In l564 Akbar sent Khwaja Abdu-Majid, better known
as Asaf Khan, the governor of the Mughal province of Kara, to make a conquest
of the kingdom of Garah Katanga, a territory, abounding in hills and jungles in
the Gondwana region presently forming parts of the northern districts of the
state of Madhya Pradesh. It had remained unconquered since the advent of Islam
in India.
At this time the kingdom of Garah Katanga was
being governed by a valiant lady of noble character Rani Durgavati, as the
regent for her minor son, Bir Narayan. Durgavati was a princess of the famous
Chandela kingdom of Mahoba, a powerful dynasty of India some five centuries
earlier. Equipped with about 500 elephants and 20,000 horses this gallant Rajput
lady met the Mughal forces between Garah and Mandala (now in the Jabalpur
district). During the battle an arrow struck her. When she saw that she might
be taken prisoner, she plunged a dagger into her stomach and died. The young
ruler, Bir Narayan, fought bravely but was defeated and trampled to death by
horses.
The enormity of the booty captured by the invaders
in the form of jewels, gold, silver, and other stones can be gauged by the fact
that it proved difficult to compute even the tenth part of it.
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