Kawardha, Khairagarh and Nandgaon

Princely States

Kawardha

Kawardha traces it's descent from the Gond kingdom of Mandla through the Zamindari of Pandaria. This estate was originally a part of Bhonda and then conferred to Mahabali Singh, the brother of the then Zamindar of Pandaria. Legends tell that Bhonda and Pandaria won a war for Mandla against Saugor but when both were to be present in the darbar, Mahabali Singh induced the Zamindar of Bhonda to stay back and lied before the king that the Zamindar of Bhonda fled the field. A part of his estates were thus transferred to Mahabali Singh as a punishment. An alternate version is that Mahabali Singh received the estate from the Bhonsles for his military service. On Tok Singh's death without succession, the estate was first ruled by his mother and then by his wife after which a nephew of Tok Singh, Bahadur Singh of Pandaria took the throne. He too died childless and the throne devolved to his nephew Rajpal Singh. Rajpal Singh also died childless and was succeeded by Jadunath Singh, a brother of the Zamindar of Pandaria, who being a minor, the kingdom was taken into direct British management. The kingdom had to transfer Khamaria to Khairagarh in lieu of an unpaid debt. Kawardha or Kabirdham is the headquarters of the Kabirpanthi Sect.