Rewa (princely state)

Rewa State
1140–1947
Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Bandhavgarh Rewa
History
• Established	1140
• Accession to India	1947
Area
1901	33,670 km2 (13,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1901	1,327,385
Succeeded by India
Today part of	India
Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1952) p. 369

Rewa State, formally the Kingdom of Baghelkhand, became a princely state of India, surrounding its eponymous capital, the town of Rewa.

Rewa was the largest princely state in the Baghelkhand Agency and Central India Agency, with an area of 33,670 km². Rewa was also the third-wealthiest principality in Central India, with an average revenue of 2.9 million rupees in 1901.^[1] The Baghelkhand Agency was dissolved in 1933, following which Rewa was placed under the authority of the Indore Residency.

History

According to legend, the kingdom of Rewa was founded around 1140 CE. On 5 October 1812, it became a British protectorate. Between 1 April 1875 and 15 October 1895, Rewa remained under the direct colonial administration of British India.^[2]

The ruler of Rewa ruled from Bandhavgarh during the founding reign of Raja Vyaghra Dev in 1140 CE, who was a direct descendant of Gujarati warrior king Vir Dhawal of Vaghela dynasty (as spelled Baghel), a Baghel Rajput branch of the Solanki (Chalukyans) clan. In 1617, Maharaja Vikramaditya Singh Baghel moved his capital to Rewa. Maharaja Martand Singh was the last ruler of Rewa who acceded to the Union of India after the independence of India.

Akbar was given refuge at Rewa at age 10, when his father Humayun fled India following a defeat in war. Prince Ramchandra Singh and Akbar grew up together as royal heirs. Maharaja Ramchandra Singh and Akbar remained friends. In the mid-1550s, Raja Ramachandra Singh Baghela maintained a musically talented court, including the legendary Tansen. Two of the Navratnas of Akbar, Tansen and Birbal (originally named Mahesh Das) were sent from Rewa by Maharaja Ramchandra Singh once Akbar became Emperor of India. In 1580, Akbar reorganized his empire into 12 Subahs and combined the provinces of Jaunpur Sultanate, Kara-Manikpur and territory of Bandhogarh into the Subah of Ilahabad.

Raja Vishwanath Singh abolished Sati in the state under British pressure in 1847. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Rewa State sided with the British East India Company.^[3] Rewa State was important for the British Raj from perspective of logistics as roads and railway lines connecting Gangetic plains to Deccan passed through the state.^[3]

Rewa was the first princely state in India to declare Hindi the national language, in the times of Maharaja Gulab Singh. He is also credited for declaring the first responsive government in modern India, providing citizens of Rewa state a right to question their monarch's decisions.

The state came under British paramountcy in 1812 and remained a princely state within the British Raj until India's independence in 1947.

During the long minority of Raja Venkat Raman Singh (b.1876, r.1880–1918), the administration of the state was reformed. In 1901, the town boasted a high school, a "model jail" and two hospitals: the Victoria hospital and the Zenana hospital. However, Lord Irwin criticized the lagging of state in terms of development and he spoke of Rewa's need to end its aloofness with the world and it was still adjudged among the most backward areas of the country by V.P. Menon, after he visited the state in 1947.

During Gulab Singh's reign, the state turned more towards autocracy and regional autonomy with tahsildars needing His Highness' permission for petty decisions.

Revolt of 1857

One of the most prominent figures in the region’s revolt was Thakur Ranmat Singh Baghel, a Baghel Rajput Sardar (commander) in the army of His Highness Maharaja Raghuraj Singh of Rewa (princely state), became increasingly discontented with British interference, particularly by the British Resident Political Agent of Rewa State Willoughby Osborne during the Revolt of 1857. The kshatriya blood in his veins was boiling over. His arms were twitching to take on the enemies of the motherland. This was at the time when the First War of Indian Independence, 1857 (Revolt of 1857), was moving towards its end. The British had brought the situation under control and their victory campaign was progressing rapidly. Thakur Ranmat Singh resolved to confront them at this very time.

Ranmat Singh led a group of 2,000 rebels, besieging Osborne's bungalow in fury, yelling: O Osborne, come out we shall kill you! nevertheless, but Osborne managed to escape. Near Baraundha, Ranmat Singh fought against the British army, badly defeated them and killed the two British officers, in a garden of village Padra.

According to Shrikrishnan Saral in his book "Indian Revolutionaries 1757-1961 (Vol-1): A Comprehensive Study, 1757-1961", Ranmat Singh thought that if one Englishman (Willoughby Osborne) escaped they could easily target another. Ranmat Singh attacked the British Resident Political Agent of Nagod State. This Resident too escaped and took refuge in Ajaigarh State. In order to protect the fugitive Englishman, the ruler of Ajaigarh State sent an army under Keshri Singh Bundela to confront Ranmat Singh. There was a fierce battle at Bhilsain. Ranmat Singh cut through the enemy forces and came face to face with Keshri Singh. It was an awesome sight to see the two mighty swordsmen contending against each other. Ultimately Ranmat Singh cut Keshri Singh into two with his sword. Encouraged by this victory, Thakur Ranmat Singh invaded the British cantonment at Nowgaon and later confronted the British army at Barongha and destroyed it.

After that Ranmat Singh went into hiding in Keoti Fort. In a battle at the Keoti Fort, he killed the British officer who came to arrest him, thereby defeating the British authorities.

The rebels forces of Ranmat Singh continued their struggle, engaging in multiple battles across areas like Nagod, Bhilsain, Chitrakoot, Nowgong, Keoti, and defeated the British army.^[5][6]

Veer Kunwar Singh of Bihar influenced Ranmat Singh so much that he organize the Anti-British elements and to adopt the course of Revolt. His letters and the secret messages sent to Tatya Tope and Veer Kunwar Singh through his associate Lal Punjab Singh reveal that he remained in contact with them and awaited their instructions.

In May 1858, Thakur Ranmat Singh Baghel joined forces with his 300 men along with Farzand Ali in the battle of Kalpi to assist Rani of Jhansi Laxmibai against the British army under the command of Major General Hugh Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn. Following her defeat and retreat to Gwalior, Ranmat Singh and Farzand Ali returned to the forests of Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand, respectively to continue a localized campaign.

The British force, under the command of Brigadier general Carpenter, engaged the rebel forces of Ranmat Singh in a bloody battle at Chitrakoot in August 1858. Thakur Ranmat Singh gave a very tough fight during the battle but suffered severe injuries during the encounter with Carpenter's forces. He managed to evade capture by fleeing toward Kothi, where Raja Bahadur Avdhoot Singh Baghel of Kothi State provided him with secret shelter, medical assistance, food, and ammunition.

During the Revolt of 1857 in Baghelkhand, the Kothi State (Kothi princely state, Satna) is noted for helping Thakur Ranmat Singh Baghel. Historical accounts mention that Raja Bahadur Avdhoot Singh Baghel of Kothi State provided rebels with shelter, ammunition, food, money, and support for recruiting fighters.

The Maharaja of Rewa wanted Thakur Ranmat Singh Baghel to surrender to the British authorities with the assurance that he would not be killed. According to David E. U. Baker in his book Baghelkhand, or, the Tigers' Lair: Region and Nation in Indian History, Diwan Dinbandhu Pandey of Rewa acted as an informant for the British, which led to the capture of Ranmat Singh by the British authorities when he was resting in the cellar of Jalpa Devi temple at the house of his friend Vijayshankar Nag, Ranmat Singh was arrested, charged with the murder of Europeans, and hanged in August 1860.^[7][8]

According to David E.U. Baker in his book "Baghelkhand, or the Tigers’ Lair: Region and Nation in Indian History", Thakur Shyam Shah Baghel led a 300-strong resistance force in the Rewa–Shahdol–Katni region, utilizing guerrilla tactics to disrupt British supply lines during the 1857 Revolt and defeated the British authorities.

According to A.U. Siddiqui in his book "Indian freedom movement in princely states of Vindhya Pradesh", following betrayal by Thakur of Burwa along with Randhir Singh of Bhamarha, Devi Singh & Gurupat Singh. Thakur Shyam Shah Baghel was killed by them from behind through deceit and betrayal, serving as a key example of the suppression of local independence movements by the regional loyalist of British authorities.

Thakur Ranmat Singh Baghel (from Mankhari village, Satna) and his uncle, Thakur Shyam Shah Baghel, were both Sardars (commanders) in the army of Maharaj of Rewa and later were both prominent leaders of the 1857 revolt in Baghelkhand, and they both were descendants of the Kothi royal family of Kothi State, Satna.

Rulers

The predecessor state, Bandhogarh, was founded c. 1140. Vyaghra Deo, a brother of a ruler of Gujarat, is said to have made his way into northern India around the middle of the 13th century and gained the fort of Marpha, 29 km (18 mi) north-east of Kalinjar. His son Karan deo, married a Kalchuri (Haihaya) princess of Mandla, and received in dowry the fort of Bandhogarh which, until its destruction in 1597 by Akbar, was the Baghela capital. Until the 15th century, the Baghela's of Bandhogarh were engaged in extending their possessions and escaped the attention of the Delhi Sultans, in 1498–1499, Sikandar Lodi failed in his attempt to take the fort of Bandhogarh.

References

External links

• Media related to Rewa State at Wikimedia Commons
• "Rewa" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 224–225.

24°31′48″N 81°18′00″E / 24.5300°N 81.3000°E / 24.5300; 81.3000