Phani Mukut Rai

Phani Mukut Rai was the king of the Nagvanshi Gond dynasty in Nagvanshi origin myth and is considered its founder in the first century CE. However, the story of Phani Mukut Rai is regarded as a myth by historians, who date the establishment of the Nagvanshi dynasty to around the fourth or tenth century CE.

Early life According to the Nagvanshavali (1876), Phani Mukut Rai was the son of Pundarika Naga and his wife parvati, a Brahmin girl from Varanasi. Due to his forked tongue, he always slept with his back to his wife, as his poisonous breath regularly emanated from his mouth. His wife became curious about this secret, but Pundarika Naga never revealed it. They traveled to the Jagannath Temple in Puri for a pilgrimage. On their return, his wife went into labor and was near death. She wished to know his secret, so Pundarika Naga transformed into a cobra, revealed his secret, and then plunged into a pond.

His wife, Parvati, committed sati out of grief after giving birth to a child. Pundarika Naga shielded the child with his hood. A woodcutter saw this and informed a Sakaldwipiya Brahmin named Janardan, who was holding a sun idol. The Brahmin witnessed the incident. Pundarika Naga told the Brahmin his story, stating that the boy would become the king of Nagpur and that the Brahmin would become his priest. The Brahmin named the child Phani Mukut Rai, as he had been protected by the cobra's hood, and raised him. The Brahmin, who held the sun idol, made it the tutelary deity of the Nagvanshi dynasty as suggested by Pundarika Naga.

According to a report by Webster, Phani Mukut Rai was raised by the Kanyabuja Brahmin. However, according to a story collected by Sarat Chandra Roy, the child was adopted by Madura Munda, the Parha chief of Sutiambe village. During his reign, he defeated Rakshel of Korambe and invaders from Kendujhar with the help of the king of Panchet. His rule extended to Badin in Kharsawan, Ramgarh, Gola, Tori, and Gharwe. He built a sun temple in Sutiambe, invited Pandas from Puri to establish idols in the Thakurbadi, and settled Brahmins by giving them the villages of Sornda and Mahugaon. His Diwan was Srivastav Kayasth, with Pandey Bhav Rai, a resident of Belkupi village, serving as his advisor. Many scholars place the establishment of the Nagvanshi dynasty in the 4th century CE, based on an average ruling period of 25 years for each king. However, the story is mostly considered a origin myth and is viewed as a Brahminical origin of the dynasty invented at a later period.

“According to traditional Vanshavali records, some Naagvanshi Gond Kshatriyas of Kashyap Gotra are found in the territory of Kaimur district in Bihar, while some communities are also present in the Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh.”