Sandur State was a princely state of India during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, part of the Madras States Agency. The ruling dynasty of the state was the Ghorpade clan of the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

. Its capital was the town of Sanduru. The last ruler, Raja Yeshwantrao Ghorpade, signed the

Instrument of Accession The Instrument of Accession was a legal document first introduced by the Government of India Act 1935 and used in 1947 to enable each of the rulers of the princely states under British paramountcy to join one of the new dominions of Dominion ...

to the

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India, * * was an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations existing between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Until its Indian independence movement, independence, India had be ...

on 10 August 1947. Sandur State covered an area of ; according to the 1901 Census, the population of the state was 11,200. Sandur State enjoyed an estimated annual revenue of £6,000 in 1901.

History

The former princely state of Sandur was founded in 1713 by Sidhoji Ghorpade, a

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

general. He was the son of Bahirji Ghorpade and the nephew of the prominent Maratha commander

Santaji Ghorpade Santaji Ghorpade (Santaji Mhaloji Ghorpade, ; 1660–1696) was a Maratha (caste), Maratha general and statesman who served as the 7th Senapati of the Maratha Empire during the reign of Chattrapati Rajaram I. He is widely regarded as one of the ...

. From 1710 to 1713, Sidhoji served as Senapati to Maharani Tarabai, the Maratha regent. In 1713, following a political rift with Tarabai, he severed ties with her and began asserting his independence. That same year, he successfully conquered Sandur and established it as an autonomous principality under his rule. He later served as Senapati to Sambhaji II of

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

, a position he held until his death in 1731. From 1731 until the accession to India, the Sandur state was ruled by Maratha Ghorpade royals. In 1776 – 1790 its territory was captured by

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali (''Haidar'alī''; ; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's ...

. Between 27 October 1817 and 1 July 1818 Sandur was again annexed to the Maratha Empire

Peshwa The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave t ...

's Dominions. In 1801,

Bellary Ballari (formerly Bellary) is a city in the Ballari district in state of Karnataka, India. Ballari houses many steel plants such as JSW Vijayanagar, one of the largest in Asia. Ballari district is also known as the ‘Steel city of South Ind ...

district was transferred to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, and the Rajas of Sandur came under the political authority of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

. On 1 July 1818 Sandur formally became a

British protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status wh ...

. Sandur state was later incorporated into

Bellary district Ballari, formerly Bellary (pronounced ), is a major district in Karnataka. It is located at north-eastern part of Karnataka. This district belongs to Kalyana-Karnataka. This district was one of the biggest districts in Karnataka until the Vi ...

, then part of the Madras Presidency. In 1953, Bellary District was transferred to Mysore State, which was later renamed

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. The instrument of accession to the Dominion of India was signed by Yeshwantrao Ghorpade on 10 August 1947, thereby merging Sandur State with the

in 1949. After formation of states on linguistic basis, Sandur was transferred to the Mysore State in 1956. Raja Yeshwantrao continued playing an influential and active role in public life, till his death in 1996. He was succeeded by is son, M. Y. Ghorpade as the titular Raja. M. Y. Ghorpade served as a state Minister for Finance, Rural Development & Panchayats, Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Member of Parliament the Indian Parliament (Lok Shabha).

Royal insignia

Arms

A fess, argent, thereon a "ghorpad" (monitor lizard) fesswise, proper; in the base, pink, a cannon, proper; in the chief, pink, a "Shiv Linga" vert, between two tower or. Helmet: with visor, all or. Crest: A "Chhatra" (parasol) on a wreath, all or. Supporters: Elephants with raised trunks, dexter, the rear left foot, and sinister, the front feet on the compartment, all proper. Motto: "Hindurao" in Marathi, azure on a pink riband. Compartment: Vines and creepers proper. Lambrequins: Argent and azure.

Royal standard

Rectangular 4x7, swallow-tailed, saffron in colour, with a white strip at the hoist. Near the hoist, in the centre - a golden sun in splendour of saffron rays having a "Ghoo" in centre with natural colouring, under a saffron "Chhatra" of having bistre spots.

Royal Titulature

Rulers

The male line has failed several times, necessitating adoptions from junior branches of the family. The right to adopt an heir and successor was confirmed by a British sanad of adoption in 1862. * 1713 – 1731 Sidhoji I (b. 1683 – d. 1731) * 1731 – 15 March 1776 Murari Rao (b. 1699 – d. 1779) * 1790 – 1796 Sidhoji II (b. 1783 – d. 1796) * 1796 – 27 Oct 1817 Shivarao II (1st time) (d. 1840; cfr. below) * 27 Oct 1817 – 1 July 1818 annexed to the Maratha Peshwa's Dominions * 1 July 1818 – 2 May 1840 Shiva Rao II (2nd time) (s.a.) * 2 May 1840 – 1861 Venkata Rao II * 1861 – 1878 Shivashanmukha Rao * 3 May 1878 – 3 Dec 1892 Ramachandra Vitthala Rao * 3 Dec 1892 – 24 Jul 1927 Venkata Rao III * 5 May 1928 – 15 Aug 1947 Yeshwantrao Ghorpade

Diwans

* J. G. Firth (1885-1897) * T. Kodandarama Nayudu (1897-1914) * A. Subbaraya Mudaliar * T. Ramachandra Iyer

References

External links and sources

*
Indian Princely States, as archived on www.uq.net.au - Genealogy of Sandur princely state
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