The Jagdishpur estate was a

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

i estate situated in modern-day

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, in erstwhile

Shahabad district Shahabad district or Arrah district, headquartered at Arrah (now part of Bhojpur District, Bihar) was a Bhojpuri speaking district in western Bihar, India, making the western border of Bihar with Uttar Pradesh. In 1972, the district was split in ...

(now in

Arrah Arrah (also transliterated as Ara) is a city and a municipal corporation in Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur district (formerly known as Shahabad district) in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the headquarters of Bhojpur district, located near ...

). The centre of the estate was the town of

Jagdishpur Jagdishpur is a nagar panchayat town of the district Bhojpur of the state of Bihar in eastern India. It was the capital of the eponymous Jagdishpur estate, ruled by Rajputs of the Ujjainiya clan. One of its rulers, Kunwar Singh, was a major ...

, however the estate also included neighbouring towns and villages. The estate was also protected by a

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Koor Sing, 'The Rebel of Arrah,' and his attendants

History

The Jagdishpur estate was ruled by a branch of the

Ujjainiya The Ujjainiya Parmār (also spelled as Ujjaini or simply Ujjainiya) are a Rajput clan that inhabits the state of Bihar. They are considered to have played a prominent role in the political history of medieval Bihar with many of their strongholds ...

Rajputs 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 ...

. These Ujjainiyas claimed descent from the

Paramara dynasty The Paramara dynasty ( IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty that ruled Malwa and surrounding areas in west-central India between 9th and 14th centuries. They belonged to the Parmara clan of the Rajputs. The dynasty was established in either t ...

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

and the Bhojpur region of Bihar was named after the Paramara King,

Raja Bhoj Bhoja (reigned c. 1010–1055 CE) was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty. His kingdom was centered around the Malwa region in central India, where his capital Dhara-nagara (modern Dhar) was located. Bhoja fought wars with nearly all h ...

. Sujan Sahi who was the son of Prabal Sahi Singh, was the first to take up residence in Jagdishpur in 1702. After being killed by the retainers of the Governors of Bihar, he was succeeded by his son Udwant Singh who was said to be well-trained in the use of weapons and an able administrator. Udwant Singh expanded his territories by invading neighbouring towns and villages controlled by neighbouring landowners. Upon hearing this, the governor of Bihar, Fakkhradaula invaded Jagdishpur but Udwant Singh defeated him. Udwant Singh also encouraged the Ujjainiyas to eat pork to prevent them converting to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. In his court, he patronised the poet, ''Mauli Kavi'', who compiled the book ''Udwant Prakash'' in 1747. Under the leadership of Dalpat Shahi in the 18th century, Jagdishpur became the principal military stronghold of the Ujjainiya clan. Mughal sources from the time note that the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

was the elite section of the Jagdishpur army and was considered to be superior to the infantry.

1857 rebellion

During the rule of

Kunwar Singh Kunwar Singh (born: 13 November 1777 – died: 26 April 1858), also known as Babu Kunwar Singh, was a leader and military commander during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He led a selected band of armed soldiers against the troops under the comm ...

, the estate took part in 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 ...

. Kunwar Singh was motivated to rebel after having financial difficulties due to the high revenue demanded by the British authorities and family litigation. The British also attempted to take over the management of the estate. As a result of this, Kunwar Singh (who was 80 at the time) decided to join the rebellion and was considered to be the leader of the rebellion in Bihar. He was helped by his brother,

Babu Amar Singh Babu Amar Singh was a revolutionary in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the brother of Babu Kunwar Singh, the zamindar of Jagdishpur. Early life Amar Singh was the second son of Sahebzada Singh born much after his older brother. He was describe ...

and his commander-in-chief,

Hare Krishna Singh Hare Krishna Singh was the commander-in-chief of Kunwar Singh's forces in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and also served under his brother Babu Amar Singh. Early life Hare Krishna Singh was born in 1827 in the village of Barubhee in Shahabad distr ...

. After some initial success, Kunwar Singh and his forces were eventually driven out of Jagdishpur by the British. A year later, Kunwar Singh died and the rebellion was led by his brother who was eventually captured and hanged. Because of these events, many consider Kunwar Singh to be one of the "greatest chiefs" of Jagdishpur.

Rulers

From 1702 to 1947, the Jagdishpur estate was ruled by the following individuals *Sujan Shahi *Udwant Singh *Gajraj Singh *Dalpat Shahi *Shivraj Singh *Bhoop Naryan Singh *Ishwari Prasad Singh *Shahabzada Singh *

*Shriniwas Singh *Digvijay Singh (acceded to Indian Union in 1947)

References

{{reflist Zamindari estates History of Bihar Kingdoms of Bihar Rajput estates Rajputs

History

1857 rebellion

Rulers

See also

References