. Leaving his
eldest son Hirde Shah to represent him at the
25
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
ImperiaT'Court, the Gond Raja hastened back to
Garha. Little could he have realised that a
trivial act of discourtesy on his part, in failing to
return the ceremonial visit of Bir Singh Deo,
Rajah of Orchha, was to bring on his country the
horrors of a second invasion. As the story runs,
this proud prince of Orchha was so angered at this
discourtesy of the young Gond Rajah, that on his
death-bed he made his son, Jhujhar Singh, swear
to avenge this insult by the invasion and conquest
of Garha. It is possible, however, that an additional
reason may have made it easier for Jhujhar
Singh to induce his followers to carry out his
father's unreasonable behest. The Gonds, as
aborigines, had no respect for the sacred cow,
which they used for ploughing, and whose flesh
was always welcome at their feasts. As such
treatment of the sacred animal would, to the
Hindu Rajputs, be " Anathema,'* Jhujhar Singh
would have experienced no difficulty in persuading
his subjects that such a war was a " holy " one.
And so from a failure to observe the etiquette of
kings, as weU as from an ignorant adherence to
the customs of their ancestors, the kingdom of
Garha-Mandla had to endure its second invasion.
Again, as in the time of Asaf Khan, Chauragarh
was the chief point of attack. On this occasion,
however, the Rajput failed where the Moslem had
succeeded. For several months the army of
Jhujhar Singh closely invested the fortress, but
without making any impression upon it. Then^
26
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
the aid of its chieftain against a common foe.
Then when his preparations were complete he
fearlessly gave battle to his father's and his
country's foe, and with complete success.
Jhujhar was killed and his army was routed.
Only once again did these Bundelas venture on
an extensive raid into the Nerbudda Valley. As
they turned their faces northwards and laughed
at their success in ^' singeing the beard of these
savage Gonds/' their mirth was suddenly turned
into blind unreasoning fear. Their wagons, laden
with loot, had crossed the sacred Nerbudda, and
were struggling up its northern banks, when an
invisible and mysterious power drew them all
back into the river. No effort of theirs could
stay them as they rolled backward, and as in some
mysterious way the conviction that the hostile
spirit of the headless Prem Narayan was present
came over them, the Bundela warriors terrorstricken,
fled northwards never to return.
To Hirde Shah North Gondwana owes much.
It was his aim to strengthen and consolidate the
possessions of his ancestors, which had already
shrunk somewhat by concessions to certain of his
neighbours. To him is ascribed the planting of
100,000 mango trees in the neighbourhood of
Garha, and the construction of the fine reservoir,
the Ganga Sagar, near Garha. To him also we
owe the large Gond palace at Ramnagar, twelve
miles from Mandla. Certainly few buildings in
India enjoy a more beautiful situation than does
28
L
CHAURAGARH
this palace, situated as it is high above the banks
of the Nerbudda, and overlooking a fine stretch
of river. One can readily understand with what
feelings of security and peace Hirde Shah must
have spent his days when residing at Ramnagar
in the fastnesses of Mandla, and away from the
open country of Garha.
CHAPTER IV
HIRDE SHAH AND THE PEDIGREE OF THE
GOND KINGS
The Gond king, Hirde Shah, was clearly a man of
this world. His days in Delhi, where at the
Emperor's Court he mixed with many of the
leading princes of India, had made him fed the
force of pride of race. Under his orders a pedigree
of the Royal House of Gondwana was prepared
and inscribed in an enduring form on the
walls of his palace at Ramnagar, near Mandla.
This truly wonderful work was entrusted to a
learned Hindu, by name Jaya Govinda. Few of
those unacquainted with Oriental processes of
imagination have, I venture to think, ever read
anything quite like this pedigree. For this reason
I have thought it well to let my readers see most
of this family tree. It may be well to point out
that the earlier portion of this pedigree is pure
fiction. The clerk, Jaya Govinda, was imder
orders to produce a good long pedigree. He
carried out his task most thoroughly. Jadurai,
called in the pedigree Yadavaraya, who was in
reaUty quite a modem person, was projected by
this clever pedigree-maker into the dim past,
where gods and heroes are indistinguishable.
Among his descendants celebrated Hindu heroes
like Ramchandra, Krishna, and Prithwi Raj, are
30
HIRDE SHAH
introduced without any r^ard to history. Only
when we meet with Madan Singh in this illustrious
company do we touch on soUd ground at all^ and
to him^ as we have already seen^ we owe the
Madan Mahal at Garha. But the full eloquence
of the pedigree is reserved for Sangram, Dalpat^
Durgavati, Madhukar Shah, Prem Narayan, and
Hirde Shah himself.
The Pedigree^
Glory to the auspicious Ganesa,* The auspicious
Trivikrama, ^ the beautiful, bears sway.
1. Salutation to thee, Vishnu, who, though as
if in thy entirety, manifoldly manifested, art yet
assuredly unapprdiended in any of thy real nature
whatsoever.
2. In the country of Gadha was a monarch,
Yadavaraya, a sea of virtuous quaUties. His
son was Madhavasinha ; from whom sprang
Jagannatha.
^13. Then occur the names of no less than
forty of Hirde Shah's ancestors in succession,
among whom occur the three well-known incarnations
of the god Vishnu, Narsineh, ^ Ramchandra,
and Krishna, besides others mmous in Hindu
1 Translated by Pitz-Edward Hall, D.C.L., presented to
the American Oriental Society, 17th Oct., 1860, and pablished
in the Society's JoHtnal, Vol. VII, p. 13 ei seq. (1862).
* The elqi4iant-headed god» the god of Prosperity.
* Trivi Krama. An epithet of Vishnu in his Baman
Incarnation. (The one who took three steps.)
* Narsingh, the ManrLion Incarnation of ^^shnu*
31
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Mythology like Rudra ^, Jagannath, • Vasudeva. •
Madan Singh^ the builder of the Madan Mahal^ is
also mentioned. Sangram is spoken of as the son
of Arjun, the famous warrior.
14. His son was Sangramasahi ; an exterminating
fire to his f oes^ as if they had been masses
of cotton-wool; the radiance of whose grandeur
being spread abroad^ the midday sun became like
a mere spark.
15. By which king, when he had reduced the orb
of the earth, two and fifty fastnesses were constructed;
indestructible from their excellent fortifications,
which were like adamant, and possessed the
firm strength of mountains, because of their water.
16. Of him gem of princes, King Dalapati was
the son ; of unsullied glory, to hymn form whose
fame the Lord of serpents^ hoped that all his
mouths would enduringly remain.
17. To the dust of whose feet — since his hand
was constantly moist with the water of bounty,
and as he was diligent in the remembrance of
Hari, * a refuge to those who were brought under
his authority — ^to him even people infected with
the quality of passion continually had recourse.
18. His consort was Durgavati; in sooth the
increase of fortune to suppliants; accumulated
hoUness actually personified the very bound of
earth'sprosperity.
19. This Purandara* of the circuit of the earth
^ Rudra, a Vedic god, identified with Agni.
* Jagaimath, an appearance of Vishnu.
' Vasudeva, the father of Krishna.
* Either an epithet of Vishnu with the cobra hood over
him, or Sesha.
* A name of the god Vishnu.
* A name for the beneficent Rain god, 'f Indra."
32
HIRDE SHAH
having demised^ Durgavati consecrated on the seat
of royalty their son, of three years age, the
illustrious Viranarayana, so callea.
20. By whom Durgavati of repute blazoned
throughout the triple universe, the whole earth
was rendered as it were another by interminable
glittering Hemachalas,^ in its stately golden
edifices in number untold, in its abundance of
valuable jewels everywhere tossing about, by
innumerable Indra's elephants, in its herds of
spirited elephants.
21 . Who, Durgavati, with her daily occupation,
which consisted in unceasing donations of nullions
of horses, elephants, and pieces of gold, depreciated
in semblance by her exalted celebrity, the
universal honour of Kamadhenu.*
22. Mounted on an elephant in person, and by
force over-mastering in many a battle prepotent
adversaries, ever studious for the saf^;uard of'
her subjects, she superseded, to all appearance,
the protectors of the regions.
23. Appropriating no less than the tribute of
kings their illustrious world-difihised splendour,
he, the fortunate Viranarayana as was his appcUation,
of renown illimitable, entered on adolescence.
24. Subsequently, some time having elapsed,
Asaf Khan with an army was deputed by
King Akbar, Puruhuta* of the earth, all but
compeer of Partha, * for the puipose of levjdng a
contribution.
^ A mythical golden mountain, Monnt Meru, north of the
Himalayas.
* A fabled cow capable of producing an inexhaustible supply
of all objects of desire.
* Pnruhuta-the god Indra.
^ Aijnna, one of the five Pandu Princes.
33
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
25. At the close of an engagement by this great
warrior, a Bhima^ in prowess, whose armaments
depressed the face of the earth, Durgavati, though
she had vanquished his entire army,
26. Being vexed with countless hostile arrows,
clove her own head, in an instant, with a sword
in her hand, as she sat on her elephant ; whereupon
she penetrated the solar sphere, as did her
son.
27. Then was inaugurated the younger brother
of King Dalpati, Chandrasahi ; an asyliun to the
lordless people, a treasury, so to speak, of magnificence
; the inextingui^able irradiator of his
whole race ; opulent in glory.
28. Of the wives of whose antagonists the trees,
with their thorns, snatched away the robes and
laid hold of the tresses ; while they, the ladies,
exhibiting conflagrations in the sheen of their
persons suddenly exposed consiuned them, the
trees, with their sighs; and ever, from very
wretchedness, they bore the bark of shrubs for
clothing. Thus, in the forests, did they, in a
manner wage strife with things immovable.
29. Of this monarch a son was bom. King
Madukarasahi, as of Siva, Shanmukha,* of
honourable note; as if a receptacle of noble
greatness.
30. By the triumphs of whom — resistless in
enterprise, as repeUing and destro3dng the impetuous
and overweening, stricken deaf with the
rushing torrent of the clamour of his drums,
enough to drown the roar of huge compact cataclysmal
rain-clouds newly come — ^achieved by the
^ Bhima, another of the five Panda Princes; a great warrior.
' Shanmtikha, a son of Shiva, generally called Kartikeya —
one with six mouths.
34
HIRDE SHAH
might of his arm^ and applauded by multitudes of
his lieges, the quarters responsive oftentimes to
this very day manifestly cause shame to their
eight presiding deities.
31. The son of this king was the fortunate
Premanarayana ; accompUshing, through his
a£9uence, the desires of the pure ; the collective
lustre of the tribe of warriors; the incorporate
energy of Smara;^ a domicile of good report;
the exaltation of his family ; the complete estate
of virtue; the measure of creative cunning; a
repository of merits ; no path for reproach.
32. Of whom — ^humbUng and routing a whole
troop of chieftains, by the fresh dense surge of
thousands of legions terrible with serried phalanxes
of most infuriate elephants redolent from the
Vindhyas — the adversaries, whose slumbers were
straightway broken when first they perceived his
refulgent grandeur, do not even yet readily leave
the caves of the mountains, though separated
from their wives.
33. Kings indeed presumptuous should be rigorously
coerced on the battlefield ; but one ought
not to harbour animosity. Fame should be enhanced
by performing meritorious acts unremittingly
among the people; but one must not
foster pride. Their wishes should at all times
whatever promptly be granted to petitioners;
but one must not wait to be entreated. Such,
obviously, is the duty of the rulers of this world ;
and for the justness of these maxims the practice
of Premasahi is an argument.
34. Of him the auspicious lord Premasahi was
bom another, the illustrious lord Hridaya, as he
was called, a source of happiness to the pious, and
^ Smara or Kamadeva, the Indian Cupid, slain by Shiva.
35
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
mighty like his forefathers : as arises the year ;
teeming with lunar days of numerous moments ;
whose appearance commences with the first day
of the moon's increase; ever augmented by
months growing with nycthemera ; alternating
with light and dark fortnights. ^
35. Thoroughly defending the entire world, this
monarch especially befriends the helpless; as a
cloud rains equably as it may, yet irrigates mo^t
copiously the low places with its water.
36. By which king have been assigned to Brahmans,
with the prescribed formahties of grants
on plates of copper, sundry villages; begirt by
lines of elegant gardens, rising with stuccoed
dwelling-houses, inhabited by a substantial tenantry,
provided with pellucid meres stocked with
water-Ulies, adorned with ample and frequent
habitations of herdsmen, and with spacious tillage
round about.
37. Which king keeps up all his vast domain :
where, from goodly mansions, may be recognised
diversities of construction : which is visible from
its fine towns and palm-trees; delightful from
attachment to the body of revealed and memorial
law ; independent of its borderlands ; captivating
the heart by the presence of proper roads ; and
easy of attainment only by men challenging
admiration ; and he is likewise conversant in
the science of melody and the dance, with its
refinements.
38. The whole earth and all potentates are
enclosed in the hand of lord Hridaya. By the
same were traced, midway on a golden wall, as it
had been fifty inunense elephants.
^ The Hindus divide the month into two periods, the
moonltt and the dark. .
36
HIRDE SHAH
39. It has been no matter of surprise at all^ that
a minute stationary butt was transfixed by him^
who^ with his shafts, can sever, almost simultaneously,
at quite distinct points, an arrow
launched obliquely.
40. Who, at the time of the chase, hunting on
foot, has, all of a sudden, slain, with his bolt, a
tiger assaultmg from aloft, of forefront fearful as
an enormous serpent's and formidable. R^;arding
whom is this speech of Indra, when he was thus
bespoken.
41. "Prithee tell us, Vishnu, why art thou
dejected ? " " What 1 is it not known to you,
worthy deities, that this king Hridaya makes, on
the earth, of Brahmans, many Satakratus ? " ^
• 42. Of this lord of the earth the queen is Sundari
Devi, the abode of prosperity, as being, in
effect, the wealth of merit, embodied.
43. From whom are constantly obtained, by
Brahmans, elephants, beauteous as dusky clouds,
with the copious ichor of their frontal exudations ;
given with the water of donation ever at hand ;
precluding to the needy the cause of clustering
miseries.
44. Who shines resplendent throughout the
world with her fair fame earned unceasingly by
endowments in succession as ordained ; which
endowments, finding, among the nations, straitened
scope for encomium, reached to heaven ; giving
forth such effulgence as a hundred autumnal
moons would reaUse.
45. Who observes, without intermission, the
holy ordinances, by innumerable conservatory
liberalities, in the making of reservoirs, gardens,
ponds, and the like, entailing munificent gratuities.
^ One who offers a hundred sacrifices « Indra.
37
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
46. Who, establishing this fane^ has enshrined
therein Vishnu, Sambhu,^ Ganesa, Durga,* and
Tarani. •
47. Who is there capable of fitly eulogising her,
by whom an abode has been provided to the
adorable Sankara, ^ Sridhara, ^ and others, deities
as they are ?
48. Who, the queen, evermore pays worship to
the gods and to the comely Trivikrama as chief, in
the Brahmans whom she employs in it, and by
dispensing good cheer, by keeping jubilees, and
by bestowing unmeted riches. Moreover, by the
command of the king, the youthful Mrigavati
constantly brings various articles of food for
oblation to Muradwit.*
49. Surpassingly victorious is the lord king
Hridaya and pre-eminent in power by his clemency
; even as the moon, with its beams,
subdues by the force of gentleness.
50. At his behest, the clerkly Jayagovinda —
son of the learned Mandana, of favourable repute,
versed in the exegesis of the Mimansa, ^ a master
of dialectic, and proficient in expounding the sacred
oracles and their supplements — ^has composed, in
epitome, this account relating to the sovereigns
of his lineage.
51. By dexterous artificers, named Sinhasahi^
^ Sambhu = Shiva.
* Durga =s an Incarnation of the goddess Parvati, wife of
Shiva.
• Tarani = The Sun.
« Sankara » Shiva.
• Sridhara = Vishnu.
* Krishna, who slew the demon Mura.
^ One of the six schools of Hindu philosophy.
38
HIRDE SHAH
Dayarama^ and Bhagirtha^ this temple was
constructed.
52. On the day of Vishnu, the light fortnight
of Jyeshtha, in the year one thousand seven
hundred and twenty-four, this record was transcribed
by Sadasiva, and engraven by these
skilful artisans aforesaid.
Friday, the 12th day of the bright semilunation
of JyeshlJia, in the year of Samvat 1724.
From Hirde Shah onwards the history of
Northern Gondwana moved away from Chauragarh
and Garha, and centred more and more
around Mandla. Its interest also rapidly declined.
No great man or woman appeared in its pages.
Pretty intrigue was constantly manifest. It was
a house divided against itself, and it could not
stand. No one arose to arrest its decay. District
after district fell away from it. Its revenues
were spent in buying off its enemies, and when at
length the Peshwa appeared, there was no power
left to resist his insolent demands*
And so, when Narhar Shah, the last of its ruling
princes, was defeated by the Marathas near Garha,
and sent to spend the rest of his days as a prisoner
in the fortress of Khurai in Saugor, one almost
breathes a sigh of relief, mingled it may be with
regret, at the inglorious termination of the once
famous Garha-Mandla dynasty.
Just for a moment the descendants of these
Gond Rajahs appeared again in the pages of
histoiy. Pensioners of the British Raj, father
39
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
and son .were convicted during the mutiny of 1857
of a plot to foully murder the English residents of
Jubbulpore, ah unworthy return to the power
which had saved them from the Marathas.
" Blown from the guns I '* Can anyone imagine
a more wretched fate for the descendants of
Sangram and Dalpat Shah ? And now a family^
which claims its descent from Queen Durgavati,
lives in an obscure village of Damoh, fed by the
bounty of the Ruling Power,
40
CHAPTER V
DEOGARHj AND THE EASTERN MIDDLE GOND
KINGDOM
Far away from Northern Garha^ where the
southern slopes of the Satpuras approach the plain
country to the north of the Deccan, stands the
fortress of Deogarh. Beneath it in former days
lay the dty^ but to-day almost nothing remains
but the tombs of the Gond kings.
Those whose love of the past leads them across
the fifteen miles of jungle country which now
separates Deogarh from the main road leading
from Nagpur to Chhindwara^ will never regret it,
for the sight of the Gond fortress of Deogarh
crowning a lofty hill and surrounded on three sides
by deep valleys is an unexpected and striking one.
Surely never was a spot more wisely selected for
an old-world fortress than this, where secure from
attack, and hidden away from the outer world, its
rulers could dominate the rich lands which lay to
the south, watered by the Wainganga and Kanhan,
and levy toll on those adventurous merchants who
dared to move across the wild coxmtry which
separated the Deccan from Hindustan.
Here it was that for long years the Gond kings
of the Eastern Middle Kingdom held sway. Before
their day men of another race had ruled over the
wild Gond race in these regions.
4!
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Whether those rulers were Rajputs of the
Aiyan stocky or^ as is more probable^ GaoUs or
shepherd kings^ Scytho-Dravidians by race,
though Hindus by religion, is a matter which does
not deeply concern us. Suffice it to say that, as
in other parts of Gondwana so here, the Gonds
only came into power and produced their rulers
after some centuries of Hindu ascendency. Probably
the period of Gond ascendency at Deogarh
was somewhat later than in the Northern Kingdom.
Jatba^ was the first of his race to rule over his
own people, and his rule did not conmfience till the
fifteenth century. Many are the stories told of
his greatness. To the Gonds his birth itself was
miraculous. Bom of a Gond virgin under a bean
plant, he was appropriately named Jatba (the
bean). A large cobra protected the infant from
the scorching rays of the s\m, as his village mother
worked in the fields. When he grew up he took
service in the Court of the twin Gaoli Rajahs
Ransur and Ghansur. His strength was enormous.
His arms were of exceptional length and power,
which made him an antagonist whom few cared to
face. On one occasion when asked to kill some
buffaloes for a sacrifice at the feast of DiwaU, he
decapitated them with his stick, which was
converted into a sword by his patron goddess.
Probably the fame of the Gond rulers of Garha-
Mandla first stirred him and his fellow Gonds to
^ There is a local tradition, which makes Jatba a descendant
of Sarbasha — a Gond King of Garha, who conquered Deogarh.
42
DEOGARH, KAGARKHARA
DEOGARH
thoughts of an independent kingdom. Whatever
it may have been^ the great step was taken on a
day when^ in a State procession Jatba^ at the
suggestion of the goddess^ vaulted on to the back
of the royal elephant and most treacherously and
savagely slew his royal masters.
Thus began the reign of Jatba. It is to him^
tradition has it, that the city of Deogarh, with its
famous fortress, mainly owes its existence. Here
for over three centuries Gond Rajahs ruled, not
only dominating the surrounding hilly country,
but extending their influence away south into the
plain country as far as the modem city of Nagpur,
so that at one time this part of Gondwana was
known as Deogarh above and Deogarh below the
ghats. Under the fostering care of Jatba the
kingdom of Deogarh steadily grew and the regions
round Seoni and Chappara were in due time made
part of it.
It might have been thought that the very
remoteness of its position would have saved
Deogarh from the notice of the Moghul Emperors.
This, however, was not the case. Close to it, not
more than fifty or sixty miles away, stood Kherla,
the capital of another Gond kingdom. And Kherla
lay not far from the route down which the Moslem
armies passed from Northern India into the
Berars and Deccan. During one of their campaigns
the attention of the Delhi Emperor was
called to the hill fortress of Deogarh, and in due
time Jatba's kingdom passed under some kind of
43
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Moghul suzerainty. It is said that the Emperor
Akbar visited Deogarh during Jatba's reign,
and that Jatba afterwards paid a return visit to
Delhi.
After Jatba's death the kingdom was ruled well
and wisely by his son and grandson, and continued
to grow. Greatest of all of Jatba's descendants,
however, was Bakt Buland. Few, if
any, of the Gond princes of Gondwana were quite
as famous as he was. There is a tradition that,
when a young man, Bakt Buland visited the
Moghul Court at Delhi and held some post in the
Court. There his gallantry and courage so charmed
the Emperor, that Aurangzeb bestowed upon the
Prince his name or title of Bakt Buland, " one of
great respect."
During his stay in Delhi, whether impressed by
the truths of the Mohammedan religion, or for
motives of political expediency, Bakt Buland
embraced Islam, though there is not the slightest
evidence that he used his influence on his return
to Gondwana to induce his subjects to forsake
their '* Animism " for this faith. Indeed, it is an interesting
fact that while Bakt Buland's successors
have continued to be Moslems to the present day,
the fact that they are Mohammedans has never
prevented them from marrying into Gond families,
and being received ever3^where by their subjects
as pure Gonds. When, for example, the present
Gond Rajah, now a pensioner of Government,
married, the bride was an ordinary Gond girl, and
44
DEOGAKH, THIi RIINFD THRONE
DEOGARH
the ceremonies took place at Deogarh according
to the regular Gond rites. Only when all the
customs of his fathers had been fulfilled was the
bride received into the Mohanmiedan faith.
But Bakt Buland was not content to remain
always the humble vassal of the Moghul Emperor.
When in later life the Moslem kingdoms of the
Deccan were at war with one another, and Moghul
power was declining, Bakt Buland, following the
customs of his ancestors, began a systematic
course of plimder in the Moslem territories and
even annexed Kherla. So serious were his depredations
that they were in due x^oiu'se brought to
the notice of Aurangzeb. As on enquiry it was
proved beyond doubt that Bakt Buland's offences
had been great, an Imperial order was issued by
which he was deprived of his fair soimding title,
and his name changed to Nigun Bakt, *' Of mean
fortune."
We should be doing injustice to the memory of
Bakt Buland if we allowed our readers to think
that his courage and prowess were exhibited in
nothing greater than the occupations of a brigand.
Ever ready to defend what he considered a just
cause^ and to stand by his Gond fellow-countiymen^
he readily responded to the cry for help which
came to him from Garha-Mandla, when the Rajah,
Narind Shah, was sore pressed by the rebellion
of two Pathan feudatory chieftains. Indeed, so
prompt and so effective was the assistance Hien
rendered by Bakt Buland to the Northern Gond
45
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Rajah, that the rebelKon was speedily put an
end to, and the two Pathan chieftains were
overpowered and slain.
It is to Bakt Buland that the beginnings of
Nagpur, the modem capital of the Central Provinces,
may first be traced. During his reign, the
rich lands to the south of Deogarh, between the
Wainganga and Kanhan rivers, were steadily
developed. Hindu and Mohammedan cultivators
were encouraged to settle in them on equal terms
with Gronds, until this region became most
prosperous.
On the death of Bakt Buland, his son, Chand
Sultan, succeeded him, and, unlike so many
Indian princes, carried on vigorously the work
which his father had begim. During his reign
Nagpur was raised to the dignity of a walled city,
and traces of its old walls and gates, as well as
some of its Grond buildings, are still to be seen in
the modem city.
Then after days of prosperity came days of
internal strife and dissension within the family
of the ruling chief, until a fatal day dawned when
the Marathas in Berar were invited by the Gond
rulers to assist them in healing their intemal
quarrels — and with this came the end, and the
house of Jatba passed away, to give place for a
hundred years to Maratha rule.
To-day, almost under the shadow of the fort
of Sitabaldi, at Nagpur, are the residences of two
Rajahs, the pne a descendant of Jatba, and the
46
DEOGARH
other a descendant of the Bhonsla who deposed
the Gond dynasty^ both Rajahs, Gond and
Maratha aUke, pensioners of the British Government
; and away to the north, beneath the
fortress of Deogarh, may be seen the tcmibs of the
Gond kings of this Eastern Middle Kingdom, while
in a place by itself stands the solitary tomb of
Jatba, the fomider of the line.
47
CHAPTER VI
KHERLA, AND THE WESTERN MIDDLE GOND
KINGDOM
Within a few miles of the pretty little station of
Betul stands a conical hill from whose summit one
gains a fine view of the surrounding coimtry.
Around the base of this hill can still be seen
large portions of the old walls, with their picturesque
gates and massive bastions, which were
called on over and over again in days of old
to withstand fierce attacks of the Moslem. On
the summit of the hill there stands a partially
ruined citadel, in which more than once a last
brave stand was made by its defenders.
Kherla, as this old fortress city is named, was
for centimes a place from which various dynasties
of kings ruled over the neighbouring country, and
for a considerable period of this time Gond kings
lived and ruled within its walls.
From many points of view the situation of
Kherla was admirable. Standing in the heart of
the plateau country of the Satpuras, more than
2,000 feet above sea-level, and not far from the
source of the River Tapti, its open position was in
marked contrast to the fortress city of Deogarh,
where Jatba had built his capital. Kherla had,
however, one fatal defect as compared with
Depgarh. It was too near to the main highway
which linked up Northern and Southern India.
48
KHERLA
If one may venture to take an illustration from
sacred history^ the [>osition of Kherla was not
unlike that of Samaria, whereas the position of
Deogarh, shut away in hilly countiy, was somewhat
like that of Jerusalem. And the varying
histories of these two fortresses and kingdoms
were, as might be expected, largely the outcome
of their geographical position. For while the
armies of Chaldea and Egypt, moving across the
Holy Land, frequently turned aside to attack
Samaria, leaving the rock-fortress of Jerusalem
alone, so the Moslem armies, on their way to and
from North and South India, passing by the great
fortress of Asirgarh and across the Satpuras, constantly
attacked Kherla, while Deogarh, fifty or
sixty miles away in the heart of a hilly country,
was left almost untouched.
The fortress of Kherla seems in the course of
history, to have been Uttle better than a shuttlecock
between the greater powers which lay to the
north and south of it. Desired as a strong outpost
both by the Moslem kings to the south, and
the Moslem princes who ruled in Mandu to the
north, it was never for long left undisturbed.
Constantly was it drawn into contests, with
which it had little concern, and from which it
could reap no benefit.
Long before the period of Gond rule, and before
the Moslem invader moved southward, a Rajput
dynasty had established itself at Kherla. These
Rajputs were apparently great builders, and to
4— (J550
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
them is ascribed the first building of the fortress
of Kherla. To Jaitpal in particular^ the last
and most distinguished of this line of rulers, is
ascribed much of the beauty and strength of the
fortress.
Though a Hindu by religion^ while canying out
his building schemes, he was guilty of a grave act
of impiety, which hastened the end of his rule.
In great straits for labour, he pressed into his
service 300 Sadhus or '* holy men/' Those who
know how these " b^gar saints '* are regarded in
India can fully understand how such an act was
r^arded. Rumours of the hardships to which
these " holy men *' were subjected having reached
Benares, the holy city of the Hindus, the feelings
of that city were deeply moved. Mukund Raj,
a Brahman of repute, was at once despatched to
rebuke Jaitpal for his impiety, and to rescue the
Sadhus from his unholy hands. As, however,
Jaitpal was obdurate, Mukund Raj appears to
have solved the problem by making the pickaxes
of the Sadhus do their work, without the Sadhus'
hands touching them I
Jaitpal was succeeded by Narsingh Rai, who
was the fifst Gond king to rule in Kherla. It is,
however, open to question whether he was a pure
Gond, as one tradition has it that he was the son
of a marriage between a Rajput father and a Gond
mother. His date seems to have been somewhat
late in the fourteenth century. During his reign
the kingdom of Kherla stretched away in a
90
KHERLA
westerly direction into the hill country north of
Berar, embracing the celebrated fortress of
Gawalgarh near Chikalda.
His reign was one of constant warfare. At one
period we see him at war with the Moslem niler
of Ellichpur in Berar. At another he is at war
with the northern kingdom of Malwa. Feroz
Shah> the Moslem King of Ellichpur^ was the first
to invade his comitry. On that occasion, he laid
si^e to Kherla, and actually captured Narsingh
Rai's eldest son. Then for a short time the tables
were turned, and Ellichpur was besi^ed by Narsingh
Rai. This good fortune did not, however,
last for long, and shortly afterwards Narsingh Rai
and his army were compelled to capitulate at
Ellichpur. Then it was that Feroz Shah, with a
view to winning the Gond prince over to his side,
forgave him magnanimously, presented him with
a robe of honour, and took one of his daughters
into the royal harem.
After this a fresh page in Narsingh Rai's chequered
history was opened, and we see the Gond
prince an ally of the Moslem king of Ellichpur,
and in consequence an object of the inveterate
hostility of Hoshang, Moslem king of Malwa.
More than once Kherla was invested by this
famous warrior from Mandu, who swore to take
it because Narsingh Rai had refused his alliance.
Then again iot a brief period the wheel of fortune
tiuned, and Narsingh Rai pursued the army of
Hoshang when retreating from an unsuccessful
51
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
invasion of the Deocan across his hilly country ,
and cut it in pieces.
The next act of the drama took place when the
Ellichpur king Ahmed Shah, Narsingh Rai's ally,
was campaigning far away in Gujerat. Hoshang
then seized his oppcxrtunity, and attacked his old
enemy with renewed hatr^ and violence. In the
battle which ensued, Narsingh fell, and Kherla
passed into the hands of^ Hoshang. After this
tragic event Kherla remained for a time in Hoshang's
hands, until the Ellichpur king again
wrested it from his grasp, and incorporated it in
the Moghul empire. After this Kherla became
for a time the headquarters of a Mohammedan
governor, and was under the Subah of EUichpur.
With the decline of Moghul influence, howev^ ,
in the Deccan, Kherla passed into the hands of
Bakt Buland, the famous Gond ruler of Deogarh,
and from that time onwards it remained under
Gond rulers until the rise of the Mafatha power.
With this brief account of it we must unfortunately
be content. Unlike the other Gond kingdoms of
Gondwana, almost no records of its Gond rulers
have been preserved for us.
Not in such a r^ion as Kherla could Gond rule
develop naturally along its own lines. Its true
sphere was in remote places like Deogarh and
Chaujda, where Moslem armies seldom came, and
where king and people could Uve their Uves free
from fears of the invader.
52
CHAPTER VII
THE SOUTHERN GOND KINGDOM
India has been described as the '' Land of Surprises/'
and the first sight of Chanda is to most
people a real surprise. Who would «cpect to
find such a charming little dty^ hidden away in
the heart of the jungles. There it has stood for
the last five centuries with its beautiful crenelated
walls and battlements which have suffered surprisingly
little from time's or man's rough hands.
Unlike the Gond capitals of Deogarh^ Kherla^ and
Chauragarh^ Chanda stands in the open plains
nu)re than 100 miles to the south of the Satpiu'as.
If^ as is probable^ the original home of the Gond
race was in the forest country of the Deccan^ the
Gonds in the Chanda district are much nearer the
rock from which they were hewn than are the
Gonds away to the north in the Satpuras.
Centuries before Khandkia Ballal Shah laid the
foundations of the dty of Chanda^ other djoiasties
of kings had ruled in this part of India. There
had been, in this neighbourhood, in very early
days, a great Hindu city Bhadravati, dedicated
to Bhadra (a name for the god Shiva), the capital
of the Vakataka kings. These kings ruled over
a wide stretch of country from the Godavary to
the Mahanadi, and nojthwards to the Mahadeo
53
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
range of the Satpuras. Then when Buddhism
penetrated mto the heart of India^ and for a time
secured the faith and devotion of the more highly
cultured Indians^ the city of Kosala eclipsed the
glory of Bhadravati.
How famous Kosala was may be seen from the
description which Hiuen Tsang — a Chinese Budd*
hist pilgrim — thought fit to give of it when writing
in A.D. 639. '' One hundred monasteries are
here and ten thousand Buddhist priests are among
its inhabitants/' But Buddhism, with its high
morality and philosophy of despair, never won the
soul of the j>eoples of India, and in due course
Kosala, and its Buddhist rulers, faded away, to
be replaced by the Manas or Nagvansi (snake
worshippers 1) kings of Wairagarh.
It was at this period that visions of rule first
dawned amongst the head-men of the Gond
tribes. Tradition has it that it was to one man,
Kol Bhil, whose name is a curious combination
of the names of two other aboriginal races, that
the Southern Gonds owe the b^innings of their
rule. A man of great strength and wisdom, he
first welded the Gond tribes together, and taught
them the elements of civilisation. It is, however,
with Bhim Ballal Singh that the Southern Gond
d)masty actually b^ins. His capital was at
Sirpur, on the right bank of the Wardha river,
and his chief stronghold was the fortress of Manikgarh,
in the hills behind Sirpur. For the first
eight generations these Southern Gond kings
54
THE SOUTHERN GOND KINGDOM
reigned at Sirpur, in the modem State of
Hyderabad.
Conspicuous amongst these rulers was Hir
Singh^ the grandson of Bhim Ballal Singh. Brave
in war^ and wise in administration^ he was the
first to persuade his wild fellow-countrymen to
cultivate the land. To him is attributed something
like a rudimentary land-revenue system.
In the time of his grandson^ Dinkar Singh^ the
culture of the Gond court improved. Though a
self-indulgent character^ he was in some respects
more enlightened than his predecessors. Gond
bards flocked to his capital at Sirpur and pundits^
acquainted with Marathi, were encouraged to
settle there.
On his death his son Ram Singh succeeded him.
Of him it is written —
" Just and truthful in his intercourse with his
subjects^ and daring and successful as a soldier^
Ram Singh governed the kingdom righteously and
enlarged its bounds. To increase its security he
erected several hill-forts on the south-west, and
maintained a chosen band of warriors called
' Tarvels/ These men had eaten the * taru '
(a rare orchid) with certain ceremonial observances,
and were supposed. to be invulnerable.
To each of his Tarvels the King made grants of
land."
Ram Singh was succeeded by his son Surja
Ballal Singh, who is one of the most romantic
figures of old Gondwana. Handsome in person,
55
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
and a lover of adventure^ he began his princely
career by some years of wandering. After
visiting Benares, the holy city of Hinduism, he
journeyed to Lucknow, where he devoted himself
to the study of war and song. His troubadourlike
existence in Oudh, however, was cut short in
a rather unpleasant manner. The looting propensities
of his Gond escort having reached the
ears of the Emperor at Delhi, orders went out for
the Gond prince's arrest. This was no easy
matter, as his brave Tarvels were ever watchful
of their master, and on several occasions proved
more than a match for the imperial troops, who
were sent from Delhi to arrest him. One day,
however, when wandering near Lucknow, without
his escort, BaUal Singh was captured, and carried
off to Delhi, where he was kept in close confinement.
Horrified at^ the capture of their brave
prince, his escort of Tarvels hastened back to
Gondwana to break the evil tidings at the Gond
capital of Sirpur. Then it was that the " tocsin "
resounded throughout the forest lands of Chanda,
and the Tarvels were siunmoned by Jarba, the
regent, to come speedily to the rescue of Ballal
Singh.
Meanwhile things had taken a turn for the better
with Surja Ballal Singh. As he wiled away the
weary hours of his captivity in song, it fell out
one day that the Emperor's lovely daughter passing
by that part of the palace where he was confined,
heard him singing. Desirous of seeing the prince
56
THE SOUTHERN GOND KINGDOM
who could sing so well^ she persuaded the
Emperor to send for him. The result of this
interview was just what Ballal Singh must have
desired. Struck by his princely bearing the
Emperor enquired whether Ballal Singh coidd
fight as well as sing. On the Gond prince replying
that he only longed for an opportunity of showing
his skill in battle^ the Emperor allotted to him the
difficult task of subduing the fortress of Mohan
Singh which his own generals had failed to take.
This Rajput prince had incurred the Emperor's
displeasure by refusing to give his beautiful
daughter to the imperial harem.
Hardly had Ballal Singh accepted this honourable
tads^ and before he had time to start for
Gondwana^ where he was about to raise an arm}'
of Gonds^ there appeared before the gates of Delhi
the Gond regent Jarba and an army of Tarvels
and other Gonds, bent on the rescue of their
prince. On learning the changed condition of
affairs^ and that their prince was now a commander
in the Moslem armies^ Jarba gladly agreed to
accompany the expedition.
Ten thousand picked soldiers from the imperial
troops were added to the force, and Ballal Singh
was soon on his way to the rebeUious State. The
campaign was a brief and successful one. The
Tarvels, under the leadership of their prince,
performed miracles of valour, stormed the fortress,
slew the Rajah, and captured his widow and
daughter.
57
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Then follows the romance of the story. The
beautiful widow implored the chivahous Surja
Ballal Singh to save her and her daughter from
the imperial harem^ and he^ overcome by her
charms^ rashly undertook to do so. His ta^ was
by no means an easy one^ but Surja Ballal Singh
eventually devised a plan by which he succeeded
in deceiving the Emperor and acquiring the ladies
for himself.
A rumour was started by his orders among his
troops, that his eldest son — a beautiful boy — had
just arrived in camp. Disguising the beautiful
young Rajputni princess in boy's dress, he placed
her on the state elephant on which he himself
rode triumphantly into Delhi. Proceeding to the
imperial palace he announced his arrival^ and
craved the audience of the Emperor. The Emperor
seated on his throne in the Diwan-i-Khass^
welcomed the victorious prince, and taking the
beautiful child on his knee addressed him as his
dear child. Then turning to Ballal Singh he
asked of him : " Where, O Prince, is the fruit of
thy victory ? " " Your Majesty holds her in
your lap," replied the Gond prince, " and as you
have called her ' Your dear child ' she can be
nothing else to you.*'
What the Emperor really felt about this trick
which Surja Ballal Singh had played on him we
are not told. His honour, however, was now
involved, and he at once renounced all claim to
the Rajput ladies, who later on accompanied the
58
THE SOUTHERN GOND KINGDOM
Gond prince to his capital at Sirpur. It speaks
well for an autocrat like the Emperor of Delhi
that in spite of this act of deception he was ready
to confer on Snrja Ballal Singh a dress of honour
as a reward for his bravery. The title of " Sher
Shah '* was also conferred on him, so that after
his return from Delhi he was no longer known as
Snrja Ballal Singh, but as Sher Shah Ballal Shah.
Readers of Gond records cannot fail to be struck
by the fact that while the earlier rulers of the
Northern and Southern Gond dynasties are styled
" Singh " (the Rajput title for a ruler), the later
rulers are styled " Shah," an abbreviated form of
Padishah, the Moslem teim for a ruler. Doubtless
the change of title merely marked the decline of
early Rajput influence, and the ascendency of the
Mpghul power.
59
CHAPTER VIII
CHANDA^ AND THE SOUTHERN GOND
KINGDOM
On the death of the ha-oic Surja^ his son Khandkia
Ballal Shah came to the throne. Suffering constantly
from ill-healthy it seemed hardly possible
that his reign would add any lustre to the southern
house of Gond kings. And yet, strange though
it may seem, it was this very ill-health of their
ruler which was destined to bring about a change,
which did so much to strengthen the position of
the Southern Gond kingdom.
Khandkia's queen was a woman of more than
ordinary discernment and decision of character.
In her anxiety for his health she urged him to
abandon the home of his ancestors at Sirpur, and
to seek a healthier and more secure capital on the
opposite side of the Wardha river. Acting on her
advice, the Gond king moved his capital to a site
on the high banks of the left bank of the
Wardha river which still bears his name. There
he built the picturesque fortress of Ballarshah —
now partly in ruins — which commands a splendid
view of the river and a wide sweep of Deccan
country.
Still suffering from his disease, he spent much
of his time in the saddle, exploring the surrounding
country, and hunting its game. It was while
60
CHANDA
«
engaged on one of his hunting expeditions that
the event occurred which led to the founding of
the city of Chanda. Riding one day some ten
miles from Ballarshah^ he became extremely
thirsty, and while walking his horse up the dry>
bed of a small river, to his great joy discovered
a small pool of water in its rocky bed. Dismounting
he greedily drank the cool water, and
bathed his face and hands in the pool. That night
on his return, to Ballarshah, he slept as he had not
slept for years. In the morning when he awoke
his queen noticed that the swellings and tumours
which had disfigured his handsome face and body
for some years had almost vanished. In her
delight she questioned him closely about the pool
in which he had bathed, and being convinced that
there was more in it than ordinary water, she
implored Ballal Shah to take her over to it that
very morning.
On reaching the spot orders were at once given
to have all the grass and jungle removed from
around the pool, when, to the wonder and delight
of the king and queen, as well as to the assembled
court, five deep footprints of the sacred cow were
seen in the solid rock, each filled with an unfailing
supply of water. Further enquiry made it dear
that this spot was none other than the restingplace
of the great god Achaleshwar^ "The
Immovable One.''
Further bathing in its sacred waters soon restored
the king to complete healthy and removed
61
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
all his bodily disfigurements. Not long afterwards^
to confirm this great discovery^ the god
Achaleshwar appeared in a night vision to the
happy king. Th^i again the good sense of his
queen stood Khandkia Ballal Shah in good stead.
Possessed of a genius for taking hints from either
gods or men, she made it quite dear to the king
that the god Achaleshwar expected him to build
a temple over the sacred pools in his honour.
Plans of the temple were speedily prepared, stone
was quarried, the foundations were laid with due
ceremony, and before many months the temple of
Achaleshwar was rising from the ground, a temple
which still stands, after 500 years, in memory of
Khandkia Ballal Shah's restoration to health and
happiness.
While this temple was in process of construe^
tion, another event occurred which was to lead to
the founding of the city of Chanda. It was the
king's custom to ride over from Ballarshah from
time to time to see how the work at the temple
progressed. On his rides he was invariably
accompanied by a faVourite dog. One day when
riding back to Ballarshah, and while dose to the
temple, a hare darted out of a bush, and strange
to rdate began to chase his dog. The dog fled
in wild terror with the hare in close pursuit.
Astonished at the sight, the king followed the
chase as closely as he could. At times, with a
view of shaking o£E his pursuer, the dog ran in
wide circles, while the hare took a shorter and
82
CHANDA
more ^grag course. On one occasion the ha^e
actually closed with the dog, only to be quickly
shaken ofi. And so the race continued until both
the animals were nearly exhausted. Then when
they were approaching the place Where the race
had begun, after a circular chase of nearly seven
miles, the dog in wild desperation turned on the
hare, and after a sharp struggle killed it.
Approaching the dead hare, the Gond Rajah
observed for the first time that on its forehead
was a strange white mark or " tika." Full of his
strange adventure he rode back to Ballarshah to
tell the story to his sympathetic queen. Again her
genius penetrated into the inner meaning of this
mysterious occurrence. It was clearly an omen
sent by the gods that Khandkia Ballal Shah was
again to change his capital, and build a fortified
city around the temple of Achaleshwar. The
chase was but the god^s own method of townplanning.
The walls of the city must be built
over the tracks of the sacred hare — strong bastions
must be built at the places where the dog had
made his circular detour — and special fortifications
would be needed where the hare had closed
with the dog, and also where the dog had slain
the hare; for these would always be danger
zones in the new city. Thus was begun the
city of Chanda, or Chandrapur, which, according
to some, derives its name from the moon, and
according to others from the white spot on the
hare's forehead,
63
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Khandkia Ballal Shah was succeeded by his son
Shah, in whose reign the country prospered.
Like his remote ancestor, Hir Singh of Sirpur, his
mind was bent on the improvement of agriculture
in South Gondwana. Calling the trusty Tarvels
to a banquet, he urged on them the duty of
clearing and cultivating the lands which his
grandfather had bestowed on them. To every*
one who cleared his lands of forest and jungle, was
offered the rights of ownership, whereas those who
through laziness and apathy refused to do so,
were duly warned that their lands would be
confiscated. Nor was Hir Shah content with
merely issuing orders on these subjects. From
time to time it was his custom to tour throughout
his wild State, for the purpose of seeing for himself
how his orders had been obeyed. Boundaries
were then marked out^ and ** sanads,'* or rights
of tenure, were formally bestowed on worthy landholders.
Special rewards also were given to those
who had constructed tanks on their prqperty —
and those who had made irrigation channels or
canals were often given all the land which their
waters reached.
In this way much of the wild country was
brought under cultivation, and numbers of the
migratory Gonds were drawn into the quiet life
of the agriculturist. It is to Hir Shah in particular
that the Chanda district owes so many of its
splendid tanks.
Once a year all landowners appeared before
64
CHANDA
the Rajah at Chanda to pay their rents and
exhibit their ploughs and other field implements.
By this means a rough calculation of the value of
their property was made.
In Hir Shah's reign the massive gates of Chanda,
with their quaint emblem of Gond sovereignty —
** the elephant helpless in the grasp of a gigantic
tiger/' which resembled the mastodon of prehistoric
days, were completed. To him also
belongs the honour of building the citadel and
the palace, parts of which still remain, though
degraded to the less noble uses of a jail and police
station I Of Hir Shah it is specially recorded that
he paid tribute to no foreign kii^, so that any
over-lordship on the part of the Bahmani kings
of the Deccan — which had hitherto existed — from
bis time passed away.
On his death his two sons Bhuma and Lokba
jointly ruled the kingdom, according to a scheme
laid down by their father. Fortunately no
jealousy or rival ambitions were felt by either of
them. Those were merry days in Chanda, like
the days of Good Queen Bess in England. In the
summer season the various Gond chieftains and
headmen waited on their princes, with bodies
painted in divers colours, and adorned with
various ornaments, such as peacocks' feathers,
beetles' wings, tiger and panther sldns, and the
horns of the young bison. Each headman brou^t
with him specimens of the various products found
on his estate, both animal and v^etable^ and the
65
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
festivities concluded with a great banquet at the
royal palace.
There was a pleasing diversity among these old
Gond rulers of Chanda. Some were stem war*
riors^ full of ambition to extend their territories ;
while others were more peacefully inclined, who
won their triumphs in the devdopment of the
resources of their forests and jungles.
Kam Shah, the grandson of Hir Shah, belonged,
however, to another and less conunon type of
ruler. Thoughtful and religious, he was from the
first strongly attracted to the Hindu religion. A
lover of its sacred books, Brahmans and Pandits
soon flocked to his kingdom, and were rewarded
with fields and villages free of rent. Lingas of
Mahadeo were set up in many places, new temples
built and old temples restored. Justice, too, was
administered as never before. Before his days —
so l^end has it — no king in South Gondwana ever
dreamt of interfering in the disputes of his
subjects, and every ntian was his own judge and
high-executioner. If anyone had appealed to the
king for justice when their relations had been
murdered, the king had but one reply, ''Slay
your enemy." In Kam Shah's days thb state of
things was no longer tolerated. Justice was evenly
administered, and habitual offenders were banished
from the State. Falsehood and perjury woe
punished with the utmost severity, and men
dwelt securely under the shadow of their vines
and fig-trees.
66
CHANDA
Seldom is any mention made of these jungle
kingdoms in the annals of the Imperial Court at
Delhi^ but so prosperous and important had
Southern Gondwana become at this period that
in the Ain-^i-Akbari^ or Chronicles of Akbar^ it
is recorded of Babaji Ballal Shah^ Kam Shah's
son^ '* that he paid no tribute to Delhi^ and possessed
an army of 10,000 cavaliy and 40,000
infantry." In his reign the city of Wairagarh—
the capital of their hereditary foes — ^was added
to the kingdom of Chanda.
As one endeavours to piece together the fragmentary
accounts which we possess of the four
kingdoms of old Gondwana, one caimot help
asking the question as to the connection, if any,
which existed between them. Were they friends
and allies, or in the usual condition of suspicion
and hostiUty which was characteristic of most
Indian States at that period ?
It certainly seems as if, during one period, the
kingdom of Chanda penetrated into the Satpura
country, and encroached very considerably on
the kingdom of Deogarh. On the other hand, our
scant records tell us of but one war waged between
the houses of Chanda and Deogarh, and that as a
consequence of an unhappy marriage.
At the time of this marriage between the ruling
houses of these two kingdoms both were at the
height of prosperity, and bound to one another
by some kind of treaty. Abul-1-Fazl speaks of
the strength of Deogarh as then being very
67
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
considerable^ ''fifty thousand foot, and two
thousand cavahy and pne hundred elephants/'
We have aheady seen what the strength of
Chanda was.
The quarrel arose in the following manner :
Bir Shah, one of the most distinguished princes
of Chanda, had given his daughter to Durgpal,
a prince of the royal house of Deogarh. Durgpal,
who most probably had never seen the princess
till the day of his marriage, seems to have taken
a violent dislike to his bride, and to have insulted
her in some inexcusable way. Bir Shah in wild
anger vowed that he would never rest till he had
placed the head of the ntiiscreant Durgpal on the
top of the shrine of the great goddess Kali at
Chanda. _
A bloody battle ensued, and in its earlier stages
everything went well with the Moslem Gond king
of Deogarh. Bir Shah was on the point of being
captured, when drawing the sacred sword jof his
house, and with a loud voice invoking the aid of
Maha Kali, he rushed on Durgpal, and with one
blow deprived his son-in-law of his head. After
the death of their prince the army of Deogarh lost
heart and fled, and Bir Shah returned with his
triumphant army to Chanda. And to-day, high
up on the roof of the lofty temple of Maha Kali,
which Ues outside the city walls of Chanda on its
southern side, one may see a head carved in stcme
gazing away northwards to Deogarh, which recalls
the story of the unfortunate Durgpal.
68
CHAND A
Bit Shah's own end was even more tragic than
that of his son-in-law. It came to him on the
day of his second marriage. There is an old
Indian custom that part of the bridegroom's duty
on the marriage day is to fetch the bride from her
father's house to his own. For some years there
had been at Bir Shah's court a Rajput named
Hiraman, renowned for his skill at arms and
believed to be the possessor of a magic sword.
More than once Bir Shah had asked this rather
mysterious person to reveal to him the secret of
his sword^ but to no purpose. And for the last
time on this happy day, before the royal procession
set out to the bride's house, he again asked
him, half in banter, to explain to him the secret.
Hitherto silent and sullen, Hiraman suddenly
burst forth into a fierce passion, and before the
courtiers could intervene, killed the king, and
then killed himself. So perished Bir Shah, one
of the bravest and best of the Gond kings of
Chanda. And to mark the deep sense of loss at
his tragic death, the noblest of all the tombs in
Chanda was raised over his grave, close to the
temple of Achaleshwar.
And now we must draw our tale of the Gond
kings of Chanda to an end. Of them we know
feir more than of the other kings. Only in the
days of Sangram Shah and Durgavati, and in the
days of Bakt Buland, did the Gond kingdoms of
Northern Garha-Mandla, and Deogarh, at aU rival
the greatness of the southern house. Unlike the
68
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
other Gond kingdoms^ the house of Chanda seems
to have had a long succession of good and intelligent
rulers, who resisted the natural temptations
to inner strife and intrigue, which, as we have
already seen, brought destruction to the other
kingdoms. Indeed, so famous for wisdom and
uprightness was Ram Shah, one of the last kings
of Chanda, that it is reported of him that when
Raghuji Bhonsla, the Maratha leader, visited
Chanda, with a view to seeking a pretext for a
quarrel, he ended his visit by almost worshipping
him as a god.
" Well would it have been,** so Canon Wood
writes in his article on Chanda, '* if the fast failing
thread of the Gond rule had been severed at Ram
Shah's death."
For Ram Shah's son and successor, Nilkanth
Shah, was an evil and cruel ruler, who dismissed
his father's most trustworthy councillors, ground
down his subjects, and interfered foolishly and
needlessly in the political disputes of Deogarh.
And all the time the Maratha foe was but waiting
for his opportunity, and when he again approached
the gates of the royal city of Chanda, it was not
by force of arms, but by the treachery of a
discontented people, that he triumphed.
Certainly the achievements of the southern
house of Gondwana were quite remarkable.
"Originally but petty chiefs of a savage tribe,
they spread their kingdom over a wide stretch
of country, reclaiming much of the forest land,
70
CHANDA
peopling them with a prosperous people^ and
keeping their country free from the foreign invader.
And when at length they passed away, they left
a well-governed kingdom, prosperous to a point
which has not since been reached/'
71
CHAPTER IX
NAGPUR
THE MARATHA PERIOD, 1743-18S3
The map of ancient India differed a good deal
from its map to-day. The country to the south
of Nerbudda was roughly divided ethnographically
by Hindu geographers into five parts :
"Draved" on the extreme south, "Telingana"
and the " Camatic " in the centre, " Gondwana "
to the north of Telingana, and '' Maharasthra "
to the north of the Camatic.
Maharasthra was the home of the Marathas.
From it they took their name. It was a large
tract of country, which in its northern portion
included some of the Satpura hill country, while
its south-western portion extended along the
coast line as far as Goa.
Risley, in his Peoples of India, seems to think
that the Maratha race owes its origin to an ancient
Scythian invasion of India. These Scythian invaders
intermarried largely with the Dravidian
races, whom they conquered, and settled down to
a life, partly agricultural, but chiefly pastoral.
Though Hindus in religion, and speaking a language
which is derived from Sanskrit, the
Marathas retain special customs of their own, and
still exhibit many marked features of character
72
NAGPUR
and appearance^ which separate them from the
other peoples of India.
Before the Mohammedan invasions of India,
Maharasthra was divided into States of varying
size and importance, most of them small. Unlike
Gondwana, it lay on the direct route between
Northern and Southern India, and soon passed
under Mohanunedan domination. During the ear-
Uer days of Mohanunedan rule in the territories
south of the Nerbudda, and for long years after
the Bahmani revolt from Delhi, the Marathas
were content to live under what was to thein an
alien rule. Many of them filled various offices
of distinction in Moslem States. When, however,
the Bahmani d}aiasty, after a century and a half
of rule, broke up into the five, and afterwards
three, Moslem kingdoms of the Deccan ; when
southern Moslems were divided against their
brethren, and the Moghul emperors of Delhi with
their varying and generally aggressive policy, only
added to the pohtical unrest of the cotmtry, the
first movement towards an independent national
rule awoke amongst the Marathas. They had
learnt from their conquerors how to rule and how
to fight, and they began to turn their lessons to
account. Little did the Moghul Emperor Aurungzeb
realise when he contemptuously styled
the Maratha leader Sivaji '' a moimtain rat,'' that
the Maratha forces which this remarkable man
was beginning to arouse would within a century be
around his capital, Delhi, and at the battle of
78
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Panipat be even threatening the supremacy of
his empire.
It is not my intention to touch on the general
history of the Marathas.
It is sufficient for our purpose to trace briefly
the connection of the Maratha kingdoms with the
old Gond kingdoms of the Central Provinces.
More than two generations had passed since
Sivaji had been gathered to his fathers, before
the Marathas finally established their rule in old
Gondwana. It is always a dangerous eicperiment
to summon outside help to settle internal quarrels.
Those who are invited have an unpleasant way of
staying on, when their stay is no longer welcome.
Chand Sultan's widow was naturally anxious about
her son Burhan Shah's succession to his Cither's
throne, and was justly indignant at the usurpation
of Wali Shah, a natural son of the great Bakt
Buland. She and her advisers, however, can
hardly have realised the character of those from
whom they sought help. Not that Raghuji
Bhonsla, the Maratha ruler of Berar to whom she
appealed, treated her and the Gond kingdom
badly, for it is dear that he showed them far more
consideration than many of his compatriots would
have done. His response to the first cry for help
was merely to dispossess the usurper, and to assist
in putting Burhan Shah on his throne. When he
had done this, he retired to his capital at EUichpur
in Berar.
But Burhan Shah was a poor creature, and
74
NAGPUR
almost immediately after his trouble with Wali
Shah, was involved in strife with one of his own
brothers, Akbar Shah. Those were evil days in
Gondwana. Gond fought against Gond, and on
one occasion no less than 12,000 Gonds were
massacred in cold blood by Akbar Shah. Again
Raghuji was summoned, and this time he decided
to stay. Burhan Shah was obviously too weak
to keep order over the fair lands which the genius
and courage of his grandfather, Bakt Buland, had
bequeathed to him, and so Raghuji made up his
mind to take the reins of govenmient out of the
hands of the feeble Gond Rajah. Even then,
however, he showed no harshness to him, and
treated him with an outward show of respect.
Burhan Shah remained the nominal ruler of the
kingdom to the end of his days and, what is more,
received a fixed share of tiie revenues of his
country. Thus in this bloodless fashion the
Maratha began his rule over the Central Provinces.
Before, however, we proceed further, it may be
well to say a word or two about this Maratha
family of Bhonslas, who ruled over Gondwana for
nearly one hundred years. The founder of their
family was Mudhoji Patel of Deor, a small State
in the Bombay Presidency. Mudhoji had been
a distinguished cavalry leader in the armies of
Sivaji. His son Parsoji, as a reward for military
service in the early Maratha wars, was made
governor of Berar, the coimtry which lay on the
borders of Gondwana, with the right of collecting
75
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
*' Chauth ** or revenue in that country. Parsoji
was in due course succeeded by his nephew, the
above-mentioned Raghuji, who was the first
Maratha ruler of Nagpur. Of Raghuji it has
been said " he was a perfect type of a Maratha
ruler. He saw in the troubles of others only an
opening for his own ambition and did not require
a further pretext for plunder and invasion."
No sooner did Raghuji find himself .established
in Nagpur than he at once developed his plans for
conquering all the surrounding country. The city
of Chanda, the capital of the Southern Gond
kingdom, was delivered up to him by treachery in
1749. Maratha rule spread rapidly in a northern
direction, and the fate of Chanda soon overtook
Kherla. Beforci Raghuji's death, in 1755, much
of the country between the Godavery and the
Nerbudda, and from the Bay of Bengal to the
extreme east of Berar, was pa3dng tribute or
" Chauth "— " 25 per cent, of the land tax "—to
this Maratha ruler.
During Raghuji's time a great change passed
over the southern portion of the Central Provinces.
Large numbers of Kumbhis (the cultivating class
of Marathas) and of other Maratha tribes poured
into the Nagpur country. Gondi, the old language,
ceased to be spoken, and Marathi took its
place. And with the change the old Gond
population withdrew more and more into the
wilder parts of the country.
The early Maratha rulers of Nagpur were
76
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
which^ on account of the Maratha annexation of
Orissa^ had come into close contact with British
territories in Bengal.
Hitherto the Northern Gond kingdom of Garha-
Mandla had been regarded as but part of the
Peshwa's dominions and was ruled from Poona.
In 1785^ however^ it was definitely added to the
kingdom of Nagpur by a treaty in which Mudhoji
agreed to pay twenty-seven lakhs into the treasury
at Poona. Mudhoji was, on the whole, a
sensible ruler, and before his death in 1788 was
able to hand over a tranquil and fairly prosperous
State to his son Raghuji.
At the time of Raghuji II's accession, the kingdom
of Nagpur embraced practically the whole of
the present Central Provinces with Berar, the
province of Orissa, and some of the Chota Nagpur
States. Its annual revenue was estimated at
nearly one million pounds. Its army consisted of
18,000 cavalry, a strong feature in all Maratha
armies, with 25,000 infantry and 4,000 Arabs.
The artillery was considerable, and included about
ninety guns. It is interesting to note, however,
that Raghuji's army was recruited for
the most part outside Gondwana, the cavalry
coming from Poona, and its neighbourhood, and
the infantry from the fighting races of Rajputana
or Arabia.
Up to 1803 it is generally adnutted that the
administration of the southern part of Gondwana
was not without its good points. Descended as
78
NAGPUR
they were from the yeomen dass, the Bhonsla
rulers of Nagpur fetvoured agriculture^ and though
rapacious, were seldom deliberately cruel. They
bdieved, like all Oriental lulers, in the personal
touch of the ruler, and their Rajah might be seen
from time to time, in the early mornings, sitting
on his throne in the Public Hall of Audience,
which opened on the main street of Nagpur, with
sword and shield beside him, discussing with his
ministers and miUtary captains, the different
problems of his State. At such times he was
ready to Usten to the appeals and complaints of
his subjects, a privilege very dear to the Oriental,
who feels that more than half of his troubles have
passed away if the " Sircar *' gives ear to the voice
of his complaint.
During the early period of Raghuji II's reign
the links between the Nagpur State and the
Bengal Government grew firmer, and in 1796 Mr.
G)lebrooke was appointed Resident at the Court
of Raghuji. Well would it have been for Raghuji,
if he had more fully realised the importance of
keeping on good terms with the Briti^ and had
not allowed himself to be drawn first into
intrigue, and then into open hostility, against
them.
Mr. Colebrooke had hardly been in Nagpur for
two years when indicaticms of a curious change
in Raghuji's attitude became apparent to him.
Secretly encouraged by the Peshwa, the nominal
leader of the Maratha Confederacy, Raghuji
79
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
collected an army^ and threw in his lot with
Scindhia, then our bitter foe.
Shortly after Scindhia's defeat at Assaye by the
Duke of Wellington, then Sir Arthur Wellesley,
a similar feite befell Raghuji, at Argaon, followed
almost immediately by the loss of his great fortress
of Gawalgarh, near Chikalda. Nothing
remained then for Raghuji but to accept peace on
any terms. Shorn of his territories in the Berars
and Orissa, his revenue fell to nearly one-half of
its former amount.
From this time onwards Raghuji's character
steadily deteriorated. Adversity seems only to
have embittered him. Determined to show as
proud a front as ever to the world, he began to tax
his unfortunate subjects unmercifully. Opening
nimibers of shops in the bazaar he compelled
people to buy in them, while charging exorbitant
prices. Soon he became known as the '"Big
Bania " or " Big Shopkeeper." Jealous and suspicious
of everyone, he found no one ready to
serve him. Has unpaid army turned into bands
of .dacoits, who looted the countiy-side far and
wide. For security against them the villagers
even raised forts in their villages, remains of
which may still be seen. Forty years after his
death old men spoke pathetically of the misery of
those days. "They sowed in sorrow with little
hope of reaping. When they did reap, they
buried their com in the ground." And so when
Raghuji II died, the kingdom of Nagpur was in
80
NAGPUR
a state of abject misery and poverty such as had
never been seen in earlier Gond days.
Nor did the succeeding years bring much relief.
Raghuji's son^ Parsoji^ was blind^ paralysed^ and
shortly after his accession lost his reason. Mudhoji^
a nephew of the late Rajah, was then appointed
Regent. On his appointment things looked at
first more hopeful. A new British Resident, Mr.
Jenkins, succeeded Mr. Mountstuart Elphinstone,
our second Resident, and it seemed as if Mudhoji,
under his guidance and advice, was ready to do all
in his power to improve the condition of his State.
Owing to straitened finances the army was
reduced, and on 28th May, 1816, a treaty of
defensive alliance was signed, by which the British
East India Company agreed to maintain six regiments
of infantiy with cavalry and artillery, while
Parsoji was to pay 7^ lakhs (£75,000) annually
for the upkeep of 2,000 cavalry and 2,000 footmen.
Thus matters stood at the beginning of 1817,
when Mudhoji the Regent left Nagpur ostensibly
to visit the Chanda portions of his territories.
Hardly, however, had he left his palace when the
Rajah was found dead in his bed poisoned, so it
was afterwards proved, by the Regent's orders,
and as Parsoji had no heir, and as no one was
prepared to prove that Mudhoji was the murderer,
he^ as his next of kin, was appointed Rajah.
Then a complete change came over this unscrupulous
ruler. Dropping all concealment he
at once showed himself in his true colours. In
81
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
spite of continued professions of friendship to
Mr. Jenkins^ he openly conspired with the other
chieftains of the Maratha Confederacy, the Peshwa
and Scindhia, to destroy British rule and influence
in India. By November, 1817, affairs had assumed
so grave an aspect that Mr. Jenkins felt it necessary
to sununon all available troops to his assistance
at Nagpur.
Before they could reach him, however, Mudhoji,
popularly known as '* Appa Sahib," determined to
strike his blow. As a prdiminary step, and to
show openly his contempt for the British, he
invited Mr. Jenkins and his staff to witness in
Durbar his investiture as a " Sunobut " or Commander-
in-Chief in the Peshwa's army, the Peshwa
being then at war with us.
' It being now clear that open hostilities ware
inevitable, Cokmel Hopetoun Scott with a brigade
of two battalions of Madras troops, and four sixpoundars,
manned by Europeans of the Madras
artillery, was ordered to move swiftly from the
lines at Telinkheri, and to occupy the small hill
of Sitabaldi which overlooks the city of Nagpur.
Hardly had our troops occupied Sitabaldi when
Appa Sahib's attack began. The Maratha forces
numbered fully 18,000 men, of whom nearly 4,000
were Arabs. Their artillery amounted to thirtysix
gims. Against this army Mr. Jenkins had
but 1,800 Madras infantry, and four guns I
The battle of Sitabaldi, as it is called, began as
late in the day as six o'clock on the evening of
NAGPUR
the 26th of November. The hill from which it
takes its name consists of two summits^ connected
by a narrow neck^ the northern summit^ about
300 feet high^ being sUghtly lower than the
southern. As the northern summit^ however,
commanded the native city, it was naturally of
special importance. The surface of the hill being
almost entirely of rock, our troops could do but
little in the way of entrenchment. Three hundred
of our troops were left to hold this lower hill,
while most of the remainder xmder Colonel Scott
took up a position on the higher eminence. Be^
neath this higher hill lay the old Residency with
the Resident, his staff, and a few English ladies.
Within the Residency grounds were 200 infantry,
and a small body of Bengal cavalry under Captain
Fitzgerald.
Over and over again during the night determined
efforts were made by the Marathas to rush
the northern hill. None of the attacks, however,
were quite successful, though pressed with great ,
energy, and with heavy losses on both sides.
When, however, morning broke, on 27th November,
the position was absolutely desperate. Though
reinforced jnore than once during the night, the
numbers of defenders on the lower hill had
dwindled to an alarming extent. Indeed, at
nine o'clock in the morning it seemed as if all
must be over in an hour or two at most, as the
Arab troops, after a tremendous onslaught,
&tvoured by the explosion of one of our small
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
gunpowder tumbrils^ gained the summit of the
lower hill, overpowered our sepoys, and turned
our gim upon the higher hiU. Simultaneously
with this a body of the Maxatha cavalry succeeded
in forcing their way into the grounds of the
Residency.
Then it was that the courage of one British
officer saved the day. More than once during
that eventful morning. Captain Fitzgerald had
asked permission of his superior officer to charge,
and had, as often, been prevented. Now when
destruction seemed inevitable, he made his final
request.
The reply to his last appeal, if Grant Duff's
version of tiie story is to be accepted, was hardly
an encouraging one. '^ Tell him to charge at his
peril " (or " At the hazard .of his commission "),
was the message which reached him. "If j^nly
at the hazard of my conunission, here goes,'' was
Fitzgerald's reply, as at the head of his 300
Bengal Lancers he charged the Maratha cavalry.
Only for an instant did the Marathas resist this
unexpected attack, and then th^ scattered in all
directions, leaving behind them a small battery
by which they had been supported. After pursuing
them for a short distance Fitzgerald drew
in his cavalry, and rode back to the Residency in
triumph with the captured guns.
Filled with fresh courage by this splendid
deed of daring, our troops on the hill, though
exhausted by fifteen hours' fighting, charged down
84
NAGPUR
from the higher hill, and regained their lost
position ; and then with an almost superhuman
effort the whole of our infantry, backed by the
cavalry, charged down on the Marathas at the
foot of the hill, capturing many of their guns and
putting them to flight. By midday the fight was
over, a fight which should ever be remembered
with pride by all the sons of our Empire* How
bloody it had been can be seen from the fact that
a quarter of our total forces had been killed and
wounded, including sixteen British officers.
All, however, was not yet over. Though badly
beaten, Appa Sahib did not surrender ; and collecting
his scattered forces prepared for a fresh
attack. Fortunately, however, for the British
in Nagpur, the reinforcements which had been
summoned, reached them during the next few
days, and when Appa Sahib was again ready to
attack, about a fortnight later, our position and
numbers made us confident of the issue.
Hardly had the second battle of Nagpur begun,
when word went out that Appa Sahib had actually
surrendered. This, however, proved to be but a
Maratha ruse, as when our troops advanced to
take possession of his guns, a treacherous cannonade
was at once opened on them. After severe
fighting, in which rather heavy losses were incurred,
the Maratha position was stormed, and
the whole of their camp with forty elephants and
sixty-three guns were taken.
Appa Sahib's career as a ruler did not, strange
85
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
to relate, at once come to an end. For various
reasons he was given a further day of grace.
Deprived of a large part of his territory including
" the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories/' he was
allowed to continue the nominal ruler of South
Gondwana under the eye of the British Resident.
When, however, this leniency was made an excuse
for still further intrigues with the Peshwa, and it
was discovered that he was fomenting a rising
amongst the Gonds, he was arrested and sent
away to another part of India. On his way to
his place of " retirement " he managed, however,
to effect his escape in the imiform of a sepoy,
whom he had bribed heavily, and after a good
deal of further ineffectual scheming reached
Rajputana, where he died some years after in
comparative obscurity.
After Appa Sahib's final deposition, a grandson
of Raghuji II, though still but a child, was recognised
as Rajah, under the title of Raghuji III,
and Baka Bai, a widow of Raghuji II, was appointed
R^ent. Her duties seemed to have been more
those of a governess than a governor ; as the
affairs of the State were left entirely in the hands
of Sir R. Jenkins, and a body of our officials
appointed by him. Under his administration and
that of his successor, the Honourable R. Cavendish,
the country again became quiet and prosperous,
trade increased, and the people were happy and
contented.
Some years later when the young Rajah had
86
NAGPUR
attained his majority^ the administration of the
country was again placed in Maratha hands^
though still under the intimate supervision of the
Resident. This condition of things lasted until
the year 1853, when on the death of Raghuji III,
without issue, the administration of the whole of
the Bhonsla kingdom was taken over by the
British Government.
So passed away the rule of the Marathas from
Gondwana, and when it passed but a few regretted
it. Its rulers had at their best been little more
than soldiers of fortune. Few, if any, had been
wise, or considerate of the welfare of their people.
At times, through their selfishness, greed, and
incompetency, the lot of the conunon people had
been reduced to a state of abject misery and
poverty. Life had beai painfully insecure, and
trade impossible. And when it became known
that for the future the British were to administer
the coimtry, few were ready to oppose the new
government. For the common people had already
tasted something of the benefits of British rule,
during the minority of their last Rajah, and
knew by experience that under it they would find
freedom, justice, and toleraticm.
87
CHAPTER X
A PLEA FOR THE OLD JOHN COMPANY
There are few achievements in human history of
which a nation may be more justly proud, tiian
the estabUshment of British rule in India. Little
did our pleasure-loving monarch Charles II
reahse, as he signed the Charter of the East India
Company more than two and a half centuries ago,
that he was taking part in the first act of estab-
Ushing an Empire in the East. Not that ideas
of ruling India troubled the minds of the Company
in those early days. Their vessels went off to the
East on their long and weary voyages with one
object alone— trade. Gradually, however, as trade
grew, factories had to be estabUshed on the
eastern and western coasts of India, and on the
banks of some of her larger rivers ; and with the
estabUshment of these factories came the necessity
of keeping order around them, and protecting
them from attack.
Perilous days were those for the early settlers,
with Maratha and Moslem often suspicious, sometimes
actively hostile. But all the time the trade
went on expanding, and the Company's sphere of
influence went deeper and deeper into the heart
of the Peninsula, until the East India Company
found itself master of great tracts of country.
88
A PLEA FOR THE OLD JOHN COMPANY
Then^ though still but a company^ it was faced
by quite imperial tasks.
A Civil Service was needed to administer its
territories, and an army to defend them ; and
HaUeybuiy and Addiscombe in due time came
into being, for the purpose of training men for
their civil and milits^ duties. The future rulers
and generals of India, still mere boys, went forth
to their life's work in the East, some of them to
win reputations which will never die, some of them
to find early graves.
It is indeed a strange story, the evolution of a
trading company into an empire, and a great
English historian has much to justify him in his
rather quaint saying that '' England stumbled
into Empire."
Many hard and untrue things have been said
of the old East India Company and its rule.
Doubtless there were Englishmen in India
during its period who feuled to uphold the high
standard of British uprightness, justice, and mercy.
With some of the most daring, as well as the most
gifted, of her sons in the East, England was not
always pleased; and while criticising, and even
punishing them for their faults, strangely forgot
the great services they had rendered.
But while we fully admit this, we must in all
fairness add that there is no one page in the long
history of England in which the names of so
many great and noble characters can be found as
in that which describes our English rule in India.
SB
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Where can one find names which speak more
eloquently of Christian chivalry, of love of truth
and righteousness, of hatred of oppression, of
wisdom, firmness, and dauntless courage, than
those of John and Henry Lawrence, Bartle Frere,
Auckland Colvin, Montgomery, Herbert Edwardes,
Donald McCleod, Outram, Havelock, John
Nicholson^ and Lord Roberts, all of them servants
of this old East India Company ^
As to-day we contemplate the many evidences
of our mild and beneficial rule in India, with
peace and prosperity within its borders from the
Himalayas to Cape Comorin, it is hard to realise
what Old India was like, when our race first came
into contact with it. Sir Mortimer Durand has
given a description of it which for accuracy and
breadth of view can hardly be excelled. He
writes —
'' When the East India Company entered upon
its rise to Imperial domination, India, parcelled
out among numerous chiefs, largely soldiers of
fortune, had for generations been one vast war
field, over which armies, aggregating perhaps
2,000,000 of men, many of tibem foreign freelances,
marched and fought, and ravaged. The
sufferings of the people under such conditions need
not be described. The Company rescued India
from this state of chronic warfare and devastation,
and gave to the Indian masses not only protection
and peace, but the most beneficent rule they had
ever known. Fitzjames Stephen, an EngUsh
Judge, writing of the early days of the Company,
90
A PLEA FOR THE OLD JOHN COMPANY
has said that the whole Indian enterprise was ' not
a tyrannical and detestable ' one, but * the
greatest of English, one might almost say of
numan, enterprises/ There are no facts in history
more clearly demonstrable than the facts that the
Company rose to Imperial dominion with the
goodwill and active help of vast numbers of
Indians ; and that when the Bengal army broke
into revolt, as too powerful armies have done
before, the Company s dominion was upheld, as
it had been established, by the goodwill and active
help of vast numbers of Indians. The districts
which the revolt threw into anarchy, mainly districts
in which the Bengal army was recruited,
did not comprise a tenth part of India ; not one
of the great ruling chiefs joined the rebels ; the
smaller armies of Bombay and Madras remained
faithful; and many thousands of Indians from
the Bengal Presidency itself, enlisting of their own
free will under the British Flag, fought with the
British troops against the mutineers. Of the
force which stormed Delhi not one-half, hardly
more than a third, were white men. And so it
was elsewhere. Then, as now, India was on our
side, and the Mutiny was crushed. Since then
the Crown has developed the work of the Company,
ruling, as the Company rules, for the good of the
people."
And, indeed, we may go further than Sir
Mortimer Durand, and paint in even darker
colours the moral and social misery of the people
of those days. Sati* (the inmiolation of widows
on the funeral pyre of their deceased husbands),
^ See Rambles and Recottedions, by Sir William Sleeman.
91
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
infanticide, human sacrifices to propitiate hostile
gods and demons, self-inflicted tortures of various
kinds, and frequent witch-murder, were widespread
customs, rooted deeply in the minds of
the people, and practised with the full approval
of the conscience of the community.
Nor can it, I fear, be said that the spirit and
convictions, which justified some of these cruel
and unnatural practices, have entirely passed
away. Not long ago, when visiting a remote
State in Rajputana, I was taken to see the cenotaphs
of the ancestors of its present RuUng Chief.
The monuments were themselves richly carved
and impressive. One of them stood over a place
where fifty royal wives and mistresses had been
burnt to death on the occasion of their lord's
" burning " ; and another marked the spot where
eighty of these helpless women had perished under
similar circumstances. It certainly seemed horribly
cruel and revolting, and I expressed my
feeling very plainly to my companion, the State
Pandit, who was showing me round. Judge of
my surprise at hearing his reply, uttered most
courteously and quietly, "You English do not
understand love."
Perhaps the best answer to those who speak ill
of our rule in India is to bid them come and see it
with their own eyes. Many distinguished travellers
and statesmen from various European countries
have done so in recent years, and the burden
of their criticism has generally resembled that of
92
A PLEA FOR THE OLD JOHN COMPANY
Professor Garbe, a well-known German writer,
who writes of the misfortunes that would befell
India if to-day the beneficent and just rule
of the English Government were to come to
an end.
The first beginnings of British rule in Gondwana
were not made till 1817, when, as we have seen,
Appa Sahib, the Bhonsla ruler of Nagpur, as a
punishment for his treachery, was deprived of
the northern portion of his kingdom, that portion
which corresponded roughly with the old Gond
kingdom of Garha-Mandla.
Of the deplorable condition to which this territory
was then reduced, we have a vivid picture
from the pen of Sir Charles Grant, who at a later
period of his service officiated as Chief Commissioner
of the Central Provinces. Writing as he
did, nearly two generations ago, with an intimate
acquaintance of that part of Gondwana, we can
the better realise what our just and tolerant
administration has meant to the people in this
part of India —
" This period (from 1798-1817), unfortunately
for Jubbulpore, coincided with the worst period of
Bhonsla administration. The Bhonsla government
at this time had become arbitrary in its
measiu'es and corrupt in all its departments.
All revenue reports of those times teem with
accoimts of the cruel, but often ingenious, processes
1^ which Maratha collectors slowly bled
98
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
the people. Villages were put up to the highest
bidder^ but even the purchaser was lucky if he
got to the end of the year safe. After passing
with alternating hope and fear the rainy season^
and watching his crops safe through the caprices
of the elements, some turn in the tide of war, or
an unexpected robber-raid, might destroy all the
fruits of the toil and expenditiu'e of months. If
the crops thus sown in sorrow, and tended in fear,
came to maturity, there were fresh trials to encounter.
Sometimes the lease taken at the beginning
of the year, and carried through with so
much difl&cuity and anxiety, was unceremoniously
set aside in favour of a higher bidder, and
the unfortunate lessee saw the harvest, on which
he had staked his all, go to enrich some private
enemy or clever speculator. Sometimes the
village would be made over by the authorities to
troops in arrears to pay themselves, no questions,
of course, being asked. Sometimes the crop was
seized directly by the government officials,
without any pretence or form of reason. Taught
by experience, the cultivators assumed the appearance
of poverty, concealed their stock, and hung
back from taking farms. But they were always
worsted in the long run. Practically they had no
choice except to cultivate, or to starve, and the
assignee soon found out, by means of his spies,
who were in the best position to take the leases.
On these persons dresses and titles were liberally
bestowed, and solemn engagements entered into,
at a very moderate rate of rent, which engagements
were most assuredly violated at the time
of harvest, when the whole produce was at the
mercy of the ' Jagirdar.' Thus the Maratha
rulers proceeded from year to year, flattering the
94
A PLEA FOR THE OLD JOHN COMPANY
vanity of the * malguzars * with dresses, titles,
and other distinctions^ and feeding their hopes
with solemn promises^ till all their capital was
exhausted.
" There was a Uttle more difl&culty in tapping
the wealth of bankers and others, whose substance
was stored in a form less accessible and prominent
than standing crops, or flocks and herds. Even
in those times it was not for everyone to take the
royal road, hit upon by Rashuji III, of going
direct to the coveted strong Doxes by means of
burglary. So the notable device was discovered
of establishing * adultery' courts, furnished with
guards, fetters, stocks, and staff of witnesses. When
good information was obtained of the existence
of a hoard of money, the unfortimate possessor
was at once charged with adultery, and found
guilty ; and if the disgrace of a crime, which was'
field to reflect on the whole family of the accused,
was not sufficient to bring him to reason, he
was chained in the stocks till he agreed to pay
ransom/'
Perhaps when we read the following passage
in this interesting report we shall the more fully
realise the l^acy of woe bequeathed by Marathas
to the early British Administration-^
"The Provisional Government appointed at
Jubbulpore to carry on the administration of the
newly-annexed Nerbudda country (1817) was
called upon by its officials to decide among other
questions whether ' widows should still be sold for
the benefit of the State/ whether one-fourth of the
proceeds of all house sales should continue to be
95
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
into the treasury, and whether 'persons
selling their daughters ' diould not still be taxed
one-fourth of the price realised."
At a meeting of the same Provisional Government
there is an entry ordering the release of a
woman named Pursia, '' who had been sold by
auction a few days before far seventeen rupees^
" The taxes levied in different places varied with
the idiosyncracies of the government, or of the
individual tax-collector ; but among them it may
be noticed that people were mulcted for having
houses to live in, or if they had no house, for their
temporary sheds or huts ; if they ate grain, their
food was taxed at every stage in its progress
through the country. If they ate meat, they
paid duty on it through their butchers. When
they married they paid for beating drums, or
putting up marquees. If they rejoiced at the set
Hindu festivals, they paid again; at the Holi,
for instance, on the red powder which they threw
at each other, at the Pola, on the ornaments which
they tied to the horns of their cattle. In short,
a poor man could not shelter himself, or clothe
himself, or earn his bread, or eat it, or marry, or
rejoice, or even ask his gods for better weather,
without contributing separately on each individual
act to the necessities of the State.''
Nor were the sufferings of the imfortunate
people confined to the ill-treatment of their
Maratha rulers, for the whole of Northern
96
A PLEA FOR THE OLD JOHN COMPANY
Gondwana was at that period overran by wandering
bands of robbers called " Pindaris/* who, from
thdr standing camps in Nerbudda valley, poured
forth periodically carrying fire and sword. There
is nothing in history more moving than the pictures
of utter desolation which these human
locusts left in their track.
Their plan of action is thus described by
Malcolm — *
"The Pindaris were neither encumbered by
tents, nor baggage ; each horseman carried a few
cakes of bread for his own subsistence, and some
feeds of grain for his horse. The party, which
usually consisted of two or three thousand good
horses, with a proportion of mounted followers,
advanced at the rapid rate of forty or fifty miles
a day, neitiier turning to the right nor left till they
arrived at their place of destination. They then
divided and made a sweep of all the cattle and
property they could find ; committing at the same
time the most horrid atrocities, and destroying
what they could not carry awav. They trusted
to the secrecy and suddenness of the irruption for
avoiding those who guarded the frontiers of the
countries they invaded, and before a force could
be brought against them they were on their return
journey. Their chief strength lay in their being
intangible. If pursued they made marches of
extraordinary length, sometimes upwards of axty
miles, by roads sdmost impracticable for regular
troops. If overtaken, they dispersed, and reassembled
at an appointed rendezvous. Their
^ History of Cmiral IfUHa.
97
^-<S55I)
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
wealth, their booty, and their famiUes were scattered
over a wide region, in which they found
protection amid the mountains and in the fastnesses
belonging to themselves and to those with
whom they were either openly or secretly connected
; but nowhere did they present any point
of attack, and the defeat of a party, the destruction
of one of their cantonments, or the temporary
occupation of some of their strongholds, produced
no effect beyond the ruin of an individual freebooter,
whose place was instantly supplied by
another, generally of more desperate fortune and
therefore more eager for enterprise.
" But the ways of the Pindaris were not so very
much worse than those of the more regularlylicensed
plunderers, who called themselves revenue
collectors. In Jubbulpore, in 1809, the maddened
cultivators, exasperated by the exaction of a
Maratha Subah, Narayan Roa, went so far as to
call in the aid of the notorious Pindari leader.
Amir Khan, preferring the crash of a sudden raid,
with all its terrible accompaniments of fire and
sword, to the slow torture of constant pressure,
or perhaps hoping that in the general upset good
men might chance to come uppermost. The
landholders gained their object at first, as the
arrival of the Pindari army so thoroughly frightened
the Maratha governor that he quite forgot
for the time to go on with his exactions; but
before the plunderers left the coimtiy they had
made themselves as much felt by their friends as
by their foes, appropriating all they could seize,
insulting the temples of the Hindus, defacing the
images, and conunitting outrages and excesses
such as will not be forgotten, or the horror excited
by them be buried in oblivion.'*
96
A PLEA FOR THE OLD JOHN COMPANY
And this story of woe has yet another page^
which recalls the fact that the rapacity of the
Maratha rulers^ and the savage raids of the PindariS)
were not the only causes of the sorrows which
were ever with the much a£9icted people of North
Gondwana in the early days of the last century.
No one can read Sir WiUiam Sleeman's chapter
on "Thugs and Poisoners/' in his Rambles and
RecoUecHonSy and soon forget the horrors he there
describes of that highly elaborated system of
" religious " murder, which spread over large
tracts of Northern and Central India at that time.
To this distinguished soldier and administrator,
who spent many years in these newly-acquired
districts, we owe to a large extent the suppression
of the Thugs, those fiends in human shape, who,
after dedicating their weapons to the goddess
KaU, and worshipping the setting sun, set off
calmly to the execution of their murderous deeds.
'' Between 1826 and 1835, 1,562 prisoners were
tried by Sir William Sleeman at Jubbulpore for
the crime of Thuggee, of whom 1 ,404 were hanged,
or transported for life. Some individuals confessed
to over 200, and one confessed to over 719
murders I *'
99
CHAPTER XI
GONDWANA UNfiER fiRITISH RULE— EARLY
DAYS
When the Governor-General in Council had made
his final decision to take over the administration
of Northern Gondwana^ it was not at first clear
as to how the newly-acquired territories should
be dealt with.
For a short time they were placed in the hands
of a commissioner^ who worked under the Resident
at Nagpur.
Then, in the year 1820 they were formed into a
" Division " with the title of " Saugor and Nerbudda
Territories/' and were placed in the charge
of an agent, who worked directly under the
Governor-General.
More than once during the succeeding years
the "Saugor and Nerbudda Territories" were
attached to the United Provinces (then called the
North- West Provinces), only to pass back sooner
or later into the hands of the Agent to the
Governor-General at Jubbulpore.
Finally, on the death of Raghuji III, when
Maratha rule passed away from the southern part
of Gondwana, a new British Province was created
under the title of " the Central Provinces," and
the whole of Gondwana was placed in the hands
of a Chief Commissioner.
100
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
Tvnce during the years that lay between 1842
and 1859 our fellow-countrymen in Gondwana
passed through anxious times. Early in 1842
their first trial came in what has since been called
the Bundela rising. The rising was fortunately
confined to the "Saugor and Nerbudda Territories/'
which border on those regions in Central
India which are called Bundelkhand. The trouble
arose^ strange to relate^ out of a sincere desire on
our part to substitute improved civil courts of
justice for the more primitive and imperfect
system whidi had hitherto obtained in this part
of the country. India is nothing if not conservative,
and it is never easy to introduce anything
new^ even though it be a vast improvement on
the old.
Very different to the comparatively insignificant
Bimdela rising of 1842 was the great Mutiny of
1857. Few, perhaps, spend any time to-day in
reading of those stormy days, when the fate of
our Indian Empire hung in the balance, and when
but for the strong administrators and fearless
soldiers of the old East India Company, ''men
who looked on tempests and whose hearts were
never shaken," all traces of our rule in India might
easily have been swept away.
The Mutiny was, ciuious to relate, hardly felt
in Nagpur and in the southern portion of the
Central Provinces. For this much credit is due
to Mr. EUis, the Deputy Commissioner of Nagpur,
and to his brother o£Gicers.
101
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Early in June it was known to them that
secret meetings of a suspicious character were
taking place every night in the native city, and
that a general feeling of uneasiness was apparent
in the Bazaar. Further enquiry made it clear
that a number of troopers of the Bengal cavalry
regiment, which then formed part of the garrison
of Nagpur, were seriously disaffected.
Then came the startling intelligence that
13th June was the night planned by the mutineers
for the rising, and that the ascent of a fire-balloon
was to be the signal for its start. How the plot
failed is an interesting story, which is worth
the telling.
We now know that this cavalry regiment hoped
to induce the Madras regiment of infantry and
a battery of artillery, then at Nagpur, to come
over to their side. They had made certain overtures
to them, but things had not come to a head,
when late in the afternoon of 13th June an unexpected
order from the ofl&cer commanding the
cavalry (acting in consultation with Mr. EUis),
viz., that one squadron was to hold itself immediately
ready to march to Seoni, roused their
suspicions.
The plans of mutineers, when disarranged,
have a way of breaking down. Fancjdng ttiat
their plans might be upset, the sowars sent a
native officer to the Madras infantry lines to
endeavour to arouse them. This man, however,
was quietly arrested before he reached the infantry
102
GATEWAY AT GOXD
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
lines^ though the mutineers failed to discover it
till too late.
Immediately after nightfall the Madras infantry
and artillery were ordered by their officers to
parade^ and the way in which they obeyed orders,
speedily removed any lingering doubts as to their
loyalty. While they fell in, the guns of Sitabaldi
Fort were trained on the cavalry lines, and the
loyal garrison silently awaited the arrival of the
mutineers.
Still unaware of what was happening, and
although no fire balloon went up, the mutineers
proceeded at ten o'clock to mount their horses
for the attack. Judge of their surprise when, as
they rode forward, they found themselves face
to face with the loyal infantry and artillery,
and learnt that the guns of Sitabaldi Fort
were ready to mow them down at the word of
conunand.
Realising that resistance was useless, they surrendered,
dismounted, and gave up their arms.
After a careful enquiry, five of their ringleaders,
native officers, and two leading Mohammedan
merchants in the city, were put on their trial,
found guilty, and hanged from the ramparts of
the fort.
It is interesting to know, that during this whole
crisis, the aged Maratha princess, Baka Bai
Bhonsla, remained absolutely loyal, and exercised
considerable influence on our behalf in the
Maratha districts. Had an important Maratha
108
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
State^ such as Nagpur^ so soon after its annexation,
broken out into revolt, the effect on South
India generally would have been most serious.
In Jubbulpore and the northern part of the
Central Provinces the mutiny came to a head
more dowly, and in the long run proved far more
troublesome. Weeks before its actual outbreak,
it was evident to the Commissioner, Colonel
Erskine (afterwards Earl of Mar and KeUie), that
serious trouble was brewing. To the suggestion
that it might be wiser to send all the English
ladies away to a place of safety, and to withdraw
himself with the other British officials to Nagpur,
he gave an emphatic refusal. The Residency was
put in a state of defence (for a time it was popularly
known as "Fort Eirskine"), and all the
English residents moved either inside its walls,
or within its ''compound.'' During this period
of suspense, we read, amongst other things, that
the Simday church services were held in the
Residency, though the chaplain, from time to
time, felt it his duty to conduct services in the
station church, when his congregations were, as
might have been expected, not overwhehningly
large I
For a time, indeed, it seemed as if the impending
storm would be averted. Then, however, came
the discovery of a plot on the part of the pensioner,
Gond Rajah, and his son, inciting the native
infantry rq^iment to rise, and massacre all the
English residents. After due trial, both father
104
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
and son were found guilty^ and on the night after
their execution^ the regiment mutinied and
marched out of Jubbulpore, without its British
ofl&cers, with the avowed intention of joining the
mutineers at Delhi.
Their departure was the conunencement of a
period of anarchy and confusion in all the country
which lay to the north of Jubbulpore. More than
one severe action^ and many minor ones^ were
fought, and more than one British o£Gicer fell
when leading his men, often against heavy odds.
Amongst those who lost their Uves in those troublous
times, was Major Jenkins, the Assistant
Quarter-Master General of the Jubbulpore force,
uncle of the last Chief Justice of Calcutta. His
grave may still be seen in the old cemetery at
Jubbulpore. Not until early in 1858, when
General Sir Hugh Rose marched through Bundelkhand,
and defeated the rebels in several engagements,
was the back of the Mutiny really broken
in North Gondwana. Early in May, 1858, an
anmesty was proclaimed, and on 1st August
Colonel Erskine was able to announce that the
Mutiny was at an end.
M6
CHAPTER XII
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
It certainly requires some effort of imagination,
as one moves about Gondwana to-day, to picture
what the imhappy Gondwana of Maratha days
must have resembled. For much has been accomplished
in the two generations which have jpassed
since the Government of India, realising the
isolated position of Gondwana, and the futility of
connecting it with their older Provinces, made
their wis^ decision and created the new British
Province, henceforth to be called the Central
Provinces, under the control of a Chief
Commissioner.
Not a Uttle of this rapid development is unquestionably
due to the ability of the men who
have held that office. As one looks down the roll
of Chief Commissioners who have administered
the Central Provinces for longer or shorter periods
since 1861 , one sees the names of some who have
gained lasting reputations in Indian administration.
More than one of the most brilliant, however,
held this high office in the Central Provinces
for too short a period to accomphsh all they
wished to do, and won their reputations in other
fields.
Of those who have left a permanent mark on
the Central Provinces, the name of the late Mr.
106
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
Richard Temple, afterwards Sir Richard Temple,
the second on the roll of Chief Commissioners,
must always stand out pre-eminent. Before our
present excellent system of railways, and long
before the days of motors, he traversed thousands
of miles, generally on horseback, and over trackless
jungles, to see things with his own eyes. Few of
the needs of his great charge seem to have escaped
his notice. Possessed of energy, which even the
chmate of India did not sensibly diminish, he
accompUshed great things during his nearly five
years of office.
During the earher period of his administration
he organised two large exhibitions of art and
industry at Nagpur and Jubbulpore, for the purpose
of educating and stimulating the industrial
and agricultural life of the people. His description
of these exhibitions recalls vividly the
second Nagpur Exhibition, inaugurated nearly
fifty years later by his successor Mr. Reginald
Craddock.
" To these great displays the natives of all
classes, high and humble, flocked in tens of thou«
sands. Before their wondering gaze were shown
not only the products from distant parts of their
own country, but also specimens of the manufactures
of Western lands. The ornamental work
from Europe would, it was fondly, perhaps vainly,
supposed, inform their minds with fresh ideas of
the beautiful, while the machinery and implements
might give them an impression of powers
107
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
jrvoirs, some five, some even twenty miles
circumference, worthy to be called artificial
:es/' When we call to mind the fact that
inly 96 per cent, of the people of India live
the soil, and depend for the watering of their
Ids on the annual " monsoon " rains, which are
Iways uncertain, and sometimes fail them altoither,
we can the better realise the supreme
iportance of conserving and distributing water
^er as wide an area as possible. By no one was
le importance of irrigation more thoroughly
tognised than by Sir Richard Temple, and it
interesting to reflect that the, small beginnings
his day have been carried on unceasingly
'er since, so that at the present time conierable
portions of the Central Provinces have
to be entirdy dependent on a single
's rainfall.
|One piece of poUtical foresight on the part of
Richard Temple, which has borne excellent
it in Gondwana, is worthy of mention. A
ited number of the leading Gond landlords in
[uthem Gondwana, were raised to the portion
Feudatory Chiefs, or petty Rajahs. Later on
phief s CoU^e was opened for the education of
iir sons at Raipur, and the happy contrast
ween what we see of the younger chiefe, and
lat we hear of their ancestors, justifies us in
ping for steady improvanent in these small
nd States.
^or was Sir R. Temple forgetful, in spite of the
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
pressing needs of the great native population
around him, of the interests of his own race,
especially those of the poor Anglo-Indians, the
" domiciled community " as they are now called.
In his time, and with his help and sympathy, the
Bishop Cotton school was opened at Nagpur, for
boys and girls of this class, followed some years
later by the Christ Church schools at Jubbulpore.
The former school was opened shortly after
Bishop Cotton's visit to Nagpur, and was called
after him. He, in his earlier days, had been
head master of Marlborough College, and during
his ten years' Indian episcopate did much for the
education of the Eurasian class in India.
Nor can our Church in the Central Provinces
quite forget what she owes to Sir Richard Temple.
Convinced of the truth of Christianity, and recognising
the importance of Christian conduct and
example in the Uves of the ruling race, he made
an enquiry into the spiritual condition of the
scattered European and Eurasian communities
in the new Province. Backed by his help and
sympathy, small churches were built in many of
oiu- smaU civil stations, partly by private effort,
and partly by Government grant-in-aid, which
have since been a source of comfort to many.
During his time the parish church of Nagpur,
which has recently been transformed by the late
Mr. G. F. Bodley into All Saints' Cathedral, was
completed. It is interesting to note that Bishop
Cotton himself visited Nagpur for its Consecration,
110
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
and that the petition for its Consecration was read
by Sir Richard Temple.
During Sir Richard Temple's period of administration^
and under his direction^ diligent search
was made in the Satpura Hill country for a suitable
hill-station for the Central Provinces. The
honour of discovering Pachmarhi^ which was the
hill-station eventually selected^ belongs to Captain
Forsyth. It is interesting^ however, to note that
one of those to whom the special duty of clearing
the plateau of Pachmarhi of its undergrowth
was entrusted, still lives on at an advanced age
in Jubbulpore, the Rev. P. CuUen, M.D. In
those days, as Civil Surgeon of Khandwa, Dr.
CuUen was a well-known figure in the Central
Provinces. In later years, after retiring as
Surgeon-Colonel of the Indian Medical Service,
he was ordained by the Bishop of Calcutta to
assist in the work at Jubbulpore.
It must be remembered that Nagpur, the headquarters
of the administration, lies in the plains
coimtry to the south of the Satpura plateau, and
has a rather imenviable notoriety for high temperatures
in the hot weather. After a careful
examination of various places, the beautiful little
park-like plateau of Pachmarhi was eventually
selected, a charming spot about 3,500 feet above
sea-levd, surrounded by hills, several of which are
nearly 1,000 feet higher than the plateau itself.
For many years past this has been the summer
resort for Europeans in the Central Provinces;
111
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
and its giant canyons^ descending in some cases
to a quite extraordinary depth into the bowels of
the mountains^ as well as the magnificent clifis
of its surrounding mountains^ make its scenery
quite jmique..
It is not easy for the modem resident in the
Central Provinces, who r^ards a journey to
Bombay or Calcutta as a matter of no consequence,
to realise that neither Jubbulpore nor
Nagpur was connected by rail with either of these
great Indian cities in the early days of the Central
Provinces Administration. Not imtil 20th February,
1867, wa§ Nagpur connected with Bombay,
and not until 6th March, 1870, was the line from
Calcutta to Bombay, which passes through
Jubbulpore, first opened.
At the banquet given by the Great Indian
Peninsula Company at Jubbulpore, when H.R.H.
the Duke of Edinbuiigh, and the Earl of Mayo —
then Viceroy — were present, the latter, in proposing
the toast " Success and Prosperity " to the G.I.P.
Railway, made the following remarks —
" On this day the great distance of 1,070 mileg
of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway ^stem has
been opened to the pubUc ; Calcutta and Bombay
are brought into close connection, and this great
Peninsula is at last bridged by a railway 1,300
Twles in length. When we look back to the
history of this undertaking we must recollect the
very great difficulties which attended its early
progress. The thing is now comparatively easy,
112
WATERS MEET, PACHMARHI
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
much more is known^ the organisation of labour
is less difficult, and our able engineers have the
light of experience and history to guide them.
But in the early days of this undertaking far
greater difficulties which no longer exist had to be
encountered, and therefore we must make due
allowance for what may perhaps seem a rather
protracted period over which tiiese works have
extended. During that time periods of great
scarcity occurred; the Mutiny also occurred in
the early history of this enterprise, and there have
been several violent outbreaks of disease, and
when we look back upon the whole history of this
railway we may well wonder at the perseverance
by which, in its earUer stages, the work was
carried on."
Great were the rejoicings, so Sir Richard
Temple tells us in his Memoirs, in Nagpur and
Jubbulpore, at these important events, "as the
local residents rejoiced at being able to fly away
for recreation or in quest of health when sick,
the engineers were light-hearted at the remembrance
of anxieties dissipated and toils ended,
and the Administration exhilarated by the
thought of material resources augmented and
opportunities enlarged/'
After these important events in the railway
world an additional scheme was contemplated for
a line which should run from Nagpur eastwards,
and " tap the surplus produce of the Chhattisgarh
r^on, which was over-stocked with grain." Old
residents in Nagpur still recall the days when the
113
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Chhattisgarh State railway ran its metre-gauge
line from Nagpur to Rajnandgaon. Later on,
largely through the indomitable energy of Mr. T.
Wynne, the Bengal-Nagpur Railway Company,
making Nagpur their headquarters, acquired this
line, transforming it into the broad-gauge system,
and Unking it up with the East India Railway
Company at Asansol. Of the further developments
of that progressive railway company, of
their new route' into Calcutta via Khargpur, and
of their widespread system of Ught railways in
Gondwana, we need not speak. The beginnings
of these things belong but to yesterday.
If we have spoken at considerable length of
Sir Richard Temple's work in the Central Provinces,
it is because it fell to his lot to be the
pioneer British Administrator of Gondwana.
While it is impossible to speak as freely of those
who are still with us, as of those " who rest from
their labours," and while most of Sir Richard
Temple's successors have added something of
greater or lesser importance to the foundations
which he laid nearly two generations ago, some
ref eraice may fairly be made to what the Central
Provinces owes to its last Chief Conunissioner,
Sir Reginald Craddock.
Previous to his appointment the Province had
suffered seriously from the fact that not a few of
its Chief Commissioners had but little personal
knowledge of this part of India, and had hardly
entered on their new office when they were called
114
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
away to some higher appointment in the
Government of India.
With an intimate knowledge of the needs of
the Province in which he had spent the whole
of his service, Sir Reginald Craddock entered on
his work as Chief Conrniissioner, and for five
years administered the Province with marked
ability. During this period a second Nagpur
industrial exhibition was held, about fifty years
after the exhibition organised by Sir Richard
Temple. If it was followed, as is generally
admitted, with more encouraging results, it was
doubtless because the country was more ready
for it.
Concentrating a good deal of attention on
Nagpur, which had been, hitherto, the least
attractive headquarters' station in India, Sir
Reginald Craddock practically created the new
and handsome civil station. Nor was he forgetful
of the large native city of Nagpur, with its population
of 130,000 souls. "Ill-built and uninteresting,"
was the only description which Sir
Richard Temple could give of it, and he might well
have added, extremely unhealthy. Under Sir
R^inald Craddock's vigorous administration a
further water-supply was provided, and the beginning
of a sound system of city drainage was
introduced. Old houses were pulled down, and
new streets built, or planned. A new residential
suburb for Indian gentry was created (now called
Craddock Town), and last, but not least, the
115
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
foundations were laid of an excellent Market Hall
in cleanly surroimdings.
Nor has the forward movement in Nagpw^
which he inaugurated^ in any sense weakened in
the hands of his successor. Already Nagpur is
preparing itself for a fine residential University;
in which the Hislop Missionary College and the
Morris College — o. Government college named
after Sir John Morris, a former Chief Commissioner
— will form constituent parts ; and a Medical
School for the training of assistant doctors for
the needs of the Central Provinces has recently
been opened.
A distinguished Norwegian writer, Professor
Sten Konow, has written some interesting lines
on the industrial development of India imder
British rule. " It cannot be denied/' he
writes, ** that the English in India have accomplished
a great deal. The administration of the
country is excellent. The economic life of the
coimtry has progressed so surprisingly that India
now plays a very important rdle in the world
traflftc."
While the cotton mills of Bombay and Cawnpore,
" the Manchester of India,'' and the jutemills
of Bengal, are conspicuous features on the
landscapes of these parts of India, it is not perhaps
generally knovm that old Gondwana is already
playing an ever-increasing part in the industrial
life of the country. Ever since the American
Civil War caused an extraordinary demand for
116
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
Indian cotton, the regions south of the Satpuras,
in Berar and Nagpur, have been exporting
enormous quantities of cotton to Japan and
Europe. Probably there is no great stretch of
country in all India which excels the black-cotton
country of Berar in fertility. It is also interesting
to note that while a good deal of the raw product,
after passing through the ginning factories which
are to be seen dotted all over that part of the
country, is transported to other lands, much of it
is being used in the manufacture of cotton goods
in India itself. There is no sight in Nagpur more
full of human interest than the Empress Cotton
Mills, which employ over 7,000 Indian hands, and
are imder the entire control of an enterprising
firm of Parsees.
To one who, Uke the writer, has spent some
years of his life amid the collieries and blast
furnaces of Durham, there is always a peculiar
interest in visiting the coUieries and manganese
mines of the Central Provinces. At Umaria, at
picturesque Mohpani, at the Pench valley collieries,
or at Ballarshah, in the Chanda District, one
seems to be back again in the busy North of
England. Nor are there any visits in my frequent
journeyings to which I look forward more heartily
than those which take me to the manganese mines
of Bhandara, where, from time to time, in some
mining engineer's bungalow, I am asked to hold
Divine Service for those who are engaged in this
important branch of industrial work.
117
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Our aim has been but to give a general impres*
sion of the progress and development of old
Gondwana under British rule, and more than this
we may not attempt. Gondwana has its own
special needs, which are constantly before the
minds of those who are responsible for its administration.
If it is in some ways the most contented
region in India^ it preserves this £den-Uke condition
very probably because the majority of its people
are still uneducated. How to enUghten its people
and to keep them at the same time contented is
a problem which the future has to solve. That
there is a real need for improved agricultural
methods is obvious, and much is being done by
our Government Agricultural Department, not
only in its admirable Agricultural College at
Nagpur and on its few experimental farms,
where various seeds and " crossings " are tested,
but also by a widely-spread system of small
" demonstration " farms, or holdings, dotted over
various districts, where the villagers can see for
themselves what superior ploughing and manuring
with good seeds can produce in the way of croj)s.
And yet, in spite of all this excellent work of
government, it is obvious to those who really
know the Indian ryot that extraordinary patience
and tact are needed to overcome his besetting
sins of fooUsh conservatism and lethargy. Gondwana,
too, like other parts of India, is beginning
to develop its industrial life. How to attract
a fair proportion of its educated youths away from
118
GONDWANA UNDER BRITISH RULE
the fascinations of the Law Courts into the
pursuits of an industrial life is a goal towards
which our education may well aim.
And last) but assuredly not leasts how to bring
some kind of simple and useful education to the
great masses of the village people, who are still
quite illiterate, is another portion of the White
Man's burden. Already amongst other such
things a useful School of Handicrafts has been
started by the Government in Nagpur for the
purpose of teaching village boys the use of
improved tools, and better and more modern
methods of working. Forty youths, mostly the
sons of village carpenters and blacksmiths, are at
present passing through this course of instruction,
and will return in due time to start life in their
own villages, far better equipped than their
fathers were before them.
What we must hope is that the beginnings of
better things which have been made in this and
other parts of India, may be given time to grow
and mature ; and that t aught by the failures of
the past, we may be wiser in the future in understanding
the exact needs of our great Eastern
Dependency.
119
CHAPTER XIII
SOME STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS IN
GONDWANA
India is certainly the home of strange beliefs and
customs^ and nowhere are they found more
abundantly than among her aborigines. Hidden
away in remote jungles or in hilly tracts, these
people live their lives in ignorance of the forward
march of civilisation and still cling to many of
their old superstitions.
One influence has alone saiously affected the
aborigines of Gondwana during the course of the
centuries, and that clearly comes from the Hindus
who dwell amongst them. On the other hand, it
can hardly be doubted but that some of the least
worthy dements in Hinduism have come into it
from purely aboriginal sources.
It is to be remembered that the aborigines of
India number many millions, perhaps twenty,
and amongst them are found marked varieties of
race and culture. The almost naked Nagas, the
Abors and Mishmis, who Uve in the hills which
border on the Assam valley, and who are Mongols
in origin, are in most respects no more advanced
than some of the wildest races in Central Africa.
They still practise head-hunting, whenever the
opportunity presents itself.
The Gond, however, has for long centuries put
120
STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
away such savagery, and is, as a rule, a mild and
gentle creature. Really brave, when following wild
game in his own jungles, he is in the presence of
strangers reserved and timid ; and it is only after
considerable acquaintance and much questioning
that one can discover what his real bdiefs are.
To begin with his theology. One curious
feature of a Gond's theology is to be found in the
number of gods he recognises. It might be
thought that such a question as the exact number
of gods a person worships belongs merely to the
reign of speculation, and can have but Uttle effect
on practical Ufe ; but this is by no means the case
with the Gond. On the number of gods he
worships depends the special group or family to
which he belongs ; and connected with this are
the families into which he may marry. Worshippers
of seven gods may not marry into their own
group, but must select partners from among the
six-god, five-god, or four-god families. The
Raj-Gonds, whose ancestors either held land under
the old Gond kings, or were a sub-tribe connected
with the ruling famiUes, are all six-god worshippers.
A Raj-Gond servant of mine tells me that
to marry in his own group would be the same as
marrying his own sister.
Hislop, the well-known Scottish missionary,
thought he had found traces of no less than
fifteen gods amongst them — ^but later research
tends to show that there are no more than seven
in their Pantheon.
121
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
The Gonds recognise one of these seven gods^
Bhera Pen^ sometimes called Maha-Deva^ as the
creator of the world* He has no symbol or idol,
but iron is sacred to him. As^ however^ he is a
kindly being, who takes almost no interest in his
creatures, he is seldom worshipped. The gods
that the Gond has to reckon with, are those
malignant spirits which are always on the look
out to take o&ence and do him harm. These
cruel, and often nameless spirits, who are ever
ready to lay in wait for a man and bring
evil upon him, must be propitiated at all
cost.
From this it is obvious that the main reUgious
acts of the Gonds are inspired by fear. They are
like children, who can count on no kind of help
from their father, who, though not ill-natured, is
unable or unwilling to assist them. Their one
concern is to keep on good terms with their known
and unknown spiritual enemies.
Canon Wood mentions, however, a religious
ceremony amongst the Gonds of the Chanda
District, which seems to him to " embody a dim
idea of a protecting god." " The tutelary deity
of the six-god Gonds is symbolised by six spearheads,
one large and five small spear-heads, of
the five-god Gonds by one large and four small
spear-heads, and so on for the others. When the
Gond desires the protection of his * House ' god,
these are taken down from the tree where they
are hung in a skin bag, are daubed with red paint
122
STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
or bloody and goats, fowls, rice, and ' dam,' ^ are
sacrificed to them, the ceremony ending, like all
Gond ceremonies, with feasting, drinking, and a
dance."
In olden days human sacrifices were common in
Gondwana, until put down by the firm hand of
the British rule. At Deogarh, the capital of the
Eastern Middle Kingdom, one is still shown " the
chamber of horrors " where human sacrifices were
offered by the king before going on an expedition.
As late as 1842, when the Rajah of Bastar went
on a long journey, twenty-five human victims
were sacrificed at Dantewara temple to secure for
him an undisturbed journey.
Two places in old Gondwana were specially
famous for a peculiar form of human sacrifice,
which, for lack of a better word, may be described
as " religious suicide."
One of these places was a cliff on the side of the
hill of Mahadeva, not far from the entrance to its
well-known cave, and only two or three miles
from Pachmarhi ; the other, called the Birkhila,
or hero's step, was a cliif on the Island of Mandhata,
overlooking the Nerbudda, and not far from
the Onkar temple of Shiva. Both places, be it
observed, were closely connected with the worship
of Shiva " the Destroyer."
The persons who made this horrible sacrifice
were, so Malcolm * tells us, generally of low caste,
^ Country liquor distilled from the Mahua tree.
* Malcolm's Memoirs of CefUral India, Vol. II, p. 210.
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THE STORY OF GONDWANA
and one of the leading motives by which they were
actuated was the belief that they would be reborn
as Rajahs in the next state of transmigration. In
many cases they were the first-bom sons of
women who had long been barren^ and who^ to
remove 'what they deemed a curse, had vowed
their child (if one was given them) to Onkar
(Shiva) of Mandhata.
Forsyth^ gives us such a vivid picture of one
such sacrifice witnessed by an unnamed English
officer in 1824, and written by him in the Nimar I
records, that I feel compelled to give it, terrible
though it was, in his exact words. The Island
of Mandhata at that time was not in British
territory, and so force could not be used to prevent
this gruesome sacrifice.
The writer, however, seems to have done all he
could to dissuade the unfortunate creature from
destroying himself, but unfortunately failed in
his efforts.
'* I took care to be present at an eariy hour at the
representation of Bhairon,* a rough block of
basalt smeared with red paint, before which he
must necessarily present and prostrate himself,
ere he mounted to the lofty pinnacle whence to
spring on the idol. Ere long he arrived, preceded
by rude music. He approached the amorphous
idol with a light foot, while a wild pleasure marked
^ Capt. Forsyth's Highlands of Central India, p. 181.
* Bhairon and his spouse the goddess Kali are believed
by the ignorant to feed on human flesh.
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STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
his countenance. As soon as this subsided, and
repeatedly during the painful scene, I addressed
myself to him, in the most urgent possible manner,
to recede from his rash resolve, pledging myself
to ensure him protection and a competence for
his life. I had taken the precauticm to have a boat
close at hand, which in five minutes would have
transported us beyond the sight of the multitude.
In vain I urged him. He now more resolutely
replied that it was beyond human power to remove
the sacrifice of the powerful Bhairon. So deeprooted
a delusion could only be siumounted by
force ; and to exercise that I was unauthorised.
While confronted with the idol, his delusion gained
strength ; and the barbarous throng cheered with
voice and hand, when by his motions he indicated
a total and continued disregard of my persuasions
to desist. He made his offering of cocoanuts, first
breaking one ; and he emptied into a gourd presented
by the priestess his previous collection of
pice and cowries. She now tendered to him some
ardent spirit in the nutshell, first making her son
drink some from his hand, to obviate all suspicion
of its being drugged. A little was poured in
Ubation on die idol. She hinted to him to deliver
to her the silver rings he wore. In doing so he
^ave a proof of singular collectedness. One of the
Irst he took off he concealed in his mouth till he
had presented to her all the rest, when, searching
among the surrounding countenances, he pointed
to a man to whom he ordered this ring to be given.
It was a person who had accompanied him from
Ujjain. An eagerness was now evinced by several
to submit bracelets, and even betel-nuts, to his
sacred touch. He composedly placed such in his
mouth and returned them. The priestess at last
125
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
presented him with a pan leaf ^ and he left the spot
with a firm step, amidst the plaudit of the crowd.
During the latter half of his ascent he was much
concealed from view by shrubs. At length he
appeared to the aching sight, and stood in a bold
and erect posture upon the fatal eminence. Some
short time he passed in agitated motions on the
stone ledge, tossing now and then his arms aloft
as if employed in invocation. At length he
ceased ; and, in slow motions with both his hands,
made farewell salutations to the assembled multitude.
This done, he whirled down the cocoanut,
mirror, knife, and lime, which he had continued
to hold ; and stepping back was lost to view for
a moment. The next second he burst upon our
agonised sight in a most manful leap, descending
feet foremost with terrific rapidity, tiU, in mid
career, a projecting rock reversed his position,
and caused a headlong fall. Instant death followed
this descent of ninety feet, and terminated
the existence of this youth, whose strength of faith
and fortitude would have adorned the noblest
cause."
Some years ago a friend of mine who was then
administering the Bastar State, was called upon
to try an old Gond for sacrificial murder. The
following facts emerged in the course of the trial.
A dam had been built Jby the Gonds in a certain
neighbourhood to hold up the water which fell
during the rainy season. It was a matter of great
importance that this dam should stand firm, as
it affected the comfort and even the Uves of many.
For two or three years, just as the tank was at
las
STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
its fullest^ this dam always gave way at a certain
place, and all the labour bestowed on it was
thrown away. Then it was darkly hinted that
an evil spirit was the cause of all their trouble,
and that he could be propitiated by nothing less
than a human sacrifice.
Possessed of the idea that by this means alone
could the dam be made to stand, the old Gond
brooded for weeks. Then as he sat one day by the
empty tank, an old hag, of over threescore years
and ten, and in her dotage, staggered passed him.
Surely the gods had sent him a victim, to whom
life was no longer precious I . . . And so the
deed was done, the sacrifice offered, and to add
to the pathos of it all, the dam stood firm where
ihe old woman's corpse lay hid.
My friend had no option but to sentence the
murderer to death, but he did so with deep regret.
The Gond met his death quite bravely, convinced
that he had rendered a real service to his village.
A strange ceremony still takes place every year
at Jagadalpur, the capital of Bastar State, during
the Hindu Festival of Dasehra. The principal
shrine in this wild country is a temple dedicated
to the goddess Dantesvari, once known as Rakhta
Danti, " the bloody-toothed," ^ another name for
the fierce goddess Kali. This goddess was, so
the people of Bastar believe, the household goddess
of the family of their present ruling chief,
^ Epigraphia Indica, No. 30. Dantewara inscriptions by
Rai Bahadur Hira Lai. B.A.
127
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
when his Rajput ancestors ruled in Hastinapura
and Waran^. When driven from the latter
place by the Mohammedan invasion he fled into
Bastar, and in response to his entreaties, this
goddess promised to follow him, ordering him to
advance as long as he heard " the tinkling of her
anklets " behind him, and promising if he did so
he would overcome all his miemies.
As they crossed the confluence of the Sankini
and Dankini rivers, the feet of the goddess sank
deep in the sand, and hearing no sound the Rajah
turned round. On this the goddess became angry
and reproached him with his want of faith. After
a time, however, she relented, and told him that
he might proceed with the conquest of the country,
but she, for her part, would remain where she
was. At this spot her famous shrine now stands,
at which, till comparatively recently, human
sacrifices were offered.
" Nothing is done," so Colonel Glasfurd writes
of Bastar in 1862, "'no business undertaken,
without consulting her ; not even will the Rajah
or Diwan proceed on a pleasure party or hunting
expedition without consulting 'Mai' (mother).
Her advice is asked in matters of the most trivial
nature ; flowers are placed on the head of the idol,
and as they fall to the right or to the left, so is
the reply interpreted as favourable or otherwise.**
Once a year at the Festiyal of Dasehra the
Ruling Chief of Bastar divests himself of all
clothing, save a loin cloth dyed to resemble his
128
STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
own skin^ and with a garland of flowers on his
head^ mounts a large wooden car^ not altogether
unlike the Jagannath Car at Puri. In this car,
surrounded by some of the leading men of his
capital, he is drawn through the streets of Jagadalpur,
while his subjects, principaUy Gonds, fall
prostrate before him. He is regarded for the
time being, so it is said, as a kind of incarnation
of a god, a ''Hinduized version of the ancient
Gond god Pharsa Pen," the spouse of the goddess
Dantesvari. On such occasions in former days
human beings threw themselves under the car
as sacrifices, and even now young buffaloes and
goats are frequently pushed under it.
Witchcraft is still very prevalent in Gondwana,
and is often responsible for much cruelty and
occasionally even for murders.
One such murder was described to me quite
recently by the Deputy Commissioner of a district
in whidi I was touring. A Gond village had been
visited by severe sickness, men, women, and
children had sickened and some had died ; there
had been heavy mortality amongst the cattle.
At length the village elders met, and after some
discussion decided that there was a witch in the
village. After examining all the women, an old
woman was selected as being the cause of all the
trouble. No one was ready to defend her, and
she was seized, buried in ^e ground up to her
arm-pits, and merdlessfy beaten till she died.
Canon Wood mentions a curious custom amongst
129
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
the Gonds in his district^ which recalls the Western
custom of '* ducking the witch/' If a woman is
suspected of being a witch, she is thrown into the
nearest tank or pond. If she remains under
the water, while a man shoots three arrows into
the air, she is innocent, but if she comes to the
surface before that she is proved to be a witch.
Her two front teeth are then knocked out, her
head shaved, and she is banished from the village.
Sometimes, as one passes from one Gond village
to another, one's attention is called to a quaint
Uttle cart, hardly larger than a child's toy, which
lies at the side of a jungle track. There it lies
full of rubbishy offerings, and there it has been
brought by the people of some village in a time
of epidemic. Along with it the villagers trusted
they were bringing the cruel denion who had been
tormenting them. All that they asked of him, as
they left him in his solitude, was that he would
stay there, or even go to another village, but never
return to them.
In his little book on The Story of the Gond
Mission, the Rev. J. Fryer mentions certain
curious superstitions, connected with trees,
amongst the Gonds in his district. These superstitions
are based on the widespread conviction
amongst many of these simpler races, who are
still in the animistic stage, that, ''whenever
savages see motion, they imagine a spirit." A
conrmion belief exists '' that some trees must not
be struck at n^ht, for fear that the sleep of the
190
STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
tree spirit may be disturbed ; that^ before climbing
a tree one should pray for its pardon for the rough
usage it is about to be subjected to ; that^ if a
mango tree withers^ and then grows again^ the
tree spirit was absent on pilgrimage/'
One curious Gond custom seen all over Gondwana
in its wildest regions is the setting up of a
clay image of a tiger to mark the place where a
man has been slain by one of these void animals.
The idea is that the image of the tiger called
'' Waghoba " js indwelt by the soul of the dead
man^ who^ in hatred of his slayer^ will act as a
village guardian.
The belief in "totems" is everywhere found
amongst the Gcmds^ and many are the plants and
animals which ajre regarded as ''sacred." The
late Major Lucie Smithy a well-known authority
in South Gondwana^ stated that each of the four
well-known groups of Gonds had their own special
" totem " — the four-god Gonds regarding the
tortoise and crocodile as their totem; the five-god
Gonds the iguana ; the six-god Gonds, the tiger ;
and the seven-god Gonds, the porcupine.
The position of women amongst the Gonds, as,
indeed, amongst all the aborigines of India, is
largely one of equality with the opposite sex, and
where Hindu ideas have not penetrated, the woman
is free to marry the man of her choice. Few
marriages take place before the girl is full grown.
Amongst the Maria Gonds of the Chanda
district there is a '' bachelors " quarter in eveiy
131
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
village^ where the young men are shut up at
night I
After a couple of Maria Gonds have been keeping
company for a Uttle^ the village elders and parents
step in^ and the betrothal is arranged. Shortly
after this the bridegroom's party come and plant
a spear in the court-yard of the bride's house. If
the bride's party consent^ water is poured over the
spear by the girl's father. Should he fail to do
this^ it is regarded as a grievous insult, and he is
fined heavily.
The marriage ceremony is simplicity itself. A
platform of cow-dung cakes is built, on which a
blanket is spread. On this the young couple
stand and exchange vows. The brid^room puts
an iron ring on one of the bride's fingers, and the
ceremony is over. The newly married couple
spend their short honqonoon in a temporary hut
previously prepared in the forest.
In certain cases where the bridegroom is too
poor to pay the price which is demanded by the
father for his daughter, he is allowed to serve, like
the Patriarch Jacob, for his wife. This service
sometimes lasts for several years.
Unlike the higher castes of Hindus the Gonds
raise no objection to the marriage of widows.
Such marriages are attended with a curious
practice in one part of Gondwana. The couple
stand under the eaves of the brid^oom's hut
with an upright spear between them. Turmeric
mixed with oil is poured over the brid^;room's
132
STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
head^ and on the spear-head^ and the brid^oom
ties a string of beads around the bride's neck.
After this simple ceremony he conducts her as
his wife into his hut.
In some cases the Gonds buiy their dead^ and
in some cases, where Hindu influence is strong,
they bum them. The burial ground or burning
place is generally to the east of the village. Their
dead are sometimes buried with their feet towards
the north ; the explanation of this practice being
a tradition that their home was once in the
north.
The belief in transmigration is now growing
amongst the Gonds in many places. One custom
in connection with it is decidedly interesting.
When a Gondjs dying he is removed from his
simple cord*bed and laid on the ground. Under
his head is placed a small heap of grain. , After
his death, when the body is removed, an inverted
basket is placed over this heap of grain. On the
following day the village elders examine it, and
the wise amongst them beUeve that they can
detect the footprints of the animal into which the
soul of the deceased has entered.
Canon Wood mentions a practice in connection
with the dead which is worthy of a place in our
record of some of the strange customs of
Gondwana.
When the body of the dead has been carried to
its last resting-place, the mourners, still bearing
the corpse on their shoulders, face west. In
183
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
front of them^ ten paces away^ are placed three
" yen *' leaves in a little line, about a yard apart.
The first leaf is for the supreme god, the second
for disembodied spirits, and the tUrd for witches.
The spirit of the departed is then called upon to
disclose the cause of his death. The bearers,
impelled by the spirit of the dead man, move
forward to the leaves. If they stop at the first
leaf, the dead man was recalled by the supreme
spirit, and died a natural death. If they stop at
the second leaf, he was slain by a malign spirit.
If they stop at the third leaf, the cause of his
death was witchcraft. In this case the spirit of
the dead is invoked to reveal the sorcerer, who,
if in the crowd, is at once seized and put on his
or her trial.
It is a strange and pathetic fact that spirits of
the dead are generally r^arded more as objects
of fear than as objects of love and veneration.
Especially are those dreaded who have died violent
or unnatural deaths. The spirit of the woman
who has died in child-birth or of the man who has
been slain by a wild beast, are oft^i r^arded as
specially malignant and dangerous.
Mr. Fiyer mentions how, in his district, the
spirit of a man slain by a tiger was propitiated for
ten or twelve days after his death. The chief aim
of the propitiatory rites seems to have been to
bring the spirit away from the tiger to its old home.
A thread was tied to a beam, and a copper ring
was attached to it by twisting a thread round it
134
STRANGE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS
without a knot. Below was placed a pot full of
water. Songs were sung, and watch was kept by
day and by night, until the ring at last fell into
the water, thereby announcing that the spirit had
escaped from his captor, and had returned to his
family.
135
CHAPTER XIV
' A FEW WORDS ON MISSION WORK IN
GONDWANA
We have endeavoured to give some kind of
picture of Gondwana in the more primitive days
of its old Gond rulers. We have seen it in its
unhappiness and unrest^ and under the uncertain
and oft-times rapacious grasp of Maratha rule.
We see it to-day enjoying peace and increasing
prosperity^ under the mild and just rule of Great
Britain. If we have dwelt a Uttle on the work
of some of our leading administrators who have
helped to bring in this new and better order of
things^ it is but natural that we should make some
reference to those high-souled men and women,
who have striven to establish Christ's Kingdom in
these r^ons.
The missionary problems in the Central Provinces
are in some respects imlike those which obtain
in most other parts of India. The Mohammedan
population is, with the excq>tion of Berar, neither
large nor influential, the large Hindu population
is in many parts still largely illiterate, and we have
well over two million aboriginal Gonds, not to
speak of other tribes of aborigines, Kols, Kurkus,
and Merias.
One or two of the missionary bodies at work in
Gondwana have been working for more than two
136
MISSION WORK IN GONDWANA
generations^ others have only recently entered
this part of the mission field.
Of those who have been at work in the southern
part of Gondwana from the days when Bhonslas
reigned in Nagpur^ the United Free Church of
Scotland clearly takes the most prominent place.
Ever since the days when Stephen Hislop^ that
many-sided missionary^ laboured indefatigably in
this part of India^ the United Free Church of
Scotland has sent out a succession of able men and
devoted women to carry on the work so well
started by its pioneer missionaries. No one who
lives in Nagpur can fail to observe the important
place which this mission fills in the Uf e of the large
native city and the surrounding country. Year
after year^ for more than a generation past^ its
University Coflege, appropriately named after
Hislop^ its most distinguished missionary^ has
been sending out numbers of highly-educated
Indian youths^ to fill various offices in our pubUc
life. Nor has any medical mission in all India
done more valuable work than the medical branch
of this mission^ with its excellent women's hospital
and its admirable staff of lady doctors and nurses.
Nor can anyone who hves in Nagpur be blind
to the great devotion of the large body of Roman
CathoUc priests and sisters^ who are working under
their own Bishop^ many of them connected with
the mission of St. Francis de Sales.
And if Scotland and France have sent many
devoted sons and daughters to missionary work
137
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
in Gondwana, many a small mission station
dotted about in the beautiful Satpura country
speaks no less doquendy of the devotion of the
Scandinavian Church of Sweden.
Nor^ too^ does Europe alone share all the burden
of missionary enterprise in this part of India, for
to-day with their headquarters at Jubbulpore,
both the American Methodist Episcopal Church
and the American Baptist Society are throwing
out branches of their work, with characteristic
energy, all over this large area.
While it is obviously impossible in the limits of
one short chapter to enter fully even into the work
of those missions with which the writer is personally
connected, there are some facts connected
with our Churdi Missionary Society's work
amongst the Gonds, which seem to me to fit in
admirably with the general purpose of our story,
and to throw interesting light on some aspects of
missionary effort.
Few, however doubtful or unsympathetic as
to missionary work amongst the highly educated
Hindus or Mohanunedans, will ever raise any
opposition to the Church's endeavour to evangeUse
the devil^worshipping aborigines. The late Sir
Charles Elliott, when Lieutenant-Governor of
Bengal, speaking of missionary work in India,
dwelt especially on the importance of work
amongst the aborigines, and added that there was
no sphere in which the great truths of Christianity,
more especially the Fatherhood of God, seemed
13S
MISSION WORK IN GONDWANA
to find a more congenial soil than amongst those
spiritually d^raded devil-worshippers. I can myself
recall a conversation I had years ago with a
Mohammedan gentleman of Delhi; and how^
after describing our missionary labours amongst
the aborigines of Chhota Nagpur^ he stated how
willingly he would assist in a work of teaching
them about the true God I
Cmiously enough the first Christian mission to
the Gonds was started^ and largely supported, by
one who, in after years, became a distinguished
Indian administrator, and who finished his career
as Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab.
In the year 1831 Mr. Donald McLeod was
appointed to the Department for the suppression
of Thuggee under the superintendence of
Colonel W. Sleentian, and was stationed at Saugor.
Shortly afterwards he was transferred to Seoni as
Deputy Conunissioner, where he remained for
several years. During this time he formed the
deepest affection for this beautiful Satpura district
and for the simple-minded Gonds. So
strongly did this fancy grow, that at one time* he
even wished to spend the remainder of his career
among the Gonds, and declined several better
appointments in other parts of the country. He
writes from Seoni in the following strain —
'' I look upon my lot as fixed in this country, a
land of wondrous interest, albeit at present in the
darkness of night.''
lae
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
A few years later^ in 1840, Mr. McLeod was
appointed to Jubbulpore as Deputy Commissioner.
It was then that he carried out his long-conceived
plan of commencing a Christian mission among
the Gonds. " He had long felt/* so his biographer
tells us, "that the simple habits of this primitive
race afforded an admirable field for Christian efEort,
and he had for some time past endeavoured to
enlist the sympathy and co-operation of Christian
people at Calcutta and elsewhere, in his cherished
project. He had written a long and interesting
article on this subject in the Calcutta Christian
Observer, in which he endeavoured to show that
the best plan was to start an agricultural mission
settlement amongst them."
As no Enghsh Missionary Society was willing
to take up this idea, he acted upon it himself, and
apphed to Pastor Gossner, of Berlin, who sent
out to him a little band of German artisans and
husbandmen (a carpenter, a schoolmaster, and
an apothecary were amongst the number) to
work among the Gonds. They were placed under
the superintendence of the Rev. Alois Loesch,
a Lutheran Minister, who had previously worked
in South India.
The missionary band arrived at Jubbulpore in
1841, and shortly afterwards proceeded to the
Satpura Highlands, making their central station
at tilie village of Karanjia, in the Mandla district,
about fourteen miles from the source of the Nerbudda
at Amarkantak. There they Uved in a
140
MISSION WORK IN GONDWANA
simple fashion, building their bungalow with their
own hands.
Shortly after their arrival at Karanjia, Mr.
McLeod was able to pay them a visit. He was
delighted at what appeared to be the happy
commencement of fetvourable mission work
amongst the Gonds.
We have a few interesting lines from the pen of
the leader of this missionary enterprise, the
Rev. A. Loesch, which were written at this
period—
** Karanjia is one of the finest places I have seen
in India. It is sixteen miles to the west of
Amarkantak, and situated on the road to that
place ; it is often visited by hosts of fakirs and
ghosains, * who extort the last coin from the poor
ignorant Gonds, whom we shall no longer suffer
to be maltreated by that idle and wicked set of
people. The chmate is almost European, the soil
very fertile and the water delicious."
The first few months had passed, and the sky
seemed unclouded, when there fell on this small
missionary band a calamity as sudden as it was
terrible. Early in the rains an epidemic of
cholera swept over this neighbourhood, and within
a few weeks four of the mission band were dead,
and a fifth lay between Ufe and death. The
doctor was unfortunately the first to die, and this
fact may have been partly responsible for the
^ Religious mendicants.
141
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
death of the others. One of the survivors lost
his reason, and died not long afterwards, the other
joined Stephen Hislop in Nagpur and died three
years later. Within a few months of its starting,
the mission had ceased to exist.
In the winter of 1903, I paid my first visit to
the Mandla district, to visit our Church Missionary
Society's mission stations. On my way to Amarkantak
I determined to visit Karanjia, the sc^ie
of this tragedy. On arriving at the village my
companions and I found the grave of these four
German missionaries in a deplorable state. The
stone cross which had stood at the head had been
maliciously broken by a Mohammedan fanatic.
This mutilated grave alone remained to mark
where these good men had Uved and died.
At my suggestion my companion, the Rev.
H. Molony, now Bishop of Chehkiang in China,
wrote a short pamphlet called A Forgotten Tragedy,
describing the death of these devoted m^i. Later
on we took steps to have the grave repaired, when
we placed a solid iron Maltese cross horizontally
on the slab which covers the grave. On eadi
arm of the cross is inscribed the name of one
of the four departed missionaries — the Rev.
Alois Loesch, JuUus Schleisner, Karl Gatzky, and
Heinrich Gossner. Underneath are written in the
Hindi language the beautiful words, '' Blessed are
the dead which die in the Lord.''
Such was the hard fate which befell Mr. McLeod's
endeavours to establish a mission amongst the
142
MISSION WORK IN GONDWANA
Gonds. That it should, have ended with such
tragic suddenness is all the more mysterious when
one reflects on the remarkable results achieved
by Pastor Gossner's mission in Chhota Nagpur^ a
mission which was established a few years later.
Within a year or two of this tragedy, Mr.
McLeod was transferred to Benares, and later on
to the Punjab, where in due course he became
Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab. How highly
the Sikhs of the Punjab esteemed his noble and
devout character may be seen in our illustration,
which represents him, at a later stage of his
career, being worshipped by an adoring body of
Sikhs.
After Mr. McLeod's departure nothing was done
to evangelise the Gonds for some years. Ten
years later, another civilian, Mr. Mosley Smith,
then Sessions Judge of Jubbulpore, in consultation
with Mr. Dawson, the Chaplain of Jubbulpore,
obtained from the Church Missionary Society the
funds necessary to support a missionary sent out
by Pastor Gossner. The name of this missionary
was the Rev. J. W. Rebsch. Later on the
Rev. £. C. Stuart (afttfwards the Bishop of
Waiapu in New Zealand) was for a time stationed
by the Church Missionary Society in Jubbulpore,
and did some work amongst the Gonds.
Not, however, until the arrival of the Rev.
£. Champion, in 1860, was work pressed on with
full vigour. During the twenty-one years of
Mr. Champion's labours in this part of India he
143
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
accomplished a great deal. Of the many boys
trained in an orj^anage which he started at
Chiriadongree, near Mandla, one^ the Rev.
Failbus^ was destined to be the first Indian
clergyman in the Gond mission.
Towards the ^id of Mr. Champion's period
the Rev. H. D. Williamson joined the mission^
and laid the main fomidations of the existing work
amongst the Gonds of the Mandla district. The
Gondi language was, under his guidance, reduced
to writing, and a Hindi grammar and vocabulary
were prepared by him. Portions of the New
Testament and numerous Bible stories were
translated into Gondi. A valuable h3ann book
was also translated by him into Hindi, a language
understood by most of the Gonds in the Satpuras.
The story of Mr. Williamson's first Gond convert
is so typical of the earliest stage in conversion
amongst some of the most spiritual of our aboriginal
Christians, that I venture to tell it, very
much as it is told in Mr. Fryer's Uttle book. The
Story of the Gond Mission
Bhoi Baba was the head-man of a village, and
" a devotee." His reputation for religious devotion
was widespread. He had learnt to read, and
was in the habit of spending long periods in
meditation. On one occasion he spent weeks
meditating on a huge rock in the middle of a river,
and on another sp^it a similar period under a
large pipal tree in his own village.
Hearing of his devotion, Mr. WiUiamson
144
MISSION WORK IN GONDWANA
determined to visit him in his village. On the day
of his arrival^ however, at the Bhoi's village, he
heard with deep regret that the Bhoi was absent,
and would not be back for days. Much to his
surprise and delight, however, shortly before night
feU, the Bhoi walked into his village. Nor was
Mr. WiUiamson's delight lessened when the Bhoi
told him ** that when he had travelled about ten
miles from his village, something had said to him,
" Go back to your village at once." ^
Then began a course of instruction which led
to his conversion and baptism a few months later.
Since Mr. WiUiamson's departure from the
mission several missionaries of our Church have
worked in this district for longer or shorter periods.
It is interesting to note that two of their nitoiber,
the Rev. H. P. Parker and the Rev. H. Molony,
were taken from this jungle mission to fill
important missionary bi^oprics in other parts
of the world.
The Rev. H. P. Parker, after a short
period of service in the Mandla district, was
appointed as successor to Bishop Hannington, the
Martyr Bishop of Uganda. Unfortunately on his
way from the coast to his diocese, in the heart of
Africa, he contracted fever and died before
reaching Uganda. The other missionary to
the Gonds similarly honoured was the Rev.
Herbert Molony, now Bishop of Chehkiang in
China. With deep devotion he laboured for many
years amongst the Gonds. During his period
145
I0-O55I)
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
stations w^ e opened at Marpha in the heart of
the district, and at Sukulpura, on the banks of the
Nerbudda, at the edge of the Rewah State.
This mission is, indeed, full of promise, if only
more workers of the right kind can be found for
it. One of its greatest needs is a medical missionary,
and another is a missionary with a
practical knowledge of farming. Whether one
sees it at Patpara, with its schools, orphanage, and
leper settlement, at present unda* the management
of the Rev. J. Wakeling ; or at its little
agricultural settlement at Deori, where Mr. and
Mrs. Charles are working ; or away in the heart
of the jungle at Marpha, where for years past the
Rev. E. D. Price (beloved of the Gonds) has
been Uving, one can easily imderstand the feelings
which Sir Donald McLeod felt in days gone by
for these people, and their beautiful jungle country.
It would be an easy and a pleasant task to tell
something of the excellent missionary work which
is being carried on by our Church in Jubbulpore
and Katni, under the guidance of the Rev.
Canon E. A. Hensley, Secretary of the Church
Missionary Society. In such a description, w^e
I to attempt it, some mention would have to be
made of the fine Church Missionary Society High
School in Jubbulpore for boys, and the excellent
Church of England Zenana Missionary Society
High School for girls in Katni, started a few years
ago by Miss J. Bardsley. But as I have felt it
wiser to limit myself ahnost exclusively to work
146
MISSION WORK IN GONDWANA
amongst the Gonds^ I will, before concluding,
turn my readers' attention, for a moment or two,
to our work amongst the Gonds in the Chanda
district.
It is interesting to note that the mission at
Chanda, like more than one mission of our Church
in India, owes its commencement to an Indian
chaplain. In the year 1870, when Chaplain of
Nagpur, the Rev. G. T. Carruthers first urged
the claims of India on the Episcopal Church of
Scotland. Hitherto that Church had directed its
foreign missionary efforts almost exclusively to
work in South Africa.
The earlier efforts of the Chanda mission were
carried on largely by Indian workers. For a time
the saintly Father Nehemiah Goreh, commonly
called '^Nilkant Shastri," a converted Maratha
Brahmin, worked in Chanda. As one who can
recall his unique personality, I appreciate deeply
Canon Wood's description of Nehemiah Goreh's
work and influ^ice in Chanda. Of him he writes —
** His memory is still green. I have heard from
many lips the tale of his argument with Pilba, the
Guru of the Kabir Panthis, of his casting down of
the god of the Mahars, that stood on the wall by
the Pathanpura gate, and thereby converting one
family, and frightening another family, so that
they fled to the Nizam's dominion to escape the
wrath of that god, and have not returned to this
place. . . But the story that I like best of all is
how he used to preach in the bazaar. They tell
147
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
of him as a slim figure dressed in a white cassock.
Round his neck was a rosary of wooden beads^
and attached to it a wooden cross. In his hand he
held a heavy wooden cross, that stood higher than
his head, and on this he leaned. People passed
and re-passed ^oing about their business, but he
stood still, taking no notice of them whatever.
But as he stood silent there, for an hour, perhaps^
or more, the people noted, watched, stood around
at a distance, waiting shyly, for whether he were
a Christian or not, at least he was a Brahmin.
Then, at last, when a circle had gadiered round
him in ihe cool of the evening, he preached to
them of Christ."
Under his saintly influence the mission grew^
and when he left Chanda in 1874 he had already
gathered out from heathenism a smaU body of
Christians. Then for twenty years the mission
was entrusted to the care of the Rev. Israel
Jacob, until the arrival of the Rev. A. Wood
in December, 1896. From that time forward the
work of the mission has gone on steadily and
strongly, imtil it has gained a real place in the life
and affection of the people of the old Gond capital
and its surrounding country. Assisted by his
colleagues, the Rev. G. D. Philip, tixe Rev.
J. R. McKenzie, and by some devoted lady
workers, schools and orphanages have been
started, a mission church built and consecrated,
fresh stations created, and an important branch
of work opened in Nagpur itself.
In a charming little book, called In and Out of
148
MISSION WORK IN GONDWANA
Chanda, we have a most interesting account of this
mission^ mainly from the writings of Canon Wood.
Looldng bade over the years which have passed
since my Consecration in 1903^ I recall no happier
days than those I have spent during my visits to
our missions amongst the Gonds in the Mandla
district and in Chanda.
My task is now completed^ but^ ere I bring my
story of Gondwana to a conclusion^ I would say
one or two words on behalf of the aim of all true
missionary enterprise in India.
It is Uttle more than fifty years since the great
John Lawrence, when speaking of mission work,
told the people of England that '' Christian truths
taught in a Christian way will never offend the
people of India."
There is a hard and unsympathetic way of
approaching those from whom we differ, which is
certain to stir up bitterness and angry feeling ; but
the simple presentation of the Life and Teaching
of Christ by men and women who are endeavouring
to imitate His supreme example, in Uves of lowly
service, kindliness, and self-sacrifice, can never
produce anything save feelings of respect and
admiration amongst the masses of India, who are
essentially religious.
But there is one aspect of the missionary
message which may well be considered by a people
like the English, on whom imperial and wideworld
responsibilities are laid. Never was the
teaching of Christ about the brotherhood of man
149
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
more needed than it is to-day. We have seen
what terrible evils an exaggerated patriotism may
bring on the world. What the world most needs
to-day is the Divine Spirit of love and brotherhoody
which can draw the various races of mankind
together^ and can make them realise that not in
envy and hatred, and not in an endeavour to
destroy one another, but in mutual co-operation
and goodwill he the highest and deepest interests,
as well as the truest and noblest life for all
mankind.
ISO
CHAPTER XV
THE STORY OF LINGO
Ye who love a Nation's legends.
Love the ballads of a people.
That like voices from afar off
Call to us to pause and listen.
Speak in tones so plain and childlike.
Scarcely can the ear distinguish
Whether they are sung or spoken: —
Listen to this Indian legend.
^Longfellow.
No account of the Gonds would be complete
without some reference to the quaint songs which
link themselves with the name of Lingo^ the Gond
prophet^ and which form a sort of Epic once
recited by Gond Pardhans^ or Bards. This Epic
for so we may style it^ was first brought to light
half a century ago, by the Rev. S. Hislop, one
of the pioneer missionaries of the last century.
Hislop in his wanderings amongst the Gonds, and
in his researches into things Gondian, first heard
of it from one of their Pardhans, or Bards. He
reduced it to writing in the Gondi language with
his own hand shortly before his too early and
tragic death ; and the task of having it translated,
first into Hindi, and afterwards into EngUsh, was
carried out under the direction* of his friend.
Sir R. Temple, the Chief G)mmissioner of the
151
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Central Provinces. The English translation as
it is found in these pages is that of Sir R. Temple
himself^ which is in every way to be preferred to a
paraphrase cast in the metre of Longfellow's
"Hiawatha/' by Captain Forsyth in The Highlands
of Central India. Reading it for the first time in
Forsyth's paraphrase and with his not very
sympathetic comments fresh in my mind^ I was
certainly not prepared for the quaint humour
and real charm revealed in Sir R. Temple's
translation.
This Epic, as Sir R, Temple truly says, is " a
compendium of Gond thoughts and notions."
Though abounding in things borrowed from the
Hindus, it is possessed of real originality, and in
many passages steeped with Gond ideas. It was
customary for Gond Pardhans to recite it to
circles of Ustening Gonds at marriages, and on
other festive occasions. Now that under changed
conditions of Gond life it is seldom if ever heard
(it is, I am told, quite unknown in most parts
of modem Gondwana), it is well that Hislop's
interesting discovery ^ould be rescued from the
oblivion into which it has undoubtedly fallen.
As to how old this story of Lingo really is, no
one can say. One or two scholars with higher
critical tendencies have suggested that it is possibly
of Brahmanic origin, and that it may have been
foisted on the Gonds for the purpose of popularising
amongst theni the worship of Shiva. Sir
R. Temple in his editorial notes expresses the view
152
THE STORY OF LINGO
that though the original form must be quite
ancient^ yet the framework of the story^ as it now
exists^ was clearly composed after the arrival of
the Aryans amongst the aborigines in Central
India. The Epic was never written^ and' the
modem Gond Pardhans, being unlettered men, do
not attempt to explain its history.
Sir R. Temple divides it into five parts. Such
a division is a good way of reminding the modern
reader that it was probably sung or recited in
parts. It is also a convenient way of separating
the various subjects treated in the Epic.
Part I — deals with the creation of the Gond
people and their subsequent bondage.
Part II — tells of the birth, life and death of the
m3rthical hero, the Prophet Lingo.
Part III —deals with the revival of Lingo and his
delivery of the Gonds from bondage.
Part IV — deals with the sub-division of the
Gonds into tribes and the institution
of the worship of the Gonds.
Part V — deals Math the institution of the rites
of marriage amongst the Gonds by
Lingo.
As Sir R. Temple's translation fills many pages,
it is necessary for us to omit considerable portions
of it, and to confine ourselves to its more interesting
parts, especially those which throw light on Gond
customs.
153
Part I
THE CREATION OF THE GOND PEOPLE AND
THEIR SUBSEQUENT BONDAGE
The history opens in the silence and solitude of
the glens of the seven hills, which are clearly the
Satpura Mountains of the Central Provinces.
In the midst of twelve hills, in the glens of seven
hills, is Lingan, or Mount Lingana.
In the Mount is a flower tree named Dati.
Thence for twelve leagues (kds^) there are no
dwellers.
Caw says there is no crow, chirp sa)^ there is
no bird, roar says there is no tiger.
Then follows a weird passage (in which Hindu
ideas are clearly predominant), which describes
the process by which the Gond people were
created.
The god Mahadeva performs an act of penance
(tap) which lasts for twelve months. At the end
of the period, one, KaUa Adao, the Divine Ancestor
of the Gonds, is bom " from a boil in Mahadeva's
hand.'^ KaUa Adao in his turn performs an act
of penance (tap), and from a boil in his own hand
sixteen daughters are bom. He is bitterly disappointed.
Daughters are regarded by him, as
by so many Indians, as by no means a blessing.
154
tt
THE STORY OF LINGO
What I Why are these daughters bom ? I
shall have cause to cast my head down. When
shall I bring husbands for them ? ''
He took hold of them, and threw them m the
water. After throwmg them into it the water
dried up, and sixteen sorts of earth were produced.
After this rather drastic way of disposing of
his sixteen daughters who, the Pardhan explained
to Hislop/were goddesses from whose remains
the several soils known to Gonds were made
(black cotton, reddish earth, sandy ground,
murrum, gravd, etc.), Kalia Adao began a second
penance (tap). On this occasion he was more
successful. From it " twelve threshing-floors of
Gondi gods were bom." These are the ancestors
of thejGond race.
Then follows an amusing description of the wild
Gonds in their primitive state. Ignorant, dirty,
madly fond of sport, they incur the displeasure
of the great god Mahadeva, who, by an ingenious
and most ungod-like trick, lures them, like the
Pied Piper of Hamlin, into a vast cave, where
th^ are incarcerated. A giant Bhasmasur stands
guard over it. Four Gonds, however, more slow
of foot than their brethren, remain outside.
Parvati, the wife of Mahadeva and a lover of the
Gonds, is in deep distress at their disappearance.
She commences an act of devotion (tap) and at
the end of it the high god, Bhagawan, says that
he will again make her Gonds visible.
155
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Twelve threshing-floors^ of Gondi gods* were
bom.
Hither and thither all the Gonds were scattered
in the jungle.
Places, hills, and valleys, were filled with these
Gonds.
Even trees had their Gonds. How did the Gonds
conduct themselves ?
Whatever came across them they must needs
kill and eat it.
They made no distinction. If they saw a jackal
they killed and ate it.
No distinction was observed ; they respected not
antelope, sambhar, and the like.
They made no distinction in eating a sow, a quail,
a pigeon, a crow, a kite, an adjutant, a vulture :
A lizard, a frog, a beetle, a cow, a calf, a he- and
she-bufialo:
Rats, bandicoots, squirrels — all these they killed
and ate.
So began the Gonds to do. They devoured raw
and ripe things.
They did not bathe for six months together.
They did not wash their faces properly, even on
dung-hills they would fall down and remain.
Such were the Gonds bom in the beginning. A
smell was spread over the jungle.
When the Gonds were thus disorderly behaved :
they became disagreeable to Mahadeva.
^ The threshing-floor is one of the most important [daces
in Indian village Ufe.
* The original Gonds are spoken of as " gods."
156
EPIC OF LINGO — " THE SQUIRREL RAX AND THEV PURSUED IT "
THE STORY OF LINGO
Who said, ''The caste of the Gonds is very bad.
" I will not preserve them ; they will ruin my hiU
Dhawalagiri.
''I perceive here and there smells." So said
Mahadeva. ''Call the Gonds."
So said he to Narayan. He went, and called
them.
And brought them into the presence of Mahadeva.
When they were standing; Mahadeva arose and
looked and saw all the (ronds come.
He spoke within himself, and took them away
into his valley.
He made them to sit in a Une, and he sat at the
head of them.
He took substance from his own body, and made
it into a squirrel.
Thus he made a squirrel while bathing, and gave
it Ufe.
When he made it alive, he caused it to run away,
Wiih its upright tail the squirrel ran from the
midst of them.
The Gonds saw it running, and they pursued it.
As the Gonds were pursuing it, some said, " Kill
it, kill it !"
Another said, "Catch it ; it will serve as a nice
roast."
So saying some seized a stick, some a stone.
Some seized a clod; their waist-cloths were
shaking ; their hair began to fly about .
The squirrel entered a hole, which was the god's
prison on earth.
The Gonds also followed it up to the hole.
157
t€
€€
it
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
All the threshing-floor^ Gonds ran into the cave.
Thus all the Gonds ran ; the rest^ four * in number,
remained behind.
They came to Parvati ; she was sleeping. In the
meantime she awoke. She cared for &e Gonds.
She said, *'For many days I have not seen my
Gonds.
''There used to be noise in mount Dhawalagiri.
But to-day there is silence. For many days
there has been a smell (of Gonds).
But to-day I perceive no smell.
They must have gone somewhere.
'' Mahadeva is not to be seen, where did he lead
them ? " Thus said Parvati.
She ascended Dhawalagiri, and saw no Gonds.
Then she said to Mahadeva, "My Gonds do
not appear, where have they gone ? "
Mahadeva arose and placed a stone sixteen cubits
long at the entrance of the cave, and thus shut
in me Gonds.
He stationed Bhasmasur,' a giant, to guard it.
Still Parvati remained asking after them.
Then said Mahadeva, ''Dhawalagiri began to be
odorous, and I fell into a rage thereat.
^ See note on line 11. The term '' threshing-floor Gonds '*
means the r^;ular Gonds created by Mahadeva.
* The number of four persons, which appears in subsequent
parts of the story, might be thought to have some significance,
but none is ascertainable.
* This Bhasmasur was one of the giants of Hindu m}rthology,
who got from Shiva power to reduce to ashes all whom
he touched. He became so troublesome that Shiva, in
self-defence, had to kill him.
158
THE STORY OF LINGO
"But four Gonds have survived, and they are
fled." So said he.
Then Parvati thought in her mind, "My Gonds
are lost."
The four Gonds who fled travelled onward over
hills.
Thence they went and saw a tree rising upright,
as Date tree.
Which they cUmbed, and looked about them.
They said, "There is no hiding place visible for us. "
But one of them looked and saw a place named
Kachikopa^ Lahugad.
They went by the jungle road and reached that
place.
There the four brothers remained.
When the Gonds were not to be found, Parvati
began to feel regret for them.
She then commenced a devotion (tap).
Six months passed.
Parvati ended her tap. Bhagawan* (god) meanwhile
was swinging in a swing.
^ The name Kachikopa Lahugad appears frequently in
the story, but there is no known place particularly of that
name. The meaning in Gondi is the " Iron Valley — the Red
HOk/* a nomenclature very applicable to the mineral products
and external aspect of many hills in the Gonds' country.
* The name god Bhagawan occurs frequently in all the
Parts. It is borrowed, of course, from Hinduism. It is
remarkable that this name should be used, as the Gonds give
the name of Bara Deo to the one great God, supreme over aU
the gods. The name Bara Deo is found nowhere in tibfi^
songs.
ise
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
He said^ ^^What devotee at my resting time has
begun a devotion?
^'Narayan, go and see to it."
Narayan went to see ; ascending a hill^ he came
to Parvati. And stood whUe Parvati was
performing her tap, and saying, '^ My threshingfloor
Gond^ do not appear.
'* Therefore I conunenced my devotion."
When Narayan heard this he ran ; resting and
running, he came to Bhagawan and said^
^* Parvati is performing a devotion, and says my
threshing-floor Gonds do not appear; where
have ihey gone ? "
Bhagawan said, ''Go and tell her, I will make
her Gonds visible."
160
Part II
THE BIRTH, LIFE AND DEATH OF LINGO
There he sang of
Sang his wondrous birth and being.
How he lived, and toiled and suffered.
That he might advance his people.
—Longfellow.
The Gond race is embowelled in the earth. Only
four Gonds remain outside. Bhagawan, the high
god, had promised the goddess Parvati, Mahadeva's
wife, to rescue them from their incarceration.
This is the- state of things when the second part
of the poem begins. Amid the same scenes of
silence and solitude, described for us in the
opening lines j3f the Epic, there stood a flower tree
called Dati. By the decree of Bhagawan from
one of the flowers of this tree was to spring one
" without father or mother " who was to be the
teacher and dviliser of the Gonds, and eventually
their deliverer from Mahadeo's cruel incarceration.
His name is Lingo. Though he appears throughout
the poem in the character of a Hindu saint, the
name is said to be of Gond origin. Sometimes
he is called Bhan (Gondi for devotee) and
sometimes Pariur (Gondi for saint).
In one passage Lingo is spoken of as a pure and
sinless bdng. '' Lingo was a perfect man ; water
may be stained, but he had no stain whatever.''
161
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Then care fell to Bhagawan (god)^ There was a
tree.
It was blossoming. Then, said he, *'One of its
flowers shall conceive."
By God's doing, clouds and winds were loosed.
A cloud
Like a fan arose ; thunder roared, and lightning
flashed.
The flower burst, clouds opened, and darkness #
fell ; the day was hid.
A heap of turmeric fell at the fourth watch of the
night.
In the morning, when clouds resounikd with
thunder, the flower opened
And burst, and Lingo was bom, and he sprang,
and fell into the heap of turmeric.
Then the clouds clearedi and at the dawn Lingo
began to cry.
Thereat, care fell upon God ; the (face of Lingo)
began to dry amidst the powder.
But by God's doing, there was a fig tree, on which
was honey.
The honey hwcst, and a small drop fell into his
mouth.
Thus the juice continued to fall, ^d his mouth
began to suck.
It was noon, and wind blew, when Lingo b^an
to grow.
He leapt into a swing, and began to swing, when
day was set
Lingo arose with haste, and sat in a cradle
swinging.
162
BIRTH OF LINGO — " THE FLOWER OPENED "
THE STORY OF LINGO
Lingo was a perfect man ; water may be stained
but he had no stain whatever.
There was a diamond on his navel; and sandal
wood mark on his forehead. He was a divine
saint. He became two years old.
He played in turmeric^ and slept in a siwing. Thus
days rolled away.
He became nine years old ; he was ordered not to
eat anything from o& the jungle trees/ or
thickets.
Lingo's childhood and youth were spent Panlike
in absolute solitude. He craved for the society
of other men like himself. Filled with this desire
he set out on a journey which led him to Kachikopa
Lahugad— " The Iron Valley— the Red Hills/' an
adndrable description of many of the hills of the
Satpuras — ^with thdr red rocks abounding in
manganese ore. Here he sees for the first time
his fellow-men, who turn out to be the four
surviving Gonds.
Lingo, in his mind, said, ''Here is no person to be
seen ; man does not appear, neither are there
any animals.
''There appears none like me ; I will go where
I can see someone like myself."
Havinp; said so, one day he arose and went on
straight.
He ascended a needle-like hill; there he saw a
Mundita tree :
Below was a tree named Kidsadita ; it blossomed.
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
He went thither, and having seen flowers, he
smeUed them.
He went a little beyond, upon a precipitous hill,
and climbed a tree.
Then. he looked around and saw smoke arising
from Kachikopa Lahugad.
"What is this ? " said he ; "I must go and see it/'
He ascended, and saw the smoke. The four
brothers quickly brought their game, and began
to roast it ; they began to eat it raw or cooked.
In the meantime Lingo went there. They saw
him and stood up ; he stood also ;
Neither spoke to the other. The four then began
to say within themselves,
"We are four brothers, and he will be the fifth
brother. Let us call him.
"We will go and bring him." Then they went.
They came to the place where he was. "Who
art thou ? " asked they of Lingo.
Lingo said, "I am Saint Lingo ; I have a knot
of hair on my head."
The four brothers said, "Come to our house."
They took him home. Some game was lying thare.
Then follows an amusing description of Lingo
joining these four Gonds in their favourite pastime
of hunting. The hunt is for an anhnal
"without a liver," which, needless to say, was
never found.
Lingo said, "What is this ? " They said, "It is
game that we have brought."
164
THE STORY OF LINGO
'' What kind of game is this ? " Lingo asked.
They said, *'It is a pig.'*
He said, '* Give me its liver." There was no liver
there. Then they said,
''Hear, O brother, we iiave killed an animal
without liver I "
Then Lingo said, '' Let me see an animal without
liver."
Then care fell upon them. '' Where shall we show
him an animal without a liver ? " said they.
One said, " Hear my word I He is a little fellow,
we are big men ; we will take him to the jungle
among large stones.
''Among thorns in thickets and caves we will
roam ; he will get tired, and will sit down ;
"He will be thirsty and hungry, then he will
propose to return.
With Lingo they, with bow and arrow in their
hands, went by the jungle road.
Onward they went, and saw an antelope. Lingo
said, " Kill it I "
It had a Uver. Then came a sambhar, "Kill
ye it I "
It had a liver. A hare came, and he said, " Kill
ye it I "
It had a liver.
Thus the devout Lingo did not tire. These four
brothers were tired.
For water they thirsted. On a steep they
ascended to look for water ;
But no water appeared, so they descended from
the hiU.
165
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Thus they came to a thick jungle of Anjun trees
where thorny plants blocKed the road.
They came and stood. A little water appeared.
They plucked Palas (Butia) leaves, and made
them into a trough ;
They drank water with it, and were much refreshed.
Lingo said, '' What are you doing sitting there ? "
They said, ^' We cannot find an animal without
a Uvo-."
Then follows a description of a very ancient
and primitive method of cultivation, which is still
practised by Gonds, and other aborigines, in the
hilly and forest parts of India. A piece of forest
land on a hill-side is selected. The trees at the
edge of the forest are cut down, and set fire to.
When the monsoon-rains come, the ashes of these
trees are washed over the soil near this forest,
and on this land manured with nothing save these
ashes, and over which no plough has passed, the
seed is sown. An abundant crop is the result. This
land is sown again the next year, but with diminishing
result. It is then abandoned for twelve
years, during which period the Gonds think it
will have recovered its strength, and again be
able to yield crops. Such a method of cultivation,
called "Dhaya," is obviously most destructive
to forests ; and as the ashes of the teak tree are
especially fertiUsing, it is certain that many a
tract of country in the Central Provinces has been
deprived of its noble teak forests by the Gonds,
166
THE STORY OF LINGO
in their ladness and ignorance. The verses
bdow describe the cutting down of the forest
trees preparatory to burning them.
They went aside and sat down. Then arose
Lingo and held a hatchet in his hand ;
And went on cutting trees ; the trees fell, their
roots were dug up.
Thus he began to cut down jungles. In an hour
he made a good field.
They said, ^' Our hands are blistered, and not one
tree have we cut down.
''But Lingo in one hour has cut down several
trees;
''He has made the black soil appear, and has
sown rice and hedged it round ;
"He has made a door to it, and has made a
shutter for the door."
Then they arose and took their homeward road,
and came to their own houses.
On the first day of the rainy season a little black
cloud appeared.
Wind blew violently; it was cloudy all day;
rain began to fell.
Rills in the open places were filled knee-deep;
all the holes were filled with water.
When the rain had poured for three days, the
weather became fair ; rice b^;an to spring ;
All the fields appeared green. In one day the
rice grew a finger's br^tdth high ;
In a month it rose up to a man's knee.
167
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Then follows a channing passage describing how
a herd of deer or nilgai (bhie bull) visit the crops
so recently sown by Lingo^ and eat the young rice.
The Gonds^ on returning to their fields^ find their
crops eaten, and filled with anger, pursue the deer
under the guidance of Lingo. Two only of the
herd escape.
There were sixteen scores of nilgais or deer,
among whom two bucks, imcle and nephew,
were chiefs.
When the scent of rice spread around^ they came
to know it ; thither they went to graze.
At the head of the herd was the unde, and
the nephew was at the rear.
With cracking joints the nephew arose; he
leaped upwards.
With two ears upright, and with cheerful heart,
he boimded towards his uncle.
And said, ''Someone has a beautiful field of
rice : it must be green tender fodder.
''To us Uttle ones give that field, the sixteen
scores of deer will go there ;
" After eating rice we will come back.'* The
uncle said, "O nephew, hear my words!
Take
The name of the field, but not that of
Lingo's field.
Otherwise he will not preserve even one of
the sixteen scores of deer for seed to carry
on the race."
The nephew said, "You are old, but we are
young ; we will go.
168
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THE STORY OF LINGO
'^Arriving there we will eat. If any one sees
us we will bound away;
'' We will make a jump of five cubits, and
thus escape; but you, being an old one,
vnH be caught.
''Therefore you are afraid to go, I will not
hear your word; don't come with us/'
So said the nephew. With straight tails and
erect ears they turned back.
The uncle was grieved. Then he arose and
went after them ;
They left him far behind. The herd came near
the fields ;
But the nephew and the deer began to look
for a way to enter it, but could not find one.
The deer said, "Your unde was the wise one
amongst us, of whom shall we now ask
advice ?
" We have left him behind ; instead of him, you
are our chief."
The nephew said, ''Do as you see me doing
before you."
He put himself in front, when one of the deer
said
At first, "Your uncle told you that this is
Lingo's field, but you did not hear ;
" Look behind and before you ; be prudent."
So said the deer.
But the nephew said, " We will not keep an
old one's company."
So he, being in front, gave a bound, and was
in the midst of the rice,
lee
THE STORY OP GONDWANA
And stood; then all the deer came aftor him
leaping.
After him came the unde to the hedge and
stood.
All the deer were eating rice. But the unde
could not find his way.
Being old^ he was unable to leap the door of the
field of rice.
They went from thence and leaped back over
the hedge^ when the tmde said to them-^
" Hear, O sixteen scores of deer, you have
eaten this field I
'* Father Lingo, when he comes to it,
" What measures will he adopt ? " Then the
nephew, who was behind, came in front.
And said, '^Hear, O friends and brethren I flee
from this place but hear my word.
"As you flee, keep your feet on leaves, and
stones, and boughs, and grass, but don't put
yom- feet on the soil."
So said the nephew.
As he told them so they did — all the sixteen
scores of deer began to run.
And left no mark nor traces.
Then they stopped : some remained standing,
some slept.
In the midst of the flower fragrance was Lingo
sleeping, while half of the night was passed.
In his dream he isaw a field eaten by deer, and
all the rice becoming spoilt.
Then Lingo departed, and took his road to
Kachikopa Lahugad.
170
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THE STORY OF LIMGO
Hence he departed^ and went to the brothers and
said, " O brothers I out of your house come ye ;
^^ Hear one word : the deer have eaten our
field of rice."
The four brothers said, '' We need rice to ofier
our first-fruits to the gods."
Then Lingo said, " Hear, O brethren ! our rice
has been eaten up ;
" It has spoilt ; we have no first-fruits."
Lingo said, " We will ojffer the liver of these
deer as first-fruits ;
Then I wiU remain as a devotee, otheiiwise
my power will vanish.
I will fill my stomach by the smelling of
flowers ;
'' But how will the Gonds fill their bellies, there
is nothing for their eating —
*'The rice has been spoilt by the deer." So
said Lingo.
The four brothers said, " We will take in our
arms bow and arrow."
With anger against the deer they came to the
field, and entered in the midst of it.
When they came in the centre they saw only
black soil.
Only rice stubble appeared, and Lingo saw
nothing.
Then his anger arose from the heel to the head,
and he bit his finger on the spot ;
His eyes became red. " Where are the deer ? "
said he, "look for them."
They looked, but did not see anywhere the
footprints of deer.
171
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THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Near a tree they beheld some foot-marks : they
looked at it.
As they went they beheld a jmigle trodden
down ; then some traces appeared.
Onward they went, but did not see the deer,
they beheld a Peq>ul tree.
Lingo said, '' I will climb the tree, you stand
below."
From the top he looked, and the deer ware
visible. He said.
The deer are in sight, some are seated, scmie
are sleeping, some are leajMng about.
You four brothers separate yourselves on
four sides with your arrows.
And allow not one of the deer to escape.
*' I will shoot them from the tree, and you shoot
from below."
Having heard this, the four brothers went and
ambuscaded on fom* sides.
They shot their arrows from four comers, while
Lmgo shot from the tree.
The uncle, the buck, and one deer alone survived;
they had aimed at them also, but
the arrow fell from Lingo's hand.
He said to himself, " When the arrow fell out
of my hand, that must have been a good
omen,
'* That uncle is a devout follower of the servant
of god, he has not eaten an3rthing."
But the two survivors began to run ; then these
four brothers went siter them in pursuit,
saying, '* We will catch them here or there."
172
THE STORY OF LINGO
But the two could not be found ; then the
brothers turned and looked around.
The eldest brother said^ "Hear^ O brethren!
These two have escaped, and Lingo
''Has remained behind at a distance from us.
Let us return/' said the eldest brother.
When they returned, Lingo asked them, " Where
have you been ? "
They said, "The two survivors have fled and
cannot be found, so we have returned to you."
Then Lingo tried to teach the primitive Gonds
how to obtain fire by means of flint. His lesson
was not very successful, and as his four disciples
had never seen fire, he told them that living just
three koss (six miles) is a giant named Rikad
Gawadi, in whose field they will see fire, that
great gift of the gods to man.
It has been suggested by Sir R. Temple in his
editorial notes that the name Gawadi m&y be a
corruption of Gawali or Gaoli, a cowherd. The
Gaolis, a race either of Hindus or aborigines,
were a powerful race at one time in Gondwana,
and established a dynasty in the modem Chhindwara
district. It is possible that the Gonds
learnt something of their civilisation from them,
and in some cases — ^as is suggested by this Epic —
found wives among their daughters. Lingo suggests
that the four Gonds should go and see fire
for themselves. The youngest goes and narrowly
escapes a most disagreeable fate. He returns to
173
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
his brethren^ and to Lingo^ and tells them what
has happened. Lingo himself then determines to
go. The description of Lingo playing on his
guitar up in a tree (the two-stringed guitar is a
favourite instrument with Gonds), while the giant
and his wife dance (dancing is a passion with the
Gonds and other aborigines of India)^ is most
grotesque and amusing. As a result of his visit
he takes away with him the giant's seven daughters
to wed with the four Gonds.
He said, '' I will show you something ; see if
anywhere in your waistbands there is a flint;
if so, take it out and make fire."
Then they took out pieces of flint and began
to make fire,
But the matches did not ignite. As they were
doing this, a watch of the night passed.
They threw down the matches, and said to
Lingo, "Thou art a saint;
''Show us where our fire is, and why it does
not come out."
Lingo said, "Three koss (six miles) hence is
Kikad Gawadi the giant.
"There is fire in his field; where smoke shall
appear, go there.
"Come not back without bringing fire." Thus
said Lingo.
They said, "We have never seen the place,
where shall we go ? "
"Ye have nevw seen where this fire is?" ^
Lingo said; ^
174
THE STORY OF LINGO
" I will discharge an arrow thither.
''Go in the direction of the arrow ; there you
will get fire/'
He applied the arrow^ and having puUed the
bow, he discharged one;
It crashed on, breaking twigs, making its
passage clear.
Having cut through the high grass, it made its
way and reached the old man's place.
The arrow dropped close to the fire of the old
man, who had daughters.
The arrow was near the door. As soon as they
saw it, the daughters came and took it up.
And kept it. They asked their father, ** When
will you give us in marriage ? "
Thus said the seven sisters, the daughters of
the old man«
'' I will marry you as I think best for you ;
** Remain as you are " ; so said the old man,
the Rikad Gawadi.
Lingo said, ''Hear, O brethren! I shot an
arrow; it made its way.
"Go there, znd you will see fire; bring thence
the fire."
Each said to the other, " I will not go " : but
at last the youngest went.
He descried the fire, and went to it ; then
beheld he an old man looking like the trunk
of a tree.
He saw afar the old man's field, around which
a hedge was made.
175
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
The old man kept only one way to it, and
^tened a screen .to the entrance, and had a
fire in the centre of the field.
He placed logs of the Mahua and Anjan and
Saj trees on the fire.
Teak faggots he gatheredt and enkindled flame.
The fire blazed up, and, warmed by the heat of
it, in deep sle^ lay the Rikad 6awadi.
Thus the old man like a giant did appear.
When the young Gond beheld him, he
shivered;
His heart leaped; and he was much afraid in
his mind, and said :
" If the old man were to rise he will see me,
and I shall be eaten up ;
"I will steal away the fire, and carry it ofi,
then my life will be safe/'
He went near the fire secretly, and took a brand
of Tembhur wood tree.
When he was lifting it up a spark flew and fell
on the hip of the old man.
That spark was as large as a pot : the giant
was bUstered : he awoke alarmed.
And said, '' I am hungry, and I cannot get food
to eat anywhere ; I feel a desire f (h: flesh ;
^'Like a tender cucumber hast thou come to
me." So said the old man to the Gond,
Who began to fly. The old man followed him.
The Gond then threw away the brand which
he had stolen.
He ran onward and was not caught. Then the
old man, being tired, turned back.
176
THE STORY OF UNGO
Thence he turned to his field, and came near
the fire, sat, and said, ** What nonsense is
this?
^*A tender prey had come within my reach;
''I said, ' I will cut it up as soon as I can,' but
it escaped from my hand I
''Let it go I it will come again, then I will
catch it. It is gone now."
Then what happened ? the Gond returned and
came to his brethren.
And said to them, ** Hear, O brethren t I went
for fire, as you sent me, to that field; I
beheld an old man like a giant.
'' With hands stretched out and feet Ufted up,
I ran. I thus survived with difficulty."
The brethren said to Lingo, " We will not go."
Lingo said, '' Sit ye here.
'' O brethren, what sort of a person is this giant.
I will go and see him."
So saying. Lingo went away and reached a river.
He thence arose and went onward. As he
looked, he saw in front three gourds.
Then he saw a bamboo stick, which he took up.
Wh^i the river was flooded.
It washed away a gourd tree, and its seed fell,
and each stem produced bottle gourds.
He inserted a bamboo stick in the hollow of the
gourd, and made a guitar.
He plucked two hairs from his h,ead, and strung
it.
He held a bow, and fixed eleven keys to that
one stick, and played on it.
177
UM355I)
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Lingo was much pleased in his mind.
Holding it in his hand^ he walked in the
direction of the old man's field.
He approached the fire where Rikad Gawadi
was sleeping.
The giant seemed like a log lyin^ dose to the
fire : his teeth were hideously visible ;
His mouth was gaping. Lingo looked at the
old man, while sleeping.
His eyes were shut. Lingo said, "This is not
good time to carry the old man ofi, while he
is asleep."
In front he looked, and turned round and saw
a tree
Of the Peepul ^ sort standing erect ; he beheld
its branches
With wonder, and looked for a fit place to
mount upon.
It appeared a very good tree ; so he climbed it,
and ascended
To the top of it, to sit.
As he sat, the cock crew. Lingo said, '' It is
daybreak ;
"Meanwhile the old man must be rising.''
Therefore Lingo took the guitar in his hand.
And held it ; he gave a stroke, and it sounded
well; from it he drew one hundred tunes-
It sounded well^ as if he was singing with his
voice.
Thus, as it were, a song was heard.
^ One of the most sacred trees in India.
178
THE GIAXT AND HIS SPOUSE DANCE TO LINGO S PIPE
k
THE STORY OF LINGO
Trees and hills were silent at its sound. The
music loudly entered into
The old man's ears; he rose in haste, and sat
up quickly ; lifted up his eyes,
And desired to hear more. He looked hither
and thither,
But could not make out whence the sound
came.
The old man said, '* Whence has a creature come
here to-day to sing like the M3ma bird ? "
He saw a tree, but nothing appeared to him as
he looked underneath it.
He did not look up ; he looked at the thickets
and ravines.
But saw nothing. He came to the road, and
near to the fire.
In the midst of the field, and stood.
Sometimes sitting and sometimes standing,
jumping and roUing he began to dance.
The music sounded as the day dawned. His
old woman came out in the morning, and
began to look out.
She heard in the direction of the field a
melodious music pla3ring.
When she arrived near the hedge of her field,
she heard music in her ears.
The old woman called her husband to her.
With stretched hands and lifted feet, and
with his neck bent down, he danced.
Thus he danced. The old woman looked towards
her husband, and said, ''My old man^
my husband,
17»
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
*' Surely that music is very melodious. I will
dance/' said the old woman.
Having made the fold of her dress loose, she
quickly began to dance near the hedge.
Lingo said in his mind, '" I am a devout Lingo ;
God's servant am L
" I wear my dhotee (cloth round the loins)
down to my heels, and keep a knot of hair
on my head, and on the navel a diamond,
and to my forehead a sacred mark.^
" Water may possess a stain, but I have none.
I am Lingo. I will make the old man and
woman
"' To dance the Gond dance. I will sing a song,
and cause them to dance, if I be Lingo/'
Lingo worshipped his god, and invoked Budhal
Pen, Adul Pen,
The sixteen satika (goddesses), and eighteen
flags, Manko Rayetal, Jango Rayetal, and
Pharsa Pen,*
And said, " Salutation to you gods I " He,
holding his guitar in his nand, sang various
tunes.
" Is my guitar an allurement to them ? " So
said Lingo. He stopped the guitar.
From on high he saluted the uncle, Rikad
Gawadi, the old man ;
Who looked towards the top of the tree, and
said, "Salutation to you, O nephew.
^ The knot of hair dedicated to Vishnu and various kinds
of sacred marics are commoQly seen amoogst Hindus.
* The names of Gond gods.
180
THE STORY OF LINGO
it
Well hast thou deceived me/ and caused
us to dance^ Whither hast thou come,
nephew ? *'
Lingo going to the old man, held his hand, and
said, " Uncle, salutation to you I "
They met together : nephew became known to
the uncle, and the uncle to the nephew.
After the meeting was over, the nephew held
the uncle's hand.
They both came near the fire and sat. "O
nephew, whence hast thou come ? " asked the
uncle.
*' I have killed sixteen scores of deer ; we want
to roast their liver to eat.
We were trying to make fire fall from the
flint, but fire fell not.
You possess fire in your field, therefore I
discharged an arrow.
It came near your fire. It arose and fell at
the door of your daughters.
The daughters have lifted it up and carried
it away. Have you no sense, uncle ?
" I sent my brother to fetch fire, and you ran
to eat him.
" If you had caught him you would have eaten
him up ; and where should I have seen him
again ? "
The uncle said, '* I made a mistake, O nephew,
the thing that I did is past."
He replied, ''O uncle, I have killed sixteen
scores of deer I
Go and eat their flesh as much as you like."
181
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THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Thus said Lingo. Th^i the old man said^
''Hear^ O nephew, my word. There are
seven sisters, my daughters;
'* I have them here. Take them away, having
first bound their eyes."
Lingo then arose, and stood befcHre the uncle
and said, " I am going, uncle.
"Receive my salutation." Lingo thence went
by the way to the house, where the old man's
daughters were.
Having arrived, he stood at the door. Lingo
appeared a youth of twelve years.
Or as sixteen years old; in jEront he looked
foppish, like a young man ;
From behind he looked like a devout Brahman.
He appeared as a good man.
The seven sisters from within the house came
to Lingo, and regarded him
As a young man. They came out and stood
before Lingo.
"Tell us," said the seven sisters, "who art
thou ? TeU us."
He said, "Thy father is my uncle, and thy
mother is my aunt.
"I am devout Lingo, the servant of God. I
am Lingo.
" Here, O sisters I my arrow came to your
house and fell; I have been in search of it
for a long time.
"My four brothers are sitting in the jungle;
and I have killed sixteen scores of deer ;
" They are also in the jungle, and my brothers
are sitting near them.
182
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<<
THE STORY OF LINGO
** I have come here for fire : it is very late.
"My brothers must be expecting fire; they
must have felt hunger,
"And thirsty they must have become; where
will they get bread ? '*
Thus said Lingo. Then the seven sisters, what
did they begin to say ?
Hear, O brother, our word. Thou art a son
to uncle, and we daughters to atmt.
There is a good relation between you and us ;
how can you leave us ?
*' We will come along with you ; therefore,
don't say No."
" If you like to come, be ready soon, and take
the onward road," said Lingo.
They took the bedding for their beds, and
their clothes, and gave the arrow to Lingo,
Lingo in the front, and they in the rear, began
to tread the way.
The brothers were sitting and looking, and
saying, " When will he come ? "
They beheld him from afar ; and said, " Hear,
O brothers, our Lingo appears I "
They arose and looked, and saw Lingo and
behind him the seven sisters.
They said, " With whose daughters, or whose
daughters-in-^w
" Is he coming ? Look, O brethren I they are
of good appearance.
"If Lingo give them to us, we would make
them our wives." So said the brethren.
188
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Lingo came near and stood, and said, " Hear,
O brethren, my word I
''These seven sisters are the daughters of our
uncle ; they have come ; .
"Take out your knives, and give to them the
liver of the deer."
They took out the hvers : some brought faggots
and enkindled fire ;
On its blaze they roasted flesh, and set it on
the ground.
" Offer this Uver in the name of God."
So said the four brothers. Lingo arose.
They began to eat, while Lingo did not eat.
Tnen he said,
"Let the seven sisters quickly go back, their
, father will abuse them.
" Hear, O sisters ! Go quickly, or else your
mother will abuse you."
They replied, and said, " Hear, O Lingo ! Thou
who art called good, may we call you bad ?
" We will not go, we will stay. Whither thou
shalt go, thither we will follow thee."
The brethren said, " Hear, O Lingo, these seven
sisters say well!
"Say thou to them, O brother, we will marry
them.
"We will make them our wives. Hear,
Lingo, such is our word."
He said, "Take these as wives in marriage,
and I shall be greatly pleased.
"Take them here in marriage, I will give you
leave to make them your wives."
184
THE STORY OF LINGO
They said, '' If you see any one of them to be
good-looking, you take her.
" If any be inferior, we will take her."
\ said, ''Hear my word, O brothers! I do
not need this.
" I promised to give them to you ; they are of
no use to me.
So said Lingo, " If you marry them they will
serve me.
" They will be my sisters-in-law. You are older,
and I am younger.
" They can give me water and bread, and spread
a hied for me :
" I will sleep on it. They can give me a bath ;
my clothes they will wash.
'' They will be my sisters-in law, and like my
mothers they ^all be."
So said Lingo. When Lin^o said they will be
my mothers, the suspicion of the four
vanished.
The four Gonds are enamoured with the stalwart
daughters of Rikad Gawadi, and desire the
saint to tie the marriage knot as speedily as
possible. The three elder Gonds are to receive
two damsels each, and the youngest, who has but
recently escaped from the jaws of his prospective
father-in-law, has to be content with one. They
return to their village of Kachikopa Lahugad,
where the marriage is celebrated according to
Gond rites.
185
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
They went to Linso and asked him : " O Lingo,
marry us quickly.
" If you marry us, then they are seven sisters,
and we are four brothers.
** Distribute to each of us a wife, O Lingo."
He said the three elder should marry' two each,
and the youngest, only one.
Then said Lin^o, " Hear my word, O brethren !
In this jungle
"And in this plain how can we make preparation
; we have our town, namely, Kachikopa
Lahugad:
" We will ^o there and make preparations for
the marriage."
So said Lingo. When they heard this, they
departed.
They walked in front, and the women walked
behind.
They came to their village Kachikopa Lahugad,
and began to make
Preparations. There were no men or women;
then Lingo brought water.
He bathed them, boiled turmeric and gave them,
and pounded safiron.
He erected a bower, and tied garlands of leaves
round it.
He called the four brothers to sprinkle turmeric
round about.
He applied turmeric to the four brothers and
the seven sisters.
He said, " We cannot marry all at once. Hear,
O brothers.
186
THE STORY OF LINGO
''Let us marry one set only first, and the rest
shall work with us for that occasion.
'* Then shall the marriage of the second set take
place.
*' Those who have been already married shall now
help us in this marriage ceremony and so on.''
This said Lingo ; and the four consented to it.
Thus ended the marriage.
The remainder of this portion of the Epic shows
how the saintly Lingo, in the absence of the four
Gonds who go on a hunting expedition, is subjected
to the same temptation which befell the
patriarch Joseph in the house of Potiphar.
Lingo, like Joseph, rises superior to his temptation,
but, unlike Joseph, he administers severe corporal
punishment to his temptresses. They in revenge
accuse him falsely to their husbands when they
return, and the four Gonds in rage slay their
benefactor.
'' Lingo has done good to us, and brought wives
to our houses.
** But Lingo is without a wife, he thought of
our good, but not of his own,
'' So we will reckon him as our father.
'' We will kill game, and brin^ flowers for
Lingo. Let him sit in a svdng.
So said the four brothers.
Lingo sat in a swing, and the seven sisters
swung the swing.
187
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
The four brothers took their bows and arrows
and repaired to the jungle.
After that, what happened ? The seven sisters
said within themselves, "Hear, O sisters.
The Lingo
'* Is our husbands' younger brother, and we
are his sisters-in-law ; we are at liberty to
laugh with him ;
" We can pull him by the hand, and we can
make him to speak with us.
"Lingo does not laugh with us; he neither
speaks nor looks towards us; he has closed
his eyes ;
" But he shall laugh, and we will play with
him." So saying.
Some held his hand, and some his feet, and
pulled him, but Lingo moved not his eyes;
He did not speak or laugh with them.
Then Lingo said to them, " Hear, O sisters-
You have held my hands,
" And feet, and pulled them ; but remember
you are my sisters.
" You are my mothers ; why do you deal so
with me ? 1 am God's servant.
'* I don't care though my life be sacrificed, but
I will not
"Speak with you, nor look at you, nor laugh
with you." So
Said Lingo. Having heard this
The eldest sister safd, "Hear, O sisters. Lingo
speaks not to
Us, looks not towards us."
188
it
THE STORY OF LINGO
They began to embrace liim. Then Lingo became
angry : the anger ascended from the
heel to ms head.
Thence descended into his eyes and down to his
feet. Lingo looked before him^
But saw nothings save a pestle for cleaning rice.
He descended from his swing and took the
pestle in his hand.
And somidly flogged his sista:s-in-law. As he
was beating them,
The seven sisters b^an to flee before him, like
bellowing cows.
Thence he returned, and having come to his
swing.
In a swin^ he slept. Thus these seven sisters
had received a sound beating.
They returned to their house, and having each
one gone to her room.
The seven sisters slept in seven places; and
Lingo slept in a swmg.
Thus noontide came, and the time for the
returning of the four brothers arrived.
Some of them had killed an antelope, some a
hare, some a peafowl,
Some a quail ; some brought flowers.
They came into their house and set their burdens
down, and said, "Let us go to our
Lingo;
" We will give him flowers ; he may be expecting
us." They entered the house.
They came near Lingo and stood, and saw him
sleeping.
189
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
They said, ''There is no one here, Lingo is
sleeping ; our
Wives do not appear.
" Then we will come and awake Lingo/' Thence
they returned
To their houses, and going to their rooms, they
began to
Look.
Th^, the women, were feigning sleep, and
panting as if
Fear had come upon them. Then the husbands
asked them,
" Why are you sleeping ? and why don't you
swing Lingo ? " Thqr replied,
'' Hear our words
*' How Lingo, your brother, dealt with us. How
long shall
We hide this disgrace ?
He allows you to go to the jungle, and behind
your back
" He shamefully maltreats us.
''Such is the conduct of this Lingo. We have
kept quiet till to-day ;
"Now we will not stop quiet. We will go
back to our father's
" Place.
" We will not stay here. Can one woman have
two husbands ? "
The brethren said, " We told Lingo at the first
"That there were seven sisters, and that he
might choose one from amongst them,
190
THE STORY OF LINGO
it
If
it
And that we would marry the rest. But he
said^
*' *They are my sisters, they are my mothers/
'' Thus said that simier, wicked and ill*conducted,
that Lingo.
'* While we were hunting, he deceived us. We
will take
'' Him to the jungle, and, having killed him, we
will pull out
His eyes.
Up to this day we have killed antelope and
hares;
''But to-day we go to hunt Lingo, and after
killing him we wiH take out his eyes.
'' And we will play with them as with marbles ;
and then we will eat food and drink water.''
Then they came to Lingo, and stood before him
and said,
'' Rise, O Lingo, our youngest brother I ''
Lingo said, " Why brethren— why have you not
brought the game and the flowers to me?
and why have you come so soon ? "
They said, ** There is a large animal, we hunted
it hard, but it did not fall :
''It does not flee, it stands still only; we are
tired of discharging our arrows at it.''
Lingo arose from the svdng and sat, and looked
towards his brothers.
" r will kill that animal." So said Lingo.
Lingo thence arose and came out of the house,
and said,
" Come, O brothers. Where is the animal ? "
191
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
In front, Lingo^ and in rear the four brothers
walked towards the jungle.
'' It is a very large animal/' said they ; and
saying thus, th^ searched for it among trees
and grass.
Lingo went under a Char tree and sat. Then
they said
" O brother I
"Sit here, and we will bring water." So
sajdng, yonder they went.
Being amongst the trees they said among themselves,
"Good Lingo is seated in the shade,
"This is the right time to effect our desire."
The four took four arrows and shot :
One arrow hit the head, and the head split open ;
One hit the neck, and it bowed down ; one
hit the liver, and it was deft.
Thus Lingo breathed his last !
The four brothers came up to Lingo and stood,
And said, " Draw a knife, and we will take out
his eyes.'^
They drew out a knife and
Took out his eyes, and said, "Cover him."
So they took some twigs and covered Lingo.
Then they said, "We have killed Lingo, who
was wicked."
They plucked some green leaves of the tree
and made a cup of them.
And placed in it the two eyes of Lingo, and one
tied it to his waistband.
They walked towards their house, and at evening
time they arrived home.
192
THE STORY OF LINGO
One said, ** Hear, O wives 1 Kindle fire quickly
''And light a lamp." They drew the stalks of
flax from the eaves of the house roof, and
enkindled fire.
One said, *' It is a fine light, let us play at
marbles."
They took out both the eyes, and said, ''O
seven sisters I
You also join in play."
Th^ brought the eyes, and placed one on the
east side and the other on the west ;
And the brethren, sitting close, held the marbles
between the joints of their fingers,
Then began to play at marbles with the two
eyes; and theu: game lasted an hour.
163
«f-CSS5«)
Part III
THE RESTORATION TO LIFE OF LINGO. AFTER HIS
REVIVAL HE DELIVERS THE GOND RACE FROM
THEIR IMPRISONMENT
Ye who love the haunts of Nature
Love the sunshine of the meadow.
Love the shadow of the forest.
Love the wind among the branches.
And the rain-shower and the snow-stonn.
And the rushing of great rivers.
Listen to these wild traditions.
— ^LONQFCLLOW.
The third scene of the drama opens in the Upper
World. Bhagawan^ the great god, who represents
Bura Deo, the chief god of the Gond Pantheon,
sits in his court and all the minor gods, including
two of the Gond gods, Pharsa Pen, and Rayetal
his wife, sit near him. They are in a state of
consternation. Lingo, beloved of the gods, is
dead, and they know not where his body is. The
saints, or Rishis, will not, or cannot, assist them
to find it. At length Bhagawan, in rage, rouses
himself, and having made unpleasant remarks
about everyone, performs certain ablutions ; after
which he created a wonderful bird, and named it
Kagesur, a word apparently of Hindu wigin.
This bird is sent forth to search everywhere for
Lingo. At length he discovers Lingo's body in
the neighbourhood of Kachikopa Lahugad. lliere
194
THE STORY OF LINGO
it lies, smashed by the cruel Gonds, and without
eyes. Bhagawan takes nectar, and gives it to
the superhmnan Gond ancestor Kiu-tao Sabal,^
and bids him sprinkle it on the liver, belly, and
head of his body. He does so and Lingo revives.
What did god (Bhagawan) do now ?
Rayetal, Pharsa Pen, what did they in the
upper world ?
In the courts of the god all the minor divinities
sat.
God spake to them — "Hear, O friends. Can
you tell in what world the body of Lingo is
fallen ?
" Will any of you trace it and go on this errand ? **
Thiey made the preparation of betel-nut, and
threw it before the saints.
God said, " Take this up, and come and tell me.''
But none of the saints to<^ it up.
Then God became angry, and began to reproach
them.
God arose, and with a potful of water washed
his hands and feet.
After washing, he, from the substance of his
body created a crow, and sprinkled water of
ambrosia on it.
And thus made it alive, and named it Kagesur ;
and held it in his hand.
And said, " Go to the jungle and make a search
between hills, glen, lanes; amongst trees^ in
rivers and water."
* Another name apparently ior Kalia Adao. See page 154.
185
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Thence the crow departed^ and roamed over the
upper world.
But did not find the body of Lingo anywhere ;
thence he came to the lower world and bc^an
his search.
When it came to the Jungle of Kachikopa
Lahugad, it seardied in the valleys there.
Its sight fell on the twigs^ it came to them and
sat^ and searched the twigs.
It saw Lingo lying there looking as if smashed^
and without eyes.
This the crow observed^ and flew away and
came to the Upper World.
Perching on God's hand, it sat. God asked it,
" Where have you seen him ? '*
It said, '' I came to the jungle of Kachikopa
Lahugad, I saw a man there m a cave.''
When God heard this he became silent, and
understood the truth of it ;
An4 then said, '' It was in that very jungle
that Lingo was bom from a flower of me
tree.
And has never been there since." He took
nectar
From but of his fingers, and called Kurtao
Sabal, and said to him.
'' Take tfiiis and sprinkle op the liver, belly, and
head of the body."
Thus, the crow in front, and Kurtao Sabal
behind, went to Kachikopa Lahugad.
Kurtao Sabal said, *'Hear, O crow. Here is
my Lingo."
196
KAGESAR SPRINKLES THE BODY OF LINGO
THE STORY OF LINGO
Ambrosia was brought, and dropped into his
mouth, and sprinkled over his head and
body : then Lingo's head began to unite.
And his flesh became warm.
Lingo rose.
•
Lingo seems either to have been ignorant as to
. the cause of his death, or to have been full of the
spirit . of forgiveness. He asks for his four
brothers and learns of their fiendish wickedness.
Nothing deterred . by^ this he announces his
intention of now going to the rescue of the
Gond race, who are imprisoned in Dhawalgiri by
Bhagawan.
Lingo sat up. Looking towards the crow, he
said, '' I was fast asleep.
" Where are my brothers ?
'* I see only a man and a crow, and I don't see
my brothers."
After this
Kurtao Sabal replied, " Where are your
brothers ?
"You were dead, yoiu- body was l3ang here;
we came and restored you to Ufe ;
"The brothers you enquire about have killed
you, and gone away."
Then said Kurtao Sabal, " What do you say
to going ? " Lingo addressing the crow,
said —
" I will go to my sixteen scores of Gonds.
" I win go and see them, and speak to them."
197
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
He starts on his joumeyr. Night overtakes
him and he ascends a tree where he remains till
daybreak.
The crow and Kurtad Sabal started in one
direction.
And Lingo took another road.
Lingo^ while crossing the mountains and jungle,
was benighted.
Then Lingo said, "I will stay here alone;
" Tigers and bears may devour me.'*
He went to a large Niroor tree.
When he climbed to the top, the night came on :
Wild cocks crowed, peacocks cried, antelopes
were afraid.
And bears wagged their heads, jackals yelled,
and the jungle resounded.
At midnight Lingo saw the Moon, and said to
himself:
''The day is approaching, and while the Stars
are stiU visible, I will ask them about my
Gonds.'*
At the third watch of the night, the cock
crowed :
The morning star appeared, the sky became red.
Lingo descends from his tree at daybreak and
asks the Sun where his Gonds are. The Sun
cannot tell. He asks the Moon. She, too, is
ignorant.
198
THE STORY OF LINGO
Lingo^ descending from the tree^ ran towards
the Siin and saluted him;
And said^ ''I want to know where my sixteen
scores of Gonds are ? '*
The Sun said, " I am engaged in the service of
God during the four watcHes of the day^
" And have not seen your Gonds.*'
Lingo went to the Moon^
Saluted, and asked her if she knew anything
About his sixteen scores of Gonds. The Moon
replied:
"I travel all nighty and during the day am
engaged in the service of God ;
" Therefore I know not.*'
He asks one Kumayat — apparently a Hindu
Rishi^ who, after sp^ddng most unpleasantly
about the Gonds, gives him the information he
desires.
Lingo then Went to black Kumayat, <
Saluted him, and asked him, ** Where are my
sixteen scores of Gonds/'
He repUed: "Hear, Lingo: Mention about
anyone but Gonds.
"The Gonds are fooUsh like the ass,
" They eat cats, mice, and bandicoots ;
" They also eat pigs and buffaloes ; they are of
su6h a bad caste.
" Why do you ask me about them ?
190
it
it
it
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
"At the source of the Jumna river, on the
Dhawalagiri mountain,
Mahadeva has caught the Gonds,
And has confined them in a cave, and shut its
mouth with a stone of sixteen cubits long.
Bhasmasur the giant has been appointed to
guard it, and watch the place/'
Lingo then underwent a severe penance fentwelve
months;^ and having acquired a large
amount of merit, proceeds to interview Mahadeva.
Much as he desires it, Mahadeva cannot refuse
Lingo and at length promises to release them.
After hearing this Lingo set out, and walked
night and day.
Making devotion. After twelve months had expired,
the term of his devotion was complete.
When the golden seat of Mahadeva be^an to
shake (from the effect of Lingo's devotion).
Then Mahadeva said, '' What devotee has come
to Dhawalagiri and has performed devotions
to me,
" Rendering me under obligation to him ? **
As he was wondering and searching.
He went towards Lingo, stood at a distance,
and recognised him.
Lingo did not shake his head, or Uft his foot,
or open his eyes.
^ The Hindus believe that mortals by severe ascettdsm
can compel the high gods to grant them their requests.
200
THE STORY OF LINGO
flesh was consumed ; his bones only remained.
Thus Lingo was found on the
thorns.
Whereupon Mahadeva said^
" What do you ask for ? — ^Ask what you wish,
and it will be granted.*'
Lingo repUed :
'' I want nothing but my sixteen scores of
Gonds."
Mahadeva repUed :
"Make no mention of Gonds; but for any
kingdom, or for any amount of money which
you can enjoy,
" And remember me." Thus said Mahadeva :
to which Lingo did not agree.
On his again asking for the Gonds, Mahadeva
disappeared, and consented to give them to
him,
Saying : " Hear, Lingo. Your Gonds are below
the earth, take them away.''
Lingo rose, saluted him, and went on. After
this,
Narayan said : " Hear, Mahadeva : All these
Gonds
" Were well concealed and were forgotten ; if
they were dead, it would be a pleasure to me.
" If they come out alive from below the earth,
they will act as usual :
'* They will eat buffaloes, birds, such as pigeons,
crows, and eagles, and vultures.
'' They will alight here and there ; smells will
arise, bones will be scattered, and make the
earth look very bad.
201
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
"The respect for mount Dhawalagiri will be
lost/'
Mahadeva, hearing this, replied : " Hear/ Narayan,
I have pa^ed my word.
" I have erred, but will not change my word."
Narayan the h^h god hears of Mahadeva's
promise and is much upset by it. He pictures
the dirt and disord^ which will arise in
Dhawalagiri once the Gonds are released.
He will only consent to the Gond's release if
Lingo brings him as an offering the young of the
black-bird Bindo for an offering. This magical
bird lived by the sea-shore. It and its mate
Uved luxuriously on the brains of elephants,
camels and other animals. Its deadly foe was a
sea-serpent called Bhoumag, which had repeatedly
rifled its nest, and destroyed seven broods of its
young. This fable, it is believed, is of Hindu
origin, and some think it refers to the bird Garuda
of Hindu m3rthology, which was a remorseless
enemy of the serpent race.
Narayan then addressed Lingo —
" Hear, Lingo. Bring me the young ones of the
black -bird Bindo tor an offering ;
" After that you may take the Gonds away."
Lingo went and reached the sea, where there
was nothing but water visible;
And on the shore be saw the young ones of the
black-bird.
The parent bird
292
THE STORY OF LINGO
Had gone to the jungle. This bird was such,
that
For food it killed the elephant, and ate its eyes ;
and
Breaking its head, brought the brains for the
young ones to eat.
There had been seven broods, at seven di£Eerent
times;
But they had been devoured by a sea-serpent,
called the
Bhoumag. Lingo went near.
Lingo goes and slays the mighty snake. The
parents return and, not knowing what Lingo has
done, are about to kUl him, as he sleeps. The
young birds teU them of his powers, and in
gratitude they agree to take their young to
Mahadeva.
After seeing the young ones, he said to himself :
" If I take them in the
''Absence of their parents, I shall be called a
thief; I will therefore
"Take them in the presence of the parents,
and will be true to my name.'*
He slept near the young birds with comfort.
A large snake, as thick as the trunk of the
Itumna tree appeared^
With a hood as large as a basket for winnowing
corn. This serpent, called the Bhournag,
came out of the water to eat the young ones.
The young ones were terrified on seeing the
serpent, and began to cry.
208
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Lingo, taking an arrow, and fixing it in his bow.
Shot the serpent, and then cut it into seven
pieces, which he immediately
Brought and laid at the head of his bed, and
covered them up.
Then the male and female of the black -bird
returned from the jungle.
They brought the carcass of some camels and
some elephants, together with some eyes and
Ups of elephants.
As food for their young ones.
But the young ones refused to eat ;
When the female said to the male:
" Notwithstanding my having had seven times,
'' I am like a barren she-buffalo ; if these young
ones are spared
" I shall be like a mother of children*. What
evil eye has been cast on
" My young ones, that they do not eat ! "
The male bird, alighting from the tree, saw a
white object Ijring below, where was Lingo.
He then exclaimed : '' Here is a man, and that
is why our young ones do not eat.
** Let us kill him and extract his brains ;
" Our young ones will then take their food."
Hearing this, the yoimg ones said :
" You have brought food for us, but how shall
we eat it ? You are our parents,
"You leave us alone, and go away to the
jungle;
" Who is there to protect us ?
a04
THE STORY OF LINGO
ff
n
The serpent came to eat us.
This man whom you see^ has saved our lives.
*' Give him first to eat, we will then take our
food ; unless he eats, we will not eat/'
After hearing what the young ones said.
The mother flew down from the tree, and coming
near Lingo,
And Ufting up the cloth with which he had
covered hiniself saw the seven pieces of the
Bhoumag serpent.
Seeing this she began to exclaim :
"This is the serpent that has alwavs eaten my
young ones, and rendered me childless I
"Had this man not been here it would have
devoured these also."
Addressing Lingo, she said : " Rise, father —
rise, brother ; who are you, and
" Where have you come from ? You have
saved the Uves of our young ones, and you
have become our grand^ther.
" Whatever you say, we will listen to it."
He said:
"O bird, I am a devotee, a worshipper of the
Deity."
"Tell us," the bird said, "what has brought
you here."
Lingo repUed, " I want your young ones."
On hearing this the bird began to cry bitterly.
And, opening her eyes, she said :
" I would give you anything
"Except my young ones."
205
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
Lingo said:
''I will take your young ones merely to show
them to Md^deva/'
In reply to this, the black Bindo said :
'' If Mahadeva wants us, I am ready to go."
Lingo has a delightful journey on this m}rthical
aeroplane back to Mahadeva. The female bird
takes her young birds on one wing and Lingo on
the other. The male bird flies above them and
protects from the sun.
Saying this, the female bird carried the young
ones on one wing,
And Lingo on the other. The male Bindo then
said, "' Hear, me. Lingo ;
" You wiU feel the effects of the sun, why then
should I remain here ? "
The female Bindo then flew towards the sea.
The male Bindo flying over her, and using ius
wings as a shelter for Lingo.
It was six months' journey to the residence of
Mahadeva; but starting in the morning
They alighted at midday in the court-yard of
Mahadeva.
Narayan, seeing them from the door, went to
Maiiadeva and said :
' Here is Lingo and the black Bindo birds
which he has brought.''
Mahadeva then released the Gonds.
Mahadeva exclaimed : " O Narayan I
206
LIXGO S WOSDERFUL FLIGHT
•• «>
THE STORY OF LINGO
" I foresaw this^ and you would not believe me
when I told you
" That Lingo would bring the bird."
Mahadeva tiien said : " Hear^ Lingo : I give you
back your sixteen scores of Gonds ;
" Take them^ and go away."
Lingo then saluted Mahadeva and went to the
cave^ and taking the name of the great god^
And *that of the god Rayetal^ he made Bhasmasur,
the giant, to walk in front of him.
Reaching the cave, he Hfted up the stone,
sixteen cubits long, and laid it aside.
The Gonds coming out of the cave and seeing
Lingo, cried,
" We have no one but you."
Mahadeva gave flour of wheat to some, flour of
millet to others,
And rice to others.
The Gonds went to the river, and began preparii^
their food.
Some d the Gonds said that they had been
confined and punished severely.
On hearing this. Lingo said :
''You are now at the river, cook and eat, and
then complain."
207
Part IV
LINGO SUBDIVIDES THE GONDS INTO TRIBES :
AND INSTITUTES THE WORSHIP OF THEIR GODS.
LINGO PASSES
Soon my task will be completed.
Soon your footsteps I shall follow,
To the Islands of the Blessed,
To the Kingdom of Ponemah,
To the Land of the Hereafter.
—Longfellow.
The Gonds^ after their liberation^ set out with
Lingo from Dhawalagiri, near the source of the
Jumna^ for Kachikopa Lahugad^ in the Satpuras.
They came to a river whose flood was increasing
rapidly. All save Lingo and the four Gonds got
across safely. These were still ijax from safety
when Dame^ the tortoise^ and Pusi the alligator^
invited them to sit on their backs^ and promised
to convey them across in safety. They accq>ted
the invitation and the four Gonds sat on the
alligator's back, while Lingo mounted the tortoise.
In mid-stream Pusi the alligator, treacherously
tried to drown the four Gonds in anticipation of
a substantial meal. They cried to Lingo, who
went to their assistance. They were saved and,
along with Lingo, cross the stream on the tortoise's
back. The tortoise, it must be noted, is
a sacred animal or '^ totem " to the Gonds. No
208
THE STORY OF LINGO
religious Gond would hunt, kill, or eat the
tortoise.
Lingo kneaded the flour and made it into a
thick cake, and cooked pulse, and satisfied all
the Gonds.
Then clouds arose, and it began to rain.
When the rivers flooded, and the flood began to
roll, all the Gonds spoke :
" O Lingo, much rain has come up and is falling."
Then all these Gonds b^an to walk in the
middle of the river ;
From among all these Gonds, four persons with
Lingo remained.
Lingo, having seen this, began to say : '' Hear,
O brethren ;
'' This river is flooded, how shall we cross it ? "
More clouds came up, and darkness fell;
Then those four persons and Lingo began to
speak:
" Hear, O brethren, what shall we do, and how
shall we go on ? The day is departing.''
Now Dame the Tortoise, and Pusi the Alligator,
were playing in the water.
They came to them out of the water, and began
to speak ;
"Hear, O brethren, why do you silently stand
and cry ? "
They said : '* Our sixteen scores of Gonds have
all gone and we only have remained ;
" O brethren, how shall we go ? '* They said :
'' Sit on us, and we will take you across.
209
«*-<S55i)
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
'* If you keep your oath we will take you across
the river.
They replied : '* Hear, O sisters. You are Pusi
the AlUgator, and you Dame the Tortoise.
''Those four persons who are before you will
keep their oath first of all.
" If any beat you we will not allow it, if any
try to catch you we will jM^event it.
''You shall be the eldest sister of us four
persons/* said they.
Dame the Tortoise, and Pusi the Alligator, came
up to them, and the four Gonds sat on the
Alligator's back, leaving Lingo alone to sit on
the back of the Tortoise.
The Alligator went first, and then followed the
Tortoise in the flood.
The wicked Alligator, having taken them into
the midst of the water, began to drown them.
They began to cry. Then the Tortoise spc^:
"Hear, O Lingo,
" Stretch thy hand and drag them off, and make
them sit on my back.*'
Lingo, having stretched his hand, caught them
and draped them away, and made them sit
on the Tortoise's back.
Then the Tortoise took the four men on his back
and went across the river ;
And they fell at its feet, and said: "Hear, O
Tortoise, we will not become faithless to you/'
The Gonds then began, under Lingo's instruction,
to settle down to a civilised Ufe. They built
210
LISGO AND THE FOUR CONDS CROSS THE RIVER
k
THE STORY OF LINGO
houses, prepared fields, held bazaars, and adopted
an agricultural life.
Then those four went by a jungly path, and
ascended one hill.
And descended another. Thus they went forward.
They began to cut trees and build houses, and
they remained not together, but here and
there.
Fields and houses were formed by the Gonds,
and their town became large.
A bazaar (periodical market) was held in Nar
Bhumi (the name of the town).
Then Lingo began to say : " Hear, O brethren.
If you will sow millet, it will spring up."
Thus twelve months passed, and Nar Bhumi
hegBii to appear excellent.
Those who had no bullocks received them.
Those who had no carts received carts : thus all
the houses of the city became prosperous.
Then Lingo called them together, and upbraiding
them for their ignorance of ordinary relationships,
divided them into families or tribes, in part
doubtless for marriage purposes. The actual
classification of tribes adopted by the Gonds was,
according to Hislop, into twelve classes. The
classification in the Epic corresponds only partially
with this. To one tribe Lingo gives the
name of Manakwaja, which means one idio
fashions "images of gods/' To another
211
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
he gives the name of Dahukwaja, which means
" drum*soldiers or musicians." Other names
which Lingo gives^ Koilabutal, Koikopal, Kolami^
Kotolyal, are names still given to Gond tribes,
Koorkus and Bhils, though aborigines of Dravidian
origin, are now considered quite distinct from
Gonds. Koorkus, however, still live in the Satpuras,
and Bhils are found in the most western
portions of the hilly country.
All the Gonds came to Lingo, and sat close to
each other in rows.
While Lingo stood in the midst of them, and
began to speak:
" Hear, O brethren. All you Gonds understand
nothing.
'' You do not know whom to call brother, and
whom father,
*' Or other relative ; from whom to ask a
daughter, and to whom to give your daughter ;
'' With whom to laugh." Then those Gonds
bqgan to say :
''O Lingo, you possess great and good unda:-
standing ; do as you
"Have said with all your might, and make
tribes of us."
Then Lingo, out of the sixteen scores of the
Gonds, separated four score, and told them to
rise.
He caught one of them by the hand, and said :
'^ O friend, become Manakwaja."
212
THE STORY OF LINGO
»
Then that man became Manakwaja. Then he
caught another by the hand, and said :
'' Become, O friend, Dahukwaja " :
And he became Dahukwaja. He then caught
Another by the hand, and said : '' O friend, be
Koilabutal," and he became Koilabutal.
Then he caught another 1^ the hand, and said *
'' You become a wild I^ikopal " ;
And he became Koikopal. Thus the four scores
were divided.
Out of the remaining twelve bands, four more
were separated.
The first band he made to be Koorkus, and the
others he made to be Bhils.
The third he made to be Kolami, and the fourth
he made to be Kotolyal. Thus eight bands
Were divided.
Then f oUows a rather obscure passage in idiich
Lingo instructs the Gonds in their worship. It
was the Hindu month of Weishak (May). A goat
of five years old, a crowing cock, a three-year old
calf, and a cow two years old, are brought together
for the sacrifice. The sacrifice of the calf and cow
are, it must be remembered, abhorrent to the
Hindus, but were apparently conunon amongst
the Gonds of early days. Two bards, or minstrels,
Manozas,'' are summoned. The idol god,
Ghahara Pen '' (or the bell god), is one of the
Gond gods. His idol is formed by stringing
together a set of small tinkUng bells. The
Sacred Fan, wherewith to fan the gods, is also
218
it
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
brought. The n^ct idol god to be made is
Parsapot, a name for Pharsa Pen. His image is
made of iron — commonty found in the Satpuras.
He is represented by a spear, and is still wotshipped
by Gonds. The next idol god is the
Stick god, made of the bamboo.
Arrived, then Lingo said : "Come, O brethren,
we cannot see God
" An3rwhere ; let us make a god, and we will
worship him/*
Then all the Gonds with one voice
Said : " Yes, O brethren, bring a goat
"Five years old, a crowing cock one year old,
a three-year old calf, a cow
" Two years old ; and call two of the
" Manozas (bards).'* Then they named one god
Ghahara Fen (the Bell god).
Lingo said : " Bring a chouri (fan) made from
the tail of the wild cow."
"Then," said Lingo, " open the shop of the ironsmith,
and make the god Parsapot of steeL
"Go to the jungle and cut a bamboo stick, and
bring it."
Lingo then bathed in a dhotee, and applied the
sacred tika, or mark, to his forehead, both of
which rites are clearly borrowed from Hinduism.
Lingo then called two of the Drmnmer tribe to
the assistance of the minstrels. A strange piece
of ritual is enacted. The Chain god, an idol made
214
THE STORY OF LINGO
of an iron chain, and worshipped by Gonds as
Sakla Pen, is then bound to one Stick god, and
Pharsa Pen, the Iron god, is bound to another
Stick god. Then the Sacred Fan is waved ova: it,
and Pharsa Pen is worshipped. Two other female
members of the Gond Pantheon, Manko Rayetal
and Jango Rayetal, probably wives of Pharsa
Pen, appear. Lingo behaves like one possessed ;
a sight commonly seen amongst Gond devotees.
In the morning Lingo arose and went to a river,
and bathed^ and wore a dhotee (a doth round
the loins).
And applied the tika (sacred mark) to his
forehead.
" What I *' says he. " Hearken, O brethren, to the
Ozas (baros).
'^ Call two Dahaking drummers " ; and they
called them, and brought the Stick god. Then
Lingo bound the Chain god to the stick, and
pmced another
Stick in the god Pharsapot ; and the Gungawan
Chouri (the Cow-tailed fan) was waved over
it ; and with joined hands
They said : " Hail I Pharsa Pen.*'
He lifted the stick, and the goddesses Manko
Rayetal, Jango Rayetal,
And Pharsa Pen came, and stood there; and
Lingo was possessed of them.
Then Lingo became a man devoted to god, and
moved and jumped much :
215
THE STORY OF GONDWAN A
Lingo was in front, and behind were goats, cocks,
a calf.
And all the Gonds
Assembled in one place.
Then leaving the village of Dhan^;acm, th^
went, in rude procession, into the forest with their
gods, the sacred string of bells, the sacred spear,
the sacred chain, the sacred f an« The Stick god
leads the way. Then the bearers of these consecrated
emblems are ordered to stop. The sacrificial
ceremonies here described are still practised by
the Gonds^
They came, and began to say, "This is a thick
. jungle."
Then the Gonds called on the gods to stand
still.
They fell at the feet of the gods, and asked
where they
Should make seats for the gods of each band.
Then all the Gonds came in front and, with
joined hands.
Stood ;
And began to ask Pharsa Pen; who replied:
" Hear, O brethren,
"Between twelve glens and seven dales ^ go,
and make place for us gods."
Then in front went the Stick god, and behind
followed all the Gonds.
^ The Satpuras mean seven valleys or dales.
216
THE STORY OF LINGO
They arrived^ and after alighting tUey began to
pick up grass and lift stones.
Then said Lingo,
'' Hear, O brethren, Do you see yonder a
Bijesal tree ? Go and cut it and make a kettledrum
from its wood." They, taking an axe,
went and cut it.
Some held a pitcher, and brought a pitcherful of
water;
Some digged earth, and
Made a platform, and placed on it the Stick
god. Some said
" Our drum is not ready.
'' Bum this fire in front, and light the lamp."
They wetted five tolas' weight of vermiUon in
ghee, and
Threw five tolas of ral (resin) on the fire.
Then sat Lingo with joined hands before the
god Ghahara,
The Bell god.
Ghahara Pen began to jump about, and possessed
the body of Lingo. Pharsa Pen began
to play also.
Then they took a pitcherful of dam (liquor).
And sprinkled it on the stick, and said : *' Hail
to you, Pharsa Pen I "
And, with joined hands, they fell at his feet.
While they
Were falling at his feet.
The goddess Rayetal possessed the body of
Lingo, who moved
217
THE STORY OP GONDWANA
And danced much.
Then he b^an to speak thus: ''Bring to me
victims —
"Goats of five years old." After bringing the
goat they
Fell at his feet.
And washed its head, and applied vermilion,
and poured
Daru (liquor), into its ears.
Then after catching the goat l^ the feet, they
threw it .
Before the god.
And the goddess Rayetal possessed the body of
the goat.
Which began to shake its head, ears, and whole
frame very much.
Then two or four persons ran and caught it, and
threw it
Down,
Before the goddess, and killed it. Then blood
was sprinkled
■
Around.
And tbey placed the head before the goddess,
and took the
Body.
Then a white cock, a year old, was brought, and
they killed
It.
And began to play a good tune on the Kingree
(a one-stringed guitar), and the drum.
The goddess derived pleasure therefrom. Then
two feet of
218
THE STORY OF LINGO
A calf were washed^ and so was its mouth;
vermilion was
Applied to its forehead.
Then they threw the other animal down, and
killed them too.
The head of the calf was placed before the
goddess. Then
Said Lingo : '' Hear, O brethren ;
Remove quickly the skin of the calf, and roast
its liver.**
They brought stones and made an oven, and
placed a pitcher
On it-
The pitcher was filled with water, and flesh was
put in it.
Tte leaves of a tree were cut and brought, and
made into plates.
And in a brass-plate they placed cooked rice,
liver, flesh,
And they lighted four lamps, and took and placed
them
Before the gods.
Some made an offering of silver up to the knee
pieces as
A present to the god.
Thus a heap of silver up to the knee of a man
was
Gathered before the god.
Then follows a passage in glorification of the
Pardhans, or priest caste, introduced by the
219
it
I
THE STORY OF GONI>WANA
Pardhan reciter of the song. The present of a
horse is a mark of high honour. The Horse god,
Kodan Pen, is sometimes worshipped 1>y the
Gonds, and sacred images of the animal are to
be seen in the Chanda district. The Pardhans are
notorious for their averseness to any kind of
labour.
Then Lingo ^poke : " Hear, O brethren : The
offerings are
Good in the courts of the god.
'' There is no one to receive these offerings.
" Hear, O brethren: From the midst of all
these Gonds some
"One should become a Pardhan.
" And we will give this offering to him."
Then Lingo looked well among the company and
saw an old.
Hoary-haired man, first of all ;
And having looked on him, held his hand and
said :
'' Become a Pardhan, and we wiU give you much
wealth and
" Clothes ;
'* We will give you a horse, and whatever you
ask us we wiU
•' Not refuse.*'
'* WeU, brother," said the old man, '* I am fit
for nothing
*' But to sit and eat."
220
THE STORY OF LINGO
All saluted him; and some gave clothes, some
gave silver pieces.
Some gave him a pipe.
Lingo then divided the Gond tribes into families
of seven, six, five, and four. This division, which
at first sight seems obscure, refers to the groups or
families among the Gonds, which consist of people
who worship seven gods, six gods, five gods, or
four gods. These sects, or septs, influence their
marriage arrangements, as a seven-god worshipper
cannot marry one of the class of seven*god
worshippers^ but must select a partner from one
of the other classes.
As they were rising Lingo said : " Hear, O
brethren and friends.'*
Then said they, " What shall we do, O brethren ? '*
He rose and made
Seven persons out of them to stand aside, and
said to them :
*' You become a family of seven."
He then made six persons to stand aside.
And said, ''You become a family of six/' He
took five more aside.
And made them to stand, and breaking surface
of the earth, a family of five were formed.
To the remaining four he said : '^ Be divided
into families of four and five."
Then Lingo, having accomplished his task^ and
having solemnly bade the Gonds to keep faith
221
THE STORY OF GONDWANA
with their " totem " the tortoise, departed to the
gods.
It is to be feared that Lingo's last admonition
about the treatment of the tortoise has been
forgotten, for many Gonds in the present day
show no respect for the tortoise, eating it as
readily as they do other animals.
After saying this, he reminded them to keep
their promise with the Tortoise.
Then they all made salutation. Lingo said :
" O brethren, look yonder towards the gods.'*
All persons looked behind, but Lingo vanished
and went to the gods.
While they were looking behind, they said
" Where is our Lingo gone ? "
There is much to charm one in this old-world
story. Its sympathy with the jungle, its appreciation
of the beauty of nature, and the quiet
humour of those who take part in its little dramas,
all serve to make it peculiarly attractive. Those
who know the Gonck, and, indeed, most Indian
aborigines, well know their child-like sense of
humour, and love of a joke, and how in this respect
th^ differ from the sadder, if wiser, Hindus.
There is a deeper side also to the story of Lingo,
which no one interested in '^ things of the soul "
can fail to appreciate. The story invites the
Gonds to think that they owed their simple
civihsation to a being of a higher order than
222
THE STORY OF LINGO
themselves. Archbishop Whately was wont to say
that, without some kind of revelation, the savage
could not have risen from his low condition. The
story, too, claims for the "emancipator" a
wonderfully noble character. " Lingo was a perfect
man, water may be stained, but no stain had
Lingo." His rejection of temptation — ^in this
respect the story is strangely like that of the
patriarch Joseph, — his freedom from malice and
guile, his readiness to forgive his murderers, to
forget their ingratitude and injiuies, and to complete
his mission of the rescue of the Gond race,
remind one strangely of Him who came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His
Life a ransom for many.
Whether the story came from the soul of some
forgotten bard, a soul naturally Christian ; whether
it contains within it faint echoes of Christian
teaching, which had crept into India by unsuspected
ways in days gone by, we cannot say.
All that we need say is that the story is but one
of many proofe that even amongst earth's simplest
children noble and true and inspired ideas have
some recognition, and that, when the time comes
for the fuller enlightenment of such simple people,
the Christian teacher will have a soil not wholly
barren and unprepared on which to build his lofty
spiritual and ethical teaching.
223
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INDEX
Abors, 123
Abu-1-Fazl, 2. 67
Achaleahwar, 62
Addiscombe, 89
" Adultery Courts," 95
Ahmed Shah, 52
Ain-i-Akbari, 67
Akbar, 2, 25, 44
Akbar Shah, 75
All Saints' Cathedral, Nagpur, 1 10
Alligator, Pusi. 208. 209
Amarkantak, 5, 16
Amir Khan, 98
Appa Sahib, 82, 85
Argaon, 80
Arjun, 32
Aryans, 7, 8, 42
Asai Khan, 2, 21
Asansol, 114
Asirgarh, 2, 49
Assaye, 80
Aurangzeb, 44, 45, 73
Babaji, 67
Bahmani, 73
Baka Bai Bhonsla, 86, 103
Bakt Buland, 44, 46. 52, 74
Ballal Singh. 54-^
Ballarshah, 60-2, 1 17
Bardsley, Miss J., 146
Bastar, 123. 126-7
, Rajah ol, 123, 128
Benares, 50, 56
Betol, 48
Bhadra, 53
Bhadravati, 53
Bhagawan, 155, 159, 162, 194, 195
Bhairava, 18
Bhairon, 124
Bhan, 161
Bhandara, 117
Bhasmasur, 155, 158
Bhera Pen, 122
Bhils. 6
Bhinla, 34
Bhun Ballal Singh, 54
Bhoi Baba, 144
Bhonsla, 75, 103
Bhonmag, 202-3
Bhuma, 65
BigBania, 80
Bindo. 202, 206
Birkhila, 123
Bir Narayan, 19,. 20. 23
Bir Shah, 68, 69
Bir Singh Deo, 26
Bishop Cotton, 1 10
Bishop) Cotton School, 110
Brahuis, 6
Bodley, Mr. G. F.. 110
Buddhism, 54
Burham Shah, 74
Bundelas, 28
" Bundela Rising." 101
Bundelkhand, 9, 105
*
Canaresb, 6
Camatic. 72
Carruthers. Rev. G. T., 147
Cavendish, Hon. R, 86
Chabutra, 22
" Chamber of Horrors," 123
Champion, Rev. £., 143
Chand Sultan, 46, 74
Chanda, 9, 52. 63, 64, 147
Chandar Shah, 25
Chauragarh, 3, 10, 18, 23
Chandela, 18
Chandrapur, 63
Charles, Mr. A.. 146
Chaukigarh, 20
Chauth, 76
Chhattisgarh State Railway, 1 14
Chhindwara. 41
Chiefs College, 109
Chikalda, 4, 80
Chiriadongree, 144
Chitor, 20
Church of Scotland, Episcopal,
147
225
15 — (355«)
INDEX
Church of Scotland, United Free,
137
Colebrooke, Mr., 79
Colvin. Sir Auckland, 90
Craddock, Sir R., 107, 115
CuUen, Rev. Dr., Ill
Dahukwaja, 212, 213
Dalapati, 32
Dalpat Shah, 18. 19
Damoh, 40
Dantesvari, 127
Dantewara, 123
" Darshaa," 5
Dasehra. 127, 128
Dati, 154
Dawson, Rev. A., 143
Deccan, 6, 45, 52, 53. 73
Delhi, 24, 25, 44, 58, 73, 105
Deogarh, 16, 41-3, 45, 47, 48. 52, 53
Deor, 75
Dhawalgiri, 158
" Dhaya," 166
Dinkah Singh, 55
Domiciled Community, 1 10
Draved, 72
Dravidians, 6, 72
Duff, Grant, 84
Durand, Sir Mortimer, 90
Durgavati, 18-21, 23. 24, 69
Durgpal, 68
East India Company. 88
Edwaides, Sir Herbert, 90
Ellichpur, 51, 52
Elliot, Sir Charles. 138
Ellis, Mr., 101
Elphinstone, Mr. Mountstuart, 81
Erskine, Colonel, 104
Failbus, Rev., 144
Feroz Shah, 51
Fitzgerald, Capt., 83
Forsyth, Capt., 1, 111, 152
" Fort Erskine." 104
Ftere, Sir Bartle, 90
Fryer, Rev. J., 130, 134
Ganbsa, 31
Ganga Sagar, 28
GaoU. 42
Garbe, Professor, 93
Garha, 11, 14
Garha-Mandla, 15
Garuda, 202
Gatzky, Karl, 142
Gaur, 6
Gawalgarh, 4, 80
Ghahara Pen, 213
Ghansor, 42
Glasfurd, Col., 128
Godaveri, 15, 76
Condi, 144
Goreh, Rev. Nehemiah, 147
Gossner, Pastor, 142
Grant, Sir Charles, 93
Gunergarh, 20
Hai-Haiya Bansi, 8
HaUeybury College, 89
Hanuman, 16
Hart, 32
Havelock, 90
Hemachalas, 33
Hensley, Canon E. A., 146
Hinghan River, 21
Hiraman, 69
Hirde Shah, 27-29
Hir Shah, 64
Hir Singh, 55
Hislop, Rev. Stephen, 121, 137,
142. 151
Hislop CoUege, 137
Hiuen Tsang, 54
HoU. 96
Hoahang, 52
Human Sacrifices, 123
Indra, 32
" Iron VaUey," 163
Jacob, Rev. Israel, 148
Jadurai, 15-17, 30-1
Jagadalpur, 127
Jagannath, 32
Jait>pal, 50
Janoji, 77
Jarba, 56-^7
Jatba, 42-4
Jaya Govinda, 30, 38
]enkina. Major. 105
[enkins. Sir Richard, 81-2
Jhuihar Singh, 26-7
Jubbulpore, 13, 18. 138. 140
226
INDEX
Kachikopa Lahugad, 159, 186,
194, 196
Kacesur, 194-5
Kafadmri. 14-15
KaU. 124. 127
Kalia Adao, 154-5
Kamadhenu, 33
Kanhan. 41, 46
Karanjia, 140-1
Kam Shah, 66
Katanka, 2^
Khandkia Ballal Shah, 60
Kherla, 10. 11,49,53
Khnrai, 39
Koikopal, 212-3
KoUabntal, 212-3
Koitor, 6
Kola, 6
Kol BhU, 54
Kolami, 212-3
Kosala, 54
Knahna, 30^1
Kumbhis, 76
Kmnayat, 199
Kurkus, 6
Kurtao Sabal, 195, 197
" Land of Surpriaes," 53
Lawrence, Henry, 90
Lawrence, John, 90, 149
Laxman. 16
Lingan {or Mount Lingana), 154
Lingas, 66
Lingo, 151-223
Loesch, Rev. A., 142
Lokba, 65
Hadan Mahal, 14, 31
Madan Singh, Rajah, 14, 31
Madhnkarasahi, 34
Madhukar Shah, 25, 31, 34
BAahadeo Range, 4
, Cave of, 5
Mahadeva, lSi4-6, 161
MahaKaU,68
Maharasthra, 72
Mahoba, Rajah of, 19
BCaikal Range, 4
Bialcolm. 123
Malwa, 9. 51
Manas, 54
Idanakwaja, 205
Mandhata. 5, 123
Biandla, 15
Biandu, 20
Manikgarh, 54
BCanikpnr, 2, 9
Manozas, 213
Marble Rocks, 14
Mayo, Earl of, 112
McKenzie, Rev. J. R., 148
McLeod, Sir Donald, 139-143, 146
Mimansa, 38
Mishmis, 120
Mohan Singh, 57
Molony, Bishop Herbert, 142, 145
Mongols, 6
Montgomery, Sir R., 90
Morris College, 116
Mrigavati, 98
Mudhoji Patel. 75
" Mnkti," 5
Mnkund Raj, 50
Moiadwit, 38
Nagdbo, 15
Nagvansi, 54
Nagpur, 5, 41, 110, 115-9
Nagpur Exhibitions, 107
Narayan, 157, 201
Narayan Rao, 98
Narhar Shah, 39
Narind Shah, 45
Narsingh, 31
Narsingh Rai, 50
Nerbudda, 5, 16
Kigan Bakt, 45
Nilkanth Shah, 70
Nilkant Shastri, 147
Onkar, 123
Orchha, 26
Ontram, Sir James, 90
Pachmarhi, 5, 111
Padishah, 59
Padmani, 20
Panchgaon, 77
Panipat, 74
Panna, 2
" Pardhan," 151
Parlor, 161
Parker, Bishop H. P., 145
Parsoji. 75, 81
Partha, 33
227
INDEX
Parvati, 155. 161
Peshwa (Maratha), 99
Pharsa Pen. 129. 180
Philip, Rev. J. D.. 148
PUba. 147
Pindaris. 96
Pola (Festival), 96
Pirem Narayan. 27, 31
Premanarayana, 35
Premasahi, 35
Price. Rev. E. D.. 146
Piithwi Raj, 30
Purandara. 32
Pnrsia, 96
Pnruhuta. 33
Raghuji Bhonsla, 74
Raghuji II, 78
Raghnji III, 86
Railway. B.N.R., 114
Railway, G.I.P., 112
Raisin. 2
Raj-Gond, 121
Rajnandgaon. 114
Rakta Danti. 127
Rama. 16
Ramayana, Epic of. 7
Ramchandra, 30. 31
Ramnagar. 16. 28. 30
Ram Shah. 70
Ram Singh. 55
Ramtek. 5
Rani Tal, 22
Ransur. 42
Ratana VaU. 17
Ratanpur. 2
Rayetal. 180
Rebsch. Rev. J. W., 143
Rikad Gawadi, 174
Rishis. 8
Rialey, Sir H.. 6, 72
Roberts, Lord, 90
Rose. Sir Hugh, 105
Rudra, 32
Rupmati. 20
Sabaji, 77
Sacrifice, Human, 123
" Sadhus," 7
Sangram Shah. 17. 18. 31
Sangramasahi. 32
Satakratus. 37
" Sati." 91
Satporas, 3
Satputras. 4
"Saugor and Nerbudda Territories."
100
Scandinavian Church of Sweden
138
Schleisner. Julius. 142
Sdndhia. 80
Scott. Col. Hopetoun. 82
Scythians. 6
Scytho-Dravidians. 72
Shah. 59
Shanmukha. 29
Sher Shah, 59
Sher Shah Ballal Shah, 59
Singh, 59
Singoigarh, 20, 21
Sirajee, 73, 74
Sirpur, 54
Sita. 16. 19
Sitabaldi. 46. 82
Slecman. General Sir W.. 24. 99
Smara. 35
Smith. Major Lude, 131
Smith. Mr. Mosley, 143
Sone River. 4
Sten Konow, Professor, 116
Stephen, Fitzjames. 90
Stuart. Bishop E. C. 143
Sukulpura, 146
" Sunobut." 82
Surbhi Pathak. 16
Surja Ballal Singh. 56, 58
Tamil. 6
Tapti. 4. 48
Tarani. 38
Taru, 55
Tarvels. 55
Telegu. 6
Telingana. 72
Telinkheri. 82
Temple. Sir Ridiard. 9. 106-111.
151
Tewar, 8, 14
Thugs. 99
" Tirth Sthan." 5
Tortoise. Dame. 208
" Totem " Worship, 131
Transmigration. 133
Tripuri. 8. 14
Trivikrama. 31
228
INDEX
Vakataka, 53
Vasadeva, 32
Vindhyaa, 3. 4
Viranarayana, 33
ViahnQ, 32
Waghoba, 131
Wainganga, 5> 41
Watragarh, 54
Wakelmg. Rev. J. L.. 146
Wall Shah» 74
Wellington. Duke ot 80
Whately, Archbishop, 223
Williamson, Rev. H. D., 144
Wood, Rev. Canon A., 122, 129,
133, 147
Wynne, Blr. T., 114
Yadavaraya, 30, 31
THE END
i 'r i m t t d by Sir l
PUmm & Sons, LM., Bmk, Bn^m^u
(35SI)
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