Dhami was a

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, ...

situated west of

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

, India. Its capital was Halog and the state formed a part of the region known as the

Punjab Hill States Agency The Punjab States Agency was an agency of the Indian Empire. The agency was created in 1921, on the model of the Central India Agency and Rajputana Agency, and dealt with forty princely states in northwest India formerly dealt with by the Prov ...

during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

period. In 1941 it had an area of and a population of 5,114 people. In 1948 Dhami was made a part of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

History

They were the only

Chauhan Chauhan, historically ''Chahamana'', is a clan name historically associated with the various ruling Rajput families during the Medieval India in Rajasthan. Subclans Khichi, Hada, Songara, Bhadauria, Devda etc. are the branches or subclan ...

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

rulers in the region and had settled there after being forced from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

by the invasion of Muhammad Ghori in the twelfth century AD. They were

feudatories A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

of the princely state of Bilaspur until 1815, when the

English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southe ...

formally recognised the state as an independent entity with the issue of a ''sanad'' (

deed In common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferring ...

). The recognition was granted as a consequence of the support offered by the rulers to the British in their successful attempt to remove Gurkha influence from the Shimla Hills in 1803–1815 when Dhami was occupied by

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. The Dhami ruler who had formulated this policy was

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 histori ...

Govardhan Singh, who maintained his support through the

Indian rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

and until his death in 1867. The

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

exacted from the state was halved after 1857 in recognition of this, with the privilege being granted for his lifetime. The successor to Govardhan Singh was Fateh Singh, his son, to whom the authorities of what was now the British Raj extended a similar concession with regard to the tribute from 1880. Fateh was in turn succeeded by his son, Hira Singh, in 1894 and the concession was granted once more. Hira was also made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in recognition of his support of the British cause during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The last formally recognised Rana was Dalip Singh, who succeeded his father, Hira, in 1920 and died in 1987. Subsequent to Indian independence from Britain, the princely states ceased to exist.

Rulers

The rulers of Dhami bore the title 'Rana'. *1815 – 1868 Govardhan Singh (b. c.1802 – d. 1868) *1868 – 1894 Fateh Singh (b. 1855 – d. 1894) *1894 – Jan 1920 Hira Singh (b. 1878 – d. 1920) *Jan 1920 – 15 Aug 1947 Dhalip Singh (b. 1908 – d. 1987)

References

Princely states of Himachal Pradesh Rajput princely states 1815 establishments in India {{India-hist-stub

History

Rulers

See also

References