Nothing except conjecture can be stated as to the history of Nagpur from this time until the rise of the Gond kingdom towards the end of the 16th century. Deogarh, the headquarters of the old Gond dynasty of Chhindwara and Nagpur, is a fortress about 24 miles south-west of Chhindwara, picturesquely situated on a crest of the hills. For a short period towards the end of its existence, the Deogarh kingdom became of such importance as to overshadow those of Mandla and Chanda and to take first place among the Gond States. Of its earlier history, practically nothing is known, here, as elsewhere, popular tradition tells of a Gaoli kingdom preceding the Gonds. The semi-mythical Gond hero, Jatba, who founded the dynasty, was born from a virgin under a bean-plant, and was protected by a cobra, which came and spread its hood over him during the heat of the day, when his mother left him to go to her work. When he grew up, he went to Deogarh and took service under the win Gaoli kings, Ransur and Ghansur    , whose favour he gained by the feat of lifting the large castle gate off its hangs with his bare hands. He was ordered to slaughter the buffalo at the next Diwali festival, but was distressed as to how he should do this having no weapon but a wooden cudgel. The goddess Devi, however, appeared to him in a dream, and told him that when the moment came his stick would change into a sword of the finest temper, and that after slaughtering the buffalo he should jump on to the royal elephant, kill the kings, and establish himself in their stead. All this came to pass as the goddess directed. Jatba is said to have built the Deogarh fort and also those of Patansaongi and Nagardhan below the hills. But the existing remains at Deogarh are in the Muhammadan style, and were, on doubt, constructed by bakht Buland after his visit to Delhi. Mr. Craddock records a local tradition, according to which Deogarh was originally a Gaoli kingdom and was conquered by Sarbasha, a Gond king of Garha. Jatba, known as Ajanbahu Jatbasha, was eighth in descent from the founder of the dynasty, and was so called because of the length of his arms, his hands reaching to his knees. It is said that the Emperor Akbar, in whose reign he ruled, came to Deogarh, and that he himself visited Delhi. The kings before Jatba, whose names are mentioned in the tradition recorded b Mr. Cradock, may probably be dismissed as figments of the fancy of some Brahman chronicler who wished to invest the house of Deogarh with a longer and more dignified pedigree. Jatba himself was only a petty local Zamindar, and was the first authentic member of the line.      Bakht Bulnad was the third or fourth in descent from Jatba and was reigning in 1700 A.D. This price went to Delhi an entered the service of the Emperor Aurangzeb. The story goes that he performed some signal exploit and gained favour, and that the Emperor induced him to abandon the rites of Bhimsen and to adopt the Muhammadan faith, on which he was acknowledged ad Raja of Deogarh under the name of Bakht Buland.