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Gidhaur chieftaincy

Chieftaincy in Bihar Subah

  • 5 min read
  • 3 chapters

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Origins

The Gidhaur chieftaincy was founded by Bir Bikram Shah who was a Chandel Rajput. The family accounts detail that his family originally held a small chieftaincy in Mahoba in Bundelkhand but were driven out by various foreign incursions including the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni. From here they arrived in the Rewa area where they established the estate of Bardi. Bir Bikram Shah, who was the younger brother of the chief of Bardi, left his home and arrived in South Bihar where he established his power in the region by defeating the chief, Nagoria in 1262. From here, he continued to expand the extent of his chiefdom.

The Gidhaur chiefs were part of a larger movement of Rajput immigrants into Bihar from the 13th century onwards which included the rulers of Kharagpur Raj and Deo Raj.

The Gidhaur dynasty's first capital may have been the nearby town of Khaira, where there are ruins of an old stone fort. Another prominent ruined fort that probably belonged to the Gidhaur dynasty is Naulakhagarh, a bit southwest of Khaira at the foot of the hills. Although popularly attributed to Akbar or Sher Shah, the Naulakhagarh fort likely was built by the Gidhaur rajas while they were based at Khaira, and Naulakhagarh may have served as a capital as well.

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