Sangram Shah

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox royalty | succession = King of the Gondwana Kingdom | image = | caption = | reign = 1488 – <br /> 1541<ref name="thakur gonds">{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Anima |title=Tribe in transition : a study of Thakur Gonds |date=2005 |publisher=Mittal Publications |location=New Delhi |isbn=9788170999898 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72DFmlOlViEC&dq=Dalpat+Shah&pg=PA124}}</ref> | coronation = | full name = | death_place = | burial_date = | burial_place =  | predecessor = Raja Arjun Singh | successor = Dalpat Shah | spouse = | issue = {{ubl|Dalpat Shah| Chandra Shah<ref name="thakur gonds"/>}} | royal house = Rajgond | dynasty = | father = | mother = | religion = | signature = }} '''Raja Sangram Shah''' '''Madavi''' was a gon<ref>{{Cite web |last=Suber |first=Peter |date=2006-08-06 |title=Google will share trillion-word dataset |url=https://doi.org/10.63485/g7cqs-k7y11 |access-date=2026-05-16 |website=doi.org}}</ref>d king of the Garha Kingdom of Gondwana, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Raja Sangram Shah, who belonged to the Gond Dynasty in central India, was the 48th and most well known ruler of the dynasty,<ref name="thakur gonds"/><ref name= "Chandela">{{Cite book|last=Dikshit|first=R. K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a9j9ZJGJOV0C&dq=dalpat+shah+akbarnama+pp.+326&pg=PA8|title=The Candellas of Jejākabhukti|date=1976|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-046-4|language=en}}</ref> and during his reign he had conquered 52 forts to strengthen his kingdom. The Chouragarh Fort in Narsinghpur was built in his honour for conquering 52 forts.

His eldest son, raja Dalpat Shah, married Rani Durgavati.<ref name="goddess">{{cite book |last1=Datta |first1=Saurav Ranjan |title=Goddesses of Fury: History's Most Daring Queens |publisher=The Little Booktique Hub |isbn=978-93-93209-19-1 |page=151 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xDpTEAAAQBAJ&dq=Dalpat+Shah&pg=PA151 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="women">{{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Archana Garodia |title=The Women Who Ruled India: Leaders. Warriors. Icons. |date=20 April 2019 |publisher=Hachette India |isbn=978-93-5195-153-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4XuLDwAAQBAJ&dq=Dalpat+Shah&pg=PT67 |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==

Sangram Shah was born as Aman Das, elder son of the king of Garha-Mandla.<ref name= "goddess"/><ref name= "women"/>

Abul Fazl tells a tale as follows- He was born as Aman Das, elder son of the king Arjun Das of Garha-Mandla. He was later awarded the title of Sangram Shah by Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, for helping him in conquering Raisen.<ref name="misra"/><ref name= "women"/> Sangram Shah had been a self-indulging youth, whom his father had locked up to save him from himself. However, raja Sangram Shah managed to escape and enlisted himself in the service of Birsingh Deo, the Baghela ''raja'' of Rewa, who adopted him. While Birsingh Deo was away in Delhi serving Sikandar Lodi, raja Sangram Shah heard that his father was planning to place his younger brother on the throne. He went to his mother's palace stealthily, killed his father and declared himself king. Thakur Birsingh Deo of Rewa was horrified and invaded Garha to punish him. Raja Sangram Shah was in no condition to fight against the Baghela forces; hence he pleaded that he had already lost a father and did not want to lose another, somehow convincing the Baghela raja of the sincerity of his repentance. Abul Fazl says- "raja Aman Das wept continually and expressed his abhorrence of himself for his evil action."<ref name= "women"/>

==Reign== After Birsingh Deo left raja Sangram Shah to himself, he started his conquest at the beginning of the 1500s. legends say that as soon he become king he left his capital garha for 25 years to expand his kingdom .He was a brave and mighty king. he won many battles and never get defeated his whole life during his time.<ref name= "goddess"/> Garha-Mandla, which had been a petty chiefdom till this point, was massively expanded by him to include 70,000 villages, 57 pargana and 52 forts.<ref name= "goddess"/><ref name= "women"/> It is written about him in the Ramnagar inscription "He was to his enemies like a devastating fire to cotton bales"(वह अपने शत्रुओं के लिए वैसा ही था जैसे कपास की पुंज के लिए प्रलयंकारी अग्नि)<ref name= "women"/> his kingdom soon bordered a Rajput kingdom called Mahoba, ruled by a king of the Chandela dynasty, Keerat Rai. They conducted a marriage between raja Sangram Shah's son Dalpat Shah and Keerat Rai's daughter Durgavati, which could be a political alliance.<ref name="thakur gonds"/><ref name= "goddess"/> The alliance helped him negotiate the invasion of Sher Shah Suri successfully.<ref name= "goddess"/> Sangram Shah was best known as a patron of arts and literature and he had great knowledge of Sanskrit. "Rasratnamala" was written by him.<ref name="misra">{{cite book |last1=Miśra |first1=Sureśa |title=Tribal Ascendancy in Central India: The Gond Kingdom of Garha |date=2007 |publisher=Manak Publications |isbn=978-81-7827-185-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4MMAQAAMAAJ&q=Rasratnamala |language=en}}</ref> While touring Central India, Bhanudatta Misra, author of the ''Rasamanjari'', attended the court of Thakur Sangram Shah and sang his praises.<ref name="vani">{{cite book |last1=Jhā |first1=Ramānātha |title=Ācārya Ramānātha Jhā racanāvalī |date=2010 |publisher=Vāṇī Prakāśana |isbn=978-93-5000-210-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=opCiLyXHgs8C&dq=Sangram+Shah&pg=PA82 |language=hi}}</ref>

==Succession==

Sangram Shah was succeeded by his son Dalpat Shah, who would be in turn succeeded by his widow Durgavati after a short reign.<ref name="thakur gonds"/><ref name= "Chandela"/><ref name= "goddess"/><ref name= "women"/> Rani Durgavati would further increase Garha's prestige, but would not embark on an aggressive conquest like raja Sangram Shah, instead opting to remain on the defense in case of any conflict.<ref name= "goddess"/><ref name= "women"/> He also had another son named raja Chandra Shah, brother of Thakur Dalpat Shah, to whom the kingdom was restored after 25 years of Mughal rule and was recognized as the successor of Rani Durgavati by Akbar.<ref name="thakur gonds"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Sangram}} Category:Year of birth unknown Category:1542 deaths Category:16th-century Indian monarchs Category:Regents in India Category:Date of death unknown Category:Place of birth missing Category:Place of death missing Category:People from Narsinghpur district Category:People from the Garha kingdom