Rani Karnavati was the wife of King Mahipati of the Garhwal empire.

King Mahipati denied Shah Jahan’s invitation for his crowing ceremony in 1628 and he was right in doing so because Garhwal was not a feudatory of Mughals.

Shah Jahan was enraged by Mahipati’s denial. Also, he had an eye on the gold mines of Garhwal and wanted to attack this Himalayan kingdom.

Meanwhile, King Mahipati died of injury in another battle with a neighbouring kingdom in 1631. He was succeeded by his 7-year-old son Prithvipati and Rani Karnavati served as the Regent of Garhwal kingdom.

Mughals thought this is a right time to attack Garhwal. But they were soon proved very wrong by Rani Karnavati.

Rani Karnavati was a brave woman warrior who defended her kingdom from the neighboring chieftains of Kumaon, Sirmour and Tibet.

30000 soldiers strong Mughal army under Najabat Khan was dispatched by Shah Jahan to Srinagar (capital of Garhwal).

Rani Karnavati came up with a masterstroke war strategy. Rani let the Mughal army enter her kingdom but after they had entered and were crossing the River Ganga on Lakshman Jhula (present-day Rishikesh), she held them, cutting them off from both ends.

Garhwal soldiers ambushed the Mughal army and there was total mayhem. Najabat Khan realized his forces are in helpless situation and sued for peace.

Rani Karnavati told Najabat Khan that his forces would be spared if they cut their noses and left them behind. The soldiers had no choice. Thus, Rani Karnavati earned the title of “Nak Kati Rani”.

Apart from being a brave warrior, Rani Karnavati was an able administrator. Monuments erected by the Garhwali queen Rani Karnavati still exist in Dehradun District at Nawada.

Rani Karnavati is also said to have started the construction of Rajpur Canal, the oldest of the Dun canals, which starts from the Rispana River and brings its waters to the city of Dehradun.