Narnala

Narnala Fort or Narnala Qila Sarkar, is a hill fortress in the Satpura Range of Vidarbh, Maharashtra, India, named after the Rajput Solanki Chaulukya Ruler, Raja Narnal Singh, also known as Narnal Singh Swami. It was renamed as "Shahnoor" by Islamic rulers but again acquired, rebuilt with Hindu Cultural Elements and got its name "Narnala" by ruler Rao Rana Narnal Singh Solanki.^[1]

Fort of Narnala

Rulers of Narnala

Briefly, the fort was first established in around 10th century A.D. by Yadava Kings and major fortifications were made by Raja Narnal Singh Swami and some by Rao Rana Narnal Singh Solanki, like the Mahakali Gate, Rani Mahal and Elephant Stable. It was then taken over by other Islamic rulers. In the mid 15th century, it was occupied and rebuilt by the Mughals, becoming one of Berar Subah's thirteen sarkar. The fort was captured and fortified by Gond kings during the 16th century. Later, in the late 17th century, it was under Maratha Empire, controlled by Bhonsle of Nagpur Kingdom and their reliable Sardar, earlier the ruler of Narnala, the Solanki Rajput Rana Qiledar family of Rao Rana Narnal Singh mentioned above, who also held Jagir and Deshmukhi rights at Malkapur pargana.

About Narnal Singh

Raja Narnal Singh or Narnal Singh Swami was a scion of Chalukya ruler, on whose name the fort is named. The fort was ruled by several rulers and killedars after him thus making a lot of changes in the original Rajput style. After him, his descendant from the north branch & descendant of the ruling family of Rao Raja of Rajasthan came to this fort. Kunwar Rao Narnal Singh, earned the title 'Rao Rana" becoming "Rana" of the Mahurgad & special rights of the Narnala fort, from Imadshahi Dynasty ruler, son of Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk, ruler of Berar Sultanate a Kannada Hindu, converted to Islam. Along with Mahurgarh, he was granted Bhawargarh from Rana of Bijagad. His younger brother got special rights of the Narnala fort, by Rajgond of Deogarh, later continued by son of Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk.

After fall of Imad Shahi Dynasty, the Rana left Mahurgarh, because of disagreement with the later rulers, the Mughal, declining Mughal sovereignty thus lost the land and fort rights in a small battle to Mughal subhedars. After this the Rana joined Gonds of Devgarh, and his descendants fought against Mughals alongside Rani Durgawati, and were granted the title Thakur of Narnala Sarkar, by the Gond ruler of Deogarh.

After the fall of Gonds, they were invited to join Marathas by Raja Bahadur Bhonsle of Nagpur who discovered this family to be of great valour and experienced in Narnala and surrounding forts. Bhosale Raja gave him the title Thakurrao. Later Thakurrao Harisingh Rana joined Bhonsle and served Maratha Empire, after knowing that the Bhonsles are descendants from Maharanas of Mewar.

Raghoji I Bhonsle, granted him title "Qiladar" of Narnala, Gawilgad & 7 other forts of Melghat, along with the Zamindar SarPatilki rights of 13 villages and Deshmukh Saranjamdar of 9 villages in Malkapur pargana in the sarkar of Narnala. As a devotee of Mahakaali, they built a fortress around Malkapur as their capital named Kaaligarh which was later demolished by Nizam in 1830.

A younger brother of the then Qiledar Thakurrao Rana (Sarpatil-Deshmukh), shifted his capital to from Malkapur to Nadgaon, dividing the family in two parts. There are 4 houses of the family for till now. The title holder Zamindars of which are as follows:

1) The elder branch of family is Kaaligarh,Malkapur branch of the Saranjamdar, carrying the titular rights of Deshmukh Vatandar Thakur Rao Rana, and also held the office of Pargana officer of Malkapur Taluk. But after the Khalsa of the watan (land) rights and the pargana officer's responsibilities of his grandfather, for his own protection, the elder descendant, Sriman Raosaheb Rana Dr. Onkarsingh ji with the suggestion from HH Rana of Barwani and assistance from Rana of Pratapur, permanently shifted to Talode, Khandesh in the late 19th century.

2) The younger branch of family is Nadgaon branch of Zamindars, family of Kuwar Ramsingh Solanki, carried the title Vatandar, Rao and Patil. Later, the descendants earned various titles in pre-independence period like Rao Sahib, Diwan Bahadur, Rao Bahadur etc. Most honoured and notable person of this family is Smt. Pratibha Patil, the ex- President of India, also the daughter of the Rao Patil of Nadgaon.

History

Narnala fort, circa 1860

Artistic carvings on the Mahakali Gate made by Rana Killedar

The fortification at Narnala

The fort was occupied by several Indian dynasties at various times in history —

1. Yadava dynasty
2. Rajgond of Devgarh-Nagpur (around 1400 CE)
3. A Somvanshi Kshatriya Chaulukya Rajput ruler Narnal Singh Swami
4. Bahmani Sultanate (1422–1436)
5. Farooqui dynasty (1437)
6. Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk (1490)
7. Rao Rana Narnal Singh Solanki
8. Burhan Imad Shah, Imad Shahi Dynasty (1572)
9. Ahmadnagar Sultanate
10. Mughals (1597–98)
11. Maratha Empire (1701–1803), Raje Parsoji Bhosale's regent & descendant of the Rao Rana, later known as the ThakurRao Rana Qiledar and their descendants, until 1803.

The exact date of construction is not known. The first fortifications, according to local legend, were made by Raja Narnal Singh Swami, a descendant of the Somvanshi Kshatriya Pandavas and at the time Emperor of Hastinapur, a branch from Somvanshi Kshatriya Chalukya ruler of Ayodhya, whose descendant "Rao Rana Narnal Singh", named after him, later in early 16th century ruled Narnala for some years. It likely predates 1400 CE as Firishta -the Persian historian- records that 9th Badshah Shahab-ud-din Ahmad Shah I Wali (1422 CE to 1436 CE) during construction of the Gawilgarh fort, made repairs to Narnala fort when he camped at Achalpur (Ellichpur) from 1425 to 1428. This would mean that the Narnala fort was constructed before Bahmani rule.^[2]

In 1437, when Nashir Khan the subhedar of Khandesh invaded Berar, the governor of the province (also called Khan-i-Jahan), remained loyal to his master, Ala-ud-din Ahmad Shah II (son of Ahmad Shah I Wali) and retreated to Narnala. He was besieged by disaffected nobles and Nashir Khan, but managed to break through the besieging force with help of Khalaf Hasan Basri who was sent by Ala-ud-din Ahmed Shah II. Nasir Khan was defeated.^[3]

In 1487, Narnala along with Gawilgarh came under the control of Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk, the founder of Imad Shahi dynasty at Ellichpur (or Achalpur). He appointed some regents to rule different parts and forts of the empire, for e.g. Rao Rana Narnal Singh Solanki as Governor of Narnala and sometimes Gawilgad.^[4]

In 1572, Burhan Imad Shah (also of the Imad Shahi dynasty) was confined in Narnala by his minister Tufal Khan. This gave Murtaza Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar a pretext to lay siege to the fortress. He captured both king and minister, subsequently putting them to death. Thus the fort passed into the hands of the Ahmednagar kings. In 1597–98, the fort was captured by Akbar's officers, Saiyid Yusuf Khan Mashhad and Shaikh Abul Fazl, and renamed Shanur. from the officer who held it for the Sultan of Ahmadnagar.^[5] During Akbar's rule, Narnala was one of the Sarkars of Berar Subah (see Berar Subah).

Sardar Beg Mirza and Qader Beg Mirza, hereditary descendants of the Mughal dynasty in the 18th century, stayed near Argaon because Shah Beg Subedar of Berar held the fort.

Narnala was captured by Parsoji Bhosale in 1701 CE and he appointed the Raorana Narnal Singh's Family descendants, as the governor of Narnala and the surrounding forts, giving them the title "Thakurrao" and Narnala fort remained with the Marathas till it was taken over by the British in 1803 CE. Later it was returned to Raje Bhosales of Nagpur and Rana family but they abandoned it.

Major features

The fort covers an area of 362 acres (1.46 km²). The major features and architecture were done by Hindu rulers, mainly the Solanki Rajput Qiledars and the rulers of Gondwana, i.e., the Raj Gond, but modified by Islamic rulers into Islamic style by the time. It has 360 watchtowers, six large and twenty-one small gates. The large gates are called the Delhi Darwaza, the Sirpur Darwaza, the Akot Darwaza, and the Shahnoor Darwaza. The innermost of the three gate-ways is the Mahakali gate named by Qiledar family as Goddess Mahakali is their family deity. It is built of white sandstone and is highly ornate. It is decorated with conventional lotus flowers, a rich cornice, and later flourished with Arabic inscriptions, and flanked by projecting balconies with panels of stone lattice-work displaying considerable variety of design. It is considered an example of Sultanate style of architecture.^[6] An inscription records the fact that the gate was built in the reign of Shahab-ud-din Mahmud Shah (Bahmani) by Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk in 1486. A short verse from the Quran is also inscribed. The fort still display "Ashtakamal" eight petals Lotus which was the symbol of Narnal Singh's Solanki dynasty Goddess Khimaj or Mahalaxmi. These lotuses are visible on the mosques and many other places. Hence it is evident that Islamic rulers made changes in Narnal Singh's original architectural construction and converted the place in Mughal/Islamic form. It was impossible for any ruler to rebuild the entire fort considering the geographical location of the fort.

Other buildings within the complex

There was a Goddess Mahakali's temple at the staircase of the gate constructed by Rana. The Goddess' idol was possibly destroyed by Mughal rulers

This is the palace where the Queens resided

• Mahakali Temple — The Mahakali Gate named after a temple of Mahakali in the beginning of fort which is in ruins now. It has been said that the temple had idols of deities which were later stolen.
• Rani Mahal — Rani Mahal or Queen's Palace still survives. It served as a residential chamber for the queens, concubines and the guest women.
• Peshwa Mahal — Peshwa came here and stayed along with the Bhonsale Maharaja of Nagpur for important meetings. It is now in ruins.
• Baradari
• Saraf-Khana
• Arsenal of old guns called Nau-Gazi tope, meaning a 9-yard gun, a reference to its length and not range
• Elephant stables of Narnal Singh and Bhonsle Maharaja.
• The ruins of a palace erected in the honour of Raja Raghoji Bhonsle by Rana Killedar.
• Another mosque on Teliagarh built by Bahmanis.
• The Jama Masjid, now in ruins, is said to have bore an Arabic inscription recording its construction in 1509 by Mahabat Khan, but this has disappeared.
• A small mosque attributed to Aurangzeb.^[2]

Location

The fort is located in the Akot Taluka of Akola district, Berar at coordinates of 21°14'38"N 77°01'40"E. The closest city is Akot, which is 18 km away. It is at the southernmost tip of the Satpura Hills at an elevation of 932 meters above sea level.^[1] Currently the fort falls within the Melghat Tiger Reserve.

The climate of Narnala fort is classified as Humid subtropical as per Köppen-Geiger climate classification with mild to cool winters (November to March), wet Monsoon season (June to October) and hot long summer (March to June). Temperature ranges from 0 °C to 23 °C in winter, 17 °C to 42 °C in summer and 15 °C to 27 °C in Monsoon.

The third-longest cannon in India, at 27 feet

It consists of three small forts: Jafarabad fort on the east, Narnala in the centre and Teliagarh to the west. The lake within the centre of the complex is said to possess healing properties and according to legend contained the philosopher's stone, though no stone was found when the lake dried up in the drought and Indian famine of 1899-1900.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of forts in Maharashtra