Mandla is a city and a municipality in Mandla district in

the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of

Mandla District. The town is picturesquely situated in a loop of the Narmada
River, which surrounds it on three sides, and for 15 miles between Mandla
and Ramnagar the river flows in a deep bed unbroken by rocks. The Narmada
is worshipped here, and many beautiful ghats have been constructed on the
banks of the river.
The city was a capital of the Gond dynasty who built a palace and a fort, which
in the absence of proper care have gone to ruins.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Climate
3 Demographics
4 Transport
5 Tourism
6 Environmental changes
7 Education centres
8 Mandla constituency (Politics)
9 References
10 External links
History[edit]
Mandla was called as Mahishmati nagari before 1500A.D.Gond queen,Rani
Durgawati ruled Mandla province and fought against Akbar her valiant effort to
save her kingdom is still subject of folklore. Rani Avanti bai of ramnagar later
fought with British to save her kingdom from annexation.
The Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla commenced, according to an
inscription in the palace of Ramnagar, in the fifth century, with the accession of
Jadho Rai, a Rajput adventurer who entered the service of an old Gond king,
married his daughter, and succeeded him to the throne. Alexander
Cunningham placed the date two centuries later in 664 . The Garha-Mandla
kingdom was a petty local chiefship until the accession of Sangram Sah, the
forty-seventh king, in 1480. This prince extended his dominions over the
Narmada Valley, and possibly Bhopal, Sagar, and Damohand most of the
Satpura hill country, and left fifty-two forts or districts to his son. In addition to
Mandla, Jabalpur andGarha in Jabalpur District and Ramnagar in Mandla
District served at times as capitals of the kingdom.
[1]

The control of the Garha-Mandla kings over their extended principality was,
however, short-lived, for in 1564 Asaf Khan, the Mughal viceroy, invaded their
territories. The queen Durgavati, then acting as regent for her infant son, met
him near the fort of Singorgarh in Damoh District; but being defeated, she
retired past Garha towards Mandla, and took up a strong position in a
narrow defile. Here, mounted on an elephant, she bravely headed her troops
in defence of the pass, and notwithstanding that she had received an arrow-
wound in her eye refused to retire. But by an extraordinary coincidence the
river in the rear of her position, which had been nearly dry a few hours before
the action commenced, began suddenly to rise and soon became unfordable
Finding her plan of retreat thus frustrated, and seeing her troops give way, the
queen snatched a dagger from her elephant-driver and plunged it into her
breast. Asaf Khan acquired immense booty, including, it is said, more than a
thousand elephants.
[1]

From this time the fortunes of the Mandla kingdom rapidly declined. The
districts afterwards formed into the state of Bhopal were ceded to the
Emperor Akbar, to obtain his recognition of the next Rajja, Chandra Sah. In the
time of Chandra Sah's grandson, Prem Narayan,
the Bundelas invaded Narsinghpur District and stormed the castle
ofChauragarh. During the succeeding reigns family quarrels led the rival parties
to solicit foreign intervention in support of their pretensions, and for this a
price always had to be paid. Mandla was made capital of the kingdom in 1670.
Part of Sagar District was ceded to the Mughal Emperor, the south of Sagar and
Damoh districts to Chhatar Sal Raja ofPanna, and Seoni District to the Gond
Raja of Deogarh.
[1]

In 1742 the Peshwa invaded Mandla, and this was followed by the exaction
of chauth (tribute). The Bhonsles of Nagpur annexed the territories now
constitutingBalaghat District and part of Bhandara District. Finally, in 1781, the
last king of the Gond-Rajput line was deposed, and Mandla was annexed to the
Maratha government of Sagar, then under the control of the Peshwa.
[1]

At some period of the Gond kingdom the district must have been
comparatively well-populated, as numerous remains of villages could be
observed in places that, by the early 20th century, were covered in forest; but
one of the Sagar rulers, Vasudeo Pandit, is said to have extorted several tens of
thousands of rupees from the people in 18 months by unbridled oppression,
and to have left the district ruined and depopulated. In 1799 Mandla was
appropriated by the Bhonsle rajas of Nagpur, in accordance with a treaty
concluded some years previously with the Peshwa. The Marathas built a wall
on the side of the town that was not protected by the river. During the 18
years which followed, the district was repeatedly overrun by the Pindaris,
although they did not succeed in taking the town of Mandla.
[1]

In 1818, at the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Mandla was ceded
to the British. The Maratha garrison in the fort refused to surrender, and a
force under General Marshall took it by assault. Mandla and the surrounding
district became part of the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories of British India.
The peace of the district was not subsequently disturbed, except for a brief
period during the Revolt of 1857, when the chiefs of Ramgarh, Shahpura,
and Sohagpur joined the rebels, taking with them their Gond retainers. British
control was restored in early 1858. The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories,
including Mandla District, became part of the newCentral Provinces in 1861.
The town was made a municipality in 1867. The Maratha wall was removed in
the early 20th century. By the first decade of the 20th century, Mandla
contained an English middle school, girls' and branch schools, and a private
Sanskrit school, as well as three dispensaries, including mission and police
hospitals, and a veterinary dispensary. A station of the Church Missionary
Society was also established there.
[1]

Climate[edit]
Mandla
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D


39

25
17


32

24
17


31

30
25


40

35
30


46

47
38


66

45
38


73

42
35


57

38
32


54

42
32


39

41
31


50

33
28


50

28
21
Average max. and min. temperatures
in C
Precipitation totals in mm
[show]Imperial conversion
Demographics[edit]
As of 2011 India census,
[2]
Mandla had a population of 71,579. Males constitute
51% of the population and females 49%. In 2011 Mandla has an average
literacy rate of 68.3%, higher than the national average of 59.85%: male
literacy is 79.5%, and female literacy is 57.2%. Scheduled tribes dominate the
population, so there is a Special education programs to promote them. In
Mandla, 13.7% of the population is under 6 years of age.90% of population are
Hindus,4% Christians, 5% Muslims and rest counts for buddhists,jains and
others.
Transport[edit]
Mandla is connected by road to nearby cities
like Jabalpur, Nagpur and Raipur through National Highway 12A (Express
highway). From Jabalpur to Mandla it takes less than 3:00 hours by bus (96 km
approx.). Mandla is served by a narrow gauge railway spur from Nainpur,
where it connects to the narrow gauge line betweenJabalpur and Gondia.
Tourism[edit]
Tourists are attracted toward Kanha National Park. Decades before tourist
were interested in Killa (Fort) in kille Ghat, Shahastra dhara but now due to
insufficient maintenance, even locals find travel inconvenient. For
accommodation there are a couple of hotels in the city and Hotel
Tourist (M.P.T) administered by state tourism in Mandla.
Environmental changes[edit]
Once this small town was considered among the most green towns; now this is
just a memory. Deforestation has largely affected this area as shown in
summer 2007 when the temperature exceeded 46 C. Each day around
20,000 kg of woods are cut. Only because of Ma Narmada (Narmada River) is
this town living: it bounds from all around.
Education centres[edit]
The prominent schools in Mandla are
1. Montfort School.
2. Maharshi Vidya Mandir.
3. Bharat Jyoti Higher secondary school.
4. Jagganath Excellence School (Govt.)
5. Gyan Deep English Medium (HS) School.
6. Sarasawati Shishu Mandir
7. Kendriya Vidyalaya
8. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya
9. Nirmala Higher Secondary School.
10. Amal jyoti convent school
The prominent High education centres in Mandla are
1. Rani Durgawati Mahavidyalaya
2. Jagannath Munnalal Choudhary Mahila Mahavidyalaya
3. Polytechnic Girls College
competitive institutes available here
1. Destination Institute (For Competitive Examinations) -(Director-Anand
Sir)Address:-Above Rozgar Office, Behind of Bus Stand, Mandla
2. Destination the Best Institute for All Competitive Examination- (Director-
Anand Sir)Address:-Above Rozgar Office, Behind of Bus Stand, Mandla
3. Destination the Best Institute for All Competitive Examination- (Director-
Anand Sir)Address:-Above Rozgar Office, Behind of Bus Stand, Mandla
4. Destination the Best Institute for All Competitive Examination- (Director-
Anand Sir)Address:-Above Rozgar Office, Behind of Bus Stand, Mandla
5. Destination the Best Institute for All Competitive Examination- (Director-
Anand Sir)Address:-Above Rozgar Office, Behind of Bus Stand, Mandla

The Best Institute for All Competitive Examinations------------------------
Destination Institute (For Competitive Examinations) -(Director-Anand
Sir)Address:-Above Rozgar Office, Behind of Bus Stand, Mandla
Bank/IBPS/Railway/Police-(ASI/SI/Constable)/Post
Office/PSC/SSC/Forest/GNT/B.Ed/D.ed/BSF/Very Special Batches for
Competitive English
Mandla constituency (Politics)[edit]
Mandla is a Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. This is a Scheduled
Tribe seat; it became a reserved seat in 1957. Members of Parliament
(as Mandla Jabalpur South):
1951: Mangroo / Govind Das Maheshwari, Indian National Congress (open
seat)
1957: Mangrubabu Uike, Indian National Congress
1962: Mangru Ganu Uike, Indian National Congress
1967: M. Uikey, Indian National Congress
1971: Mangru Uikey, Indian National Congress
1977: Shyamlal Dhurve, Bharatiya Lok Dal
1980: Chhotelal Sonu, Indian National Congress - I
1984: Mohan Lal, Indian National Congress
1989: Mohan Lal, Indian National Congress
1991: Mohan Lal, Indian National Congress
1996: Faggan singh Kulaste, Bharatiya Janata Party
1998: Faggan Singh Kulaste, Bharatiya Janata Party
1999: Faggan Singh Kulaste, Bharatiya Janata Party
2004: Faggan Singh Kulaste, Bharatiya Janata Party
2009: Basori Singh Masram, Indian National Congress
2014: Faggan Singh Kulaste, Bharatiya Janata Party
References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:
a

b

c

d

e

f
Hunter, William Wilson, Sir, et al. (1908). Imperial
Gazetteer of India, Volume 17. 1908-1931; Clarendon Press, Oxford.
2. Jump up^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including
cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India.
Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
External links[edit]
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mandla". Encyclopdia Britannica 17 (11th
ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 565.
Wikipedia