Sengar

The region of central India known as Madhya Pradesh bears testimony of a few battles and lesser known rule of the Sengar Rajputs. In the eleventh century they migrated from Jalaun to some of the most fertile land of Rewa district known as Mauganj. They constructed garhis or forts in Mauganj, Nai Garhi, Mangawan, Bichhrata that was historically known as 'Mau Raj'. This little kingdom battled and survived the invasion of the Kalachuris until the Baghelas arrived in the region in 14th century and defeated the Sengars. They destroyed the fort of Sengars in Mau and forced them to disintegrate, posthumously the region was named Baghelkhand and Rewa became the capital of Baghelas.[2]

The Fort of Nai Garhi constructed by the Sengar clan

The disgruntled Sengars evaded to Naigarhi and reconstructed a fort more robust than their previous fort in Mau. However, the rising influence of Baghelas due to their amity with Mughals made them a much stronger opponent. The Sengars of Naigarhi took control over 107 villages and 36 thakurs of this clan were appointed in the villages of Gangeo, Pahari, Jodhpur, to say the least.[3] In 1882, the British forced the Thakur of Naigarhi to attend the Dussehera ceremonies in Rewa and once he paid his dues he was granted back his estate.[4]

The area of Lateri in present-day Madhya Pradesh was once ruled by the Sengars, whose livelihood was derived primarily from looting and plundering and was reflected in the name of their capital, Looteri.[5] In what is now Uttar Pradesh, the principal town of the Lakhnesar pargana during the medieval period was Rasra.[6] When the Sengars opposed British activities in 1812, Colonel Martindell came with a troop of sepoys to quell them, but the Sengars attacked the marching sepoys on Great Deccan Road and several were killed. The Sengars then plundered the area. Siddiqui considers this act of attacking British forces to be a part of the movement for independence of India.[7]

The Sengars' reputation as warriors originated in the Lodi era when they safeguarded their territories against the Delhi Sultanate and fought against Babur. They also remained one important segment of population when land reforms were carried out by Akbar in the Indo-Gangetic plains of Northern India.[8] They also fought against the British while maintaining their land rights and territorial regime in areas of Lakhnesar or Baliya in the nineteenth century.[9]

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Sengars were among those communities that practised infanticide and, in particular, female infanticide in Bundelkhand, an area that is now split between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.[10]

• Thakur Gopal Sharan Singh - a famous poet and the last feudal lord of Naigarhi, he is a popular figure in Vindhya and was awarded the title of 'Kaviratna' for his poetry. The school in Naigarhi is named after him.
• Kuldeep Singh Sengar - a former Member of legislative assembly, and belonged to Bhartiya Janta Party from Bangarmau, Uttar Pradesh, India who has been convicted of rape, murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation.[11] He is the main accused in the Unnao rape case and was booked under the POCSO Act.[12][13][14][15]
• Kratika Sengar - an Indian television actress[16] from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.[17][18]

• Kumar, Dharma; Desai, Meghnad, eds. (1989) [1983]. The Cambridge Economic History of India. 2, C.1751–C.1970 (Reprinted ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 36–40, 56. ISBN 9780521228022.
• Stokes, Eric (1975). "Agrarian Society and the Pax Britannica in Northern India in the Early Nineteenth Century". Modern Asian Studies. Cambridge University Press. 9 (4): 505–528. doi:10.1017/s0026749x00012877. JSTOR 312079. (subscription required)
• Baker, David E.U., ed. (2007) [2007]. Baghelkhand, Or, the Tigers' Lair: Region and Nation in Indian History. 1 (Reprinted ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 68, 88, 195. ISBN 9780521228022.