Historical Perspectives (Medieval Period)
The earlier habitational history of Gwalior fort is connected to the legend of Suraj Sen, a Kachchawaha Thakur from Sehonia. Affected by leprosy for a couple of years, once on a hunting expedition, came to the famous fortress of Gwalior.
In the dreary wilderness and the solitary rocks, he lost sight of a deer for which he was aiming. Finding that there was no chance of meeting any human being, being thirsty, he searched for water here and there. Suddenly to his great surprise, there appeared a yogi (hermit) standing at a distance.
When he asked for some water to drink, he pointed out, a spring under a tree nearby. He also handed over a piece of cloth and asked him to bring some water in it while returning. Following the instruction, Suraj Sen brought the water safely for the use of the hermit.
The hermit after drinking the water, returned the cloth to Suraj Sen and asked him to collect the water from the same spring and drink. Later, on hearing about the disease he was having, the hermit advised him to take bath in the same spring every Sunday. Having done this, he was cured of his disease.
Touched with his sincerity and devotion, the hermit later advised him to have the bed of the spring widened and make a pucca masonry. The same structure can now be identified as Suraj Kund.
In this connection, it has to be stated that the name of the hermit in the legend was Gualipa, a name possibly derived from the race of cow-herds.
His name was later- immortalised in the present name of Gwalior city. Moreover, the legend with a patient being cured of leprosy by the hermit Gvalipa, who lived only on forest vegetables, suggests some Jain origin of Gwalior.
The Pal Dynasty (3rd cent. A.D.- 6th Cent. A.D.) :
Suraj Sen after having the blessings of the hermit Gvalipa became influential with local Rajas and Jamindars. He finally asserted himself as the king of the area and founded the Pal dynasty’ of kings who ruled the area for nearly one thousand years. Of these the most lmPortant were, Nahar Pal and Bhimp^l, who built the temples of Mahadeva and Bhimesvar.
ne Gangpal ruled for a period of 31 years and built the famous Gangola Talav. Dhondapal and Lakshamana Pal who ruled (or eleven years had built the existing of Dhondha and Laksmana gates on Gwalior fort. Thus, in all about 63 kings appear to have ru ed the area without any interruption.
As regards the associates of the Pal kings with Jainism, we do not ave any direct evidence much. However, it could be presumed that Suraj Sen could have been a Jain devotee.
In this connection, it may be stated that Gvalipa who hailed from Suhania, appears to have had early Jain origins. According to some authors, his legend is associated to 3rd century A.D. (275 A.D.)1
Geographically, Suhania is connected to Mathura, Barai, Panihar, Padhavali regions. These places lie on either side of the Agra-Bombay Highway. Evidently, the places, served as a regions of cul-de-sac for religious impacts.
It is clearly known that Mathura was associated with Jain movements even upto the time Kushan kings. From the mound of Kankalitila, the Jain origins of Mathura could be traced. Its historical traditions go back to the period of Srikrishna and Neminatha, the 22nd Tirthankar. Thus, the beginnings of Mathura could be attributed to the Epic period. Possibly, it continued to be recognised as a Jain centre till the period of the later Kushan Kings of Mathura.
All the places mentioned earlier including Suhania must have had the impact of Jainism of Mathura, as they continued to be important Jain centres even upto 12th century A.D. This could be confirmed by the Jain antiquarian remains discussed elsewhere in the text.
Incidentally, it has to be stated that at Kankalitila of Mathura also had Buddhist antiquities along with the Jain antiquities. This suggests that the Jains were later forced to move out elsewhere to different regions. Thus, from the Jain remains of Suhania, it may be concluded, that they had receeded into the interior, towards the cul-de-sac region, uneffected by political agitations.
The above instances suggest that Suhania must have been a Jain centre even from the early historical period. Besides, Gvalipa was said have hailed from the place, from the description of the hermit associated with vegetarianism and the legends of leprosy disease
As regards the monuments of the Pal dynasty, the first to be mentioned is the surajkund. It is a rectangular enclosure measuring 120×50 m. Evidently, it was thp work of suraj en who was cured of leprosy on taking a dip in the water.
Next, we come across the Biron Gate. This was attributed one of the very early rulers, gairon Pal- But it has a late inscription dated to 16th century A.D.
The Huns (6th century A.D.)
The ‘Pal dynasty’ of the kings of Gwalior might have been the vassals of the imperial Guptas during 5th centrury A.D. Taking the advantage of the decline of the Guptas during this period, the Hun chiefs Toramana and his son Mihiragula, invaded several of their strong holds and conquerred even upto Malwa.
From an inscription found on the Sun temple dated to the 15th regnal year of the reign of Mahiragula, mentioning the name of the hill as Gopagiri, it is clear that the Huns were ruling the area and that Gopagiri was under their control.
It is the earliest written record from the vanished temple of Sun dated to the year 525 A.D. But the Huns were driven out of Gwalior because of successive reverses suffered by Toramana and Mihirakula at the hands of Aulikara kings.
Some people identify the present Matadevi temple on the eastern bank of Surajkund as the original temple of ‘Sun’ in Gwalior fort.
Gurjara Pratihars :
After the death of Harsha in 647 A.D., there was no competent king at Kannouj to control his vast empire north of Narmada. This resulted in the fragmentation of his empire into a number of principalities under Rajput tribal chiefs. One such tribe was the Gurjara Pratihars who started ruling from Kannouj. They had substantial hold over Malwa.
The reigning king, Yasovarman of Kannouj was ultimately defeated by Lalitadiya of Kashmir. This had resulted the Yasovaraman shifting his capital from Kannouj to Gwalior where he ruled upto 754 A.D.
According to Prabandhakosa and Bappa Bhattacharitra after the death Of Yasovarman Am Raja succeeded him. He was said to have built a temple of Tirthankara Mahavir, the height of which was estimated to have run to 101 hands (50 m.)
Cunningham appeared to have surveyed the temple and found that it was in a bad shape. His study showed that the northern side now contains a masjid built during the time of lltamush.
Am was succeeded by this son Dunduk who was after a courtesan Kantika. Unable to tolerate her husband’s passion for her, his wife got him murdered by her own son Bhoja.
The old Pal kings continued to hold sway at Gwalior inspite of Harsha’s military ambitions during 7th century A.D. Possibly, he treated them as friendly subordinates. But after his death when Pratihars came to power, the Pal kings had to yield. An inscription of the Pratihara king Mihira Bhoj is in evidence in Gwalior fort in whose time a fine monolithic temple was built for god Caturbhuja (Vishnu).
Proceedings upwards along the road from Alamgir gate to Dhonda gate, on the hill slope, towards right, there are some reliefs on natural rock, and a temple. It is an ekandika latina sikhara prasada.
Architecturally, it is temple with simple mandapa in front and a Jala, with intricate mouldings. It has a ribbed stone amalasarika at the top. This was identified by Cunningham as the Caturbhuja temple. In the inscription of Bhoja dated to 876 A.D., we have the second authentic reference to Gwalior hill as Gopagiri.
Another important temple attributed to their period is the Teli-ka-Mandir. It is a stupendous structure rising to a height of 27 m. and has a length almost similar in height with its long portico.
It has four floors. The ceilings of the corresponding floors have disappeard.
Most impressive is the Shikhara. It has the gajaprsta feature (elephant hip), at the top of the vertical section suggesting the architectural tradition of the nearby temples of Telingana. It is thus shown as Teli (ngana)- ka-Mandir (Plate 39)
According to some, it is attributed to the period of Bhoja Pratihara.
There is another version that it could be associated to the Rastrakuta period. It appears that Govinda in occupied the fort during 794 A.D. Anyway the architectural study shows that could be attributed to the period between 8th to 9th century A.D.
The Kachhapghatas (950-1156 A.D.):
The Pal dyanasty of kings during with century A.D. appears in historical records of Kachhapaghatas. They are also identified as Kachawahas. It appears it is a corrupt name of the word kusawaha after Kusa1, the latter of the Epic twins of Lava, Kusa in Ramayana.
As seen earlier, their original home was Suhania, the place of Gvalipa saint. During this period, they divided their kingdom into three different administrative units with Gwalior in the north, Narwar in the south and Dubkund in the west. The Gwalior branch of the north, came to be identified as Kachawahas. Later they seemed to have conquerred the entire Malwa and some parts of Rajasthan. An ancient map showing their domain is given in this.
Several ancient Jain temples could be seen in the above places. They may be in ruins today but their religious commitment to Jainism and Hinduism cannot escape the attention of the visitors. Most conspicuous and intact temples associated with them are the Sas-Bahu temples.
In the porch of the bigger ‘Sasa-Bahu’ temple, there is a long rectangular slab with an inscription dated to 1083 A.D. It gives a good account of the geneology of their dynasty. It starts with Lakshman whose son was Vajradaman, who was associated with the temple of Padmanabha (Vishnu). He was said to have subdued Gadhi (Kannouj) and Gwalior. Even in this inscription, there is a clear reference to the name of Gwalior hill as Gopadri. (Plate-41)
Other Kachhapaghata kings mentioned in the record are
| (1) Mangalraj | (2) Kirtirarj |
| (3) Maladeva | (4) Devapal |
| (5) Padmapal | (6) Suraj pal, etc |
Evidently, Suraj Pal was the founder of the hill of Gopagiri. As regards the other monuments, built by them, the Dhonda gate is suggested. It appears that when the king Virasimha Deo was ruling the region, his son Dhondapal was entrusted with the task of guarding the northern frontier, to
check the advances of the enemies from northern side. Thus, we come across the of the gate towards north-east.
Now, at Gwalior proper we do not come across Jain antiquarian remains belong this period. But in the Gwalior Museum, there are few .mages of Jam Tirthankaras sarvatobhadrika from Gwalior.
The Tirthankaras are shown with their emblems, conch, vajra and a cresent moon. Evidently, they could be i enti le as Nominate Dharmanatha and- Chandraprabha, etc. But the well defined monographic features of later Tomar Period are found in only a few of them.
These above images have the earlier iconographic features, compared with those of the Jain images sculptured during the time of Tomar kings. Hence, they may be attributed to Kachhawaha period.
According to Shri Kharag Rai’s account, the last Kachhapghat ruler Raj Karan v/as Dulha Rai or bridgroom prince.
He never cared for the state. He married a Bangurjari princess, the daughter of the king of Amber. He received the kingdom of Dewas as dowry. Incidently, Dewas during the period was noted for its sculptors in stone. When he spent an year in the honeymoon leaving Gwalior affairs in charge of his nephew, some shrewed sculptors might have migrated to Gwalior, where they had better opportunities to display their sculptural art.
Thus, the last rulers of Kachhawaha dynasty who were never interested in state affairs were being watched by other local dynasties. Moreover, Gwalior had to face a new threat from the Muslim conquorer Mohammad of Ghazni.
The Muslim Invasion :
The Kachhawahas had trouble from the Muslims even from the very beginning of their rule. In 1019 A.D. when the Raja of Gwalior sided the Chandela prince Rajpal, he incurred the wrath of Mohammad of Ghazni. On the way to Kalanjar in 1023 A.D., the strong hold of the Chandelas, he laid sieze of Gwalior fort and compelled the king to submit.
Since Mohammad had no territorial plans on I ndia, he was satisf ied with a large amount of money and jewels paid to him by Rajpal. Thus, he could retain overlordship of Gwalior.
However, there was another threat in 1097 A.D. from Mohammad Ghori when the independent king of the Kachhawaha state of Gwalior had to yield to the forces of the general of Ghori, Qutbudin Aibek. Somehow the fortune had favoured the king. He threw
K ilis yoke from Delhi during the brief period of the next Sultan. This gave the Gwalior king Respite for three decades.
During this period, a Jain temple was built at the time of Viram Dev. This was traced cunningham. According to an inscription found on it, a temple of Adinath was built in 1108 A.D* by Karan Singh and Deo Singh for the benefit of their father.
But, again the Gwalior kingdom came under the heavy onslaught of Muslim forces headed by lltamush. Inspite of tough resistance by the king, he had to surrender to the Muslims. When the fort was finally captured in 1232 A.D. by sultan lltamush, the Rajput ladies of royal harem, burnt themselves instead of submitting to the Muslims.
This happened pear a tank. Thus, the tank is identified as ‘Jauhar Talav.’
The Incident was vividly inscribed by Kaharag Rai. lltamush remaind in Delhi with his people working for him in Gwalior. In 1234 A.D., he converted the Mahavira Temple of king AM (750 A.D.) into a masjid. lltamush was only a slave of Quttubdin Aibek.
But realising that he had a great mind and far sightedness, the sultan raised him to the high office and made him his own son-in-law. Subsequently, he became the first sultan governing over Muslim empire in India (1231 A.D.).
Although the Muslims are of different faith, they did not show interest in destroying sculptures, if we consider that those in the central Museum could be of the time of Kachhawahas. Moreover, there were no huge images of Tirthankaras that are prominent on the hill. The cave temples of Neminatha group if at all existed would have escaped their attention.
The Tughlaks (1251-1389 A.D.)
The Tughlak dynasty, ruled over Delhi for about 100 years from the later part of 13th century onwards, its last king being Mohammad bin Tughlak. He reigned as a tyrant carrying the sword and fire and spreading Islam. He collected a large amount of booty from the native rulers.
Reha of Ibn-Batuta, has given a vivid picture of the life in India a during the period.
Along with the growing dissatisfaction of his policies felt by his Amirs at different regions in India, there was a threat from the Mangolian conqueror Tamarlane. This had resulted not only in the death of Tughlak but also the end of his dynasty.
Tamarlane appointed Khajir Khan as the Governor of Multan and who subsequently became the Sayyid king of Delhi. Although their reign was short lived, they gave importance to some faithful Rajputs, that preferred to serve under them.
In the troubled period which ensued after the exploits of Tamarlane, the Kachhay ruler of Gwalior became independent. But the strong hand of Balban restored the Muslim over-lordship in the region. In 1251 A.D., he reduced Gwalior, Chanderi, Malwa and Narv in course of a single expedition.
The Khilji Dynasty : Md. Shah khilji (1389-1394) had to send his forces to Chanderi to check the rebel Amir. It was possibly Dungar Sen Tomar that helped him in beseiging the city of Narwar. This incidentally reduced the pressure of rebel leaders in invading Gwalior.
However, Gwalior was besieged by Khilji forces and the compaign was lead by Hussain, the brother of Md. Shah Khilji. The invasion was not successful. But they carried away large amount of booty.
The Sayyid Dynasty (1420-1451 A.D.)
Under Sayyids, Gwalior was a sovereign state paying taxes to them as subordinates. However, during the time of Muhmud Sayyid, the Tomar Rajah Dungrendra Singh had to be cautioned for non-payment of taxes between the years 1427,1429 and 1432 A.D.
Since the later helped Mubarak in beseiging the fort of Mandu, along with the troops from Gwalior, he appears to have been exonerated. In the meanwhile, with the death to Mubarak, the Sayyid dynasty came to a close. This shows that during the Sayyid kings of Delhi, Gwalior enjoyed independent soverign status.
The Tomar Kings (1394-1526 A.D.):
Getting absolute confidence of Sayyid Sultans, the Rajputs in a coupe overthrew them and caught hold of their kingdom at Delhi. During late 14th century, Vikrama Simha Dev Tomar had established independent state of Gwalior.
Towards the north-east of Padmavati on the right side nestled in foot hills there is a small village Kutwar through which the river Asan flows. A dam is being built today across Asan. At a distance of 1 km. fromt the dam, the remains of an ancient fort were discovered. From the remains, an inscription was recovered which revealed the name of the first Tomar King Viramdev, as the son of Deva Varta. He ruled the region from 1393-1400 A.D.
Evidently, he established the kingdom of Tomar dynasty of Gwalior.
Viram singh Dev was a man of letters .
He was well versed in Veda, Ayurveda, Jyotisa,
Virasimhavalok’. In his court, there were
influential Jains belonging to kastasangha. They include Jayasimha Suri. Nayachandra Suri and Padmanabha Suri.
According to Narwar inscription of Alladeva of Yajvapala Dynasty, the geneology of the kastasangha Jains of Mathura goes back to the time of one Bhuvanapala, the minister of the King Bhoja of Dhar. Bhavanpal built a temple of Tirthankara ’Santinatha’ during the year V.S. 1319 (1252 A.D.). The inscription was written by one Srivastv of kastasangha.
The historical study of Jain caves of Gwalior, attributed to Tomar Kings were discussed separately.
The Lodi Dynasty (1451-1526 A.D.):
The Rajah of Gwalior submitted to Buhlal Shah of Delhi (1451-89) just before the later’s death and continued his alliance to Sikander Lodi, only for some time. Thus, the Gwalior Rajah was still unconqurred.
Jalal, the brother of Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi (1517-26) was kept in Gwalior jail for siding the Amir Azam Humayun Sarwani, against Delhi.
Ibrahim continued to be cruel to the local kingdoms of Gwalior, Chanderi, Narwar, as such, they formed into a confederation and invited Babar to invade Delhi. The Amirs won a decisive victory at the battle of Panipat on April 26,1524.
Babar, though comparatively with less army had superior fighting technique and had an enviable store of artillery, as such, he could succeed. Later he could build up an empire of the Mughal dynasty.
Although there are no Jain monuments attributed to the region of Lodis, a bronze bull installed on the hill was said to have been taken away by Ibrahim Lodi in 1527 A.D.
The Mughals (1525-1754 A.D.):
In the fateful battle of Panipat in 1526. Sultan Ibrahim Lod, was k led ‘^vmg Je sultanate to the Mughal conqueror Babar. In 1528, Babar marched to Gwalior and took fort and the surrounding country, which thus formed a part of Mughal empire of De .
Malwa remained a defender of Gwalior till 1534 when Humayun conqured the Fort.
The policies of Aurangazeb spread roots of disruption in the empire which ultimately brought the whole Mughal edifice crumble, after his death.
Although Babar had made certain remarks as per his Babarnama against the naked Tirthankaras of Gwalior caves, there is little evidence to say that he had or ered them to be disfigured. If he had ordered them according to his wishes, the genital organs and other sculptural wealth, as seen today, could not have been retained. The damage confined to a few might have been of different causes.
Gwalior Fort as Prison :
The Moghuls, however, had utilised Man mandir mainly as a prison. Many unfortunate members of the royal family were made to climb 3500 steps from Hindolapor to Hathiapor to the enter the fort, and never to return.
Muazzam, a relative of Akbar, Khusro, the eldest son of Jahangir, Murad, brother of Aurangazeb, Sulaiman Shikoh Prince Muhammad, son of Aurangazeb, were all imprisoned in Gwalior fort and died without seeing the outside world.
Even the Sikh Guru Hargovind Singh was imprisoned in the pillared dome on the left of Hathiapore but was released by Jahangir at the inducement of Nurjahan. Others associated with him at Gwalior were also released.
During interregnum period when Humayun was away, Sher Shah Suri had made a hurricane attack on Delhi in 1542 A.D. and brought the Moghul domain under him. For sometime he had Gwalior as his headquarters. This was mainly because he was assisted by the Tomar king Ramadev who lost Gwalior to Humayun.
Sher Shah built Sher Mandir at Gwalior. But this was later converted as Jahangiri Mahal to imprison the rebel royalty. It had nine dark cells in which Murad, the brother of Aurangazeb and his eldest son.
Muhammad Sultan were confined to death
The Gwalior Gateways and their Antiquity
Besides the caves, temples and other monuments of Gwalior fort, there are some s‘ructures, that cannot escape the attention of the Archaeologist. They are the gateways to the fortress of Gwalior built from time to time, by the kings of different dynasties. There e historical records and inscriptions associated with their construction.
At present there are two gateways towards east and west linked by regualr roads. The road along the eastern slope of the hill, leads to the Gwalior gate, while the one towards west leads to Urwahi gate.
Before getting into the etymology of the name of the present gateway towards the east, we are faced with the question of its antiquity.
But the historical tradition confuses us with different names of the gates on the eastern side of the hill, like Hindola Gate, Hatia Gate etc. There are as many as five; and two more it seems were also there, but their remains cannot be traced.
Evidently, depending the necessity, they would have constructed them, at different times. Sometimes the same gate go by different names.
i. Gwalior Gate As regards the gate which is now popularly called as the Gwalior gate, it was once known as the Alangir gate. It is a situated at the lower level of the hill and it now houses, the law courts and other government offices. There are three inscriptions, in which, its name was referred to as Alangir darwaja and that it was built by the Muslim general Motamid Khan, in charge of Gwalior during the year 1660 A.D.
During the time of Aurangazeb it was made the office of the Adalat, Kachheri of Khazi.
ii. Bairn GateFurther up on the hills, ther are some more gates, the earlierst of them being the Bairon gate constructed during the time of Kachhawahas by the king Baironpal. Further up above the incline of the hill, there is another gate Badal darwaza. This was built in the name of Kalyanamal uncle of the Tomar king Mansingh.
iii. Lakshman Gate Next we come across the Lakshman gate. According to Cunningham, it is attributed to Vajradaman, the Kachhawaha ruler of Gwalior in the name of his father Lakshman. It was built around 870 A.D. Near the gate there is a rock cut temple of Visnu with two inscriptions dated to 875 and 876 A.D.
They also indicate their endowment, made to the temple by Ramadeva and Bhoja deva, Pratiharas of Kannuoj. Slightly away from this gate there are some relics of Hindu divinities and some secular scenes. Now the reliefs are getting oblitrated.
iv. Donda GateSlightly away towards northwest, of the former there is Donda Gate. It was said to have been built by, the Kachhawaha king Dondpal, son of Vira Simha Deo. Near the gate there is a temple of Siva. Since it was built by Dondapal, it derives the name Donda gate and since it was near the Siva temple, it is also known as Donda Dewi gate.
A later inscription in the temple of Siva shows that constructions were made the time of Mansigh, in the year 1495 A.D.
v. Hathia Gate It is also known as Hathipor or the Elephant Gate, built by Mansing Tomar. It derives the name from the life size figure of an elephant mounted by a mahout and the king. It is no more seen now. Cunninghan infers that during the time of Shahjahan, the governor of the fort Muzaffar Khan got it removed.
iv. Ganesh Gate This is not seen today. It was is attributed to Dungar Singh. To the east of the gate outside, there is a tank known as Nursagar. On the right hand side outside the gate, there used to be a temple of Ganesh. It is no more seen now. To please Aurangazeb, Motamid Khan created a small mosque in the year 1664 A.D.
vii. Gharguz Gate This lies towards the south. It derives its name because of it splashing waters and cisterns. On a rock near the gate, there are Hindu sculptures. Very near to it, lies Manasarover Tank.
On the gateway, the name of the sculptor, Mahesh is inscribed.
viii. Western Gate The second main road to the hill-top, as stated lies towards the western side. It leads to Urwahi Gate. There is yet another one known by the Nischal Gate. Of these, the former is popular. It was said to have been built during the time of lltamush in 13th cent. A.D.