Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on October 5 chaired a meeting of the State Cabinet in Damoh district’s Singrampur in honour of the 16th century tribal queen Durgavati on her 500th birth anniversary.
- Singrampur was the capital of the Gondwana kingdom, and Rani Durgavati ruled over it from 1548 to 1564 as the queen regent while her son was young.
- Rani Durgavati, the descendant of the famous Chandela dynasty of Mahoba and the queen of the Gond Kingdom of Garha-Katanga, took on the might of the Mughal Empire with great courage and leadership.
- Durgavati repulsed Baz Bahadur, the ruler of Malwa, who had attacked her kingdom between 1555 and 1560.
- The Mughal Governor of Kara-Manikur, Asaf Khan, launched a completely unprovoked attack on Rani’s kingdom in 1564.
- Durgavati with her small force was able to defeat the Mughals and push back them atleast three times. However, the Mughals regrouperd with a strong contingent comprising 10,000 cavalry, infantry and artillery and overwhelmed her forces.
