Rewa

Princely States

Rewa is named after Rewa river or Narmada which rises in Amarkantak at the extreme South of Rewa state. The kingdom is founded by the Baghel clan of Solanki Rajputs who originated in Gujarat.

Kumarapala, the Chaulukya King of Gujarat granted the estate of Vyaghrapali or Baghel to his cousin Arnodeva. His great grandson Vyaghradeva, on a pilgrimage to the North reached Chitrakoot area in the year 631 which is assumed to be the Chaulukya dynastic era.

Arnodeva

Lavanaprasada

Viradhavala

Vyaghradeva

This gives the foundation of Rewa to 1234 AD. On the other hand, in 1244, the main line, led by his brother Visaladeva replaced the Chaulukyas as the ruler Gujarat and possibly maintained good relations with Rewa.

Legends tell that on his birth, astrologers predicted that the child will be a cause for great wars. Already staring at a Muslim invasion, the prudent king ordered his son to be abandoned in a forest. A tiger took him away and nourished him, and a passing Sadhu who decided to find out what happened to the infant found the child in a cave nourished by a tiger. The news soon reached the king and surprised, the king brought his son back and named him Baghela or son of a tigress and became famous under the name Vyaghradeva. When he became older, he left his father's court on a pilgrimage and went towards Chitrakoot after praying Kashi, Prayaga and Gaya. He entered the area when the central rule collapsed and made Marpha his capital city. He married the Ratanmati, the daughter of the Kanak Deo, the Raja of Pirhawan, inherited his father-in-law's kingdom and conquered the territory between Kalpi and Chandalgarh. Clearly, it tells that he settled as a vassal or the Chandelas as it is known that the Chandela line was still ruling in the area with some decent power and was gearing up for a severe backlash from Delhi Sultanate which came in 1251. However, Rewa expanded at the expense of Chandelas from the time of Vyaghradeva's successor Karan Deo. He married a Ratnapura Kalchuri princess and received the fort of Bandhavgadh as dowry which me made his capital city. By the time of Vilasadeva, the kingdom extended till Bilaspur. The kingdom was originally called Bhatha and later, Baghelkhand. On the other hand, the Muslim conquest of Gujarat in 1298 dealt a death blow to the Chaulukya power and Rewa saw a massive exodus of Vaghela clan into it's territories. Bhimal Deo extended the territory till Etawah and till Ujjain. In his last days, he abdicated the throne and left on a pilgrimage. He passed away in Dwaraka.