Tekari Raj
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Tekari Raj (sometimes spelled Tikari Raj) was a
zamindari A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
estate belonging to a family of the
Bhumihar Brahmin Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal. The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
community in
South Bihar South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
. They controlled 2,046 villages on their estate, which covered a area, near to the town of Gaya. Rajas of Tekari like Raja Mitrajit Singh were renowned for their scholarship and for their works of poetry and history.


History

The Tekari family played an important role in the socio-economic and political history of
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
from medieval times, during the
Mughal period 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 ...
. Known as the Tekari Raj, their zamindari estate was situated about to the west of the modern town of Gaya in the present-day state of Bihar and was surrounded by the rivers Morhar and Jamune. The Tekari Rajas were Bhumihars, chief of the Drontikar (or Dronticar) clan of the
Bhardwaj Bhardwaj is a surname used by Brahmins and rajputs relating to sage Bharadwaja gotra in India. Notable people Notable people with the surname include Sports * Anil Bhardwaj (cricketer) (born 1954), Indian cricketer * B. M. Rahul Bharadwaj (bor ...
gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra fo ...
from the village of Tekar, which no longer exists. They held their estates in Pachrukhi. Kumkum Chatterjee says that "The zamindari of Tekari owed its origin to an imperial grant made about the time when the Mughal empire first began to decay." Dhir Singh played an important role in defeating the rebellious potentates in his neighbourhood. In recognition of the support, in 1719–20, the Mughal Emperor
Muhammad Shah Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...
honoured him with a
khalat A khalat ( fa, خلعت / ALA-LC: ''xalat''), also known as khelat ( bn, খেলাত), is a loose, long-sleeved outer silk or cotton robe common in Central Asia and South Asia and worn both by men and women, although in differing styles. ...
and the title of ''
Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
''. Sundar Singh, who was Dhir's son, extended the family estates through both annexation and partnership agreements. This increased influence led to recognition by the Mughals in 1738, when they gave him authority to collect revenues in various
pargana Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the Sultanate period, Mughal times and British Raj, is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent and each ...
s. According to a history published in 1878, proved his allegiance to the Mughal court in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
during various battles involving the
Maratha 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 M ...
s, pleasing
Nawab Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian language, Persian, Punjabi language, Punjabi , Sindhi language, Sindhi, Urd ...
Alivardi Khan Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself. During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequent Mar ...
and other
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
subadar Subedar is a rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army; a senior non-commissioned officer in the Pakistan Army, and formerly a Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army. History ''Subedar'' or ''subadar'' was the ...
s. Khan recommended that Singh be awarded the khalat robe as recognition of his fealty. The relationship between the declining empire and zamindars such as Sundar Singh was, however, a complex one and not always harmonious. His family had come to prominence through opportunism and Sundar sometimes found himself facing Mughal forces when he defied the imperial authority that was nominally vested in provincial governors. These local rulers needed the zamindars to collect revenue, and the zamindars sought the legitimisation that association with the empire would bring, yet the zamindars also generally refused to hand over the money they collected and they operated in a fairly lawless environment. He died in battle in 1758 after completing the fort that now exists in the town of
Tekari Tekari is a city and a municipality in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar and was the centre of erstwhile Bhumihar Tekari Raj. Maharaja Gopalsaran was the king of this area in British times. Etymology In South Bihar, the representative ...
. Although he had no children, Sundar Singh had adopted Boniad Singh, who had been born in 1732. Boniad allied himself to the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
(EIC) and remained faithful to it. It was because of this that he was among the zamindars whom
Mir Qasim Mir Qasim ( bn, মীর কাশিম; died 8 May 1777) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763. He was installed as Nawab with the support of the British East India Company, replacing Mir Jafar, his father-in-law, who had himself been su ...
ordered to travel to
Purnea Purnia ()(also Romanization, romanized as Purnea) is a city that serves as the administrative headquarters of both Purnia district and Purnia division in the Indian state of Bihar. Total geographical area of Purnia Urban Agglomeration is ...
, and then in 1762 had them drowned en route in the
Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
. His death occurred when his son, Mitrajit Singh, was a few months old. Mitrajit Singh remained under his mother's care. His abilities won for him the approval of the Mughal court at Delhi, and he was accordingly honoured with the title of Maharajah. During the "Mutiny of Kulhan", "Zillah Kharakdieh", he assisted the EIC with his own forces. He was also among those who got into some financial difficulties around the 1780s-1790s as a result of the EIC policy of extracting revenue from zamindars, known as the
Permanent Settlement The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land that had far-reaching consequences for both agricultural met ...
, but survived the crisis and, says V. C. P. Chaudhary, he nearly doubled his revenue. A contemporary writer noted that he paid 300,000 rupees to the EIC but derived 6,000,000 annually. One source of income was derived from pilgrims to the holy town of Gaya: he was entitled to 10 per cent of the fees charged to them, although in common with other major landlords he was also expected to patronise religious festivals and provide financial support for things such as temple maintenance. His house in Patna was the location of "Patna High School" from 1835. He died in 1841 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Hit Narain Singh, who had been born in 1801. The British allowed Hit Narain Singh to use the title of Maharajah, along with its symbols. He was inclined towards religion and became an
ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
, leaving his wife to administrate his extensive properties. His wife in turn transferred it to her daughter, Maharani Rajroop Kuar, under the terms of a will dated 29 October 1877. The Maharani's public works included construction of a temple at Patna at a cost of more than a lakh of rupees, and construction of another and also a large building adjoining it at
Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance in Hinduism as Krishna spent most of his childho ...
. She also spent a large sum of money feeding and assisting famine-stricken people. Maharaja Ram Kishan Singh, the adopted son of Maharaja Hit Narain Singh, succeeded him after his death in 1861 and died in 1871. With the abolition of the zamindari system in 1950, disputes arose regarding the estate, as also happened in other areas of Bihar. There were eruptions of violence involving the Bhumihar people on the one hand and members of the
Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
,
Yadav Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...
and ''Gareri'' communities on the other, most notably the beheading of a Bhumihar in 1979 that was followed by reciprocal raids on villages a few months later.


Contribution in social and cultural spheres

The Tekari family made large contributions in the social and cultural spheres of the area. The present day Tekari Raj High School and Tekari College owe their existence to their benevolence, while thehe Gaya Public Library (the oldest District Library in Bihar) and the Gaya Club, which is the hub of social activity in Gaya town, stand on land donated by them. Ram Kishan Singh spent money on various public works, including 60,000 rupees on a temple at Dharmasala(Gaya) and a further 100,000 for one at
Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...
. He also gave Rs. 10,000 for road improvements in 1869 and a similar sum for famine relief in 1874. Rs. 2000 was given to
Patna College Patna College is a constituent state aided College of Patna University which is established in 1863 during the British Raj, is one of the oldest colleges in the state of Bihar, India. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in science, ...
and much land was given for roads and construction of buildings at Patna Hospital. Ram Kishan Singh's widow, Rajroop Kuer, also contributed to public works. *A building for Tikari school - Rs. 5000; *Purchased government security for the maintenance of the school - Rs. 30,000; *Her relatives, and dependents annual contribution to the school - Rs. 1000; *Purchased books for that school through the Collector of Gaya - Rs. 1300; *Subscription to the industrial school at Bankipore in commemoration of the visit of the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
- Rs. 10,000; *Has established at her cost a Pathshala in every large mauzah in her zamindari; *A new dispensary at Tikari in honour of Her Majesty's
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
Assumption of the title,
Empress of India Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948, that was used to signify their rule over British India, as its imperial head of state. Royal Proclamation of 22 ...
under the name ''"the Empress Dispensary Tikaree"'' - Rs. 30,000; *A building for the above dispensary - Rs. 6400; *Annual subscription to Calcutta Zoological Garden - Rs. 5000; *Annual subscription to Madras famine - Rs. 1050; *Annual subscription for repairs of road between Tekari and Fatehpur - Rs. 16000; *Construction and repair of ghat and tank at Masaudhi and designed with Government's sanction "Temple's Pond" - Rs. 13,000; *Gives alms, relief, cash, clothing to the poor at Tekari to nearly 200 persons every day.


References

Citations Bibliography * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raj, Tekari History of Bihar Indian maharajas Gaya district Zamindari estates