Revision as of 10:29, 15 November 2014

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.]