Chhatrasal

The Story

Born in 1649 into the Bundela clan, Chhatrasal grew up at the court of the Mughals, where his family served — but he dreamed of his own kingdom. At twenty-two he left the Mughal service, gathered a band of Bundela warriors, and began the war of independence of Bundelkhand against the empire of Aurangzeb.

For over three decades he fought and built: capturing forts, setting up his capital at Panna, and ruling a kingdom that stretched across Bundelkhand. He faced the armies of Aurangzeb and his successors, and though his kingdom was small, his guerrilla warfare and his alliances kept it alive against the greatest empire of the age.

In 1729, hard pressed by a Mughal general, Chhatrasal summoned the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I, who marched to his rescue and defeated the Mughals. In gratitude, the dying king gave Bajirao a third of his kingdom and his daughter in marriage — and the alliance of the Bundelas and Marathas became part of the history of both houses. Chhatrasal died in 1731, his kingdom secure.