Rani Karnavati of Garhwal

Rani Karnavati of Garhwal Kingdom, also known as Tehri Garhwal, was the wife of Mahipat Shah (or Mahipati Shah), the Rajput king of Garhwal who use the title Shah.

The capital of Garhwal Kingdom was shifted from Dewalgarh to Srinagar, Uttarakhand [1] by him, who ascended to throne in 1622 and further consolidated his rule over most parts of Garhwal.

Though King Mahipati Shah died young in 1631,[2] after his death his Rani Karnavati, ruled the kingdom on the behalf of her very young seven-year-old son, Prithvipati Shah. She ruled over for many years to come, during which she successfully defend the kingdom against invaders and repelled an attack of Mughal army of Shah Jahan led by Najabat Khan in 1640, over the time she earned the nickname 'Nakti Rani' (Nak-Kati-Rani) as she had the habit of cutting the noses of the invaders, as the Mughal invaders of the period realised.[3]

Monuments erected by her still exist in Dehradun district at Nawada,[4] she is also credited with the construction of the Rajpur Canal, the earliest of all the Dun canals, which starts from the Rispana river and brings its waters till the city of Dehradun.[5][6] Rispana River is one of the tributary of Song river that drains the central and eastern part of the Doon Valley.

Some years later her grown up son Prithvipati came to the throne and ruled wisely under his mother’s influence.