Korea State, currently spelled as Koriya, was a

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

of the British

Empire of India 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 ...

. After Indian independence in 1947, the ruler of Kore
acceded
to the Union of India on 1 January 1948, and Koriya was made part of

Surguja District Surguja district is a district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The district is one of the oldest districts of Chhattisgarh. The headquarters of the district is Ambikapur. The district lies in its eponymous Surguja dialectal region (where S ...

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the B ...

province. In January 1950, "Central Provinces and Berar" province was renamed

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

state. After November 2000, Korea and the former princely state of

Changbhakar Changbhakar State, also known as Chang Bhakar, was one of the princely states of British Empire in India in the Chhattisgarh States Agency. It included 117 villages and had an area of with a 1941 population of 21,266 people. Bharatpur was the ...

became

Koriya district Koriya district, officially known as Korea district, is a district in the north-western part of the Chhattisgarh state in Central India. The administrative headquarters of the district is Baikunthpur. History Little is known of the area befor ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prad ...

state. Korea had an area of 1,631 sq. miles and a population of 126,874 as of 1941.

Location

The state of Korea, which included 400 villages, was in what is now Chhattisgarh state. It bordered Rewa to the north and also to the southwest;

Surguja State Surguja State, was one of the main princely states of Central India during the period of the British Raj, even though it was not entitled to any gun salute. Formerly it was placed under the Central India Agency, but in 1905 it was transferred to ...

to the east; the British district of Bilaspur (Central Provinces) to the south; and

Changbhakar State Changbhakar State, also known as Chang Bhakar, was one of the princely states of British Empire in India in the Chhattisgarh States Agency. It included 117 villages and had an area of with a 1941 population of 21,266 people. Bharatpur was the ...

to the west.

History

Korea State was founded in the 17th century. The ruling family of Koriya were

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 ...

of the

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 subcla ...

dynasty who came to Koriya from

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 ...

in the 13th century and conquered the country. Before the coming of the

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

, it is alleged that the rajas of Koriya "lived in perfect independence, and never having been necessitated to submit to the payment of any tribute, they had no occasion to oppress their subjects." This situation changed in 1790 when Korea had to pay tribute to the Marathas. Historically Korea State also seems to have had some indefinite feudal relations with Surguja, but the British government ignored this claim when Koriya was ceded to them by the

Bhonsle The Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle) are a prominent group within the Maratha clan system of kunbi origin. They claimed descent from the Sisodia Rajputs but were likely Kunbi tiller-plainsmen. History Earliest members The earliest ...

Raja of

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

in 1818. On 24 Dec 1819 the state became a British protectorate. Upon the extinction of the direct line in 1897, a distant collateral branch of the ruling family was recognized as successor by the British Raj. In 1891, the Raj decided that the five states of the Surguja group (

Surguja Surguja district is a district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The district is one of the oldest districts of Chhattisgarh. The headquarters of the district is Ambikapur. The district lies in its eponymous Surguja dialectal region (where ...

Udaipur Udaipur () ( ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic ...

Jashpur Jashpur District is a district of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh bordering Jharkhand and Odisha. Jashpur Nagar is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district was formerly a princely state before Indpendence. Highly mou ...

, Korea, and

), as well as the states of Bonai,

Gangpur Gangpur is a census town in Burdwan II CD Block in Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in West Bengal, India. Geography Location The location code of Gangpur Villa is 320193, according to the 2011 census. The dista ...

, Seraikela, and

Kharsawan Kharsawan garh is a town and a notified area in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. History Kharsawan (also spelt as Kharsuan) was founded around 1650. It was one of the Oriya ...

, formerly known as the Tributary Mahals of Chhota Nagpur, were not part of British India, and revised sanads were issued in 1899 formally recognizing them as feudatory states and defining their relations with the British Raj.

Rulers

The rulers of the state have apparently always held the title of 'Raja' and were so recognized by the British as early as 1819.Princely States of India
/ref>

Rajas

*.... - .... Jit Rai Deo *.... - .... Sagar Sahi Deo *.... - .... Afhar Sahi Deo *.... - .... Jahan Sahi Deo *.... - .... Sawal Sahi Deo *.... - .... Gajraj Singh Deo *1795 - Jun 1828 Gharib Singh Deo (b. 1745 - d. 1828) *Jun 1828 - 1864 Amole Singh Deo (b. 1785 - d. 1864) * 4 Apr 1864 - 1897 Pran Singh Deo (b. 1857/59 - d. 1897) *1897 - 18 Nov 1909 Sheo Mangal Singh Deo (b. 1874 - d. 1909) *18 Nov 1909 – 15 Aug 1947 Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo (b. 1901 - d. 1954)

References

External links