Palamu
is one of the twenty four districts of the Eastern Indian state Jharkhand. From
time immortal, Palamau portrays waves of unending small hillocks, dense forest
and rain feed seasonal rivers. Its natural beauty, unpolluted air, forest
resources and simple lifestyle of forest tribes attracted Indian writers, film
makers and tourists for centuries. Through it is not too far from the East
Indian urban centre it successfully retained its rustic virgin beauty.
It is situated at Auranga
river about 20 miles south-east of Daltenganj (nowadays Medininagar). It is
beyond southern limits of Bihar: spread over an uneven land, leading to the
plateau of Chotonagpur( geologically one of the earliest land mass of our
planet) in the south-east and the central provinces in the south west. In
recent past the area faced severe maoist dominance. At present, not only the
law and order situation becomes better; the entire district is equipped with
new infrastructures.
The greatest tourist attraction of the area is the first Indian
tiger reserve at Betla. At stone
throwing distance to the main entrance of the tiger reserve there remain two
relics of fort. The official website of Palamu opens with the image of one of
these structures but we have not found any board(s) of Archaeological Survey of
India around those relics.
Autonomous tribes probably inhabited the area in past. Kharwars,
the Oraons and the Cheros practically ruled over the tract. Palamau, according
to Mughal historians (Fifteenth Century), lay south of Patna, the distance from
latter to the northern boundary of the former being 71 miles. It is likely that
the Cheros territory extended upto Daudnagar or Arwal, where the remains of the
Cheros forts have been found. Toward the north-east, the Cheros were mentioned
by Abul Fazal as the principal Zamindars in Chai Champa (Ramgharh) and Pundag (Palamau).
Very little is known about the Kharwar rulers of Palamau. Haraprasad Shastri in his quest for origin of
Buddhhsim in Eastern India also came to
this conclusion that the ethnic races ruled in the Chtonagpur zone were Cher – an offshoot of Dravidian aboriginals.
Prior to the domination of Palamau by the Cheros, Rakshel Rajputs
held sway over the district. They have probably been assimilated in the
indigenous population. The Rakshels had reached Palamau by moving through
Rohtasgarh from the Rajputana area of Rajasthan. Later on they were thrown out
by the Cheros. The area was probably inhabited by indigenous tribes in the past.
Besides the Kharwars, Oraons and Cheros.
other tribes related with Palamau were the Gonds, the Korwas, the Paharis
and the Kisans.The Kharwars outnumbered other tribes.
In order to understand the real cause of many of the village
disorders in Mughal times, we must bear in mind that the population was
dynamic, not static. Internal movements of the people were constantly going on.
In different generations different tribes migrated to new districts and tried
to push away the older settlers in order to make home for themselves. A clan
that had entered a district as servants and tenants, in a few generations grew
strong enough to overthrow their masters and became the dominant race and owner
of the land.
Three aboriginal races practically ruled over this tract.
Inscriptions and other relics which have been found indicate a fairly developed
civilization in spite of the jungles and comparative inaccessibility of the
area. The Oraons had their head quarters at Rohtasgarh in the then Sahabad district.
And there is every indication that for some time a portion of Palamau was ruled
from the head quarters of Rohtasgarh. The Cheros reigned in Palamau for nearly
200 years and the most famous of Chero rulers was Medini Rai who according to
tradition made himself lord paramount of the
southern portions of Hazaribag and Sarguja ( in Madhya Pradesh).
Historians and local people of Palamau differ on the date the fort
was built. However the conscious view is that the old fort was built by the
Rakshels before the Chero dynasty. Raja Medini Rai, a tribal Chero king who
ruled between 1662-1675, rebuilt the old fort, making it into a sprawling,
impregnable and majestic structure overlooking the meandering Oranga river,
surrounded by densely wooded hillocks. Raja Medini Rai was capable, upright and
benevolent king known for his in-depth knowledge of warfare as well as his
astute leadership.
As per the details kept in the local Government Museum, the fort
belonged to the adivashi Chero King. Cheros fought gallantly against Mughal
invasion from Akbar’s period. Ultimately in second half of seventeenth century
Cheros were defeated by the Mughal army. The relic clearly indicates its
Islamic face-lifting. As per Alamgirnama Mughal General Daud Khan demanded
Cheros their tribute to Delhi and complete conversion of the Hindus to Islam.
Cheros fiercely fought for their liberty and honour but were defeated. Even Daud was very slow in his progress with
his army, as the area was a dense forest. He had to move by constructing road
for his army ; hence his marching in Palamau was in snail’s pace(1660-1661).
The mammoth size of both the relics clearly indicate that once
upon a time a huge urban and military population was there within a dense
forest. Chero King Medini Rai or his linage might have accumulated tremendous
resources but how did they erect such structures within the dense forest? That
means Cheros inherited the basic structures and then renovated as per their own
requirement. Chero kings are termed as Vanvashi kings. It is clearly indicated
that during Chero’s regime the fortification was within the forest.
It is clear that during a glorious past a huge human civilization
with urban influence might have flourished in and around today’s Betla, might
be the place was urbanized not like the deep forest which is recorded since
1660. Interestingly, the locals
available as drivers of jeeps, guides of the jungle trail and mahout of the
elephant safari at the main gate of the Betla National Park are practicing
Muslims- that might be the signature of Daud Khan’s invasion.
As often happens in the annals of history when an able ruler
passes away, the entire dynasty fall apart as was evident following Raja Madini
Rai’s death due to power struggles and in-fighting in the ruling family. The
administration slowly and indirectly passes into the hands of various ministers
and advisors who are driven by personal gain rather than dynasty. It is
difficult to ascertain who the real betrayers were but the dynasty struggled
with controversies and lacked any real achievement, starting from the reign of
Raja Pratap Rai to that of Raja Rudra Rai, Raja Dikpal Rai, Sahab Rai, Joy
Kishan Rai, and finally Chiranjit Rai.
We came across certain pre-independence records of both forts
under British Administration in Imperial Gazetteer of India and annual report
of Archaeological Survey of India- mentioning some fund requirement of proposed
renovation. The history of the Forts under British Raj had a very common
pattern – Hindu native landlords of Palamau under British protection, inheritance
disputes, placement of more puppet Hindu landlords, aboriginal rebellion,
failure of paying revenue to the administration, and ultimately the entire
Palamau forest and the decadent forts went under the sole British control. (By
the middle of July 1771, the East India Company established its authority over
the whole Palamau). During our research
we came to know of one thesis paper of Tahir Hussain Ansari, where in 2008, he
was referring to one portrait in connection with the Mughal invasion of Palamau
Fort (he mentioned that the masterpiece was in Mannulal Librbrary, Gaya). In
relation to this portrait, Ansari took the words of W.W.Hunter for describing
the foot solders “…..majority are black,
with loin cloth, and bare heads and bare feet, bows with one curve and plenty
of arrows, besides which some have spears, some swords and some shields.” Does it
not represent Indian independence ? The 1857 Sepoy Mutiny is now embalmed as
the first struggle for Indian Independence – why are we forgetting about the
Cheros ? is not this portrait important to the modern day Indians ? Is not this
portrait a piece for national archive ?
It is clear that the property (fort) was in its deploring
condition during British Raj but unfortunately it remained in the worst state
today. It appears that from 1660 onwards the structures are standing within the
forest without slightest of maintenance. Now in our country a drive is carried out for
revisiting our glorious past for rewriting a truthful history of our country. Is
anyone working on those forts?
The aboriginals of Palamau were known for their fierce sense of
liberty- it was amply recorded during entire British Raj time and again. Might
be the same spirit somehow went in these structures; human civilization and administration
of the country have forgotten about them but somehow they kept themselves stood
tall within a dense forest and challenging nature against their intended
oblivion .
Research: Santanu Roy and
Abhijyan Basu.
Photography: Debabrata Roy.
1. Ain-I -Akbari by Abul Fazal . Ed. Saiyed Ahmad Khan. 1986.(pdf file)
2. The comprehensive history of Bihar, The Cheros by K.S. Singh ed. Sayd Hasan Askari
and Q. Ahmad.
3. Bahiristan-I -Ghalybi By Mirza Nathan, Vol-1. Tr. by B.I. Borah. Guwahati 1936.
4. The Statistical Account of Bengal by William Wilson Hunter.
5. A historical account of Chotanagpur. Journal of Historical Research, 1960. Voll-3
Ranchi University.
6. Dynamics of Tribal migration of India by Ranjit Toppo. Xavier Institute of social
Service (Ranchi, India)
7. History of Aurangzeb (Northern India, 1658-1681) by Acharya Jadunath Sarkar.
2nd. Edition. Published by S.C.Sarkar (pdf).
8. India : An illustrated Tribal World by Hrisikesh Mondal, Sumit Mukherjee & Archana
Dutta. Anthropological Survey of India.
9. Haraprasad Shastri Rachanaboli- Part-3, Article "Bouddha Dharma Kothay Gelo"
Publishing Year 1917.
10. "The Cheros of Palamau" by Tahir Hussain Ansari. An article published in Sodhganga.
11. Lastly, Mr. Debabrata Roy. a wildlife enthusiast, without his cordial help and co- operation , we could not proceed to document this remarkable fort.
