Maharaja Chhatrasal

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Budelkhand Kesri Maharaja Chhatrasal (4 May 1649 - 1731) along with Chatrapati Shivaji and Guru Gobind Singh formed a trinity of rebels who rose against Aurangzeb's rule in the 18th century. He fought under the Mughal army initially, but later took up cudgels against the Mughals in Bundelkhand and put an end to their rule in his territories.

He was born in Kachar Kachnai on 4th May, 1649, to Champat Rai and Lal Kunwar. Chhatrasal raised the banner of revolt against the Mughals in Bundelkhand at the age of 22, with an army of 5 horsemen and 25 swordsmen, in 1671. In the first 10 years of his fight, (between 1671 and 1680) Chhatralsal met with enviable success. Within the first 10 years, he had conquered a large tract of land around the region between Chitrakoot and Panna in the east, up to Gwalior in the west, and from Kalpi in the north to Sagar, Garah Kota and Damoh in the south. Some of the reputed Mughal Generals who were defeated by him are Rohilla Khan, Kaliq, Munawwar Khan, Sadruddin, Sheikh Anwar, Sayyid Latif, Bahlol Khan and Abdus Ahmed.

Maharaja Chhatrasal captured Mahoba in 1680. Upon his death in 1732, Chhatrasal bequeathed Mahoba and the surrounding area to the Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I in return for Baji Rao's assistance against the Mughals.

In the second phase of his struggle between 1681 and 1707, Chhatrasal suffered a few reverses, but because Aurangzeb had also to protect his southern territories which were continually under attack by the Marathas, he was able to resist the Mughals.

In his book "Mastani", historian D. G. Godse has given eloquent account of Maharaja Chhatrasal's life and his secular values. Godse claims that Baji Rao I's second wife Mastani was Chhatrasal's daughter and that relationship between Chhatrasal and Baji Rao I was like that of father and son.

[edit] Literature

Bhagavānadāsa Gupta, Life and times of Maharaja Chhatrasal Bundela, New Delhi, Radiant (1980). ISBN 1135471770
Bhagavānadāsa Gupta, Contemporary Sources of the Mediaeval and Modern History of Bundelkhand (1531-1857), vol. 1 (1999). ISBN 81-85396-23-X.
"Mastani" by D. G. Godse