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True Valor
The empire that destroyed her kingdom kept the only good record of who she was.
Almost everything reliable that is known about Rani Durgavati was written by the people who killed her.
The Akbarnama is the official chronicle of Akbar's reign.
And it is the source that gives Rani Durgavati her birth date, her father's name, her caste and her marriage. The empire that sent an army to destroy her kingdom is the reason her life is documented at all.
That is worth holding onto while reading anything about her, in either direction.
Durgavati was born on the 5th of October, 1524. Daughter of Salbahan, a raja of Ratha and Mahoba.
A Chandel by caste. From a junior branch of the great Chandela house that had built the temples at Khajuraho. Not from the main line.
She was married to Dalpat Shah, son of Aman Das. Of the Raj Gond family that ruled Garha-Katanga.
The rest of this story, read aloud, and a new one every day.