"Glimmers of Grandeur: Tori Fatehpur's Royal Legacy Part II"

      Short History of Tori Fatehpur :  

A stunning view of Fort Tori Fatehpur
 in Dist Jhansi, showcasing it's historical
architecture and scenic surroundings
in Uttar Pradesh 

               Tori Fatehpur is situated on a hillock  in Jhansi District (Bundelkhand Region) of Uttar Pradesh on the Jhansi -Khajuraho Road, 30 kms East of Mauranipur and 100 kms from Jhansi.

              This private Fort is more than 300 years old. The fort is surrounded by 5 massive stonewalls. The structure of this fort is made in three parts – one part of the fort has Rajasthani art and the other parts has design from Mughal and British period. This fort is divided into four main parts - the oldest and the uppermost being 'Gusain Mahal', the next being the 'Ranwaas Mahal' ( where Ranis and Princesses used to live and watch the cultural programmes in pardas ), the third being the 'Rajgarh Palace' and the fourth being the 'Rang Mahal' and 'Badal Mahal' (which is a four storied building. At present, the 'Rang Mahal' and the 'Badal Mahal', is the private residential place of the Royal family of Tori Fatehpur. 

            This Fort has many tunnels, and one of the tunnels is connected from the big well to the tank near the 'Ranwaas Mahal'. On the East is the Pathrai River, on the West is the Tori lake, on the North are the hills and in the South, there are other parts of the fort. There are two types of Gurjas ( Gurjas are semi - circular portion of the fort walls, on top of which cannons were kept ). Some of the Gurjas are big and double storied where the soldiers used to sit with their guns ready and 20 Gurjas all around were for the cannons. 

               There are three massive gates surrounding the fort and are known as 'Maatan Gate', 'Khushipura Gate', and the 'Mehetar Gate'. All the gates are huge and made of thick solid wood. The Gates used to open at Sunrise and closed at Sunset. After the gates closed at Sunset nobody was allowed to go out or enter. If anyone wanting to go out would have to give genuine reason and after thorough checking the soldiers would open a small window door so that a single person could go out or come in. All the bullock carts were thoroughly checked for any suspicious enemies or harmful weapons. All the grain sacks were checked by soldiers poking their spears to make sure that no enemies were hidden among the grain sacks. During the night checking, soldiers on Horseback would stay on horses with fire burning torches (mashaal).

              There are two pathways to go inside the fort. One way is called the 'Solha Sidhiyan' and the other is called the 'Saathiya Gate'. Sixty soldiers always guarded both the gates round the clock. Through the 'Saathiya Gate', elephants used to go to the residential areas, this area is known as 'Toop Khana'.

                This fort also has a beautiful five storey temple. The upper most temple is dedicated to Lord Ram and Janaki ( Sita ). This temple is known as 'Ram Janaki Mandir' or 'Raj Mandir' also, opposite this temple there is Hanuman temple in which there is a huge Hanuman statue, which protects Ram Janaki Mandir. The other storey of the temple has Radha Krishna's attractive statues which are installed there. This temple is very intricately designed with many attractive and beautiful wall paintings and carvings. The wall and ceiling paintings are mainly based on Epics of the Ramayan, the Bhagwat, war stories, dances of the time and many other religious sites. 

                This Historical Fort was built before the Mughal Era in the 16th century. It was under the sovereignty of Gusain Sun Jogra, a group known for their plundering activities. The Gusains would raid nearby areas on camels and horses, instilling fear among local populations.

          In 1731 A.D. the Bundela invasion occurred under a powerful ruler Diwan Hindupath Singh Ju Deo descendant of His Highness Maharaja Bir Singh Ju Deo (Vir Singh Ju Deo) of Orchha. According to legend Diwan Hindupath had a dream of a vulture, which used to sit on Orchha Fort on every full moon (Purnamasi). This vulture was seen as an omen, signaling that he must do the battle whenever it would sit on any hillock and on seeing the vulture Kuwar Hindupath had to do the battle. Following this dream, he prepared for the war and led his forces into battle, ultimately achieving victory. 

           Kuwar Hindupath wanted to conquer and crush the supremacy of Gusains. There was a heavy bloodshed in the war between Kuwar Hindupath and Gusain Sun Jogra. It was a very fierce battle between them. At that time an old lady Jogan (जोगन) was worshiping and praying to God. She requested Kuwar Hindupath not to kill her son. Despite, he killed her son and won the battle. The old lady Jogan got very angry and she cursed him. 'You have killed my son, henceforth, you will not have any heir apparent to the throne for seven generations.' The curse came true and for seven generations no heir apparent was born, so all the successors were adopted from Bijna State.

THIS WALLPAINTING SHOWS KUWAR HINDUPATH
WITH THE GUSAINS AND JOGAN

              After winning the battle against Gusain Sun Jogra, Kuwar Hindupath was proclaimed the Diwan of Tori by his father Diwan Rai Singh as he was the eldest son, and as the fort was built on a hillock (toriya or small pahari) and named it Tori and he captured Fatehpur village and got victory (fateh) thus its name became 'TORI FATEHPUR' till this date it is known as 'Tori Fatehpur'. During his regime he expanded the Fort and made many developments to make it a prosperous kingdom. 

GRANARY KNOWN AS 'KHODHI'
(खोढ़ी)

           When Diwan Hindupath died, his adopted son from Bijna, Diwan Mednimal became the Jagirdar ( 1766 A.D.) and succeeded the throne, he was married to Rani Sahiba Bhuwan Kuwari, daughter of Diwan Himmat Singh of Kaheri. Tori Fatehpur again had to face the battle against powerful Lakhuji Rao Peshwa, who was one of the Maratha Chiefs. The fierce battle continued for 17 days. The great Peshwa was badly defeated and ran away. When the battle was going on, all the granaries were stored in different rooms where the openings were on the top which were covered with round iron coverings with huge rings to lift, were also known as 'khodhi' (खोढ़ी). During that time when all the three gates were closed and nobody were allowed to go out to bring the grains, these stored grains were used. 

                        Diwan Mednimal's adopted son Diwan Dhurmangal, who was also from Bijna, was married to Rani Sahiba Anup Kuwari, daughter of Rao Saheb Fateh Singh Pawar of Barechha, he also did not have any son of his own (due to the curse of the जोगन) so he adopted Diwan Surjan Singh Bijna's younger brother Kuwar Harprasad ( 1816 A.D. ) and made him his heir. Diwan Harprasad married Rani Sahiba Umed Kumari, daughter of Raja Saheb Khadhsa, he was religious and a great lover of art. He built many temples in Uttar Pradesh - Ayodhya, Bithur, Chitrakoot and Brindavan ( Vrindavan ) and a huge and outstanding temple in his own Fort Tori Fatehpur. 

            In 1822 he got Sarju Sagar tank constructed in an old style and at that time it was built of moram, stones and bricks, the water was always full and never dried up, which is two miles from his Fort. Near by there is a Hanuman Temple known as 'Hanuman Gadhi'. Both Raja Saheb and Rani Sahiba used to visit Ayodhya, birth place of Lord Rama. Rani Sahiba got Sarayu River water transported to Tori Fatehpur in bullock carts, and poured this holy water in the reservoir and named it 'Sarju Sagar' also known as 'Lathwara Talab.' On it's bank there is a temple and  three Cenotaphs (Chattris) with it's area of 1.08 acre and still is an ancestral private property of the royal family of Tori Fatehpur. The Chattris is a set of magnificent royal tombs where the Rajas and Ranis and royal family members were cremated there.

            Diwan Harprasad Singh received a grant (सनद) of 14 villages from the British Government on 11th April 1823. The 14 villages were:

1.    Tori

2.    Fatehpur

3.    Dhawani 

4.    Vaswaha

5.    Karri

6.    Rajwara                                    

7.    Dhana Bilgaon

8.    Etwa

9.    Rawatpura

10.  Lathwara

11.  Dawar 

12.  Ataniya                          

13.  Virsinhgpura and

14.  Dhuwani 

              In 1857 revolt against the Marathas, Diwan Harprasad supported the British Government as his descendants kings had done, and in 1857 he also died heirless, but before his death he adopted Diwan Mukund Singh Bijna's brother Prithvi Singh as his successor. 

          When Diwan Prithvi Singh sat on the Raj - Gaddi in 1858 at that time he was a minor so Diwan Harprasad's wife Rani Sahiba Umed Kumari was made the custodian. At the Imperial Assemblage of Delhi on 1st January 1877, on the occasion of the Proclamation of Her Most Gracious Majesty as Empress of India, Diwan Prithvi Singh received the additional title of 'Rao Bahadur' as a personal distinction. He was married to Rani Sahiba Hira Kumari, daughter of Diwan Saheb of Laudi. After the death of Rao Bahadur Diwan Prithvi Singh on 6th February 1880, his adopted son from Bijna, Rao Bahadur Diwan Arjun Singh became the Jagirdar at the age of ten years, under the guidance of his mother Rani Sahiba Hira Kumari as she was made his custodian. 

          Rao Bahadur Diwan Arjun Singh was born on 8th July 1870, and was educated at 'Rajkumar College' Nowgaon near Chattarpur (Bundelkhand Madhya Pradesh), and then he went to Daly College Indore Madhya Pradesh, he too succeeded to the Raj - Gaadi as a minor on 7th February 1880 and he had exercised powers since 15th August 1897 and maintained a military force of 15 cavalry (घुड़सवार सेना), 150 infantry ( पैदल सेना ) and 12 guns. He married Rani Sahiba Manek Ju Raja, daughter of Rao Bahadur Pahar Singhji of Karaiya in the Datia State. She died in 1964 at the age of 97-98 yrs. He ruled Tori Fatehpur for 62 years and died in 1942. They had a issue.

                 Rao Bahadur Diwan Raghuraj Singh Ju Deo was born in the Eighth Generation on 28th January 1895 and educated at Daly College, Indore. He was a very good Kabbadi player, and was his favourite game. He succeeded to the Raj - Gaddi on 7th April 1941 and he ruled Tori Fatehpur from 1942 to 1964.

                      He was a horse lover and a very excellent rider and was fond of good breed horses. His few favourite Horses names were 'Natkhat', which was very naughty, another named 'Bhura' was a dark chocolate colour. But the most beautiful and attractive of all, was a Mare from Kabul Afghanistan, she was pure snow white in colour and was named 'Sunderi', she was very intelligent and was fully trained, when he used to whistle very softly, wherever she was, she used to come running to him. She used to run very fast, faster then the other horses. His father had gifted this mare to him. As a child he was very pampered and stubborn as he was born after Seven Generations, his father Diwan Arjun Singh fulfilled all his wishes. He had purchased this Mare for INR.60.000 in that Era.

                Diwan Raghuraj Singh was very religious person. Throughout his life was totally vegetarian and drank only holy water Gangajal. The holy water of Ganga river was especially brought from Allahabad ( Prayagraj ) in very big containers by train till Mauranipur, and from Mauranipur station to Tori Fatehpur in bullock carts. The title of 'Raja' was conferred on him as a personal distinction on 1st January in the year 1950 by the 1st President of India Dr.Rajendra Prasad. He died on 17th November 1964. 

                      And in the Ninth Generation his son Raja Saheb Brijendra Singh Ju Deo was born on 11th May 1928 and succeeded the Raj-Gaddi in 1964. He was the last ruling Raja of Tori Fatehpur State. He ruled from 1964 until his death in 1996.

The arrowed bedroom window
 where Raja Brijendra Singh Ju Deo was born

 

         The descendents of this Great Royal Family of Tori Fatehpur still own this Fort. Raja Saheb Kaushlendra Singh Ju Deo, Raja Saheb Pushpendra Singh Ju Deo and Raja Saheb Bhanupratap Singh Ju Deo, at present reside at Tori Fatehpur House, 240 Civil Lines, Jhansi (U.P).