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Mana Naga Dynasty: Forgotten Serpent Kings of Vidarbha

Mana Naga Dynasty: Forgotten Serpent Kings of Vidarbha
Mana Naga Dynasty: Forgotten Serpent Kings of Vidarbha

In the heart of Vidarbha lies a forgotten chapter of Indian history. The Mana Naga dynasty was a little-known line of kings who ruled parts of present-day Chandrapur in Maharashtra over a millennium ago.


Before the Marathas or Mughals, these Mana chiefs established a stronghold in the region’s dense forests and hills, constructing formidable forts and forging a distinct identity as Naga (serpent lineage) rulers.


Their story, pieced together from local legends, colonial-era records, and archaeological clues, reveals a fascinating tale of power, faith, and eventual conquest.


Far removed from the grand empires of classical India, the Mana Nagas developed their own kingdom that thrived for two centuries before being eclipsed by rising tribal powers.


Origins of the Mana Naga Dynasty


The Mana Naga dynasty traces its origin to around the mid-7th century CE, in the aftermath of larger dynasties that once dominated central India.


By roughly 650 CE, Mana chieftains had risen to supremacy over various petty chiefs in eastern Vidarbha.

Historical tradition recorded by British officials like Major Charles Lucie Smith speaks of a line of Mana kings centred at Wairagarh, an ancient hill-fort north of today’s Chandrapur.


According to these accounts, the first ruler was Kurumpruhoda, who fortified Wairagarh itself along with nearby strongholds at Garhbori and Rajoli. Subsequent princes continued this fort-building legacy. One Surjat Badwaik is credited with strengthening the defences of Surjagarh fort, while a later king, Gahilu, constructed the impressive fortress of Manikgad (Manikgarh).


Notably, Manikgad fort would become central to the Mana Naga identity and heritage. Per local lore and the Maharashtra state gazetteer, the fort’s very name was derived from Manikadevi, the patron goddess of the Mana Nagas. This deity’s importance highlights the dynasty’s spiritual grounding. Rulers often invoked divine protection to legitimise their authority. In fact, the Mana Nagas shared cultural ties with other “Naga” lineages in central India. Their goddess Manikadevi was essentially the same serpent goddess worshipped by contemporaneous Naga clans in the neighbouring Bastar region (Chakrakota), where she was known as Dantesvari.


Such connections suggest that the Mana kings were part of an extended Nagavanshi (serpent-dynasty) tradition, descendants of ancient tribes that once claimed origin from the mythical Nāga peoples. The Chandrapur Gazetteer explicitly classifies the Mana rulers as Naga-varna Kshatriyas, warriors of the Naga clan.


While concrete historical records of the Mana dynasty are sparse, archaeology provides intriguing evidence of their rule.


Manikgad, built on a high plateau 507 metres above sea level, stands in ruins today but preserves clues of its founders.


On the lintel of the fort’s main entrance is a carved cobra, a symbol associated with Naga rulers, in place of the lion-and-elephant emblem typical of later Gond tribes.

This serpent iconography strongly indicates that the fort was originally a Mana Naga creation, not a Gond fort as some local legends once suggested. The fortress itself was engineered with massive black stone blocks, boasting steep ramparts and an almost inaccessible hilltop position. Such construction not only exemplified the Mana kings’ architectural skill but also their strategic acumen.


By erecting forts atop rugged terrain and beside vital routes like the Wardha River valley, the Mana Nagas secured control over their domain and its resources.


Fortresses and Rule in Vidarbha


For approximately 200 years, the Mana Naga dynasty dominated parts of Vidarbha through this network of hill-forts and settlements. Their realm centred on Wairagarh, which served as the royal seat, but extended across dense jungles and mineral-rich hills where they built additional strongholds.


The fortified sites of Wairagarh, Surjagarh, Garhbori, Rajoli, and Manikgad formed a chain of defences that safeguarded trade routes and asserted Mana authority over local populations.

From these citadels, the Mana kings governed a largely forested kingdom, likely levying tribute from smaller chiefs and controlling the flow of goods such as forest produce and minerals through the region. Their rule is less illuminated by written records and more by oral tradition, but later historians infer that the Mana administration maintained stability in a frontier landscape that had seen little order since the fall of earlier dynasties.


The Mana Nagas also left an imprint on the cultural landscape of the region. They patronised tribal deities and perhaps even integrated local customs into their kingship. The patron goddess Manikadevi was revered not only at Manikgad fort, where a shrine likely existed, but also by kindred Naga communities beyond their kingdom.


An inscription from the former Bastar State refers to this same goddess, underscoring a shared religious heritage between the Mana Nagas and other Naga clans. Such links hint that the Mana dynasty, though geographically tucked away in Chandrapur’s forests, was part of a broader network of central Indian tribal kingdoms.


They may have even interacted with neighbouring powers. For instance, one 8th-century legend describes a Mana king mounting an invasion into Bastar, prompting the Bastar Naga ruler to seek help from a distant ally. This suggests the Mana chiefs were regionally ambitious and militarily capable, willing to challenge rivals beyond their immediate borders.


Despite the paucity of detailed chronicles, the longevity of the Mana rule implies effective leadership over multiple generations.

From the mid-7th century to the 9th century, the dynasty weathered the ebb and flow of surrounding political currents. It’s possible that the Mana kings had to navigate pressure from larger states – the era saw the rise of the Rashtrakutas and later the Kalachuris in central India. Indeed, some accounts indicate that eventually the Haihaya Kalachuri dynasty of Ratanpur asserted influence over the Mana territories.


This external pressure, combined with growing unrest among the indigenous Gond people within Vidarbha, set the stage for the Mana dynasty’s downfall. By the 800s CE, the Mana Nagas were facing formidable new challengers right at their doorstep.


Gond Conquest and the Dynasty’s End


The collapse of Mana power came not at the hands of a famous emperor, but through an uprising of the region’s tribal inhabitants, the Gonds.


Gond oral history speaks of a folk hero, Kol Bhill, who rallied the scattered Gond tribes of Vidarbha and taught them new skills in iron-smelting and warfare.

Under Kol Bhill’s leadership, the Gonds waged a protracted campaign against the Mana Naga chiefs of Wairagarh, who had lorded over them for generations. After years of intermittent warfare, the Gond tribes succeeded in wearing down the Mana strongholds. The fall of Wairagarh and the defeat of the Mana rulers around the mid-9th century marked a decisive shift in the region’s power dynamics.


As one historical analysis notes, the Gond victory over the Manas was not merely a change of rulers but a fundamental restructuring of political power in Vidarbha. An indigenous tribal confederation had toppled an established dynasty, ushering in a new era in the region’s history.


Following Kol Bhill’s revolt, a Gond chieftain named Bhim Ballal Singh emerged to formally establish a Gond kingdom on the ruins of Mana authority. By around 870 CE, Bhim Ballal Singh of the Atram clan had consolidated his rule and set up his capital at Sirpur, on the banks of the Wardha River.


Tellingly, he made the captured Mana fortress of Manikgad his chief stronghold, re-purposing it as the linchpin of the nascent Gond kingdom. Rather than demolish what the Mana Nagas built, the Gonds integrated it, a testament to the fort’s enduring strategic value. Over the next few centuries, the Gond rulers fortified and expanded these holdings, even enhancing Manikgad with additional walls and defences to suit their needs.


The site continued to be of such importance that it remained a mountain citadel for the Gond princes through at least eight generations, until the Gond capital eventually shifted to the new city of Chandrapur in the 13th–14th century.


With the Gond ascendancy, the Mana Naga dynasty effectively vanished from the political scene. The surviving Mana population was likely absorbed into the new social order or fled to outlying areas. Some historical traditions hold that the last Mana chief, presumably King Gahilu, was killed or deposed in the wars and that no Mana ruler ever regained independence thereafter.


The Mana forts were either occupied by the victors or abandoned to the jungle. A striking artefact of the final battle can still be seen at Manikgad.


A large iron cannon lies in a valley below the southern bastion, constructed from iron straps rather than a single cast piece, a design characteristic of early medieval firepower.

This cannon, possibly a later Gond addition, symbolises the changing nature of warfare that helped seal the Mana dynasty’s fate. By the turn of the first millennium, Vidarbha’s political landscape had been completely transformed, and the Mana Nagas had been eclipsed by the very people they once ruled.


The rise and fall of the Mana Naga dynasty is a reminder of the many forgotten kingdoms that shaped India’s regional histories.


Tucked away in the forests of Vidarbha, the Mana rulers built forts, worshipped their serpent goddess, and held sway for two centuries, leaving behind scant written records but a legacy etched in stone and folklore.


Today, the ruins of Manikgad Fort and other hill forts stand as silent sentinels to that bygone era, their weathered walls bearing witness to the Naga kings’ ingenuity and the turbulent battles that ended their reign. Historians and archaeologists continue to piece together this puzzle, drawing on gazetteer reports, local songs, and material evidence to illuminate the Mana Nagas’ story.


It is a story of a tribal dynasty’s ingenuity in carving out a kingdom, and of how history turned when those on the margins, the Gond tribes, rose to claim power for themselves. In bringing this lost dynasty to light, we gain a richer understanding of Vidarbha’s past and the diverse voices that have contributed to the region’s heritage.


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