HISTORY

MEDIAEVAL PERIOD

The Gondi interlude.—The defeat of the Yadavas of Devagiri at the hands of Alauddin Khilji marks a turning point in the history of Vidarbha and Maharashtra. It was also an event of extraordinary historical significance, firstly, because the immense wealth Alauddin carried from Devagiri enabled him to achieve his political designs at Delhi and secondly, because it facilitated the penetration of Islam deep into the south. After this defeat the Yadava power collapsed fast when its last ruler Harpaldev was defeated and killed in 1318 A. D. by Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah. Vidarbha and Maharashtra finally passed into the hands of the Muslim rulers and Devagiri became the seat of Islamic culture. It may be noted that from the fall of the Yadavas till the entry of the, Moghals in Gondvana of which Bhandara district formed a part, the Gond Rajas were more or less free from any political domination. The territory known as Gondwana roughly includes the area bounded by the line running from Jabalpur to Telangana, north to south and from west to east by the line joining the Satapuda hills and the Chhatisgad region. The principal Gondi Kingdoms in the Gondwana area had their seats at Gadha, Mandla, Devgad, Chandrapur and Khedla on the northern slopes of the Satapuda. Besides these, there were petty Gond naiks in the Melghat styling themselves as Rajas. Of these kingdoms Gadha of which Bhandara district formed a part is noted in history because of its brave Rani Durgavati, the wife of Dalpat Shah and the daughter of the Rajput Chandel King of Mahaba. The ruling Moghal emperor Akbar at that time appointed Khvaja Abdul Majid as the governor of Karra conferring upon him the title of Asaf Khan. He contemplated the invasion of the kingdom of Gadha but was stoutly opposed by Rani Durgavati with her brave Gond troops. Her valour, however, failed to stem the advance of the Moghals and she was defeated twice by the well-equipped and the strong Moghal army. To escape the disgrace she would have been put to if taken captive the Rani killed herself in the glorious Rajput tradition. The Moghal invasion of the kingdom of Gadha was a wanton act of the imperial policy of aggression and aggrandisement. The fall of Gadha and the heroic death of the Rani have been graphically described in Tarikh-i-Alfi. [Also see Akbarnama of Shaikh Illahdad, Faizi Sirhindi in Elliot Vol. VI. pp. 117-122.] In the battle the young son of Rani Durgavati, Bir Narayan had sustained injuries. He was carried to the hill fort of Chausagad built by Sangramshah. The fort was besieged by the pursuing Moghal army of Asafkhan. Bir Narayan resisted stubbornly to the Moghal onslaught but fell fighting with all his troops. The kingdom of Gadha was offered to Chandra Shah, the uncle of Bir Narayan and the brother of Dalpatshah on condition of his serving the Moghals as their vassal. Chandra Shah was followed by Madhukarshah, Premshah and Hirdeshah in this order. During the reign of Shah Jahan, Hirdeshah, the ruler of Gadha was attacked by Raja Pahadsingh Bundela, a Moghal mansabdar of 1,000 horse under orders of the emperor. Hirdeshah in vain tried to defend the capital but had to flee to Mandla which he now made his capital. Pahadsingh was granted Gadha and Chausagad in Jahagir by the emperor. The subsequent history of the Gadha-Mandla Kingdom as it was now called is full of internecine wars among the successors of Hirdeshah who invited alternately Aurangzeb and the Marathas to fight out their wars and to put down the rival party. It was during the time of the Gond ruler Maharaj Shah that Raghuji Bhosle attacked the kingdom of Gadha-Mandla and forced him to pay tribute. The Gond rulers of Gadha-Mandla thus lost their independence and were reduced to the status of vassals.

It was at this time that a new Gond kingdom came to be established at Devagad situated in the dense forests and hilly areas of Central India. The whole territory of the Gond kingdom of Devagad formed part of the kingdom of Gadha-Mandla and the Gond rulers of Devagad are directly related with the history of Bhandara district. The fate of this kingdom was closely related to that of the kingdom of Gadha-Mandla which had now lost its independent status and this kingdom too was destined to go the same way. Originally the Devagad house hailed from Haraya or Harayagad, but later on it was shifted to Devagad about 24 miles from Haraya under its aspiring founder Jatba. [According to a local Gondi tradition recorded by Craddock in the old edition of Nagpur Gazetteer, Devagad was originally a Gavli Kingdom conquered later by Sarabashah, a Gond King of Gadha. Jatba was the eighth descendant from Sarabashah.] As stated earlier, the rulers of Devagad were the feudatories of Gadha but when Gadha passed under the suzerainty of the Moghals, the feudatory kingdom of Devagad also became a part of the Moghal territory. The Moghal governors of the province, however, allowed the Devagad rulers to carry out the de facto rule of their territory on payment of an yearly tribute. Jatba, the ruler of Devagad, who now became a vassal of the Moghals under Emperor Akbar is reported by Ain-i-Akbari as possessing two thousand cavalry, fifty thousand foot soldiers and a 100 elephants. Jatba extended his kingdom to the west and towards the south and included in his territory the districts of Betul, Chhindwada and Nagpur and portions of Seoni, Bhandara and Balaghat districts.

Jatba was succeeded by his son Kokashah in about 1600 A. D. He had a very long but not a peaceful reign. His failure to pay the annual tribute to the imperial treasury irritated the reigning Moghal emperor Shah Jahan who ordered his general Khan Dauran to invade the Devagad territory. Khan Dauran marching through Berar, advanced up to Nagpur and laid siege to the fort of Nagpur in 1637 A. D. Kokashah marched from Devagad to Nagpur and purchased peace by paying a lakh and fifty thousand rupees and 175 elephants as tribute to the emperor. The unfortunate kingdom of Devagad was twice attacked during the reign of Shah Jahan by the Moghals firstly in 1648 A. D. by Shah Navaz Khan of which not much is known and secondly by Aurangzeb during his viceroyalty of the Deccan under specific orders of Shah Jahan in 1655. The ruling prince of Devagad was Kesari Singh who had succeeded his father Kokashah in 1640 after presenting a tribute of four lakhs of rupees to the emperor. Under Kesari Singh, the tribute fell in arrears and repeated demands for it had no effect. Shah Jahan, therefore, in 1655 A. D. ordered Aurangzeb, the viceroy of the Deccan, to invade the territory as the Devagad Raja was said to possess 200 elephants. Aurangzeb replied that he had ascertained by deputing an officer to Devagad that the Raja was really very poor and had only 14 elephants. Aurangzeb, therefore, requested for orders whether Devagad should be annexed or only the tribute should be collected. Shah Jahan ordered Devagad to be conquered and annexed. On 12th October 1655 the expedition started in two divisions one under Mirza Khan, the Deputy Governor of Berar, by way of Ellichpur and the other under Hadidad Khan, the Deputy Governor of Telangana, by way of Nagpur with orders to converge upon Devagad. Kesari Singh was crushed between the two forces and submitted. He waited upon Aurangzeb on 8th January 1656 and promised to pay five lakhs in cash and kind in the course of the year on account of his tribute, present and past and to cede certain paraganas, the revenue of which would be set apart for the payment of the tribute in future [It may be noted that Kesari Singh with a good body of armed retainers accompanied Aurangzeb to the siege of Golconda and rendered good service, praying only for some remission of his piled up arrears of tribute in future.

In 1667 Diler Khan invaded the kingdom of Devagad and imposed a contribution of 15 lakhs on the Raja [The name of the Raja given in Alamgirnama is Kuk Singh. He-was however a different person from the Kokashah Gond, who was reigning in Devagad in 1637 and who had been succeeded by his son Kesari Singh in 1640. Kuk Singh came to the Moghal camp and humbly waited on Diler Khan agreeing to pay three lakhs as fine and deliver 18 lakhs within a fixed period out of which six lakhs were to be paid in two months. He further promised to pay his annual tribute regularly without delay]. while raising the annual tribute to two lakhs. He was, however, sent to Deccan when he had realised about half the current years tribute and an officer was left in the Gond kingdom to collect the balance. As a result of these Moghal exactions the peasantry had fled away and the land turned desolate from the residence of the invaders. Bhandara district, like the other parts of the Devagad kingdom, must have been subjected to severe hardships as a result of these Moghal invasions which were taking place at intervals at the lure of the so-called fabulous wealth of the 'Gondi kingdoms [It may be noted that the kingdom of Chanda whose rulers were on inimical terms with the rulers of Devagad and who had in 1655 betrayed the Devagad Kingdom by supplying false information to the emperor about its wealth, was subjected to similar exactions by the Moghal general Diler Khan.]. The Devagad Raja as before failed to pay his tribute and in August 1669 Diler Khan again invaded the kingdom of Devagad. The Moghal forces overran the territory of the kingdom. The Raja fled but was captured after an arduous chase. The invaders, wishing to annex the occupied territory and bring it under the direct rule of the imperial government, posted garrison at different places including Nagpur, Katanjhar, Devagad (renamed Islam-gad), etc. A qazi, mufti, sadr, mir adil, clerks of the Chabutra of justice and other officers of a regular province of the empire were ordered to be sent to Devagad from the Deccan. As for the land revenue, Aurangzeb ordered that first the ravages of war should be healed, cultivation restored and the peasants conciliated and then the old assessment of the Gond times enforced. The campaign had been a severe one; large numbers of horses had perished of hardship. The emperor promoted the Chief Officers and presented 200 horses to this force [Akhbarat, dated 4th and 5th September 1669, in the History of Aurangzib by Sir J. N. Sarkar, Vol. V, pp. 404-05.].

Early next year Diler Khan received urgent orders to settle the business of Devagad quickly on some satisfactory basis. Diler Khan thereupon prevailed upon the Raja to embrace Islam with his entire family and then restored to him his kingdom. The Raja took the name of Islam Yar on conversion. Devagad was ordered to be designated in future as Islamgad. It may be noted that this Raja was a different person from Bakht Buland, who was made Raja of Devagad in March 1686. The Raja of Devagad, however, continued to be refractory and failed to pay his tribute upon which at the end of the year (1670) Khan Zaman rapidly moved in the Devagad Kingdom and warned its ruler to be more loyal or suffer punishment. No details of the history of Devagad are available for the next 15 years. When in about 1686 the ruling Raja of Devagad, Bakhat Shah, was so hard pressed by other claimants to the throne that in desperation he fled the kingdom and appealed to Aurangzeb for help. Aurangzeb agreed on condition of Bakhat Shah accepting Islam as the price of imperial support against his rivals and promising to serve in the emperor's war with Marathas [The helpless Bakhat became a Musalman with the understanding that he would dine with Muslims but would continue to take brides from among the Gonds. Aurangzeb accepted this compromise. The descendents of Bakhat continued to have marital relations with the Raj Gonds. They however performed their marriage ceremony according to the Hindu rites followed by those of the Islamic.]. Aurangzeb baptised the Raja as Bakht Buland or Lucky. The Raja lived long enough to ex tend the area, power and prosperity of his kingdom very largely and to give the greatest trouble to Aurangzeb in the last years of his reign. Bakht Buland with the military assistance offered to him by Aurangzeb regained his lost kingdom. He proved to be a very capable ruler and extended his kingdom reaching up to the borders of Berar from north and east. His kingdom included the present districts of Chhindvada and Baitul and some portions of Nagpur, Seoni, Bhandara and Balaghat. Sangashi and Pratapgarh were acquired for him by Raj Khan, a Pathan adventurer whom Bakht Buland had made governor of Dongartal in Seoni. In 1691 the emperor deposed Bakht Buland and the throne of Devagad was given to Dindar, another Muslim Gond in the imperial camp. At that time Bakht Buland was successively put in charge of the imperial paymaster (1693) and the provost of the camp on a daily allowance of two rupees (1694). On 25th August 1695 he had an audience with the emperor and he recovered his freedom by giving security of his future conduct. He thereupon served in the emperor's army in the Deccan till April 1696. During his stay in the Deccan, his son Muhammad Ali arriving from Devagad waited upon the emperor on 23rd March 1696.

At this time trouble broke out in Devagad. Dindar became, defiant and a Moghal force was sent under Sadruddin accompanied by Raja Kishan Singh of Chanda. The combined army captured Devagad and put Dindar to flight (March 1696). The new aspirant to the throne of Devagad was Kan Singh, the son of Kishan Singh, who secured the throne by embracing the religion of Islam (under the name of Raja Neknam) and promising to pay up Dindar's arrears of tribute and an additional sum of Rs. 17 lakhs as present. He waited upon the emperor in November 1700. Bakht Buland who was watching these events now lost all hopes of being restored to the kingdom and decided to secure by force that which he was not able to obtain by conciliation. The circumstances were also opportune to him as both Chanda and Devagad had changed their rulers in the same year (1696) and the nobility at Devagad was not going to look kindly to the fact that a junior prince from the rival house of Chanda was occupying the throne of Devagad. Bakht Buland, therefore, slipped away from the imperial camp and reached Devagad, where he raised the standard of rebellion. The emperor in impotent anger ordered his name to be changed from Bakht Buland (Lucky) to Nagun Bakht (Luck less) [K. K. ii-461; Akhbarat in the History of Aurangzib, Vol. V, p. 409.].

The activities of Bakht Buland spread over a wide area especially in Berar. Firoz Jung was ordered to move from Berar and punish the rebel. Bakht Buland was defeated by a detachment under Hamid Khan Bahadur who captured Devagad. Raja Bir Singh of Chanda was ordered to proceed to Devagad and re-establish his younger brother Neknam there. The defeated Bakht Buland leaving his capital moved into Malva and attacked Abdul Hadi, a vassal of Raja Navendra Shah of Gadha, who had dispossessed his monarch and restored the Raja to his ancestral throne. The Moghals, however, pressed on. They forced Sadat Khan Afghan, a supporter of Bakht Buland to submit. About 3,700 troops of Bakht Buland came over to the Moghal service. In the meanwhile Bakht Buland had not remained inactive. He requested Chhatra Sal to recruit musketeers for him and sent his envoys to Rajaram inviting him to Devagad to create diversion in Aurangzeb's rear which, however, Rajaram declined. In March 1701 Bakht Buland in concert with the Marathas attacked Ali Mardan Khan, the governor of Berar, but the joint forces were defeated. Though Bakht Buland was wounded he fought another sharp battle with the pursuing Moghals at Daryapur. There were similar risings of Bakht Buland's Muslim allies in 1703 and 1704. In spite of the setbacks suffered by Bakht Buland, he was never subdued by the imperial forces of Aurangzeb. Neither the degenerate successors of Aurangzeb could do it. On Aurangzeb's death, Bakht Buland extended his kingdom by annexing Khedla and by adding the district of Seoni ceded to him by Narendra Shah as the price of his aid against the latter's cousins who had called the Marathas in. Bakht Buland could thus be regarded as the most distinguished ruler of the Devagad house. During Bakht Buland's reign the rich lands to the south of Devagad, between the Wainganga and Kanhan rivers were steadily developed. Hindu and Muhammedan cultivators were encouraged to settle in them on equal terms with Gonds until this region became most prosperous. " Industrious settlers from all quarters were invited to Gondavana, many towns and villages were founded and agriculture, manufactures and even commerce made a considerable advance. Bhandara was not at this time a valuable appanage. There were some fertile lands in the alluvial tracts of the Wainganga and Bagh rivers and the town of Pauni was even then celebrated for the excellence of its cotton fabrics. But the centre and east of the district were covered by dense forest and tenanted only by wild animals and forest tribes. The large and valuable Zamindari of Kamtha was first granted in the middle of the eighteenth century on a payment of Rs. 60 annually[Eyre Chatterson, Story of Gondavana, p. 46.]."

Bakht Buland was succeeded by his son Chand Sultan, who removed his capital to Nagpur and considerably extended his dominions to the east of Wainganga annexing Paunar in Berar which was an important military station. It remained under him for more than twenty years. Chand Sultan died in 1738. He was succeeded by Wali Shah, the illegitimate son of Bakht Buland, who seized the throne by putting to death Bahadur Shah, the legitimate heir. Chand Sultan's widow Ratan Kuvar called in Raghuji Bhosle from Berar to the support of her teenaged sons Burhan Shah and Akbar Shah. Raghuji regarded this as a welcome opportunity and promptly moving from Bham, his headquarter defeated and put to death the usurper. He then moved to Devagad where he installed Burhan Shah on his ancestral throne. Raghuji subsequently retired to Berar receiving as the price of his assistance two lakhs of rupees in cash and one third of the kingdom of Devagad including several paraganas on the Wainganga. In 1743 dissensions broke out between the two brothers Akbar and Burhan which resulted again into Raghuji's intervention when the latter asked for Raghuji's help. On this occasion, Raghuji fully exploited the family dispute to his own advantage, established himself at Nagpur and reduced the Gond king to the positions of a puppet and thus became the de facto ruler of the Devagad Kingdom[In the quarrel between two brothers Akbar and Burhan, the former sought the help of the Nizam and the latter of Raghuji Bhosle. Akbar was poisoned while in the Nizam's camp and it is said that this poisoning was brought about by Raghuji. Burhan Shah ceded half of the territory in possession of Akbar Shah to Raghuji. He also agreed to accept one fourth of the revenue of his kingdom and subsequently by agreeing to accept a fixed sum banded over his entire possessions to Raghuji. It was thus that most of the territory of the Devagad Kingdom passed on to Raghuji.]. Only Muhammad Khan, son of Raj Khan, who had acquired Sangashi and Pratapgarh for Bakht Buland, held out at Sangashi for three years in the cause of his former sovereign. And Raghuji struck, it is said, with his fidelity, offered him the post of Divan of Seoni if he would give up Sangashi to which he agreed. Bhandara was included in the Kingdom of the Nagpur Bhosle as the district of prant Wainganga[The details of the conquest of the Gond Kingdoms of Gadha-Mandla, Devagad and Chanda and their annexation by Raghuji are given under Raghuji's exploits in the pages that follow.]. Among the ruins of Devagad fort at present Jatba's tomb and some foundations of buildings are the only remains.

It is necessary here to make a brief reference to the Gondi house of Chandrapur or Chanda because like that of Devagad it was destined to fall a prey to its powerful neighbour Raghuji Bhosle, and also because if the possessions of the Devagad Rajas embraced the north of the district from Ambagarh to Tirora, the Lanji hills and the low lands of Hatta and Kamtha were held by the Gadha-Mandla Gond dynasty and Pauni and Navegaon by the Chanda Kings. As a matter of fact, the Zamindar of Chinch-garh held a sanad or grant from a king of Chanda and the Zamindar of Turmapuri formerly had a patent from Ram Shah, a Raja of Mandla, dated in 1732 A. D. and conferring the estate on his ancestor on Mokasa tenure in return for an annual payment of Rs. 100[Sir Richard Temple's Report on the Zamindaris, p. 34.].

The Gond rulers of Chanda originally hailed from Shirpur on the west bank of Wardha.' The kingdom is said to have been founded by Bhima Ballal Singh. From Shirpur they shifted their capital to the present Ballarshah or Ballalpur and finally to Chandrapur or Chanda. Eighteen kings succeeded Bhim Ballal Singh and the house ruled for well over 850 years from 870 A. D. to 1751 A. D. [

It was during the reign of Krishna Shah that the Gond house of Chanda recognised the independence of the Devagad rulers by a treaty. The ruler of Devagad, Jatba, though a feudatory of Akbar, was extremely powerful and must have ceased to pay allegiance to the weak Chanda Gond house now forcing it to recognise its independence. It was probably this same Krishna Shah, who helped Khan Dauran in his attack on Nagpur fort which was held by Koka Shah of Devagad. It was during the reign of Bir Shah that Chanda was attacked by Diler Khan on the failure of its ruler to pay the stipulated tribute. Bir Shah unable to face the Moghals offered five lakhs of rupees to Diler Khan agreeing to pay heavy fine to the Emperor [It may be noted that the daughter of Bir Shah was married to Durg Shah a prince of Devagad. On learning that she was insulted by her husband Bir Shah marched on Devagad and killed his son-in-law.]. As Bir Shah died issue-less, his widow adopted a boy from the royal Gond family of Chandankheda. This boy was the famous saintly Ram Shah who assumed power in 1691. It was during the reign of Ram Shah that the kingdom of Chanda was invaded by Kanhoji Bhosle, the son of Parasoji Bhosle [Parasoji Bhosle during the regency of Rajaram distinguished himself by his ravaging activities in Berar and Gondawana. Rajaram conferred upon him the title of sena-saheb-subha and the country of Berar and Gondawana was given to his charge. Later when Tarabai disputed the claim of Shahu as the Chhatrapati of the Maratha State and declared him to be an impostor, Parasoji convinced the Maratha nobility of the royal descent of Shahu by dining with him in the same dish which gesture enabled Shahu tremendously in bringing the Maratha noblemen to his side. Shahu granted a sanad to Parasoji for Prant Ritpur and Sarkar Gawel, of Prant Berar, Prant Devagad, Chanda, Gondawana and Anagondi.]. His invasion of Chanda was not very successful as he was defeated by Ram Shah in a skirmish that took place near Rambag outside the fort of Chanda. Kanhoji was also not successful in his campaign against the Gond Kingdom of Devagad. In 1727 Kanhoji incurred the displeasure of Shahu and the latter appointed Raghuji, the nephew of Kanhoji to succeed as Sena-saheb-subha. Along with, sanads were issued granting him the right to collect Mokasa and Chauth from Paragana Ritpur of Sarkar Goval, Prant Warhad, Devagad and Chanda of Prant Gondawana, Prant Multapi, Prant above the Ghats, Prant Chhatisgad, Prant Bastar, Prant Maksudabad. Patna and Allahabad. In 1730 Raghuji invaded Chanda but left the territory unmolested being impressed by the saintly character of Ram Shah. Ram Shah died in 1735 and was succeeded by his son Nilkanth Shah, the last ruler of the Gond Kingdom of Chanda. When Raghuji Bhosle was busy with his Bengal expeditions Raghunath Singh, the Diwan of the Gond King of Devagad with the help of Nilkanth Shah tried to overthrow Raghuji's suzerainty. In 1748 when Raghuji got some respite from his Bengal expeditions he invaded Devagad and killed Raghunath Singh. He then proceeded against Nilkanth Shah and defeated him. Nilkanth Shah was forced to surrender two thirds revenues of his kingdom to Raghuji Bhosle. Raghuji occupied the city of Chandrapur with the fort leaving Ballalpur to Nilkanth Shah. In 1751 Nilkanth Shah took possession of the fort of Chanda by force driving the Divan of Raghuji, Shivajipant Talkute. Raghuji lost no time in invading Chandrapur. He defeated Nilkanth Shah and imprisoned him permanently in the fort of Chanda. Thus ended the Gond house of Chanda or Chandrapur.

Administration under the Gonds.—The administration obtaining in the tract known as Gondavana that included the present district of Bhandara during the Gondi period was semi-feudal. The country was ruled by Raja Gonds and was distributed among a number of subordinate local chiefs known as Rajas, Rais and Thakurs. These chiefs though they exercised considerable power within their jurisdiction, recognised the authority of the Maharaja of Devagad. Abdul Fazl's account of the Gadha-Katanga Gondi Kingdom states that a number of Paraganas were held by the Rajas which obviously means that such paraganas in his days retained the traces of Gondi administration.

The system of administration by subordinate chiefs existed in the Gondavana till the Marathas overran it. It continued to be so in the areas of Gondavana which remained unaffected by either the Moghal or Maratha influence and such areas retained their semi-feudal characteristics peculiar to the Gonds. Those areas were divided into a number of chiefships, each having the headman of the clan who collected the entire revenue and rendered military service to the government by supplying a stipulated number of troops, wherever called upon to do so. In some such areas there existed greater chiefs and smaller chiefs prior to their conquest by the Bhosles.

In what follows are given details of Gondi administration in the Devagad area above the ghats on the presumption that what existed there was most probably obtaining in the Devagad area below the ghats, i.e., the Nagpur-Bhandara area in the pre-Bhosle period.

The local chiefs known as Thakurs took cognisance of petty crimes and offences in their area and levied fine and confiscated property of the offenders. They were also responsible for protecting the travellers passing through their territory and were to see that no harm befell them within their area of jurisdiction. They could not inflict capital punishment or mutilation or imprisonment beyond a certain period without reference to the government. Petty offences were decided according to customary rule whereas offences of a high order were judged according to the laws of the caste. It will thus be seen that the position of the Thakur within his own area was very strong. He was the head of the local minor clan as also the captain of the local levies and made contributions in cash and kind according to his means and provided a quota of troops to the Raja. The Thakurs held the major portion of the chief's territory, the actual domain of the Maharaja being comparatively small with the surrounding area being under the local chiefs known as the Rais or Rajas. These Rais or Rajas were in complete subjugation to the Maharaja according to his military strength. They attended him with levies of local troops. They, however, had a free hand in internal matters. They were little more than feudal superiors of a number of petty chiefs, who contributed to them military service. The Rajas like other feudatories possessed a territorial domain in which they exercised direct authority. It may be pointed out that though the Gondi administration followed this pattern generally in the territory known as Gondavana, it was subject to minor local variations and modifications.

The Gondi administration was, however, devoid of any hereditary offices like the Deshmukh and the Deshpande so commonly found elsewhere in Maharashtra, the only exception being the registrar or accountant called beshur or sometimes called gumasta.

The land revenue administration of the Nagpur-Bhandara territories was carried on by officers known as Deshmukhs, Desh-pandes, Hudars, Muharirs and Warhadpandes. The Marathas after their occupation of Gondavana removed the Deshmukhs and the Deshpandes, redesignated Hudars as Kamavisdar-general manager and Muharir or accountant as Phadnavis, the last having a corresponding office under the Gonds, viz., that of Priti. The office of the Warhadpande who had his deputies all over the territory to keep the account of actual cultivation, occupancy and rents of lands was, however, retained by them. The presence of these officers indicates a centralised administration as was commonly found in Berar and it could well be conjectured that it was the remnant of the previous Khalsa or centralised system and was continued by the Gonds when they conquered the territory of Gondavana. The existence in some parts of Gondavana especially in the Gondi Kingdoms of Devagad and Chanda of the offices of the Deshmukh and the Deshpande was thus not indigenous to Gondavana as these offices were conspicuous by their absence in those parts of Gondavana above the ghats, the real home of the Devagad Maharajas.

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