Gwalior Fort is located near Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, central India. The fort is divided into two parts with a fortified structure. One part is Gujari Mahal and the other is Man Mandir. It was built by Raja Man Singh Tomar in the 8th century.
Many kings have controlled this fort at different times in history. Gujari Mahal was built for Queen Mrignayani. It is now known as a historical museum. The oldest documents related to "zero" were found in a temple on the way to the top of this fort. It was almost 1500 years old.
History of Gwalior Fort
There is no solid evidence of the time it took to build the Gwalior Fort. But according to the local residents, it was built by Raja Suraj Sen in the 8th century. He got it built in the name of a monk named Gwalipa as a thank you. It is said that the sage got rid of leprosy by turning the holy water of a pond yellow.
The sage had blessed him with the title of "Pal". This fort would remain under the control of his family as long as he kept this title with his name. Suraj Sen Pal's 83 successors had control of this fort but lost this fort to the 84th descendant.
According to historical documents and evidences, this fort definitely existed in the 10th century, but there is no evidence of its existence before that.
But the carvings and structures made in the premises of the fort indicate its existence in the 6th century as well; The reason for this is that some documents found in the Gwalior Fort mention the construction of the Sun Temple by King Mihirakula of the Huna dynasty. Gurjara-Pratiharasin had built the "Teli Ka Mandir" inside the fort in the 9th century.
Diwan Kachhapaght of the Chandela dynasty had control of this fort in the 10th century. Muslim kings attacked the fort from the 11th century onwards. Mahmud Ghazni captured the fort for 4 days and returned the fort in exchange for 35 elephants, it is mentioned in Tabaqti Akbari.
The Ghurid vizier Qutb al-Din Aibak, who later became the king of the Delhi Sultanate, conquered the fort after a long battle. After that Delhi again lost this fort but in 1232 Iltumish captured it again.
In 1398 the fort came under the control of the Tomar Rajput dynasty. Tomar Raja Man Singh made beautiful constructions inside the fort in the fort. Sultan Sikandar Lodhi of Delhi attacked the fort in 1505 with the intention of capturing it but he did not succeed.
In 1516 Sikandar Lodhi's son Ibrahim Lodhi attacked again, in this battle Man Singh Tomar lost his life and the Tomar dynasty surrendered after a year's struggle.
After 10 years, the Mughal emperor Babur captured this fort from the Delhi Sultanate, but in 1542, the Mughals had to lose the Gwalior fort to Sher Shah Suri. In 1558, Babur's grandson Akbar recaptured the fort. Akbar converted this fort into a prison for his political prisoners.
Akbar's cousin Kamran was kept as a prisoner here and then he was sentenced to death. Aurangzeb's brother Murad and nephew Soleiman and Safar Shiko were also sentenced to death in this fort. All these murders were done in the Man Mandir palace.
After the death of Aurangzeb, the control of this fort passed to the Ranas of Gohad. The Maratha king Mahadji Shinde (Scindia) captured the fort by defeating the Gohad king Rana Chhatar Singh, but soon lost it to the East India Company.
On 3 August 1780, the British captured the Gwalior fort by a midnight guerrilla war under the leadership of Captain Popham and Bruce. In 1780, Governor Warren Hastings restored the rights of the fort to Gohad Rana. After 4 years the Marathas again captured the fort.
This time the British did not interfere because they were cheated by Gohar Rana. Daulat Rao Scindia again lost this fort in the second Maratha-English war.
Between 1808 and 1844, the control of this fort kept coming in the hands of the Marathas and sometimes in the hands of the British. After the war of Maharajpur, in January 1844, the British gave this fort to the Maratha Scindia dynasty by appointing them as their Diwan.
During the Revolt of 1857, about 7000 soldiers stationed in Gwalior rebelled against the Company Raj. Even at this time, the vassal king Jiyaji Scindia maintained his loyalty towards the British. In 1858, the British recaptured this fort. The British gave some princely states to Jiyaji but kept the possession of the fort with themselves.
In 1886, the British took control of the whole of India and this fort had no special importance for them, so they gave it to the Scindia family. The Scindia family ruled the fort till India's independence (1947) and built many buildings, including the Jai Vilas Mahal.
The fort was kept in good care and many constructions were done in it like palaces, temples, water tanks etc. It has many palaces like Man Mandir, Gujari Jahangir, Shah Jahan. This fort is in an area of 3 kilometers and is 35 feet high. Its walls have been made from the sides of the mountain and it has been connected with 6 towers.
It has two doors, one in the north-east and the other in the south-west. The name of the main gate is Hathi Pul and the name of the second gate is Badalgarh gate. Manmandir Palace is located in the north-west, it was built in the 15th century and was renovated in 1648.
And that is why there has been a lot of discussion about this Gwalior fort in history. This is a priceless treasure given to us by history, whose importance is as much today as it was in the past.
