Bushahr, also spelt as 'Bashahr' and 'Bussahir' or 'Bushair' was a Rajput

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

in India during the British Raj. It was located in the hilly western Himalaya promontory bordering Tibet in the northern part of colonial Punjab region. The territory of this former state is now part of Kinnaur and Shimla districts of the present Himachal Pradesh state. The erstwhile Bushahr state was traversed by the

Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...

river. It was bordered on the west by the Kulu,

Lahaul and Spiti Lahaul and Spiti may refer to: * Lahaul and Spiti district, a district in Himachal Pradesh, India ** Lahaul and Spiti (Vidhan Sabha constituency) Lahaul and Spiti Assembly constituency is one of the 68 assembly constituencies of Himachal Pradesh ...

states and by Tehri Garhwal on the east. It had an area of .

History

The erstwhile Bushahr state was occupied by a Gorkha king from central Nepal from 1803 to 1815.

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

, the ruler of the Sikh state in the Punjab, intervened in 1809 and drove the Nepalese army east of the Satluj river. A rivalry between Nepal and the British East India Company over the annexation of minor states bordering Nepal eventually led to the Anglo-Nepalese War (1815–16) or the Gurkha War. Both parties eventually signed the Treaty of Sugauli, following which the Gurkhas were expelled from Kamru, the capital of Bushahr. In 1898, Bushahr state was taken over by the British administration, although the ''Râja'' remained nominally in charge. After British occupation, the Bushahr state was by far the largest of the 28

Simla Hills States The Hill States of India were princely states lying in the northern border regions of the British Indian Empire. History During the colonial Raj period, two groups of princely states in direct relations with the Province of British Punja ...

. There was a tax revolt by Bushahr's peasants in 1906.

Heads of State

The original seat of the rulers of the erstwhile Bushahr state was at the Kamru Fort, in the village of Kamru at the banks of the Baspa River at Sangla in Kinnaur. The fort is currently abandoned and houses an idol of Kamakhya Devi (Kamakshi Dev), which is believed to have been brought several centuries ago from Kamakhya temple in Guwahati. The rulers subsequently moved to Sarahan. The Palace of the "Raja of Bushahr state" at Sarahan ("The Srikhand view") was built by order of Raja Padam Singh for his lodging in September 1917. The current residence of the "Raja of Bushahr state" is at the Padam Palace at Rampur, Shimla district. The town of Rampur may have been founded by Raja Kehri Singh in the 17th century or by Raja Ram Singh in the 18th. The rulers moved down from their traditional seat in Sarahan to the banks of the river

. Bushair was one of the richest princely states in the hills and was an important center for trade between Tibet, Kinnaur and the lower areas. With a personal gun salute of 9 guns, the ruler of Bashahr was the only Hills "Raja" amongst India's upper class of princely

salute state A salute state was a princely state under the British Raj that had been granted a gun salute by the British Crown (as paramount ruler); i.e., the protocolary privilege for its ruler to be greeted—originally by Royal Navy ships, later also ...

s, but was not entitled to the style of His Highness until independence in 1947.

Rulers

Rulers bore the title of

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a histor ...

and then Raja. Ranas *???? : Kehri Singh *???? : Ram Singh *???? - 1803 : Ugar Singh *1803 - 1815 : '' Nepalese occupation'' Rajas *1816 - 1850 : Mahendra Singh *1850 - 1887 : Shamsher Singh *1887 - 1898 : Raghunath Singh *1898 - 1914 : Shamsher Singh (''return to power'') *1914 - 1947 : Padam Singh *1947 - 2021 : Virbhadra Singh *2021 - till date :

Vikramaditya Singh Vikramaditya Singh may refer to: * Vikramaditya Singh (Maharana) (1517–1534), Maharana of Mewar Kingdom from 1531–1534 * Vikramaditya Singh (politician, born 1964), Indian businessman and politician * Vikramaditya Singh (Himachal Pradesh politi ...

References

External links

Genealogy of the rulers of Bashahr
{{Authority control Shimla district Princely states of Himachal Pradesh Rajput princely states

History

Heads of State

Rulers

See also

References

External links