Rani Karnavati, the Nak-Kati-Rani

Our history often shadows our brave daughters behind our brave sons. The heroic story of Indian queens who had made their enemies taste bitter defeat remained inside the ancient box. One such tale is of the Garhwal queen Karnavati, who broke the pride of the Mughals

The brave queen Rani Karnavati of Garhwal, Image source- women's web

<p>The story of Rani Karnavati starts with the Garhwal kingdom, which was an independent Himalayan kingdom in Uttarakhand. The kingdom was ruled by King Shyam Shah. The territory flourished under his rule, but his sudden death by drowning in the Alaknanda river shattered everyone.</p><p><br></p><p>After his death, his son, Mahipat Shah, took over the throne. He shifted the capital from Devalgarh to Srinagar in the Garhwal kingdom. As the new capital was located near the Alaknanda river, it helped them by extracting gold from the river, making Garhwal prosperous.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Mahipat Shah was married to the princess of Kangra, Karnavati. Everything was going well for Mahipat Shah and his king. But the dark clouds of terror wandered over the kingdom when he died in a war against the Kumaon kingdom.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Along with his death, huge responsibilities fell on Karnavati's shoulders. Even though her son Prithvipat Shah ascended the throne, he was only seven during that time.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Many neighboring states took the opportunity to attack the Garhwal, taking advantage of a young king and a woman, Rajmata. As the queen was left with no option, he had to fight against all of them.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><blockquote>When the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan got to know about the kingdom, he decided to conquer it. He was already aware of the gold mines of Garhwal, and this was a golden opportunity to attack it. The army was all set and led by Najabat Khan. He marched forward with 30 thousand armed forces to attack Garhwal.&nbsp;</blockquote><p><br></p><p>On the other hand, Rani Karnavati got a letter from the emperor telling them to either pay 10 lakh rupees or prepare themselves for a catastrophic attack. But, Karnavati wanted to fight. After all, she was a warrioress.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The Mughal army ascended the Shivalik foothills to face a guerrilla attack by Garhwali soldiers. When the army reached between the hills, both sides of the rods were closed. The Mughal army was trapped. Neither could they go forward nor turn back.</p><p><br></p><p>The situation got more and more difficult for them, the food resources were exhausted, and they started losing hope. Finally, the army head, Najabat Khan, decided to send a peace proposal to the queen.</p><p><br></p><p>The situation got more and more difficult for them; the food resources were exhausted, and they started losing hope. Finally, the army head, Najabat Khan, decided to send a peace proposal to the queen. But she refused it and decided to teach the Mughals a lesson that history would remember.</p><p><br></p><blockquote>If she wanted, she could have laid every soldier to death, but she had other plans. She replied to their message, where she wrote that she would let everyone retreat and that all the soldiers should chop their noses on the battlefield before leaving.&nbsp;</blockquote><p><br></p><p>During that time, cutting off the nose was a matter of shame and embarrassment. Thus, it was a very shameful loss for the Mughals. After this, Shah Jahan never turned back to Garhwal. It is assumed that Najabat Khan committed suicide on his way back. Since then, Karnavati was known as the <em>Nakkti Rani, </em>the queen who cut her enemies' noses.</p><p><br></p><p>Nicolao Manucci, a traveler from Italy in the 17th century who wrote Mughal treatises, mentions Karnavati's valor and the struggle of the Mughals.</p><p><br></p><p>She also contributed to public welfare and gave special importance to irrigation. She constructed many canals and tanks to deal with agricultural problems. It is also believed that the queen built the Rajput canal in Dehradun. She was also credited with having established the Karanpur village in Dehradun.</p><p><br></p><p>Even though her tale of courage could not surface and make it into our history books, those who know, have huge respect for Karnavati. She not only defeated the Mughals but taught them a lesson that would live in history.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>