Narwar Town
Narwar Town, 1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
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.
Town in the district of the same name in Gwalior State, Central India, situated in 25° 39 N. and 77° 54 E. Population (1901), 4,929. The place is traditionally supposed to be the home of Raja Nala of Naishadha, whose romantic love for Damayantl, related in the Mahabharata, is familiar to every Hindu. Cunningham identi- fied Narwar with Padmavati, which, according to the Puranas, was one of the cities held by the nine Nagas. Coins bearing the name of Ganapati, who is mentioned as a Naga king in Samudra Gupta's inscription at Allahabad, have been found here. The history of Narwar has always been closely connected with that of Gwalior. In the middle of the tenth century both places fell to the Kachwaha Rajputs. These were succeeded by Parihars in 1129, who held pos- session until 1232, when they were expelled by Altamsh. The next mention of the fort is in 1251, when it was in the hands of Chahada Deva, who surrendered it to Nasir-ud-din. After the invasion of Timur, Narwar fell to the Tonwars, who held it until 1507, when it was taken, after a twelvemonth's siege, by Sikandar Lodi. This ruler gave the fort to Raj Singh, a Kachwaha, thus restoring the fortress to its original owners. Under Akbar it was the head-quarters of the Narwar sarkar of the Subah of Malwa, and Abul Fazl writes of ancient Hindu temples still standing in a part of the fort. Except for a temporary loss of possession in the time of Shah Jahan, the Kachwahas held Narwar a^ feudatories of Delhi up to the nineteenth century, when it was taken by Sindhia, to whom it was finally guaranteed by the Allahabad treaty of 1805.
The old fort is picturesquely situated on the steep scarp of the Vindhyas, 400 feet above the plain, and r,6oo above the level of the sea. The walls have a circuit of above 5 miles, and to the north lies a further portion enclosed by high walls, containing the shrine of Shah Madar, a Aluhammadan saint. A gentle ascent leads to the AlamgTri Darwaza, from which a steep flight of steps gives access to the summit through three more gateways. The fort is purely Muhammadan in character, but the numerous fragments of sculpture and architectural ornament show that in the flourishing days of Hindu sovereignty it was probably second only to Gwalior in the magnificence of its temples and other edifices. Sikandar Lodi remained here for six months, breaking down temples and building mosques, and effectually removed any edifices of importance. Among Hindu relics of later days is a gun Avhich belonged to Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur, bearing the date 1696. A small Roman Catholic cemetery in the fort contains a chapel and several tombs, one of which is dated 1747. This was no doubt the burial-place of the European gunners so frequently employed in native armies during the eighteenth century.
The town fies at the north-eastern foot of the hill on which the fort stands, near a bend in the Sind river, and is enclosed by a wall with three gates. Once a flourishing place on a route between Delhi and the Deccan, it has decayed rapidly since the construction of new roads and railways has carried traffic elsewhere. Just outside the walls stands a pillar on which are inscribed the names of the Tonwar chiefs of Narwar, a large baorl, and two fine Muhammadan bridges over the Sind. A curious sail stone recalls the memory of two wives of a family priest to Raja Gaja Singh who, on hearing of their husband's death in a battle in the Deccan, burned themselves together with his scarf. Narwar formerly produced a considerable quantity of crude iron, smelted from the magnetic iron ore abounding in the neighbour- hood ; but this industry has now decayed. A State post ofifice, a school, a dispensary, and a police station are situated here.
