|
Far East Kingdoms
South Asia
|
|
|
|
Bundela Rajas of Bundelkhand (Panna)
AD 1707 - Present Day
Bundelkhand was a province under the
Moghul
empire in
India during
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, ruled
directly by their vassals, the
Gond
kings of Garha Mandla and the Upper Narmada Valley. The Bundelas were (and
still are) Chhatri Suryanvanshi
Rajputs by
origin. In the early fourteenth century, their earliest known ancestor, Sahanpal
Bundela, first came down into southern India, along with the armies of the Rajput
Parmara
and Chauhan kings and captured the regions
forming what we now know as Bundelkhand (in the present states of Madhya
Pradesh, Chattisgarh and
Uttar Pradesh). The Bundela clan settled down in this region as vassals of
the other two Rajput clans.
Amongst the most famous Bundela kings was Raja Chhatrasal, a
descendent of Rudra Pratap of
Orcha. By the start of the eighteenth century,
revolts were springing up against the strict rule of Emperor Aurangzeb and
his empire started to fracture under the strain. When he died in 1707,
Raja Chhatrasal removed himself from vassalage and proclaimed an independent
kingdom. He also divided his kingdom between his sons and his adopted
son (and also his son-in-law), the
Maratha
Peshwa, Bajirao I who had married
his daughter Mastani.
Subsequently, there were many small principalities and
fiefdoms that arose from these main Bundelkhand kingdoms (such as Ajaigarh,
Banda, Banka, Banpur, Bijna, Chanderi, Chirgaon, Chatrapur, Datia, Durwai, Jhansi, Khaniadhana,
Mahewa, Mahoba, Shahagarh, Tori Fatehpur, etc), mainly as inheritances of the
various Bundela princes. |
1707 - 1731 |
Raja Chatrasal |
Son of Champatrai of
Orcha. Kingdom
founder. Born 1649. |
1707 |
Upon the death of Aurangzeb, Chatrasal seeks help from the
Marathas to remove himself from
Moghul
vassalage. Shivaji advises him to strive to do it himself, which he promptly
does, and proclaims an independent kingdom.
 |
The Bundela fight against the Moghuls was unexpectedly
successful, conquering swathes of territory from them and paving
the way for an independent state
|
|
|
1731 |
When Chatrasal dies, his eldest son succeeds him in Panna,
while other descendents rule from separate minor kingdoms such as Ajaigarh,
Charkhari, Chatarpur, Jaitpur, and Jaso. |
1731 - 1739 |
Harde Sah / Hirde Sah |
Son. Captured Rewah. |
1739 - 1752 |
Sabha Singh |
Son. |
|
Sabha Singh battles against his brother, Prithvi Singh, (who
is supported by the
Marathas) and has to cede Shahgarh. |
1752 - 1758 |
Aman Singh |
Son. Murdered by his own brother, Hindupat Singh. |
1758 - 1778 |
Hindupat Singh |
Brother. |
? |
Alibahadur |
Grandson of
Peshwa
Bajirao. Raja of Banda. |
1761 |
Alibahadur is the son of Shamsher Bahaddur by
his wife Mastani, and the grandson of
Peshwa
Bajirao. Shamsher Bahadur dies aged twenty-seven, fighting for the
Marathas at Panipat. His son later has to fight the other Bundelas for
his lawful inheritance and he eventually rules from the state of Banda.
Alibahaddur's son, Zulfikar Ali, sides with the rebels during the 1857
uprising against the
British.
His descendents are pensioned off by the British. |
1778 - 1779 |
Anirudh Singh |
Son. |
1779 - 1785 |
Anirudh Singh succeeds as a minor and
dies early. The state is ruled by his ministers, Beni Hazuri, Khemraj Chaube
and Sonesah Ponwar, between whom a power struggle soon breaks out. The state
is soon divided between the ministers who rule from Maihar, Paldeo
and Chhatarpur respectively. |
1785 - 1798 |
Dhokal Singh |
Brother. |
1798 - 1834 |
Kishor Singh |
Son. Died 1840. |
|
Kishor Singh aligns himself with the
British and
is awarded the Sohawal and Nagod regions. He also builds Jaggannath Temple at
Panna. |
1834 - 1849 |
Harbans Rai |
Son. |
1849 - 1870 |
Mahendra Nirpat Singh Judev Bahadur |
Brother. |
1857 - 1858 |
Mahendra Nirpat Singh Judev Bahadur helps the
British
Governor-Generalship during the 1857 uprising by holding on to Kalinjer
Fort and fighting rebels at Damoh. The king later donates land required for
the East
India Railway, and constructs Loksagar tank near Panna, a market area known
as Bada Bazaar, the Ram Janki Temple, and more. |
1870 - 1893 |
Sir Rudrapratap Singh |
Son. Constructed temples such as Baldevji, and Govindji. |
1893 - 1898 |
Lokpal Singh |
Brother. |
1898 - 1902 |
Madho Singh |
Son. |
1902 |
After constructing the Mahendra
Bhavan palace, Madho Singh is deposed on charges of complicity in the murder of his uncle, Rao Khaman
Singh. |
1902 - 1963 |
Sir Yadavendra Singh Judev Bahadur |
Son of Rao Khaman Singh. |
1947 - 1950 |
India gains independence from
Britain
on 14 August 1947 and by 1949 all the princely states (barring one or two)
have been merged, one by one, into the Indian state, signing the instrument
of accession with the new Indian national government. India is declared a
republic on 26 January 1950, leaving the princes holding their titles and
little more.
Sir Yadavendra Singh Judev Bahadur is appointed Uparajya
Pramukh of Vindhya Pradesh (which eventually becomes part of present day
Madhya Pradesh state). |
1963 - 1990 |
Narendra Singh |
Born 1915. Politician and social worker. |
1990 - 2009 |
Manvendra Singh |
Born 1939. |
2009 - Present |
Raghvendra Singh |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|