Chanderi Fort is located in Chanderi city of Ashoknagar district of Madhya Pradesh. Chanderi is a historical town and is believed to have existed since the time of Mahabharata. Presently Chanderi city is known for the historical Chanderi Fort situated here. Chanderi Fort was built by King Kirtipal of Pratihar dynasty and hence this fort is also known as Kirti Durg.
चंदेरी किला | Chanderi Kila in Hindi
History – Chaderi Fort
Chanderi city dates back to the Mahabharata period. At the time of Mahabharata, Chanderi was part of the Chedi Empire which was the kingdom of Shishupala. Chanderi city has historically been a part of the Nanda dynasty, Maurya dynasty, Shunga and Magadha empires. That place called Chedi is today known as Budhi Chedi. The remains of temples, inscriptions and sculptures scattered at this place show that this place must have once been a historical city, which would have gradually merged into the dense forests. Ashoka Nagar district is also named after Emperor Ashoka. It is believed that once Emperor Ashoka stayed here for a night during his journey.
Chanderi was ruled by the Pratihar dynasty in the 8th century. Kirtipala, the 7th king of the Pratihara dynasty, built this fort of Chanderi in the 11th century and made Chanderi city his capital. In the 11th century, there were continuous attacks from outside invaders and Chanderi city was also not untouched by this. In the 13th century, Chanderi came under the control of Balban and after that Chanderi remained under the control of different rulers several times. Chanderi came under the control of Khilji in the 15th century. After being under the control of Khilji for some time, Maharana Sanga of Mewar conquered Chanderi in the 16th century. Maharana Sanga handed over Chanderi to Medani Rai.
Chanderi continued to face wars and after that it came under the control of Bundela kings through Babar, Raja Puran Mal, Shershah Suri. Chanderi came under the control of the British in 1844 and at the time of independence it was a part of Gwalior state. After independence, Gwalior became a part of Madhya Pradesh and Chanderi also.
Geography – Chaderi Fort
Chanderi is surrounded by hills and is situated on a high hill. Chanderi Fort is spread over 5 kilometers and the entire Chanderi town can be seen from here. This place has been very important because of its location on the border of Malwa and Bundelkhand. Since Chanderi Fort was surrounded by hills, it was also very important from security point of view, hence this fort was attacked by many kings from time to time. The attack on Chanderi fort and the reconstruction work of this fort also continued continuously. All the kings got the fort built in their own way, the main ones being Khilji, Tughlaq, Malwa, Lodhi rulers, Rana Sanga of Udaipur, Mughals, Bundela and Scindia. Chanderi Fort is a symbol of a mixed culture and monuments.
Chanderi Fort
Chanderi Mahal appears to be three storeyed at some places and 4 storeyed at others. There is a large courtyard in the middle of the palace, around which the palaces, forts and other monuments are visible in the verandahs around it. Chanderi Fort is being renovated by the Archeology Department.
Gates – Chanderi Fort
Hawa Paudi – Chanderi Fort
This is the highest gate of Chanderi Fort. There is also a main door.
Khooni Darwaja – Chanderi Fort
This is the second main gate of Chanderi Fort. The reason behind the name of this door being Khooni Darwaza is said to be the bloodshed that took place here. In the 16th century, when Babar attacked the fort in 1528, Medni Rai faced him with his army. There was so much bloodshed in this war that there were heaps of dead bodies and streams of blood started flowing. For this reason this door of the palace came to be called Khooni Darwaza.
kati Ghati – Chanderi Fort
This door of Chanderi Mahal is towards the back of the palace. During the battle of Babar, his army was behind a hill and it is said that his army cut the mountain and created a narrow corridor so that his army could attack the palace from the rear. Medni Rai had no idea about this and suddenly he saw Babar’s army in front of his door.
Other monuments of Chanderi Fort include the Navkhanda Palace and the memorial of music emperor Baiju Bawra located behind the Navkhanda Palace. Johar Memorial is also built near this monument on which information about the attack by Babar and Johar done by Rajputanis is written. There is a stepwell here which is surrounded by forests on all sides. In this stepwell, the reflection of Navkhanda Palace looks very beautiful.
Johar Smarak – Chanderi Fort
When the news of defeat from Babar reached inside the fort, a huge pyre was built in Chanderi Fort and all the Rajput women surrendered themselves to the pyre. Within the medieval history, the Jauhar of Chanderi is considered to be the biggest Jauhar in the history till date. After winning the battle, Babar went inside the fort and saw that all the Rajput queens including all the queens had committed Jauhar inside the fort. The mention of this horrific Jauhar incident is still visible written on the stone at the place of Jauhar.
Bundel Khandi kings built many palaces in Chanderi palace and Mughal and Khilji rulers worked to strengthen the walls of the palace. According to Abul Fazal, 14000 houses, 612 palaces, 1200 mosques and 384 markets were built in this Chanderi fort.
War of Chanderi
Chanderi Kila in Hindi – Battle of Chanderi was fought in 1528 between Babar and Medini Rai Khangar. It is said that Babar had kept his eye on this fort for a very long time, his eyes were constantly on this fort. For this reason, Babar asked for this palace from King Medni Rai Khangar and also offered to give him several kilos he had won in return, but Rajput King Medni Rai Khangar rejected his proposal.
Due to Chanderi Fort being on a hill, if anyone was preparing to attack it, then King Medni Rai Khangar would have already been informed about it and that is why he could not attack this fort easily. After Babar’s proposal was rejected and knowing the importance of this fort, Babar decided to attack the fort. Babar surrounded the fort for many days but his army had elephants, cannons and heavy weapons with which it was very difficult to cross those hills and only after coming down from these hills, the Chanderi army caught sight of the enemy.
It is believed that Babar ordered his soldiers to cut the hill behind the fort in a single night to make way. Babar’s army cut this hill from top to bottom in such a way that a crack was created there through which he along with the entire army reached right in front of the fort. An 80 feet high, 39 feet wide and 192 feet long valley was created by cutting the hill. The entrance gate was made by cutting the mountain in the middle of the valley and two towers were also built on either side.
Raja Medni Roy Khangar was unaware of this and was stunned to see Babar’s entire army, but he bravely faced Babar’s huge army with his army and ultimately attained martyrdom.
Babar never stayed in this fort. After Babar, Malwa Sultan Mallu Khan captured Chanderi Fort, after which the Mughals again took control.
Chanderi Art
Chanderi craftsmanship is centuries old in Chanderi city. Many artisans can be seen doing this work in the streets of this city. Silk and zari work is used in this Chanderi cloth.
Best time to Visit Chanderi
The best season to visit Chanderi is from October to March. The weather of Chanderi remains pleasant during this period. The weather becomes very hot in summer but during monsoon it becomes quite beautiful.
How to reach Chanderi
If you are traveling by flight then the nearest airport to reach Chanderi is Bhopal city airport. The distance from here to Bhopal is approximately 200 kilometers. The second nearest airport is located in Gwalior. The distance from Gwalior to Chanderi is approximately 250 kilometers. Private and state transport facilities are available from both Gwalior and Bhopal to Chanderi.
If you are traveling by train then the nearest station to Chanderi is Lalitpur station at a distance of about 40 kilometers.
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