After the Tomar dynasty was started by Veer Singh in Gwalior in the late 14th Century, the area saw a mostly peaceful period of around 100 years during which a series of Tomar kings ruled Gwalior and brought peace, prosperity, cultural and political eminence to the region. Veer Singh was succeeded by his son Uddharan but he could remain a king only for two years as he lost his life. Uddharan was succeeded by Veeramdev Singh who ruled for the next 20 years. Veeramdev Singh was succeeded by Ganapati Dev who was succeeded by Dongarendra Singh. Dongarendra Singh made strong relationships with neighboring kings and ensured peace and prosperity for Gwalior. His rule lasted till 1450 and this was a period that saw much cultural patronization, in music, literature, architecture, sculpture styles et al. He was succeeded by his son Keerti Singh who followed his father’s footsteps and Gwalior continued to flourish. Keerti Singh ruled till 1480 and was succeeded by Kalyanmal who ruled only for five years. Kalyanmal was a learned man and had translated the biography of sufi paigambar Suleiman into Sanskrit. Kalyanmal was succeeded by his son Man Singh who ruled till 1518. Man Singh Tomar brought the most prosperous time to Gwalior and has left the most remarkable contribution to Gwalior’s heritage.
Man Singh ascended the Gwalior throne in 1486, inheriting a peaceful kingdom made prosperous by his ancestor kings. The thirty years for which he ruled were a mix of peace and war time. Gwalior was surrounded by multiple Muslim Sultanates when Man Singh came to power. In north, Punjab and Delhi region were ruled by Lodis. Malwa was ruled by Sultan Gayasuddin who was later succeeded by his son Mahmud II. Gujrat in west was ruled by Mahmud Bardhara. All of them were fiercely hostile to Indian/Hindu religion and culture and brought destruction to temples, buildings, statues and other cultural artifacts. In this difficult situation Man Singh formed friendly alliances with neighboring smaller provinces to safeguard the Gwalior region and its population. He was a friend of Maharaja Sangram Singh of Mewar. He also had relationships with neighboring small provinces of Etawah and Dhaulpur, which at multiple times became the frontier for battles when Gwalior was attacked by the Sultans of Delhi.
Delhi Sultan Behlal Lodi wanted to attack Gwalior, so he attacked Dhaulpur which is a little beyond Agra. The king of Dhaulpur gave him 60kg of gold and stopped him. He planned to attack Gwalior again next year, but this time he first went after Etawah and defeated the Chauhan king Shakti Singh. He moved towards Gwalior after that but died on his way. Behlol was descended by his son Sikandar Shah Lodi who extended friendship towards Man Singh and thus Gwalior's peaceful years continued. But Sikandar Lodi had too many enemies and after few years due to some political situation, Man Singh had to give shelter to some of Lodi’s enemies. This breached the friendship between Man Singh and Lodi, and Man Singh failed to placate Lodi through diplomacy. Lodi decided to attack Gwalior. For that he first attacked Dhaulpur and perpetrated fierce loot and destruction on Dhaulpur. After this he moved his army towards Gwalior. Man Singh’s son Vikramaditya and Dhaulpur's king Vinayak Pal Dev led Gwalior’s army and surrounded Lodi’s army near Morena. Out of sheer good fate, Sikandar’s army caught some infectious disease and Sikander had to retreat his army and enter a treaty under which Dhaulpur was given back to its ruler Vinayak Pal Dev.
But Sikander Lodi was a war monger. After a few years he again decided to attack Gwalior. This time he moved a very large army, and wrecked havoc in Dhaulpur one more time. After defeating Dhaulpur he moved towards Gwalior and Man Singh and his men fought with them in the jungles of Jaura and defeated them. This time Sikandar did not retreat from Dhaulpur and started getting ready for yet another attack on Gwalior. But this time as the war preparations were on, Sikander got very sick, and eventually could not attack Gwalior during the lifetime of Man Singh. In 1516AD, Maharaja Man Singh passed away and after some time Sikander died too.
Interestingly, even though Raja Man Singh had to constantly be warring to safeguard Gwalior’s sovereignty, he was also a man who had great love for music, literature, architecture and other arts. Arts and culture flourished like never before under his patronage. The Gwalior Gharana is a name to reckon with in Hindustani Classical Music although it is not so popular what with changing times. The most important contribution to Indian classical music from Gwalior is Raga Dhrupad, which originated from the court of Raja Man Singh, as is documented in Akbar’s biography Ain-e-Akbari. Even though Raga Dhrupad can be traced back to 1st Century AD, as its mention is found in Bharat’s Natya Shastra, Man Singh is credited for reviving it and making it popular in times to come. He also wrote a book on music and dance, called “Mankutuhal” which got translated to Farsi by the Subedar of Kashmir at the time of Aurangzeb, and thus reached faraway lands.
Man Singh ascended the Gwalior throne in 1486, inheriting a peaceful kingdom made prosperous by his ancestor kings. The thirty years for which he ruled were a mix of peace and war time. Gwalior was surrounded by multiple Muslim Sultanates when Man Singh came to power. In north, Punjab and Delhi region were ruled by Lodis. Malwa was ruled by Sultan Gayasuddin who was later succeeded by his son Mahmud II. Gujrat in west was ruled by Mahmud Bardhara. All of them were fiercely hostile to Indian/Hindu religion and culture and brought destruction to temples, buildings, statues and other cultural artifacts. In this difficult situation Man Singh formed friendly alliances with neighboring smaller provinces to safeguard the Gwalior region and its population. He was a friend of Maharaja Sangram Singh of Mewar. He also had relationships with neighboring small provinces of Etawah and Dhaulpur, which at multiple times became the frontier for battles when Gwalior was attacked by the Sultans of Delhi.
Delhi Sultan Behlal Lodi wanted to attack Gwalior, so he attacked Dhaulpur which is a little beyond Agra. The king of Dhaulpur gave him 60kg of gold and stopped him. He planned to attack Gwalior again next year, but this time he first went after Etawah and defeated the Chauhan king Shakti Singh. He moved towards Gwalior after that but died on his way. Behlol was descended by his son Sikandar Shah Lodi who extended friendship towards Man Singh and thus Gwalior's peaceful years continued. But Sikandar Lodi had too many enemies and after few years due to some political situation, Man Singh had to give shelter to some of Lodi’s enemies. This breached the friendship between Man Singh and Lodi, and Man Singh failed to placate Lodi through diplomacy. Lodi decided to attack Gwalior. For that he first attacked Dhaulpur and perpetrated fierce loot and destruction on Dhaulpur. After this he moved his army towards Gwalior. Man Singh’s son Vikramaditya and Dhaulpur's king Vinayak Pal Dev led Gwalior’s army and surrounded Lodi’s army near Morena. Out of sheer good fate, Sikandar’s army caught some infectious disease and Sikander had to retreat his army and enter a treaty under which Dhaulpur was given back to its ruler Vinayak Pal Dev.
But Sikander Lodi was a war monger. After a few years he again decided to attack Gwalior. This time he moved a very large army, and wrecked havoc in Dhaulpur one more time. After defeating Dhaulpur he moved towards Gwalior and Man Singh and his men fought with them in the jungles of Jaura and defeated them. This time Sikandar did not retreat from Dhaulpur and started getting ready for yet another attack on Gwalior. But this time as the war preparations were on, Sikander got very sick, and eventually could not attack Gwalior during the lifetime of Man Singh. In 1516AD, Maharaja Man Singh passed away and after some time Sikander died too.
Interestingly, even though Raja Man Singh had to constantly be warring to safeguard Gwalior’s sovereignty, he was also a man who had great love for music, literature, architecture and other arts. Arts and culture flourished like never before under his patronage. The Gwalior Gharana is a name to reckon with in Hindustani Classical Music although it is not so popular what with changing times. The most important contribution to Indian classical music from Gwalior is Raga Dhrupad, which originated from the court of Raja Man Singh, as is documented in Akbar’s biography Ain-e-Akbari. Even though Raga Dhrupad can be traced back to 1st Century AD, as its mention is found in Bharat’s Natya Shastra, Man Singh is credited for reviving it and making it popular in times to come. He also wrote a book on music and dance, called “Mankutuhal” which got translated to Farsi by the Subedar of Kashmir at the time of Aurangzeb, and thus reached faraway lands.
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