Kalahandi State, also known as Karond State, was one of the

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 ...

s of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

during the period of 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 him ...

. It was recognized as a state in 1874 and had its capital in

Bhawanipatna Bhawanipatna is a city and headquarters of the Kalahandi district, in the Indian state of Odisha. Bhawanipatna has numerous temples dedicated to different deities of the Hindu pantheon. It is named after the presiding deity, Bhawani-Shankar an ...

. Its last ruler signed the accession to the Indian Union on 1 January 1948. The present titular head of the state is Anant Pratap Deo who resides in the Kalahandi Palace in

History

Kalahandi was the largest of the 26 Feudatory states of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. According to local tradition, the state originated with Raja Raghunath Sai of the Naga dynasty who traced descent from the Nagabanshis of Chotanagpur of Eastern India, beginning to rule the Kalahandi area in 1005 CE.J. P Singh Deo, History and Culture of Kalahandi: Political Scenario of Kalahandi, Feb 2010, page: 41-43 As per the traditional records preserved in Kalahandi Darbar, the Nagas succeeded the Gangas in Kalahandi when the last Ganga Governor of Kalahandi, Jagannath Deo's only daughter was married to Raghunath Sai, a prince of the Naga clan. However, historians have disputed the early date for the establishment of Naga dynasty rule in Kalahandi but most agree the Nagas succeeded the Gangas as the feudatories in the region during the 15th century taking advantage of the weakness of the central authority as the power of the

Eastern Ganga dynasty The Eastern Ganga dynasty also known as Purba Gangas, Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas were a large medieval era Indian royal dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas ruled much of ...

started to decline in Odisha. Hence the state's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

had two cobras facing each other. and the presiding deity of the dynasty is Goddess

Manikeswari Manikeswari is one of the popular Hindu deities in Odisha, India, Odisha. There are many Manikeswari temples present in Western and Southern part of Odisha, India, Odisha. Manikeshwari Temple, Manikeswari temple in Bhawanipatna of Kalahandi Distr ...

. In August 1947 Kalahandi became part of the

Eastern States Union The Eastern States Union was a short-lived (1947–48) union of princely states in newly independent India that gathered most of the princely states of the former Orissa Tributary States and Chhattisgarh States Agency in order to fill the vacuu ...

, an entity that was formed in Rajpur and that gathered most of the princely states of Orissa and

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 ...

. The Eastern States Union was dissolved in 1948. The formerly princely state's territory is now within

Kalahandi District Kalahandi (locally pronounced ''Kalahani'') is a district of Odisha in India. Archaeological evidence of Stone Age and Iron Age human settlement has been recovered from the region. Asurgarh offered an advanced, well civilised, cultured and ur ...

List of rulers

The rulers of Kalahandi princely state were granted a hereditary salute of 9 guns by the British.Princely States of India
/ref> ;Rulers of the Naga dynasty of Kalahandi are– *Raghunath Sai (1005–1040) *Pratap Narayan Deo (1040–1072) *Birabar Deo (1072–1108) *Jugasai Deo I (1108–1142) *Udenarayan Deo (1142–1173) *Harichandra Deo (1173–1201) *Ramachandra Deo (1201–1234) *Gopinath Deo (1234–1271) *Balabhadra Deo (1271–1306 *Raghuraj Deo (1306–1337) *Rai Singh Deo I (1337–1366) *Haria Deo (1366–1400) *Jugasai Deo II (1400–1436) *Pratap Narayan Deo II (1436–1468) *Hari Rudra Deo (1468–1496) *Anku Deo (1496–1528) *Pratap Deo (1528–1564) *Raghunath Deo (1564–1594) *Biswambhar Deo (1594–1627) *Rai Singh Deo II (1627–1658) *Dusmant Deo (1658–1693) *Jugasai Deo III (1693–1721) *Khadag Rai Deo (1721–1747) *Rai Singh Deo III (1747–1771) *Purusottam Deo (1771–1796) *Jugasai Dei IV (1796–1831) *Fateh Narayan Deo (1831–1853) *Udit Pratap Deo I (1853–1881) *Raghu Keshari De (1894–1897) * Court of Wards (1897–1917) *Brajamohan Deo (1917–1939) *

Pratap Keshari Deo Maharaja Pratap Keshari Deo was the last ruler of Kalahandi State 1939-1947 and an Indian politician in post-independence India. He was elected from the Kalahandi in Odisha to the Lower House of the Indian Parliament the Lok Sabha. He was deputy ...

(1939–1947)

Titular rulers

(1948 – 8 October 2001) *Udit Pratap Deo II (8 October 2001 – 2 November 2019) * Anant Pratap Deo (2 November 2019 – current)

Gallery

File:Palace_of_Kalahandi_King.jpg, View of the royal palace of the Kalahandi Rajas in Bhawanipatna File:ManikeswarTemple.jpg, Manikeswari Temple at Bhawanipatna

References

External links