The Khangar community are an ancient Kshatriya clan of Indian origin. They are referred to by many other names, such as Khangaar, Khungar, Khengar, Khagar, Khangdhar and Rai Khangar.
They ruled large areas of Bundelkhand after the fall Chandels in 1182 AD. Their seat of power was at Garh Kundar, a fort built by Maharaja Khub Singh Khangar.
The community was formerly classified as a criminal tribe under the Criminal Tribes Acts of the British Raj.[1]
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During Khangar rule, Bundelkhand was known as ‘Jujhauti’ implying the land of warriors.
Khangars ruled Jujhauti from their capital at Garh Kundar till the middle of 14th century AD. It is said that the daughter of last Khangar king Maan Singh, whose name was Rajkumari Kesar Dei, was very beautiful. When Mohammad bin Tughlaq, the contemporary ruler of Delhi Sultanate, came to know about the beauty of Kesar Dei, he sent a marriage proposal to her father, with a warning of bad consequences in case of refusal. It was unacceptable to the Khangars, who vowed to fight the sultan. Mohammad Tughlaq got very annoyed at the adamancy of Khangars and sent a large army to attack and capture Garh Kundar.
A battle ensued between the sultan’s army and the warriors of Jujhauti. Many Khangars died, including the crown prince Bardai Singh and king Maan Singh. When it was known that Khangars would lose the war, in 1347 AD, Rajkumari Kesar Dei decided to jump into the holy fire and commit ‘jauhar’ along with other princesses. A large pool of fire was built by the chief priest of Khangar king, and into it jumped Rajkumari Kesar Dei from a high platform. After her, other princesses also committed ‘Jauhar’ (a ritual of killing oneself by jumping into the fire, committed in medieval times by kshatriya and Rajput ladies to protect their honour). A few rock inscriptions have been found in the ruins of Garh Kundar that tell the story of Kesar Dei.
The folk songs of Bundelkhand mention about the courage and sacrifice of ‘Jujhauti’ women.
Khangars are a sub-clan of Arkawanshi kshatriyas of Awadh (also called Arakhs). 'Arkawanshi' is the synonym of 'Suryawanshi'. After their evolution from Arkawanshi kshatriyas (Arakhs), Khangars developed as exogamous clan of Arakhs. ‘Khangar’ is derived from the word ‘Khangdhaar’, which can be broken as ‘Khang’ (meaning ‘sword’) + ‘Dhaar’ (meaning ‘to wield’). Thus, ‘Khangar’ implies ‘one who wields the sword'. Originating from Awadh the Khangars slowly moved to Bundelkhand and Bihar and from Bundelkhand, they spread across Rajasthan, Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat. Some Khangars claim their descent from Yaduwanshi (Lunar line of kshatriyas) clan, but actually they originally belong to Suryavanshi clan of kshatriyas. The confusion of being Yaduwanshi arose probably because of intermixing with Lunar clans of kshatriyas at some point of time in history.
Kundar came into prominence in 1180s with the decision of Khet Singh to build his capital at this site. Khet Singh annexed the Jinagarh fortress of the Chandelas and established his own capital. Maharaja Khub Singh Khangar, the grandson of Khet Singh, built a fort in place of the fortress after the death of his grandfather. This fort built by Maharaja Khub Singh was named 'Garh Kundar'. It remained the capital of the Khangar kings, until it was captured by Mohammad Tughlaq. Garh Kundar passed on to Bundelas, who were the vassals of the Mughals.
The fort is one of the principal attractions in Garh Kundar. It is a magnificent complex with a large, spacious courtyard. It is said that Princess Kesar De committed 'jauhar' in the courtyard of the fort. The fort also possesses few inscriptions on its pillars. One can also come across beautiful flooring.
The main hero of Khangar clan was Maharaja Khet Singh, who was a friend and an associate of Prithvi Raj Chauhan. Khet Singh was with Prithavi Raj in all his ventures, including Chandel-Chauhan war and twin battles of Tarain (in 1191 and 1192 AD) with Muhammad Ghori. After the defeat of Chauhans in the second battle of Tarain at the hands of Turks, Khet Singh established an independent Khangar state in Bundelkhand (named as ‘Jejak Bhukti’ by the Chandels). His grandson Khub Singh built the grand fort of Kundar and named it ‘Garh Kundar’. The ruins of Garh Kundar are still standing in the Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh, quietly telling the story of Khangars. On December 27 and 28, every year, a festival is held at Garh Kundar to commemorate the heroic deeds of Maharaja Khet Singh.