Rewa (princely state): Difference between revisions

|conventional_long_name = Rewa State<br><small>Rewah State</small>

|today    =  [[India]]

'''Rewa State''', also known as '''Rewah''', was a [[princely state]] of India, surrounding its eponymous capital, the town of [[Rewa, India|Rewa]].<ref>[http://rewacityonline.tk/ RewaCityOnline – Information about Rewa City]</ref>

With an area of about {{convert|13000|sqmi|order=flip|abbr=on}}, Rewa was the largest princely state in the [[Bagelkhand Agency]] and the second largest in [[Central India Agency]]. Rewa was also the third wealthiest principality in Central India, with an average revenue of rupees 2.9 million in 1901.<ref>https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V09_384.gif</ref> The [[British India|British]] political agent for Bagelkhand resided at [[Satna]], on the East Indian railway. The Bagelkhand Agency was dissolved in 1933, following which Rewa was placed under the authority of the [[Indore Residency]].

The ruler of Rewa ruled from [[Bandhavgarh]] during the founding reign of Raja Vyaghra Dev, who was a direct descendant of [[Vaghela dynasty# List of rulers|Gujarati warrior king Vir Dhawal]]. In 1617, Maharaja Vikramaditya Singh moved his capital to Rewa.  Maharaja [[Martand Singh]] was the last ruler of Rewa who acceded to the [[Political integration of India|Union of India]] after the country became India.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

Emperor [[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.

[[File:Former Flag of the Rewa State.svg|thumb|250px|Flag of Rewa State in the 19th century<ref>[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_princes_K-W.html Princely States of India K–Z]</ref>]]

Upon India's independence in 1947, the maharaja of Rewa acceded unto the [[Dominion of India]]. Rewa later merged with the Union of India and became part of [[Vindhya Pradesh]], which was formed by the merger of the former princely states of the [[Bagelkhand]] and [[Bundelkhand]] agencies. Rewa served as the capital of the new state.

The predecessor state, Bandhogarh, was founded {{circa}} 1140. The chiefs of Rewa were Vaghelas descended from the Rajput [[Solanki (clan)|Solanki]] clan, which ruled over [[Gujarat]] from the 10th to 13th century. 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, {{convert|18|mi|order=flip|abbr=on}} north-east of [[Kalinjar]]. His son Karandeo, married a Kalchuri (Haihaya) princess of [[Garha Kingdom|Mandla]], and received in dowry the fort of Bandhogarh which, until its destruction in 1597 by [[Akbar]], was the Baghel capital. In 1298, [[Ulugh Khan]], acting under orders of the sultan of Delhi, [[Alauddin Khilji]], drove the [[Karna (Vaghela dynasty)|last Vaghela ruler]] of Gujarat from his country and this is believed to have caused a considerable migration of Baghels to Bandhogarh. Until the 15th century, the Baghels 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.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

* Maharaja Sohag Deo, established the town of [[Shahdol|Sohagpur]].

* Maharaja Ajit Singh Deo, r.1755–1809.

* Maharaja Jai Singh Deo, b.1765, r.1809–1835. In 1812, a body of Pindaris raided Mirzapur from Rewa territory, for which Jai Singh was called upon to accede to a treaty acknowledging the protection of the British Government, and agreed to refer all disputes with neighbouring chiefs to their arbitration and to allow British troops in his territories.