Chanda

The Chanda dynasty was the Gond royal house of Chanda in the Wardha river country of eastern Maharashtra. The Gonds under Kol Bhill overthrew the Mana rulers of Wairagarh, and Bhim Ballal Singh founded the kingdom by 1320, ruling from Sirpur with Manikgarh as his stronghold.

Later kings adopted the title Shah, and Khandkya Ballal Shah, who reigned from 1472, built Ballarpur fort and founded Chandrapur, which later became the dynasty's capital. The kings developed irrigation tanks and the first regular revenue system among the Gond states. Recorded as independent in the Ain-i-Akbari, they later became Mughal feudatories within the Berar Subah.

Maratha power ended the line: Raghoji I Bhonsle of Nagpur forced a treaty in 1749 that took two-thirds of the revenue. In 1751 he defeated the rebellious Nilkanth Shah and imprisoned him in Ballarpur Fort, ending Gond rule at Chanda.