Writers such as Alexander Cunningham,[1] John Faithfull Fleet,[2] Moti Raven Kangali, Girija Shankar Agrawal[3] and Brajesh Mishra identify Mandla as the location of ancient Mahishmati.

Gondwana queen, Rani Durgavati ruled Mandla province and fought against Akbar in her valiant effort to save her kingdom; which is still subject to folklore.

This prince extended his dominions over the Narmada Valley, and possibly Bhopal, Sagar, and Damoh and most of the Satpura hill country, and left fifty-two forts or districts to his son.

[4] The control of the Garha-Mandla kings over their extended principality was, however, short-lived, for in 1564 Asaf Khan, the Mughal viceroy, invaded their territories.

The queen Durgavati, then acting as regent for her infant son, met him near Singorgarh fort in Damoh District; but being defeated, she retired past Garha towards Mandla, and took up a strong position in a narrow defile.

Here, mounted on an elephant, she bravely headed her troops in defence of the pass, and notwithstanding that she had received an arrow-wound in her eye refused to retire.

But by an extraordinary coincidence the river in the rear of her position, which had been nearly dry a few hours before the action commenced, began suddenly to rise and soon became unfordable Finding her plan of retreat thus frustrated, and seeing her troops give way, the queen snatched a dagger from her elephant-driver and plunged it into her breast.

The districts afterward formed into the state of Bhopal were ceded to the Emperor Akbar, to obtain his recognition of the next Rajja, Chandra Shah.

In the time of Chandra Sah's grandson, Prem Narayan, the Bundelas invaded Narsinghpur District and stormed the castle of Chauragarh.

During the succeeding reigns, family quarrels led the rival parties to solicit foreign intervention in support of their pretensions, and for this a price always had to be paid.

Finally, in 1781, the last king of the Gondwana line was deposed, and Mandla was annexed to the Maratha government of Sagar, then under the control of the Peshwa.

[4] At some period of the Gondwana kingdom the district must have been comparatively well-populated, as numerous remains of villages could be observed in places that, by the early 20th century, were covered in forest; but one of the Sagar rulers, Vasudeo Pandit, is said to have extorted several tens of thousands of rupees from the people in 18 months by unbridled oppression, and to have left the district ruined and depopulated.

The peace of the district was not subsequently disturbed, except for a brief period during the Revolt of 1857, when the chiefs of Ramgarh, Shahpura, and Sohagpur joined the rebels, taking with them their Gond retainers.

Earlier Mandla has been connected by Indian Railway's Narrow Gauge Track via Nainpur to Jabalpur, Gondia, Chhindwara.

[citation needed] The Garam Pani Kund situated 18 km from Mandla city is known for its abundant sulphur water well.

The marvellous black stones used to build Begum Mahal were taken from another spot of attraction, "Kala Pahad" situated 4 km from it.