Indian history presents before us the inspiring deeds of many brave mothers. Since ancient times, Indian society has been praising heroic mothers under the glorious Shakta-culture and from time to time, mother-power has been successful in maintaining its valuable place in the society.
We get the symbols of Mother-Shakti worship from the archaeological material of Harappan period about 4700 years old. The Pallavit civilization in the coastal areas of the Indus and its tributaries is also called the Indus civilization. “It can be inferred from the majority of female idols excavated at many places of the Indus civilization that their family was matriarchal.” A statue of a woman called Devi has been found from Mohenjodaro, the main city of the Indus civilization.
Historically, the Vedic period has been determined after the Harappan period. Rigveda, the first composition of the Vedic period, has been around 3500 years. Scholars determine the composition of the first Veda between 1500 AD to 1000 AD. This period is also called the Rigvedic period. In this period, the importance of mother power was not limited to the purpose of having a son. Mother-power-‘Vishwara’ of Rigvedic period has been called “Brahmavadini” and “Mantradrashtri”. Ghosha, Lopamudra, Shashwati, Apala, Indrani, Sikta, Nivavari etc. are the names of many learned women, who were the authors of Vedic mantras and stotras.
It is clear from the religious texts of the post-Vedic period that the status of women had reached a low level in this period. “The Atharvaveda also condemns the birth of girls.” But even in this period there is a mention of Pattarani and Priya Rani as members of the state council of the king, which shows the respect of mother-power in the upper class of the society. indicates. In the Upanishad period, we find many women advancing in the ranks of philosophers, among whom the names of Maitreyi, Gargi, Atreyi etc. are notable.
After the Vedic period, the Indian history of the sixth century was the history of two enlightened human beings, Mahavira and Gautam Buddha. In this period, mother-power like Mahamaya, Trishara, Prajapati Gautami made a remarkable place in Indian history. Trishara Devi was the mother of Mahavira. While Prajapati Gautami was the mother of Siddhartha, who appears in the role of the initial teacher of the great man Gautama Buddha.
In the Mauryan period, Subhadrangi nurtured Ashoka in such a way that the Indian thought-philosophy of world welfare is still safe in the form of inscription heritage in a cosmopolitan form. In the Satavahana period, a king named Satakarni got fame as Satakarni, the son of Gautami by the name of his mother Gautami. In the Gupta period, Kumaradevi got the distinction of being the mother of Samudra Gupta. The name of Chandragupta II’s daughter Prabhavati is also engraved in Indian history. Who can forget Vidyotma, the wife of great poet Kalidas, who was the courtier of this king, who had vowed Shastrarth Swayamvara for her marriage.
How can one forget Panna Dhay, the queen of Rajput history, Karnavati. Durgavati, Chand Bibi, Noor Jahan etc. Mother Power got their names engraved in history during the Mughal period. Mother Jijabai, who made Shivaji a great warrior, is a typical example of mother power.
During the British period, mother-power like Rani Lakshmibai, Begum Hatrat Mahal, Pandit Ramabai, Sarojini Naidu etc. succeeded in presenting inspirational examples in India’s freedom struggle. In modern India, Indira Gandhi, Pratibha Devi Patil etc. have been a source of inspiration for many mother-power Indians.
If we look at the ancient history of Uttarakhand, the names of Bhagwati Nanda and Rajmatas are found in the copper plates of Kartikeyapur kings. Lalitsurdev was the great ruler of Kartikeyapur, by whom his grandmother Nathudevi, Mata Vegdevi and Maharani Samdevi have been mentioned in the copper plate issued in the 21st reign year. According to this copperplate, Maharani Samdevi donated a village named Gorunnasayan to Narayan Bhattarak.
Looking at the history of Kumaon, ‘Jiyarani’, the mother of Katyuri king Dhamdev, is worshiped as a goddess. Jiyarani is worshiped in the form of ‘Chitrashila’ at a place called Ranibagh near Kathgodam, which is called the gate of Kumaon. Every year on the eve of Makar Sankranti, the Katyuri descendants organize ‘Jagar’ in his memory.
Even in a short span of time, brave mothers made their special place in the society. A rare example of this period, which has been described by Pandit Badridutt Pandey in the book ‘History of Kumaon’. This brave mother was also called ‘Tewadi Brahmin’ and ‘Dharmakar Brahmin’s woman’.
The life of a woman in medieval Indian society was like a bed of thorns. At such a time, it was an act of great courage and sacrifice by a Brahmin to keep a royal son safe from the hands of royal conspirators and bring him up. In the history of Kumaon, the life of this courageous woman and her upbringing of Kul-Deepak of Chand dynasty is a unique example of presenting the power of women-power in the medieval era.
Rudrachand (1568-1597) was the first Chand king of the Kumaon or Chand period. Rudrachand’s eldest son Shakti Gusain was blind. For this reason, his junior son Laxmichand sat on the Chand throne of Almora in 1597 AD. Almora has been called ‘Rajpur’ in some copper plates.
Laxmichand ruled for a total of 24 years from 1597 AD to 1621 AD. The period of this king passed in the war with Garhwal and it is said that after being defeated in seven wars with Garhwal, he got Vijayashree in the eighth war. Scholars also associate this Vijayashree with the Kumaoni festival ‘Khatadwa’.
After the death of devout king Laxmichand, who renovated the ancient temple Bagnath of Bageshwar, a game of conspiracies started in the capital Almora for the kingship. This king had four sons, Dilipchand, Trimalchand, Neela Gusain and Narayan Gusain, of whom Dilipchand succeeded him. But in 1616 AD, it is clear from the Chand copper plate issued that Laxmichand had accepted ‘Trimalchand’ as his successor. In the witnesses of this copper plate, ‘Maharajkumar’ was written before the name of Trimalchand. In the past, there was a tradition of conferring the title of Maharajkumar on the successor prince. But after the death of Laxmichand in 1621 AD, Dilipchand was installed on the Chand throne under a conspiracy.
This conspiracy continued till Trimalchand ascended the throne. Trimalchand’s role in the Rajpur conspiracy after Laxmichand’s death was questionable. With the help of royal conspirators Piru Gusain and Shakram Karki, Dilipchand succeeded in getting the kingship. Dilipchand was suffering from tuberculosis. The conspirators installed an unwell prince on the Chand Raj throne and committed the evil act of killing other Chand descendants.
Prince Trimalchand, eligible for Chand Raj throne, had to take refuge in Garhwal and Narayan Gusain in Nepal. Another prince Neela Gusain was blinded and died after some time. In addition to the successor princes, their family members were also killed, so that a few descendants could not present themselves for power in the future. In this family massacre, the life of child ‘Baja’, son of Neela Gusain, was saved by a Raj Sevika.
Dilipchand died in 1623 AD within just 2 years due to tuberculosis. After Dilipchand, Vijaychand 1623 AD, Chand ascended the throne, who was the youngest son of Dilipchand. Vinayak Bhatt also joined the conspirators Piru Gusain and Shakram Karki. These three were called Trimurti. He took Raja Vijaychand under his control. In 1625 AD, the conspirator Shakram Karki killed Vijaychand after dinner. It is said that the king was in a state of intoxication at that time and Shakram Karki strangled him to death.
In a few copper plates published, the names of Shakram Karki, Sumatu Karki and Surttan Karki have been engraved. In the initial period of royal conspiracies, some descendants were hunted down and killed. For this reason, after Vijaychand, his uncle Trimalchand was invited from Garhwal and made Chand sit on the throne. Another party went to take Narayan Gusain to Nepal. But before Narayan Gusain reached Almora, Trimalchand had settled on the throne. So Narayan Gusain again took refuge in Nepal to save his life.
At the time of the royal conspiracy, Neela Gusain’s son ‘Baja’ was wrapped in a cloth by Raj Cheli (servant) and taken to Dharmakar Tewari of Chaunsar (Almora). Wrapping in cloth means that ‘Baja’ must have been a child less than three-four years of age. From 1621-22 AD, the childhood of the boy ‘Baja’ was spent in the house of a Brahmin (nurse mother) away from the palace.
In historical accounts, the mention of this anonymous Brahmin is found in the name of ‘Tewadi Brahmin’ or ‘Dharmakar Tewadi’s wife’ or ‘Pandit Narayan Tewadi’s mother’. This woman brought up her son Narayan as well as Rajputra Baja. During the time of conspiracy ‘Tewadi Brahmin’ was successful in keeping the life of child ‘Baja’ safe like a great midwife.
On the request of King Trimalchand, he handed over the child to ‘Baja’ only after taking the promise of security. After sitting on the throne of Chand Raj, ‘Baja’ also understood his duty and donated land to the family and descendants of Tewari Brahmins. According to Raja Trimalchand’s copperplate, by 1635 AD, the boy ‘Baja’ had become a part of the Chand royal family and had also made his place in the Chand copperplate by the name of Bajchand.
The childless king Trimalchand declared him the crown prince of Chand Rajya. In copperplate orders, he was given the first place in the witness priority order. Such evidence has not yet been received that Raja Baj Bahadur was young when he became the king of the Kumaon state or that he operated the state under someone’s protection in the early years of his reign. On the basis of 1621-22, the starting year of the royal conspiracy, his age was definitely more than 17 years at the time of coronation. In 1638, Bajchand ascended the Chand Raj throne by the name of Bajbahadurchand and continued to rule Kumaon till 1678.
The ‘Tewadi Brahmin’, who resides in Almora city, made her a valuable place in the history of Kumaon by nurturing the family lamp of a dynasty. Raising a prince’s son during the time of royal conspiracy, that too within the boundaries of the capital Almora, characterizes the ‘Tewadi Brahmin’ as a ‘nurse mother’ full of royal, clever, courageous qualities.
The life of a woman in the contemporary society was painful. In such a difficult time, only a great motherly power could have done the work of providing a safe life to her children as well as a child of the royal family. The understanding and shrewdness of Tewari Brahmin should also be seen as a human side that as a child, the early life of the great king of Chand dynasty ‘Bajbahadurchanddev’ was decorated by him.
It is known from a few period copper plates that the main means of earning livelihood of the Brahmin society was land-donation. The Brahmin community used to earn their livelihood as state employees. For a Brahmin, whose role in a few state-services is not found, labor was the only suitable means for earning a living.
Balak Baja returned the debt of this woman’s remunerative life after becoming the great king of Kumaon, Baj Bahadur Chand dev (1638-1678). This king honored Narayan, the son of his foster mother, as the eldest brother and donated land to him and his descendants through a copper plate. The history of Chand dynasty, where Baj Bahadur Chand is incomplete, Baj Bahadur’s childhood was indebted to ‘Tewari Brahmin’.
It was the most difficult task for a Brahmin woman in the middle age to provide safe maternal shade to a royal child in the midst of a blazing volcano of royal conspiracies. Therefore, this incident holds a unique place in the history of Kumaon.