Special cover on Ajaygarh fort issued during Mappex 2022
History of Ajaygarh fort
The history of the Ajaygarh Fort dates back to the days of the Mahabharata, when this area was part of the kingdom of Chedi. In the vicinity there was the old frontier fortress built by King Shishupala during his reign as described in the early parts of the Mahabharata. In the pre-historic and early ancient eras, it was part of expanding empires at the time based out of Eastern India, including the Nandas, the Mauryas, the Sungas and the Guptas. The modern fort was built in the 8th century by the Chandela Kings who took control of this region after the fall of the Harshavardhan Empire.
The Ajaygarh Fort faced its first Muslim invasion under Sultan Iltutmish of the Delhi Sultanate in 1226 AD, though prior to this attach, Sultan Qutubuddin Aibak’s army passed in the vicinity in 1209, but failed to localise the fort due to its hidden strategic location. Rulers of Panna, who were the sovereigns of this fort, made a subsidiary alliance with the Delhi Sultanate under four different Sultans, namely, Iltutmish or Altamash in 1226, Balance in 1273, Alauddin Khilji in 1297 and Muhammad Bin Tughlaq in 1327, and saved the Fort as well as the state from direct assault and destruction. It remained intermittently independent until it finally came under the Mughal rule under Emperor Akbar in 1561. This area became a part of the Dominions of King Chatrasal of Panna and then part of the expanding dominions of the Maratha Empire, and finally asserted its independence again after the third battle of Panipat in 1761.
Ajaigarh was the capital of a princely state of the same name during the British Raj. Ajaigarh as a separate kingdom was founded in 1765 by Guman Singh, a Bundela Rajput who was the nephew of Raja Pahar Singh of Jaitpur. After Ajaigarh was captured by the British in 1809, it became a princely state in the Bundelkhand Agency of the Central India Agency. The rulers bore the title Sawai Maharajah. The chief resided at the town of Nowgong, at the foot of the hill-fortress, from which the state took its name. The state acceded to the Government of India on 1 January 1950; the ruling chief was granted a privy purse of Rs. 74,700, and the courtesy use of his styles and titles. All of these were revoked by the Indian government in 1971, at the time when these privileges were revoked from all erstwhile princes. The former princely state became part of the new Indian state of Vindhya Pradesh, and most of the territory of the former state, including the town of Ajaigarh, became part of Panna District, with a smaller portion going to Chhatarpur District. Vindhya Pradesh was merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956.
Legends link the Ajaygarh Fort to a mysterious treasure hunt from the mythological ages. Just before entering the fort complex, one may see a double-rock structure with the lower bigger rock bearing some words written in a very ancient script, while the upper smaller rock has a sign of a lock and a key inscribed on it. At the main gate there are strange images made at the bottom of the structure, with writings made in the same script. Inside the fort premises, one can see a similar double-rock formation with an image of a cow, a lock and a key, and some writings in the same ancient script below the feet of the cow. There is a larger rock on another side of the fort, which has a clear description of a hidden place and a riddle connecting to it, written in the same ancient script. Local folklore connects this to the fabled riddle which is said to lead one to enormous treasures hidden somewhere inside or around this fort, originally owned by the legendary Pandava princes from the Mahabharata.
The archaeologists say that the rock inscriptions were made approximately 3000 to 3500 years ago, and the script used to write the information is a very ancient form of today’s Devnagri script. The basic idea that can be derived from the deciphering of the inscriptions does hint towards an ancient riddle, but since several parts of the writings are missing, it is difficult to draw any conclusions. Also, the inscription with the image of the cow hints that it is not a complete inscription and there can be other similar stone carvings which can complement the riddle. Unfortunately, other parts of the riddle are yet to be discovered, and so the mythical treasure of the Pandava Princes remains hidden somewhere in or around the Fort of Ajaygarh.
