https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Shamraj_BhaleraoShamraj Bhalerao - Revision history2026-10-27T23:29:21ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shamraj_Bhalerao&diff=292811&oldid=prev->AnomieBOT: Dating maintenance tags: {{Fact}}2021-10-10T18:04:27Z<p>Dating maintenance tags: {{Fact}}</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian noble}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}<br />
{{Infobox officeholder<br />
| name =Shamraj Bhalerao<br />
| honorific_prefix = [[Raja|Raja Rai Rayan]]<br />
| honorific_suffix =Rajwant [[Baghatur|Bahadur]] <br />
| image = Raja Sir Rai Rayan Shamraj Rajwant Bahadur.jpg<br />
| order1 =[[File:Asafia flag of Hyderabad State.png|33x30px]] [[Raja]] of '''Rai Rayan Estate'''<br />
| monarch1 = [[Mir Osman Ali Khan|Osman Ali Khan]]<br />
| term_start1 =1 July 1927<br />
| term_end1 = 17 September 1948<br />
| predecessor1 = Raja Lakshmanraj Bahadur<br />
| successor1 = Post Abolished<br />
| order2 = <br />
| office2 =[[File:Asafia flag of Hyderabad State.png|33x30px]] [[Public Works Department|P. W. D]] Member of [[His Exalted Highness|H. E. H]] the [[Nizam]]'s Executive Council <br />
| monarch2 = [[Mir Osman Ali Khan|Osman Ali Khan]]<br />
| term_start2 = 1 June 1935<br />
| term_end2 = 17 September 1948<br />
| predecessor2 = <br />
| successor2 = <br />
| birth_name = Shamraj Bhalerao<br />
| birth_date = 15 August 1898<br />
| birth_place = [[Hyderabad]], [[Hyderabad State]] (present-day [[Telangana]], India)<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1987|6|10|1898|8|15}}<br />
| death_place = [[Hyderabad]], [[Hyderabad State]] (present-day [[Telangana]], India)<br />
| spouse = <br />
| residence = [[Rai Rayan Palace]]<br />
| alma_mater = [[Nizam College]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Sham Raj II'''{{efn|group=note|Since his great grandfather is also famous with the same name, Raja Sham Raj, in order to avoid confusion his name is written as "Sham Raj II"}} (born as '''Shamraj Lakshmanraj Bhalerao'''), (also popularly referred as '''Raja Shamraj Rajwant Bahadur'''), (15 August 1898 – 10 June 1987), was an Indian [[Nobility|noble]] who served as a member of [[His Exalted Highness|H. E. H]] the [[Nizam]]'s Executive Council.{{Sfn|Chatterji|1999|p=2980}} He was the first Hindu member in the executive council.{{Sfn|Peters|1941|p=498}} Some of the ancestors of Sham Raj Bahadur were themselves peshkars (deputy ministers) and diwan (prime minister) to the [[Nizam]]s and still earlier their family served at various points in their career to [[Shah Jahan]], the [[Mughal Emperor]]. A member of the powerful Rai Rayan family, Sham Raj built a magnificent personal library inside his palace containing 45,000 rare books, which he later generously opened to public.{{Sfn|Dongerkery|1968|p=195}}<ref>{{cite book|title=SJM Research Journal, Volumes 23-24|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hOQ6jgIYsLoC|publisher=Salar Jung Museum|author=I.K.Sarma|page=15|year=1986|quote=Raja Sham Raj Rajwant Bahadur Raja Sham Raj Rajwant Bahadur, son of Raja Rai Rayan Bahadur, was one of the premier nobles of the Hyderabad State. His family came next in rank to the family of no less a person than Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad Bahadur, the Peshkar . Some of the ancestors of Raja Shamraj Bahadur were themselves Peshkars to the Nizams and still earlier Treasurers and Accountants of the Exchequer to Shah Jehan, the Mughal Emperor. They were great friends of Asaf Jah Nizam-ul-Mulk and it was due to him that they came to the Deccan.}}</ref><br />
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Born to a [[Hindu]] [[Brahmin]] family which traces its roots to Raja Krishnaji Pant, a [[watandar]] of [[Devagiri]] under [[Shah Jahan]]. Shamraj studied at [[Madrasa-i-Aliya|Madrasa Aliya]] school and later in [[Nizam College]]. He was a childhood friend of the Nizam and was a staunch Nizam loyalist throughout his life.<ref>{{cite book|title=45 Years a Rebel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6lUdAAAAMAAJ|page=103|author=C. Sri Kishen|publisher=Deccan Printing Press|year=1952}}</ref><br />
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Shamraj was a patron of arts, literature and music. Newspaper Editor of [[Bennett, Coleman & Company]], Sir Francis Low says, "Raja Shamraj Rajwant is a lover of Art and Literature and his museum contains a valuable collection of Old Indian Paintings".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TCodAQAAMAAJ|title=The Indian Year Book, Volume 25|author=Sir Francis Low|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Company|year=1938|page=1234}}</ref><br />
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==Early life==<br />
Shamraj was born into a [[nobility|noble]] [[Rai Rayan family]] on 15 August 1898 to Raja Lakshmanraj Bahadur in [[Hyderabad]]. The Rai Rayan family belongs to [[Marathi language|Marathi]]-speaking [[Deshastha Brahmin|Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin]] community. The surname of Rai Rayan family is "Bhalerao".{{Sfn|Dadabhoy|2019|p=20}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Proceedings of the ... Session, Volume 38|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRIeAQAAIAAJ|page=109|publisher=Indian Historical Records Commission,The Comission|year=1967|quote=Krishnajipant (1608–1688), the known ancestor of the Rai Rayan family, was a Maharashtra Deshastha Brahmin. He was a native of the village of Lamgaon, Pargana Takli, Prant Devgad (Daulatabad), on the bank of the Girija river.}}</ref> <br />
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===Family history===<br />
His family is the founder of the Dafter-e-Diwani ([[Department of Finance]]) in Hyderabad Deccan during [[Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asaf Jah I|Nizam ul Mulk Asif Jah I]].{{Sfn|Dadabhoy|2019|p=65}} Sham Raj II's great-great-grandfather, Rai Naro Pant, migrated from Delhi to Hyderabad with [[Asaf Jah I]]. Rai Naro Pant served as 2nd peshkar (deputy minister) of Hyderabad Deccan after his elder brother Rai Moro Pant's death in 1750, who was the first peshkar (deputy minister) of Nizam of Hyderabad Deccan during the reign of [[Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I]].{{fact|date=October 2021}}<br />
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Sham Raj II's great grandfather's father Raja Dhondoji Pant was the elder son of Rai Naro Pant and served as third peshkar (deputy minister) during the reign of [[Sikandar Jah]]. His great grandfather [[Renuka Das Bhalerao|Sham Raj I]] served as the [[Prime Minister of Hyderabad|Prime Minister of the Hyderabad]] from 1795 - 1797.{{Sfn|Mudiraj|1934|p=217}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Proceedings of the ... Session, Volume 38|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRIeAQAAIAAJ|page=109|publisher=Indian Historical Records Commission,The Comission|year=1967|quote=Krishnajipant (1608–1688), the known ancestor of the Rai Rayan family, was a Maharashtra Deshastha Brahmin. He was a native of the village of Lamgaon, Pargana Takli, Prant Devgad ([[Daulatabad Fort|Daulatabad]]), on the bank of the Girija river.}}</ref> The family is famously known as Rai Rayan Family in [[Hyderabad]], [[India]].{{Sfn|Leonard|1994|p=24}}<br />
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Sham Raj completed his schooling in [[Madrasa-i-Aliya|Madrasa Aliya]] and his college degree in [[Nizam College]].{{Sfn|Mudiraj|1934|p=227}}<br />
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==Regin==<br />
[[File:Deori Raja Rai Rayan Shamraj Bahadur - Rai Rayan Palace.jpg|thumb|right|The Chandra Bhavan Palace (Rai Rayan devdi) in [[Hyderabad]] was built as the seat of the Rai Rayan rulers in 1757.]]<br />
Quoting about the reign and the relationship between [[His Exalted Highness|H. E. H]] the [[Nizam]] and Raja Shamraj Bahadur family, Author and former Mayor of [[Hyderabad]] city, [[Krishna Swamy Mudiraj|K. Krishnaswamy Mudiraj]] in his book Pictorial Hyderabad, Vol . II says,{{Sfn|Mudiraj|1934|p=228}} {{cquote|"Soon after getting the estates in his charge, by a firman (decree) of [[His Exalted Highness|H. E. H]] the [[Nizam]] on the 1 July 1927, the young [[Raja]] cleared a large amount of arrears of office work and systematised it properly under his own supervision. He familiarised himself with the traditions of his illustrious father by studying old records and night and day he kept himself busy organizing his affairs on a satisfactory basis. With the welfare at his heart of his tenants he has provided Primary Schools and medical help in various places of his jagirs. He does his best to improve the conditions of his people and helps them in all possible ways in times of famine and pestilence.{{Sfn|Mudiraj|1934|p=227}} He gives concessions to tax-payers in times of epidemics and adversity and assists the poor at times of scarcity by giving them liberal wages for nominal work. Thus he has endeared himself to his subjects whom he constantly visits. Raja Sham Raj is a pattern of a thorough gentleman, keeping before him those great types of manhood depicted in the ancient scriptures of the country. His Exalted Highness continues to bestow the same personal interest on Raja Sham Raj Bahadur as the late Nizam showed for Raja Lakshman Raj and he often honours Raja Sham Raj and his brothers Raja Trimbakraj and Raja Dhundi Raj with gifts. On 28th April 1913 Raja Sham Raj received a feroja ring and a gold watch; while on 10 June 1929 all three brothers received a couple of rings each at the hands of [[His Exalted Highness|H. E. H]] the [[Nizam]]".{{Sfn|Mudiraj|1934|p=227}}}}<br />
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During the reign of Sham Raj II, along with the hereditary Rai Rayan estate of worth around Rs.4,96,000, Sham Raj also held jagirs worth Rs.34,000,00.<ref>{{cite book|title=List Of Leading Officials Nobles And Personages|url=https://archive.org/details/listofleadingoff030666mbp/mode/2up|publisher=Residency Government Press|page=30|quote=Shamraj Rajwant Bahadur, Raja: Hindu Brahmin, jagirdar, Eldest son of late Raja Rai Rayan, Born on 15th August 1898. The member of his family, Moro Pant, with his brother came to Hyderabad with the first Nizam. His great grandson Shamraj Rao Rayan Diyanatwant Bahadurofficiated as Prime Minister (Madar-ul-Maham) for a few years during the reign of Nawab Nizam Ali Khan Bahadur, Received the title of "Raja" from late Nizam and of "Rajwant Bahadur" from the present Nizam. Total revenue of the jagir is nearly 34 lakhs. Appointed as member of His Exalted Highness the Nizam's Executive Council for the Public Works Department from 1st June 1935.}}</ref><br />
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==Titles==<br />
On the birthday of [[His Exalted Highness|H. E. H]] the [[Nizam]] ([[Mir Osman Ali Khan]]) in 1930, He honoured Raja Shamraj Bahadur with the unique title of "Rajwant".{{Sfn|Mudiraj|1934|p=228}}<br />
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==Notes==<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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===Bibliography===<br />
*{{Citation|title=The Magnificent Diwan: The Life and Times of Sir Salar Jung I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EfzDDwAAQBAJ|first=Bakhtiar K|last=Dadabhoy|publisher=Penguin Random House|year=2019|isbn=978-9353056773}}<br />
*{{Citation|title=On the Wings of Time: An Autobiography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=It08AQAAIAAJ|first=Kamala Sunderrao Kulkarni|last=Dongerkery|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|year=1968}}<br />
*{{Citation|title=Who's who in India, Burma & Ceylon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFyE_jYD43EC|first=Thos|last=Peters|publisher=The Sun Publishing House|year=1941}}<br />
*{{Citation|title=Pictorial Hyderabad , Vol . II|first=K . K .|last=Mudiraj|publisher=Chandrakant Press|year=1934}}<br />
*{{Citation|title=Towards Freedom: Documents on the Movement for Independence in India, 1938, Part 3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C30MAQAAMAAJ|first=Basudev|last=Chatterji|publisher=Indian Council of Historical Research|year=1999|isbn=978-0195644494}}<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
*{{cite book|title=Locating Home: India's Hyderabadis Abroad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HQCvgavbQjgC|author=Karen Isaksen Leonard|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0804754422}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
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{{Hyderabad state}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahadur, Shamraj}}<br />
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]<br />
[[Category:1898 births]]<br />
[[Category:1987 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Hyderabad State politicians]]<br />
[[Category:Indian monarchs]]<br />
[[Category:People from Hyderabad State]]</div>->AnomieBOT