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Gingee Fort - 1983 |
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 In
1983, when I was posted as the District Collector of
South Arcot District, I was informed about a unique
fort situated in the northwestern corner of the
district in the centre of Gingee Taluk. Apart from
being a unique architectural feat it is one of the
few forts in the State. Tamil Nadu is famous for its
temple architecture, whereas Rajasthan is well known
for its forts and palaces. In this context, the
existence of Gingee fort in itself is a landmark
architectural event in Tamil Nadu. The town of
Gingee is surrounded by several hills made of barren
volcanic rocks. Each of these hills has a very
jagged summit and a central stratified rock, topped
with huge rounded boulders. Even though the land is
dry and barren the landscape of Gingee is unique and
marvellous. The hills around are devoid of
vegetation except for a thick growth of thorny
shrubs and the fortifications of Gingee stand on
three such hills.
The three hills form the angular points of a rough
equilateral triangle. A huge rampart, about 60 ft.
in thickness and a ditch about 80 ft. in breadth
encloses the entire space, going all around it. The
walls are built of strong blocks of granite. This
massive enclosed track forms the lower fort. It is
three miles in perimeter and has two main entrances
piercing it, namely, the Arcot or Vellore gate and
the Pondicherry gate. The fort of Gingee has existed
for several hundred years; several ruling dynasties
are connected with the history of the fort,
including Vijaynagar Maharajas, Shivaji Maharaj,
Nawabs of Arcot, Tipu Sultan, the French and
British. However, the legend of the fort is most
popularly connected with the story of Raja De Singh,
perhaps the only Rajput ruler to rule Tamil Nadu.
The ballads about his courage and valour, his
devotion to duty and his loyalty to his friends, are
sung even today in the villages around Gingee.
Equally famous is his horse that has been buried in
Gingee close to his master. The character of Raja De
Singh is reminiscent of the stories of Maharana
Pratap of Chittoor and his horse Chetak.
I also discovered a community of Gingee Muslims who
are quite unique. They are the descendents of the
early Mughal army commanders. Their ancestors
originally came to India along with the first Mughal
emperor Babar. They continued to serve Humayun,
Akbar, Jahangir, and Shahjehan but fell out with
Aurangzeb. The story of their estrangement with
Aurangzeb is as follows. Very early in their rule,
in India, the Mughal emperors realised the
importance of maintaining peace and friendship with
the Rajput kings and making strategic alliances with
them. As a result over a period of time the Mughal
kings started marrying the Rajput women. Humayun
married a Rajput princess. Akbar's wife and
Jahangir's mother, Jodhabai, was the sister of a
famed Rajput Commander Man Singh. This was emulated
by not only the future kings, but also by their
courtiers and army commanders.
The community of Urdu speaking Muslims that settled
in Gingee belonged to this category of military
personnel. They had been the products of mixed
marriages. They were Muslims, per say, but due to
their maternal influences were observing many Hindu
customs and celebrating Indian festivals like holi,
diwali and so on. All went well till the reign of
Shahjehan. However, from the time Aurangazeb came to
power the whole scenario changed. The liberal and
secular minded Mughal commanders were issued a
warning, with immediate effect, or were to face the
consequences. The leaders of the community did not
tolerate the change and in the pitch of darkness
they escaped from somewhere around Meerut in UP
where they were then stationed.
They offered their services to Maharaja Shivaji, the
archenemy of Aurangzeb. Maharaja Shivaji was only
too happy to enroll them in his army and utilise
their services against Aurangzeb. It appears that
Shivaji's empire at one point expanded up to Gingee.
The legendary Raja De Singh, a Rajput King, could
have been his vassal. It appears that when the
Muslim Chieftains of Deccan owing alliance to
Aurangzeb attacked Gingee, Shivaji sent a contingent
of Muslim commanders loyal to him to help Raja De
Singh. After they won the battle they were offered
jobs in Gingee to stay on and protect the fort.
Since then they have settled there and some of them
have moved to the city of Madras and are important
members of the community. One Mr. Choudury possesses
the family tree showing all their ancestors and
tracing their migration from North to South.
C K Gariyali IAS
Source :
Chennaionline.com |
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