Komaram Bheem Asifabad District History

Also known as Ser Shah.

Changed the capital from Sirpur to first Ballarsha and later to Chanda.

Hira or Heera Singh was conspicuous among these rulers. He was the grandson of Bhim Ballal Singh. Brave in war and wise in administration, he was the first to persuade his wild fellow-countrymen to cultivate the land. To him is attributed something like a rudimentary land-revenue system. He was the first to levy tax on occupied lands.

The Ain-i-Akbari records the kingdom as being fully independent, and it even conquered some territory from nearby sultanates. Seldom is any mention made of these jungle kingdoms in the annals of the Imperial Court at Delhi, but so prosperous and important had Southern Gondwana become at this period that in the Ain-i-Akbari, or Chronicles of Akbar, it is recorded of Babaji Ballal Shah, Kam Shah’s son, that he paid no tribute to Delhi and possessed an army of 10,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. In his reign the city of Wairagarh — the capital of their hereditary foes — was added to the kingdom of Chanda.

However, during Akbar’s rule, Babji Shah began paying tribute after the Mughals incorporated territory to their south into the Berar Subah.

It was during his reign that the city walls surrounding Chanda were completed and, as such, inaugurated by him with due ceremonies, which included, among other things, the completion of the city walls.

During the reign of Emperor Jahangir, grants were made to Govind Rao, sardeshmukh of the domain of Raja Birshah and Raja Ballashah, of zamindari and jagir rights — that is, the rights of revenue collection and local administration — in the five villages of Sirpur, Pangri, Kanchapalli, Jainur and Chorpalli.

Son of Dhundia Ram Shah. He extended the territory to Nagpur. The custom of sacrificing cows to the Gond god Pharsa Pen was abolished by him and it was substituted with goat.

1637 AD: In January 1637, Deogarh was invaded by Khan-i-Dauran, joined by Krishna Shah of Chanda, who had enmity with the Deogarh kings since the reign of Jatba. Kok Shah was defeated in the siege of the Nagpur fort and submitted to Khan-i-Dauran on 16 January 1637.

Bir Shah discontinued tribute to the Mughals following the house arrest of Shah Jahan, but Aurangzeb sent an army under the command of Diler Khan to attack the Gonds, forcing them to sue for peace.

Famous for wisdom and uprightness was Ram Shah, one of the last kings of Chanda. It is reported of him that when Raghuji Bhonsla, the Maratha leader, visited Chanda with a view to seeking a pretext for a quarrel, he ended his visit by almost worshipping him as a god. Canon Wood writes in his article on Chanda: “Well would it have been if the fast failing thread of the Gond rule had been severed at Ram Shah’s death.”

In 1724 AD, Nizam-e-Mulk defeated Mubariz Khan and took possession of the Deccan and began to rule.

Ram Shah’s son and successor, Nilkanth Shah, was an evil and cruel ruler, who dismissed his father’s most trustworthy councillors, ground down his subjects, and interfered foolishly and needlessly in the political disputes of Deogarh. All the time the Maratha foe was waiting for his opportunity, and when he again approached the gates of the royal city of Chanda, it was not by force of arms, but by the treachery of a discontented people, that he triumphed.

1751 AD: The last Gond Raja Nilkanth Shah was defeated and imprisoned by Raghoji Bhonsla of Nagpur in 1751 AD and merged into Nagpur.

Ramji Gond ruled Asifabad, which comprised some parts of Nirmal and Adilabad areas. At that time the area was known as Jangam.

Gonds under Ramji Gond’s leadership revolted against the British, which was suppressed by the then administrators at Nirmal.