166 NAGPUR DISTRICT. of the villagers. Our historical knowledge of Nagpur, however, begins with the 16th century, when the District formed part of the Gond kingdom of Deogarh. Jatba, the first Ráj-Gond ruler who resided below the Gháts, perhaps a younger brother of the Deogarh king, constructed a strong fortress on the Bhiogarh Hill, commanding the chief passes from Chhindwará to the plains of Nágpur. The numerous Gond forts which now stud the District with their ruins, were probably built by him and his descendants to protect new batches of settlers, while the country around was being brought under the plough. Three or four generations later, about A.D. 1700, Bakht Buland raised the Deogarh kingdom to its greatest prosperity. His successful wars widely extended his dominion, while the connection he formed with Delhi, and his freedom from religious prejudices, led him to encourage the immigration of artificers and agriculturists, both Hindu and Muhammadan. Not least of his achievements was the foundation of the city of Nágpur, which was walled in and made the capital by Chand Sultán, the next king. On Chand Sultán's death in 1739, Wálí Sháh, a natural son of Bakht Buland, usurped the throne. The widow of the dead king called in Raghují Bhonsla from Berár, to support her two sons, Burhan Shah and Akbar Shah. Wali Shah was slain, and the rightful heirs placed on the throne. Raghuji then retired to Berár. Dissensions, however, speedily arose between the two brothers, resulting in a bloody civil war. In 1743, the elder brother invited the support once more of Raghují Bhonsla, who was again successful. Akbar Shảh was driven into cxile, and finally poisoned at Haidarábád (Hyderabad). But this time Rag. hují did not retire. He now constituted himself protector; and while Burhán Shah retained the title of Rájá, with a pension, both of which his descendants have since held, Raghují took all real power into his own hands, and, making Nágpur his capital, quickly reduced all Deogarh to own his authority. The nominal supremacy left to the deposed princes was probably intended to show that the Bhonslas held the Nagpur territory from the Gonds, and not, like the other chiefs of the Maráthả confederation, by favour of the Peshwá. Nevertheless, in 1744, Raghují took advantage of the difficulties in which the Peshwa found himself, to obtain from him a sanad conferring the right of levying tribute from Berár to Cuttack. In 1750 he received new sanads for Berar, Gondwáná, and Bengal. By his successful foreign wars, the first and greatest of the Bhonsla princes extended his rule over a wide country; and he was still in his full career of aggression when he died, at Nagpur, in March 1755 Raghují was succeeded at Nagpur by his eldest son, Jánoji, while Chánda and Chhatisgarh were given as an appanage to a younger son, named Madhují. Jánojí at first devoted himself to settling the territory
