Jhalawar State 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, ...

in India 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 ...

. It was located in the

Hadoti Hadoti is a region of Rajasthan state in western India, which was once called the Bundi Kingdom. The biggest cities are Jhalawar and Kota. It includes the districts of Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar and Kota and is bounded on the west by the Mew ...

region. The main town in the state was

Jhalawar Jhalawar () is a city, municipal council and headquarter in Jhalawar district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located in the southeastern part of the state. It was the capital of the former princely state of Jhalawar, and is the admin ...

. The state belonged to the Kotah-Jhalawar Agency which had headquarters at Kota and was a subdivision of the

Rajputana Agency The Rajputana Agency was a political office of the British Indian Empire dealing with a collection of native states in Rajputana (now in Rajasthan, northwestern India), under the political charge of an Agent reporting directly to the Governor ...

History

In 1771, a subsequent Raja of Kota died, leaving an infant as his heir, and the regency was settled upon

Zalim Singh Zalim Singh (1739-1824), sometimes refer as Zalim Singh Jhala or Zalim Singh of Kotah, was an administrator, reformer and army commander of Kota state. He was the de facto ruler of Kota State from 1770 to until his death in 1824. Biography C ...

, a descendant of Madhu Singh. From that time, Zalim Singh became effectively the real ruler of Kota. He did not surrender power even when his young charge came of age, and continued to rule the state, effortlessly dominating the raja of Kota and reducing him to the status of a virtual non-entity. Unfortunate as this circumstance was, it is also true that Zalim Singh was an outstanding administrator and an astute negotiator. Under his administration, which lasted for over forty-five years, the state attained an acme of prosperity and was well-regarded by all its neighbours. It was also during these years that Kota entered into treaty relations with the British; Zalim Singh established excellent personal relations with the British. In the Holkar state, the revenues from areas that yielded 74 lakhs in 1750s yielded just 6 lakhs under Holkar Darbar nobles while three districts under Ijardari of Zalim Singh yielded 13 lakhs revenues that literally fed the Holkar royal family keeping it out of penury. Kotah state under previous rulers yielded less than 15 lakhs in revenues yielded 55 lakhs under Zalim Singh Kotah (Todd, Annals and Antiquities of Rajpootana). The flip side of these achievements was that Zalim Singh himself attained a status of respectability exceeding that of his nominal overlord, the young Raja of Kota, and enjoyed leverage with the British that the Raja of Kota did not. It is due above all to this influence with the British that it was resolved in 1838, with the grudging consent of the chief of Kota, to dismember the state and create a new principality, which would be ruled by the descendants of Zalim Singh. Whereas for many decades, the family of Zalim Singh had held large estates in fief of the state of Kota, and held important positions at court, they were now to be invested with royalty and become the rulers of their own state. The state of Jhalawar was created in this manner, and it received its name in honour of the fact that Zalim Singh belonged to the

Jhala Jhala (Hindi: झाला, ) is a term in Hindustani classical music which denotes the fast-paced conclusions of classical compositions or raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisatio ...

clan of

Chandravanshi The Lunar dynasty ( IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a legendary principal house of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruling caste mentioned in the ancient Indian texts. This legendary dynasty was said to be descended from moon-related deities ('' ...

. The districts thus severed from Kotah represented one-third (£120,000) of the income of Kotah; by treaty, the new royal family acknowledged the

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and agreed to pay an annual tribute of £8000. Madan Singh, heir of Zalim Singh, received the title of Maharaja Rana, and was placed on the same footing as the other chiefs in

Rajputana Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

Madan Singh, first ruler of independent Jhalawar, died in 1845. An adopted son of his successor took the name of Zalim Singh in 1875 on becoming chief of Jhalawar. He was a minor and was not invested with governing powers till 1884. Owing to his maladministration, his relations with the British government became strained, and he was finally deposed in 1896, "on account of persistent misgovernment and proved unfitness for the powers of a ruling chief." He went to live at

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

, on a pension of £2,000 and the administration was placed in the hands of the British resident. After much consideration, the British resolved in 1897 to break up the state, restoring the greater part to Kota, but forming the two districts of Shahabad and the Chaumahla into a new state of area , which came into existence in 1899, and of which Kunwar Bhawani Singh, a descendant of the original Zalim Singh, was appointed chief. The population of the state was 90,175 in 1901, with an estimated revenue of £26,000 and a tribute of £2000.

Rulers

The rulers were entitled to a 17

gun salute A gun salute or cannon salute is the use of a piece of artillery to fire shots, often 21 in number (''21-gun salute''), with the aim of marking an honor or celebrating a joyful event. It is a tradition in many countries around the world. Histo ...

by the British authorities, and were ruled by the

clan of

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 ...

References

{{Coord, 24.59, N, 76.16, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Jhalawar district Princely states of Rajasthan 1838 establishments in India 1949 disestablishments in India Rajputs

History

Rulers

See also

References