CHHINDWARA, Madhya Pradesh

Main Attraction: PATAL VALLEY

The Patalkot valley is located at a distance of 78 km from Chhindwara in theNorth-West direction and 20 km from Tamia in the North-East Direction. ‘Doodhi’ river flows in the picturesque valley. This horse–shoe shaped valley is surrounded by giant hills and there are several pathways to reach the villages located inside the valley.

Patalkot is a completely hidden valley that is cut from the civilized world. Patalkot’ name comes from Sanskrit word “Patal” that means very deep. There is a belief that after worshipping ‘Lord Shiva’, Prince ‘Meghnath’ had gone to Patal-lok through this place only. People say that Kings ruled this place in the 18th and 19th Centuries and that there was a long tunnel connecting this place to Pachmarhi in Hoshangabad District. Traditionally, the site is believed to be the entrance to Patal. This valley had long been cut off from the civilized culture outside and was discovered only few years back. Patalkot has been a home to a tribal culture and custom since its origin.

Brief History

Chhindwara district is named after it’s headquarter town Chhindwara. The town evolved from a village named Chhind (palm tree) which acquired this name due to the abundance of chhind trees in the area. The town is said to have been founded by Ratan Raghuvanshi of Ayodhya who killed the Gaoli chief of the tract and let loose a goat. Where the goat laid down he built an abode burying the goat alive beneath the foundation. A platform erected on the spot is worshipped as the tutelary deity of the town. Inside the ruins of mud fort a stone house was supposed to have been of Ratan Raghuvanshi.

The early history of the district is vested in obscurity. In ancient times Chhindwara formed a part of the Vidarbha kingdom. Before the rise of the Mauryas in the 4th century B.C. probably the Nandas were the Supreme Sovereigns of this area. The area appears to have been ruled by the Nandas, Mauryas, Sungas, Vakatakas, the Kalachuris and the Gond rulers. The authentic history of the district begins from the sixteenth century when parts of the district fell under the domination of the rising Gond dynasty of Deogarh.

The western parts of the district formed part of the Kherla kingdom in about 1398 A.D. Later on Jatra, a Gond Zamindar overthrew the Gaoli kings Ransur and Ghansur of Deogarh and extended his territories to the east. ‘Ain-e-Akbari’ refers him as a zamindar named Chatwa who was subsidiary to the governor of Garha in about, 1590 A.D. Bakht Buland in his line had acquired the paraganas of Seoni Katangi, Chanwari, Ghansur Chhapara and Dongartal from the king of Garha Mandla who then ruled from Chauragarh. His governor Raj Khan also acquired Partabgarh and Sangarhi for him. These comprise most of the modern district of Chhindwara and Betul and portions of Seoni, Balaghat, Bhandara and Nagpur districts and Bagra and Babai jagir of Narsimhapur. The capital was shifted to Nagpur by Chand Sultan. Probably the Deogarh kings were originally petty Gond chiefs, who acknowledged the sovereignty of the Garha Mandla kings. Eventually they might have become so powerful to overcome the neighbouring chiefs and ultimately declared themselves entirely independent of Garha Mandla. Gonds succeeded the Marathas, who, taking advantage of family quarrels between the sons of Chand Sultan, the successor of Bukht Buland, under the leadership of Raghojee Bhosale made themselves masters of the country.

Chhindwara was formed as the annexation of the Nagpur state in 1854 and at first belonged to the Nagpur division. After the formation of the Central Provinces in 1861, Chhindwara was transferred to Nerbudda division with the headquarters at Betul, only for a year. It formed part of Nagpur Commissionery since 31st October 1931, immediately after the abolition of Nerbudda Commissionery. The Commissioner system was abolished in old Madhya Bharath on 1st November 1948. Chhindwara district became a part of Jabalpur division after the creation of new Madhya Pradesh on 1st November 1956Chhindwara district is named after it’s headquarter town Chhindwara. The town evolved from a village named Chhind (palm tree) which acquired this name due to the abundance of chhind trees in the area. The town is said to have been founded by Ratan Raghuvanshi of Ayodhya who killed the Gaoli chief of the tract and let loose a goat. Where the goat laid down he built an abode burying the goat alive beneath the foundation. A platform erected on the spot is worshipped as the tutelary deity of the town. Inside the ruins of mud fort a stone house was supposed to have been of Ratan Raghuvanshi.

The early history of the district is vested in obscurity. In ancient times Chhindwara formed a part of the Vidarbha kingdom. Before the rise of the Mauryas in the 4th century B.C. probably the Nandas were the Supreme Sovereigns of this area. The area appears to have been ruled by the Nandas, Mauryas, Sungas, Vakatakas, the Kalachuris and the Gond rulers. The authentic history of the district begins from the sixteenth century when parts of the district fell under the domination of the rising Gond dynasty of Deogarh.

The western parts of the district formed part of the Kherla kingdom in about 1398 A.D. Later on Jatra, a Gond Zamindar overthrew the Gaoli kings Ransur and Ghansur of Deogarh and extended his territories to the east. ‘Ain-e-Akbari’ refers him as a zamindar named Chatwa who was subsidiary to the governor of Garha in about, 1590 A.D. Bakht Buland in his line had acquired the paraganas of Seoni Katangi, Chanwari, Ghansur Chhapara and Dongartal from the king of Garha Mandla who then ruled from Chauragarh. His governor Raj Khan also acquired Partabgarh and Sangarhi for him. These comprise most of the modern district of Chhindwara and Betul and portions of Seoni, Balaghat, Bhandara and Nagpur districts and Bagra and Babai jagir of Narsimhapur. The capital was shifted to Nagpur by Chand Sultan. Probably the Deogarh kings were originally petty Gond chiefs, who acknowledged the sovereignty of the Garha Mandla kings. Eventually they might have become so powerful to overcome the neighbouring chiefs and ultimately declared themselves entirely independent of Garha Mandla. Gonds succeeded the Marathas, who, taking advantage of family quarrels between the sons of Chand Sultan, the successor of Bukht Buland, under the leadership of Raghojee Bhosale made themselves masters of the country.

Chhindwara was formed as the annexation of the Nagpur state in 1854 and at first belonged to the Nagpur division. After the formation of the Central Provinces in 1861, Chhindwara was transferred to Nerbudda division with the headquarters at Betul, only for a year. It formed part of Nagpur Commissionery since 31st October 1931, immediately after the abolition of Nerbudda Commissionery. The Commissioner system was abolished in old Madhya Bharath on 1st November 1948. Chhindwara district became a part of Jabalpur division after the creation of new Madhya Pradesh on 1st November 1956.