Gondwana, also known as Gondaranya, the land of Gondwana, is a region of India named after the Gondi people who live there. The name of the ancient continent of Gondwanaland was derived from Gondwana, because some of the earliest rock formations of this continent were first investigated in part of the region in modern Odisha.
The Gondi (Gōṇḍī) or Gond people, who refer to themselves as "Koitur", are an ethnolinguistic group in India. Their native language, Gondi, belongs to the Dravidian family. They are spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha. They are listed as a Scheduled Tribe for the purpose of India's system of reservation.
Mandla is a city with municipality in Mandla district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandla District. The city is situated in a loop of the Narmada River, which surrounds it on three sides, and for 15 miles between Mandla and Ramnagar, Madhya Pradesh the river flows in a deep bed unbroken by rocks. The Narmada is worshiped here, and many ghats have been constructed on the banks of the river. It was a capital of the Gondwana Kingdom who built a palace and a fort, which in the absence of proper care have gone to ruins.
Balaghat district is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in Central India. The town of Balaghat serves as its administrative headquarters. It is popularly known as the birthplace of Princess Swati Madhwani. Swati is known for her contribution to the immense profitability of Zara in India.
Chhindwara district is one of the major districts of Madhya Pradesh state of India, and Chhindwara town is the district headquarters. Chhindwara was the largest district in Madhya Pradesh with an area of 10,293 square km before the bifurcation of Pandhurna district. The district is part of Jabalpur division.
Seoni District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Seoni is the district headquarters.
Chandrapur is a city and a municipal corporation in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra state, India. It is the district headquarters of Chandrapur district. Chandrapur is a fort city founded by Khandkya Ballal Sah, a Gond king of the 13th century. The city sits at the confluence of the Erai river and Zarpat river. The area around the city is rich in coal seams.. Hence, Chandrapur is also known as the "Black Gold City".
The Kingdom of Nagpur was an Indian kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries. It came under the rule of the Marathas of the Bhonsle dynasty in the mid-18th century and became part of the Maratha Confederacy. The city of Nagpur was the capital of the state.
Raghoji I or Raghuji the Great, was a Maratha general of the Bhonsale dynasty who established the Nagpur Kingdom in much of east-central India during the reign of Chhatrapati Shahu I. His successors ruled the kingdom until 1853.
Narnala Fort or Narnala Qila Sarkar, also known as Shahnoor Fort, 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 and got its name "Narnala" by ruler Rao Rana Narnal Singh Solanki, who migrated from Patan in Gujarat.
The Rajgonds are the ruling class of the Gonds. The region of Gondwana consisted of neighbouring kingdoms. To the south was the Kingdom of Chanda and to the north was the powerful Garha-Mandla kingdom. In the 16th century, the Kingdom of Deogarh rose as a powerful state with the Kherla Kingdom in its western past.
Ajanbahu Jatbasha is considered by historians to be founder of the Gond dynasty of Chhindwara and Nagpur, which ruled the present days territories of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and part of Maharashtra in the 16th-18th centuries. Documentation of his origins and rise to power have not survived, but he is the first historical leader of the mountain Gondi people.
Bakht Buland Shah was a ruler of the Rajgond dynasty. He added to his kingdom, the territories of Chanda and Mandla, and portions of Nagpur, Balaghat, Seoni, Bhandara and the adjoining Rajput kingdom of Kherla/Khedla. The present districts of Chhindwara and Betul also fell under his control. A great warrior, he went on to conquer Pauni, Dongartal, Sivni, and Katangi.
Raja Jhujhar Singh Ju Deo was the Bundela ruler of Orchha Kingdom in the 17th century reining from 1627 to 1635 in the cultural Bundelkhand region of modern Madhya Pradesh.
Chand Sultan (1706-1739) was a Gond king of Nagpur. He was the eldest son and successor of Bakht Buland Shah of Deogarh. He ascended the throne of Deogarh in 1706 and shifted his capital from Deogarh to Nagpur. He carried out further reforms in his kingdom and planned layout of the new city of Nagpur and under him, the kingdom prospered. He was a kind ruler who loved his people and extended his territory considerably to the east of the river Wainganga.
The Garha Kingdom, also called Garha Mandla or Garha Katanga, was an early-modern-era kingdom in India. It was the first large kingdom to be founded by the Gond tribe and dominated much of Central India at its peak.
The Bhonsles of Nagpur were a Maratha royal house that ruled the Kingdom of Nagpur from 1739-1853. They hailed from the Bhonsle clan of Marathas and were one of the most important and powerful Maratha chiefs in the Maratha Empire.
The Gonds of Deogarh were a Gond royal house that originally ruled the zone which became the Nagpur Kingdom after being practically being made state pensionaries by the Bhonsle Maratha leader Raghoji I Bhonsle. They made Nagpur region a prosperous and plentiful kingdom, founding the city of Nagpur and building further infrastructure. However, internal bickering led to their downfall.
Raghunath Singh was the Diwan of the Gond king of Deogarh. He tried to unsuccessfully overthrow Raghuji Bhonsla's sway with the help of the Gond king of Chandrapur, Nilkanth Shah.
The Kingdom of Chanda was one of the main Gond kingdoms, ruling parts of central India. In 1751, it was conquered by the Maratha ruler of Nagpur, Raghoji I Bhonsle.
