Sitamau State 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 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 ...

before 1947. Its capital was in Sitamau town,

Mandsaur district Mandsaur district is a District of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Mandsaur is the administrative headquarters of the district.The ancient pashupatinath temple is situated in Mandsaur. Large quantities of opium are produced in ...

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 ...

. The total area of the state was 350 square miles. The average revenue of the state was Rs.130,000.Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 23, p. 51.
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History

Ratan Singh Rathore Ratan Singh Rathore was the founder of Ratlam, governor of 16 parganas in northern Malwa and a renowned warrior of his time. He gained fame under the patronage of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Family Ratan Singh was born 6 March 1619 as the elde ...

was killed in the battle of Dharmat, after which his descendants continued to rule Ratlam. During Raja Keshodas's reign some soldiers of the Raja killed the

Jaziya Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Islamic law. The jizya tax has been understood in Isla ...

tax collectors due to which the Mughals completely annexed

Ratlam Ratlam, known historically as Ratnapuri (lit. ''gem city''), is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administrative headquarters of Ratlam di ...

. Keshodas stuck to imperial service during this time and on 3rd September 1699, he was made the faujdar of Nalgunda. Due to his good governance,

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

later granted Keshodas the Pargana of Titrod from which Raja Keshodas founded Sitamau State on 31st October 1701. The State of Ratlam was restored to an uncle of Keshodas called Chattrasal in 1705. In 1714 the emperor

Farrukhsiyar Farrukhsiyar or Farrukh Siyar () (20 August 16839 April 1719) was the tenth emperor of the Mughal Empire from 1713 to 1719. He rose to the throne after assassinating his uncle, Emperor Jahandar Shah. Reportedly a handsome man who was easily ...

further added the paragana of Alot to the new state. Sitamau faced invasions after the decline of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. Nahargarh was captured by

Gwalior State Gwalior state was a semi-autonomous Maratha state. It was centred in modern-day Madhya Pradesh, arising due to the rise of the Maratha Empire and fragmentation of the Mughal Empire. It was ruled by the Scindia, House of Scindia (anglicized fro ...

and Alot by

Dewas State Dewas State was a territory within Central India, which was the seat of two Maratha princely states during the British Raj. After the Maratha conquest of Central India, Dewas was divided into two states - Dewas Senior ruled by Tukoji Rao ('B ...

. This forced the rulers of Sitamau to seek the help of

John Malcolm Major-General Sir John Malcolm GCB, KLS (2 May 1769 – 30 May 1833) was a Scottish soldier, diplomat, East India Company administrator, statesman, and historian. Early life Sir John Malcolm was born in 1769, one of seventeen children of ...

who formed a treaty between Gwalior and Sitamau, through which Sitamau paid a yearly tribute of Rs.33,000 to Gwalior and Scindia in return promised not to show hostility towards Sitamau. This tribute was later reduced to Rs.27,000.

Rulers

The rulers were Ratanawat Rathor Rajputs and descendants of

Rajas

* 1701 – 1748 Kesho Das * 1748 – 1752 Gaj Singh * 1752 – 1802 Fateh Singh * 1802 – 1867 Raj Ram Singh I (d. 1867), One of the Longest-Reigning monarchs in History * 1867 – 28 May 1885 Bhawani Singh (b. 1836 – d. 1885) *8 Dec 1885 – 1899 Bahadur Singh * 1899 – 9 May 1900 Shardul Singh *11 May 1900 – 15 August 1947 Raj Ram Singh II (b. 1880 – d. 1967) (from 11 December 1911, Sir Raj Ram Singh II)

References

{{Coord, 20.02, N, 75.35, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Princely states of India Princely states of Madhya Pradesh 1701 establishments in India 1948 disestablishments in India States and territories disestablished in 1948 States and territories established in 1701 Rajputs Mandsaur district

History

Rulers

Rajas

See also

References