History of Karauli Jadon fort Mandrayal .

History of Karauli Jadon Kshatriya's Mandrel Fort and Old Mandrel Town ----

Old History of Fort

Famous chiefly fort is large old fort.20 miles north -east of the Mandrel city ,is the best known for its fort.This was the first important stronghold acquired in modern times by the Karauli family ;but it is said to have been originally built in pre-historic times by a Jadon raja.It is provided with tanks and mosques.

Founder of Mandrel Fort Raja Madan Pal --

Madan Pal son of Maharaja Bijai Pal of Bayana ,who founded Mandrel and rebuilt the fort which however had been originally raised by a jadon.In the south of Karauli 40 KM away from the bank of Chambal River and between the mountain ranges, this fort is made up red stone and situated on a small hill. Due to its location near to Gwalior. From the point of a monument, it is considered important. in the Surja Pol of Fort, there are direct sunlight from sunrise to sunset.

Maharaja Arjun Pal and Mandrel Fort--

In the year 1327 AD, Maharaja Arjun Dev had acquired this fort, which remained under the custodianship of Karauli dynasty.
Arjun Deo A.D. 1327 ,pursuing his journey ultimately halted at Ninda ,near Mandrel , on the Chambal he obtained a great influence over the neighbouring villages and corrupted the Mughul (Truks )troops in the fort of Mandrel ;the governor of the district was a careless stupid man named Mian Mukund ,who gave "pattas "or leases to the landowners in the most faithless way , revoking them when inclined , and so losing the confidence and attachment of the people , and a "Main Mukund patta "is a bye-word to the present day.
  Watching his opportunity ,Arjun Pal took possession of the fort .Some say that he found Mian Mukund out hunting near Nindar and that he killed him and then persuaded the sepoys to accept him as their governor .Indeed , by some means or other , he induced the Delhi Court to confirm his occupation .At this time Muhammad Bin Tuglaq was the sultan of Delhi .He then allied himself with the Rajputs of the Nindar Dang (Puars and Dors ) ,and by degrees brought the whole neighbourhood under his yoke .He founded the 24 villages of Sir mathura , and repossessed himself of all the territory formerly held by Timan Pal.
 
In 1454 Fidvi Khan son of Mahmud Khalji of Malwa also handing over Mandrel fort at the time of Raja Chandra Sen.In March 1505A.D.
  
Sikandar Lodhi also attacked the Mandrel region and destroyed this area and captured the fort of Mandrel to his governor Main Makkan and return back.Raja Gopal Das , regained a portion of this territory during Emperor Akbar's time.
   Tursam Bahadur , son of Maharaja Gopal Das and his descendants had it in addition Sabalgarh for a long period , but Raja Gopal Singh took possession of Mandrel and it has remained in the hands of the darbar ever since.A garrison of 300 men hold it under a killadar related to Malak Pal ,the commandant of the army.The

Jadon Kshatriya's in Mandrel Region--

According to the old histroy most Jadon Rajputs of this region are descendants of Tursam Bahadur (Son of Raja Gopal Das ) and Bali Bahadur (son of Raja Dwarika Das ) .

Mandrel Fort ----

Mandrel fort stands upon an isolated hill ,which rises abruptly from a perfectly level plain extending for some miles in every direction except where at the distance of about 1135 yards ,a bold promontory of the high land on which Karauli is situated presents itself.On this headland artillery could easily be placed ,but not within 1400 yards distance from the fort.The outer fort ,a bastioned wall , enclosing a considerable space on the summit of the hill ,is weak ,except on one side , and could be taken by assault and esclada in many places. The slope of the hill does not present formidable difficulties ;masses of rock and other irregularities of surface would afford shelter to an attacking party , which might reach the foot of the outer wall without loss.There is a strong square inner fort with bastioned corners against which guns could not be brought .The height of the hill on which Mandrel stands is about one -third of the height of Untgarh .
The fort has two gates --one on the north -east face leading into the town of Mandrel ;the other to the south -east leading to the village of Makanpura .It has two reservoirs which supply water to the garrison .There are two light guns which are usable , and the garrison consists of three hundred man.

The notable buildings are rampart round the town built by Maharaja Harbakhsh Pal ,a dargah of a Muhammadan relation of Bahadur ji (who after his perversion became a saint of repute ) , a chhatri ,temples and two tombs .On the hill , which rises from the plain about 1500 yards west of the fort ,is another dargah "Mardan Ghaib ".It is believed that any one who , ventured to spend the night there would die .

Old history of Mandrel Town ---

The town is situated about 19 miles from Karauli , being connected with it by a track , suitable only for horse or pony traffic and passing through holy country till within about five miles of Mandrel ,when thick forest is centered ,and the traveller suddenly , after passing down a very steep Ghat ,over which it is impossible to do anything but walk for some distance enter in to the valley of the Chambal ,when the town , with its fort crowning a hill , comes at once into view .Having regard to the physical aspect of the country ,it can be divided into two main divisions ,the "Dang "portion and the "Jareti"portion .The latter lies along Chambal on its left bank .It is Undulating and broken by "Nalas ".The "Dang"portion comprises the elevated hilly country which extends northward to within five miles of the city of Karauli.People living in this portion are entirety dependent on tanks for water ,and cultivation is consequently scanty.Owing to the rocky nature of this portion of the country , wells are very few and far between .Some of the most noted tanks are Nidar , Urpura and Khubnagar .
Brahmans have the Zamindari ,and have held it for more than a century ;formerly it was in the possession of Minnas .Some muslim families , chiefly in the service of the Darbar ,live in Mandrel.Boras and Baniyas prosper here , especially the latter.

References---
1-Gazetteer of the Karauli State by Percy Power .1874.
2-A Gazetted of Eastern Rajputana : comprising the Native States Bharatpur ,Dholpur and Karauli by H.E.Drake-Bockman 1905.
3-Khyatas of Karauli Rajya ,Rajasthan State Archives ,Bikaner.
4-History of Rajputana by Jagdish Singh Gahlot ,1937.
5-Vir Vinod (Karauli chapter ) by Shyamal Das.
6-Rajasthan district Gazetteers : Sawaimadhopur byMiss Savitri Gupta .

Author--Dr Dhirendra Singh Jadaun
Village-Larhota near Sasni
District -Hatharas ,Uttar Pradesh.
Associate Professor in Agriculture
Shahid Captain Repudaman Singh Govt.College ,Sawai madhopur ,Rajsthan ,322001.