Maihar 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 ...

, located in what is today

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 seco ...

, central India. The state had an area of , and a population of 63,702 in 1901. The state, which was watered by the

Tons River The Tons (टौंस नदी) is the largest tributary of the Yamuna. It flows through Garhwal region in Uttarakhand, touching Himachal Pradesh. The Tons thrust is named after this river. Its source lies in the high Bandarpunch mountain, ...

, consists mainly of alluvial soil covering sandstone, and is fertile except in the hilly district of the south. A large area was under forest, the produce of which provided a small export trade. The state gained India-wide and later, worldwide fame for

Maihar gharana The Maihar Gharana or Maihar-Senia Gharana is a gharana or school of Hindustani classical music, a style of Indian classical music originating in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The school was formed by Allaudin Khan in the princ ...

, a

gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

or school of Indian classical music. It is one of the most prominent gharanas of the 20th century; much of the fame of

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

in the west stems from this gharana.

History

The state was founded in 1778. From 1788 to 1790 Maihar State was occupied by Banda. The state became a princely state of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

in the early 19th century, and was administered as part of

Bundelkhand Agency The Bundelkhand Agency was a political agency of the British Raj, managing the relations of the British government with the protected princely states of the Bundelkhand region. History Historical background The Marathas ceded parts of Bu ...

in the

Central India Agency The Central India Agency was created in 1854, by amalgamating the Western Malwa Agency with other smaller political offices which formerly reported to the Governor-General of India. The agency was overseen by a political agent who maintained ...

. In 1871 the eastern states of Bundelkhand Agency, including Maihar, were separated to form the new

Bagelkhand Agency The Bagelkhand Agency was a British political unit which managed the relations of the British with a number of autonomous princely states existing outside British India, namely Rewa and 11 minor states, of which the most prominent were Maihar, Nag ...

in Central India. In 1933 Maihar, along with ten other states in western Bagelkhand, were transferred back to the

. The state suffered severely from famine in 1896–1897. Maihar became a station on the

East Indian Railway The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

(now the West Central Railway) line between

Satna Satna is a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of Satna district. It is 7th largest city and 8th most populous city of the state. The city is 500 km east of the state capital Bhopal. The city is ...

and

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

, north of

. Extensive ruins of shrines and other buildings surround the town. As of 1940 it had a population of 79,558 and an area of 412 square miles. In 1948 Maihar was merged into India. The legendary Indian musician Ustad Allauddin Khan was the court musician for Maharaja Brijnath Singh of Maihar. Here he laid the foundation of a modern

by developing a number of

ragas A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a ...

, combining the bass sitar and bass sarod with more traditional instruments and setting up an orchestra. In 1907, he established the

Maihar Band Maihar is a tehsil in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India. Maihar is known for the temple of the revered mother goddess Sharda situated on Trikuta hill. Origin of the name It is said that when lord Shiva was carrying the body of the dead mother god ...

, an orchestral group that was taught music to orphaned children.

Rulers

The state was ruled by

Kachhwaha The Kachhwaha or Kachawa is a Rajput clan found primarily in India. Sometimes families within the clan ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states, such as Jaipur State, Jaipur, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Alwar State, Alwar and M ...

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 ...

Thakurs

*1778 – 1788 Beni Singh (b. 1719 – d. 1788) *1788 – 1790 Rajdhar Singh (b. c.1765 – d. 1790) *1790 – 1825 Durjan Singh (b. 1766 – d. 1825) *1826 – 1850 Bishan Singh (b. 1797 – d. 18..) *1850 – 1852 Mohan Prasad (b. 1816 – d. 1852) *1852 – 1869 Raghubir Singh (b. 1843 – d. 1908) *1852 – 1865 .... -Regent

Rajas

*1869 – 1908 Raghubir Singh (s.a.) *1908 – 7 Jan 1910 Jagubir Singh (b. 1864 – d. 1910) * 7 Jan 1910 – 15 Dec 1911 Randhir Singh (b. 1865 – d. 1911) *16 Dec 1911 – 15 Aug 1968 HH Maharaja Brijnath Singh Ju Deo (b. 1896 – d. 1968) *15 Aug 1968 – HH Maharaja Govind Singh

References

External links

Maihar Heritage Palace & Fort
{{Coord, 24.00, N, 80.75, E, source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Princely states of India Princely states of Madhya Pradesh Rajputs States and territories disestablished in 1948 1778 establishments in India 1948 disestablishments in India States and territories established in 1778