MANDU - BEAUTIFUL CHILD OF NATURE AND HISTORY

I am mesmerized by historical places because these places tell us a story. A story which is just like abstract art, it’s all in front of your eyes but there is no sure way of knowing what the intention of the artist is. Mandu is one such place I visited recently and I have a story to tell about this amazing place. A long story which started 15 centuries ago and probably a reflection of how power changed hands in several kingdoms of India.

An Introduction:

Mandu is one of the hill ranges in the Vindhyas at a height of 634m from sea level. It is abundantly blessed with natural beauty and adorned much more beautifully by every ruler who has been here. Mandu is 35 kms from Dhar, a district in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and is well connected to several placesin MP. Dhar has played a very prominent role in the Malwa region from ancient history. Mandu also belongs to Malwa.  Geographically Malwa includes the Madhya Pradesh districts of Dewas, Dhar, Indore, Jhabua, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Rajgarh, Ratlam, Shajapur, Ujjain, and parts of Guna and Sehore, and the Rajasthan districts of Jhalawar and parts of Banswara and Chittorgarh.

A pictersque location in the Vindhyas on the way to Mandu- Green wheat field stretch at the hill's foot

Wheat fields everywhere

There is a fanciful legend that Mandana, a goldsmith found the Parash Pathar or the Philosopher’s stone and gifted it to the reigning king; The king built a fort and named it after the goldsmith, hence the name Mandu. 

The first mark of history in Mandu is of an Adinatha image, it is inscribed that this image in mid 6^th century was installed in Tarapur, Mandapa durga by a merchant named Chandrasimha.  Tarapur currently is a small village in Mandu and Mandapa durga is a vernacular equal of Mandava which subsequently changed to Mandu. Mandu was not heard of in the next 4 centuries.

Mandu was heard of again only in the 10^th century. During this time Mandu operated as the outpost at the border of the Kanauji Empire(Kannauj is currently a city in Uttar Pradesh, it was the capital of king Harshavardhana whose empire encompassed the entire region between rivers Sutlej and Beas) for protection from Deccan kings(five Muslim-ruled late medieval kingdoms—Bijapur, Golkonda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Berar—of south-central India).

At the end of 10^th century the Paramara( a Rajput clan which was one of the prominent rulers of medieval India from 9th to 14th century) rule rose in Malwa region. For Malwa, the capital which was Ujjain until then was moved to Dhar. This period under the Paramaras brought great glory to Malwa. One of the triumphs of this dynasty was under King Bhoja who forced Mohamed Ghazni (who was on a rampage at that time) to retreat. Mandu which was a strong military base is believed to have played a crucial role in this defense strategy.

The Lohani caves were excavated and Saiva temples erected in Mandu during the period of Paramara king Udayaditya. After him, the Malwa capital Dhar became less secured militarily. His successors moved the state capital from Dhar to Mandu, which until then was just being used as a military camp. This arrangement stayed till end of 12^th century, and in 1227 AD Shamshudin invaded Malwa, sacked Bhilsa and Ujjain. But he left Mandu untouched in exchange of a treaty with the reigning king Devapala. Mandu continued as the capital.

After Devapala, Jayavarman and Jayasimha II succeeded and after a series of battles Jatrasimha II and then Bhoja II took control of Malwa. Malwa had 4 rulers in a period of 30 years. At the end of the 13^th century when Jalaluddin Khilji defeated Bhoja II he destroyed the countryside of Mandu and returned to Delhi with large loot. But he left the Mandu fort to the Hindu rulers.

A ruined Anantha Padmanabha Swamy carving found in excavations

 While Mandu was trying to recoup from its wounds it was being eyed by two different kings. Beginning of the 14^th century Mandu was hit again. Mahlak Deo and Alauddin Khilji were simultaneously trying to invade the kingdom.  The Hindu General Gogadev was killed defending the kingdom from Deo. Deo went after the king who fled to the Mandu fort.  At the same time Alauddin got access to the fort through a spy. His commander killed Deo and Malwa was surrendered to Delhi Sultanate. Thus the Hindu rule in Malwa ended.

A picture of the single raised pulpit
with marble dome in the court
of Jami Masjid-
must have been a place for the king to sit 


The Delhi Sultans were slowly becoming sloppy in controlling the kingdoms and Dilawar Khan, a governor in Malwa took advantage of the situation. In 1401 he declared himself ruler of Malwa and Dhar was made the capital again. Dilawar died in 1405. His son Alp khan, popularly known as Hoshang shah ascended the throne and moved the capital back to Mandu.  He ruled for 27 eventful years, he spread boundaries, had conflicts with Delhi and went to war with Gujarat which almost cost him his throne. However his era saw extraordinary fortification as he displayed fine architectural taste. Jami Masjid built by him and his own tomb were ranked amongst the finest monuments of East. The construction even now would take you back to those days when the Sultan would have had his court and prayers here.



Jami Masjid-entrance has a huge domed porch- As you walk into the masjid you will see 58 small domes and 3 large ones on the ceiling-Simple interiors for the Prayer hall and the court of the mosque- A limited view of the 58 small domes in this picture



A madarasa at the bottom
was bulit first(the arches at the bottom).
A 7 storied structure was bulit later.
It was made the tomb of Mahmud
Khalji. A huge dome covered his
sarcophagus with two other domes
However what is shown in the picture
is all that is left of the Mahal

 After his death in 1435, Ghazani Khan aka Mahmud Shah died in 1436. He was poisoned by his own friend Mahmud Khan who ascended the throne. Mahmud Khan known for military expeditions took Malwa to its widest limit in his 33 year long rule. A seven storied tower was raised opposite to the Jami Masjid commemorating his victory on Rana of Mewar, only the basement and the Madrasa also known as the Ashrafi Mahal has survived now.

Mahmud khan died and his son Ghiyatu Khan succeeded, he had a regal career of 31 years all of them peaceful.  Ghiyatu who never touched wine had an extraordinary fancy for women and it is said that he had 15000 women of various classes and profession in his harem. Thousand beautiful young Turkish and Abyssinian women in uniform and armed served as his guards. But he was very religious and ruled with justice. For the romantic he seemed, the beautiful scenic structure of Jahaz Mahal can be attributed to him. Ghiyatu is believed to be poisoned by his own son Nasirudin for the throne, and Nasir later had a troubled career settling domestic feuds.



The Jahaz Mahal- built on the strip of land between waters of Munj and Kapur Tanks that it presents the sight of a ship anchored in between, hence the name Jahaz Mahal



The Hindola Mahal- An Audience hall of the Sultans- Hindola palace means swinging palace


   

Tomb of Darya khan
in red masonry has four small
domes surrounding a large tomb. The surroundings
have some ruined buildings and which gives
an impression that this would have been a very important place

Nasirudin haunted by his own mind became

very suspicious and violent tempered and he

died of a high fever after an unhappy rule of 10 years. Nasirudin’s son Mahmud II faced the same domestic issues of his father’s. But with help of his Rajput chief Medini Ray overcame these problems.Ruins from The Gada Shah (which means Beggar King) shop and house are speculated to  belong to Ray and his consort.  Insecure by Ray’s power, Mahmud  fled from Mandu and with the help of Gujarat’s Muzafar Shah II  ousted Ray to regain power. Muzafar’s successor Bahadur Shah invaded Malwa in 1526 and imprisoned Mahmud. The tomb of Darya Khan is a historical structure belonging to Mahmud’s  period; Darya Khan was an officer at Mahmud’s court.

   
   




The View of Baz bahadur palace from
the domes of roopmati pavillion

Humayun conquered the fort dethroning Bahadur, after Humayun left Mallu Khan aka Qadir Shah crowned himself at Mandu in 1536. After 6 years, Sher Shah invaded Malwa and his governor Shujaat Khan was appointed who died as the independent sovereign. Shujaat’s third son declared himself as ruler with the name Baz Bahadur.Baz Bahadur had a disgraceful defeat with Rani Durgawati, after which he took to music. The beautiful and famous Rupamati became his companion.  When Akbar’s General Adham Khan invaded Malwa Bahadur fled leaving Rupamati behind. Rupamati committed suicide to avoid being the victim of the enemy’s allurements.



The Roopmati pavilion- the basement intially was used as the military watch post. Later the first floor and the domes were made for Roopmati, who used to come here daily for seeing the Naramda River

During the Mughals Mandu lost all its glory. A recreation palace at the current Nilakantha temple was built by Budagh Khan, a governor at the fort.

The Nilakantha Main temple-A Muslim pleasure house converted to a Shiva temple because it is believed to be built on a Shiva Shrine

Akbar visited Mandu four times, his successor Jahangir spent 7 months here, Shah Jahan when was a prince visited Mandu twice. This beautiful resort for the Muslim rulers has been named by them as Shadiabad, ‘The City of Joy’. Mandu has been mentioned with reverence for its fortification in the Medieval Persian histories and also in the Memoirs of Jahangir.  One of four architects of Taj Mahal, Agra visited Mandu to study the structures here as reference for their new project in Agra.

Mandu hit a smooth road when Malhar Rao, the Maratha General invaded Malwa in mid 18^th century.  

The view of the city from Roopmati pavilion