Editing Gondwana (India) (section)

==History==
A number of old kingdoms were established by ruling families of the Gondis and other scheduled tribes in this region. The first of these was mentioned in 1398, when [[Narsingh Rai]], King of Kherla, Madhya Pradesh, is said to have ruled all the hills of Gondwana. He was overthrown and killed by [[Hoshang Shah]], king of [[Malwa Sultanate|Malwa]]. From the 14th to the 18th centuries, three main Gond kingdoms existed: [[Garha]]-[[Mandla]] occupied the upper [[Narmada River]] Valley, [[Deogarh, Madhya Pradesh|Deogarh]]-[[Nagpur]] occupied the [[Kanhan River]] and upper [[Wainganga River]] valleys, and Chandra-Sirpur occupied present-day [[Chandrapur District|Chandrapur]], [[Gadchiroli District|Gadchiroli]], and eastern [[Adilabad District|Adilabad]] districts. 

The three Gondi principalities of [[Garha Kingdom|Garha-Mandla]], [[Gonds of Deogarh|Deogarh]], and [[Kingdom of Chanda|Chanda-Sirpur]] were nominally subject to the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperors. After the annexation of [[Berar Subah|Berar]] in 1595, the Mughals established governors at Paunar in [[Wardha District]] and Kherla in [[Betul District]]. However, the Mughals could not assert sovereignty over them, and the Gond kings enjoyed independence within their dominions and hence, Gondwana wasn't under the Mughal imperial administration. <ref>{{citation 
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3C1vz5ioOMwC
|last=Gommans |first=Jos |title=Mughal Warfare: Indian Frontiers and High Roads to Empire, 1500-1700 |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge |page=35|quote = Part of the sub-continent, however, remained outside the Mughal part because it was beyond the natural terrain of Mughal armies. Without exception, these natural outer frontiers consisted of the humid, malaria infested, dense forests and swamps of Gondwana, eastern Bengal and Assam, and along the foothills of the Himalayas and the Western Ghats.|isbn=9780415239899}}</ref> After the fall of the Mughals, Gondwana came under the rule of the [[Bundela]] and [[Maratha]] empires.

In the 17th century [[Chhatar Sal]], the Bundela deprived the [[Garha Kingdom|Mandla principality]] of part of the [[Vindhya|Vindhyan Plateau]] and the Narmada Valley. In 1733 the Maratha [[Peshwa]] won [[Bundelkhand]]; and in 1735 the Marathas had [[Marathas of Saugor|established their power in Saugor]]. In 1742 the Peshwa advanced to Mandla, and from this time until 1781, when Gond dynasty of Garha-Mandla was finally overthrown, Garha-Mandla was practically a Maratha dependency. Meanwhile, the other independent principalities of Gondwana had in turn fallen. In 1743 [[Raghoji Bhonsle]] of Berar established himself at Nagpur and by 1751 had conquered the territories of Deogarh, Chanda, and [[Chhattisgarh]].

The [[Maratha]] conquest of the region in the 18th century was followed by the [[British East India Company|British]] imposition of permanent settlement in the 19th century. A number of rebellions against British rule took place throughout the 19th century, some of which focused on the protection of forests against commercial logging.{{cn|date=December 2024}}