Kalinjar/ Kalanjara
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Kalinjar
Town and hill-fort in the Girwan tahsil of Banda Dis- trict, United Provinces, situated in 25 degree 1' N. and 8o° 29' E., 35 miles south of Banda town. Population (1901), 3,015. The fort occupies a hill which rises abruptly, and is separated from the nearest eminence by a valley about seven miles across. Elevation, 1,203 feet above the sea. The crown of the hill is a plateau. Vast polyhedral masses of syenite form the base and afford a comparatively accessible slope, but the horizontal strata of sandstone which cap the whole present so bold an escarpment as to be practically impossible of ascent.
Kalinjar is one of the very ancient forts of Bundelkhand, and separate
names for it are recorded in each of the three prehistoric periods of
Hindu chronology. It is said to have been called Ratnakuta in the
Satya-yuga, Mahagiri (' the great hill ') in the Treta, and Pingalu (the
' brown-yellow ' hill) in the Dwapara-yuga. Other accounts transpose
or vary these names. But its present appellation, Kalinjar, is itself
of great antiquity. It occurs, as will be mentioned hereafter, in the
Mahabharata ; it is conjectured to appear in Ptolemy under the name
of Tamasis ; and it is mentioned in the Siva PurSna as one of the nine
utkals, from which will burst forth the waters that are finally to destroy
the world. The modern name is sometimes rendered Kalanjar, from
the local worship of Siva under his title of Kalanjara, or 'He who
causes time to grow old.' It was a very ancient seat of Saivite rites,
and according to local traditions was strongly fortified by Chandra Brim
or Varmma, the legendary founder of the Chandel dynasty.
As in many other cases, Kalinjar was a high place sanctified by
superstition, and fortified partly by nature and partly by art. The
Mahabharata mentions it as already a famous city, and states that
whoever bathes in the Lake of the Gods, the local place for pilgrimage,
is as meritorious as he who bestows in charity one thousand cows.
The hill must have been covered with Hindu temples before the
erection of the fort, for the dates of the inscriptions on the sacred
sites are earlier than those on the gates of the fortress ; and the ram-
parts consist largely of ornamental pillars, cornices, and other fragments
of carved work, which evidently belonged to earlier edifices. Firishta
speaks of it as having been founded by Kedar Nath, a reputed con-
temporary of the Prophet, in the seventh century a. d. The Musalman
historians make mention of the king of Kalinjar as an ally of Jaipal,
Raja of Lahore, in his unsuccessful invasion of Ghazni, a.d. 978.
A Raja of Kalinjar was also present at the battle of Peshawar, fought
by Anand Pal in 1008, when endeavouring to check the victorious
advance of Mahmud of Ghazni in his fourth expedition. In 102 1
Ganda or Nanda, the Chandel Raja of Kalinjar, defeated the king
of Kanauj ; and in 1023 Mahmud of Ghazni besieged the fort, but
came to terms with the Raja. The Chandel clan of Rajputs removed
the seat of their government from Mahoba to Kalinjar after their defeat
by Prithwl Raj, the Chauhan ruler of Delhi, about 1182. In 1203
Kutb-ud-din, the viceroy of Muhammad Ghorl, took Kalinjar, and
' converted the temples into mosques and abodes of goodness,’ while
'the very name of idolatry was annihilated.' But the Musalmans
do not seem to have long retained possession of their new conquest ;
for in 1234, and again in 1251, we hear of fresh Muhammadan
attacks on Kalinjar, which fell into the hands of Malik Nusrat-ud-dln
with a great booty. In 1247 Sultan Nasir-ud-dln Mahmud brought
the surrounding country under his sway; but even after this date,
Chandel inscriptions erected in the fort show that it remained in the
hands of its ancient masters almost up to the close of the thirteenth
century.
Kalinjar next reappears in history in 1530, when the Mughal prince,
Humayun, son of Babar, laid siege to the fort, which he continued
intermittently to attack during ten years. In 1545 the Afghan, Sher
Shah, marched against the stronghold; during the siege a live shell
rebounded from the walls into the battery where the Sultan stood,
and set fire to a quantity of gunpowder. Sher Shah was brought
out horribly burnt, and died the following day. Before his death,
however, he ordered an assault, which was executed with instant suc-
cess, and his son, Jalal Khan, was crowned in the captured citadel
and assumed the name of Islam Shah. In 1569 Majnun Khan
attacked the fort, which was finally surrendered to him for Akbar,
who constituted it the head-quarters of a sarkar. Under Akbar,
Kalinjar formed a jagir of the imperial favourite, Raja Birbal. Later
it fell into the hands of the Bundelas (see Banda District); and
on the death of their national hero, Chhatarsal, it passed into the
possession of Hardeo Sah of Panna. His descendants continued
to hold it for several generations, when they gave way to the family
of Kaim Ji, one of their own dependants.
During the period of Maratha supremacy, Ali Bahadur laid siege
to the fort for two years, but without success. After the British
occupation Daryau Singh, the representative of Kaim Ji, was con-
firmed in possession of the fort and territory. But on his proving
contumacious in 181 2, a force under Colonel Martindell attacked
Kalinjar ; and although he failed to take the place by storm, Daryau
Singh surrendered eight days later, receiving an equal portion of ter-
ritory in the plains. During the Mutiny, a small British garrison
retained possession of the fort throughout the whole rebellion, aided
by the Raja of Panna. In 1866 the fortifications were dismantled.
The summit of the rock is between 4 and 5 miles in circuit, and is
fortified by a rampart rising from the very edge. Access is obtained
by a sloping pathway and flight of steps passing through seven gate-
ways, several of which bear inscriptions. Numerous rock-cut tanks
and a few remains of temples are to be seen on the plateau, and re-
ligious carvings and inscriptions are scattered about, some of which
have yielded valuable historical results. One temple, dedicated to
Nilkanth, is still in good repair. There are also many caves, some
of which contain inscriptions.
The town is locally known as Tarahti, and is situated at the foot
of the hill. It is now of small importance ; but the ruins of fine
residences and many old remains prove it to have been once rich
and important Tarahti contains a dispensary, and was till recently
administered under Act XX of 1856, but its importance is decreasing.
There is a village school.
[Journal, Astatic Society of Bengal, vol. xvii, pp. 171 and 313; Cunningham, Archaeological Survey Reports, vol. xxi, p. 20.]
