Jodhpur State

This article is about the state during the British Raj. For the natural and historical region, see Marwar.

Jodhpur State जोधपुर रियासत
Princely State of British India
1250–1949 →
Flag Coat of arms
Jodhpur State in the Imperial Gazetteer of India
History
•	Established	1250
•	Independence of India	1949
Area
•	1931	93,424 km2 (36,071 sq mi)
Population
•	1931	2,125,000
	Density	22.7 /km2  (58.9 /sq mi)
Today part of		Rajasthan, India

View of Jodhpur palace.

Sardar Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur (c. 1900)

An old soldier who had been at the service of the Maharaja in the Daulat Khanat yard

Map of Rajputana Agency, of which State of Jodhpur was a part

Portrait of Naubat Khan Kalawant (A Jodhpur Prince) by Ustad Mansur,Mughal School, towards 1600.British Museum London

File:Posthumous Portrait of Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar, 1762.jpg

Posthumous Portrait of Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar, 1762. Brooklyn Museum.

Maharaja Jaswant Singh II of Marwar, ca. 1880. Attributed to Narsingh. The Brooklyn Museum.

Maharaja Jai Singh of Amber and Maharaja Gaj Singh of Marwar - Folio from the Amber Album, circa 1630 Painting

Jodhpur State was a princely state in the Marwar region from 1250 to 1949. Its capital was the city of Jodhpur since 1450.

Covering an area of 90,554 km² (34,963 sq mi), Jodhpur State was the largest state under the Rajputana Agency. Its last ruler signed the accession to join the Indian Union on 7 April 1949 and the state was formally dissolved on 1 November 1956.

History

The rulers of the Indian princely state of Jodhpur were of an ancient dynasty established in the 8th century. However, the dynasty's fortunes were made by Rao Jodha, first of the rulers of the Rathore dynasty in Jodhpur in 1459.

The state was incorporated into the Mughal Empire during the reign of the Emperor Akbar. During the late 17th century it was under the strict control of the Emperor Aurangzeb, but the ruling house of Rathore was allowed to remain semi-autonomous in their territory. The British had no role in the state's affairs until the 1830s, when the Raja at that time, Man Singh, entered into a subsidiary alliance, after which the Rajas of Marwar (or Jodhpur) continued as rulers of a princely state.

Following Indian independence in 1947 Maharaja Hanwant Singh, the last ruler of Jodhpur state, delayed signing the Instrument of Accession to India. He even briefly considered acceding to Pakistan, for Jodhpur shared a border with the new nation and he had been personally given assurance of access to sea ports in Pakistan by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Finally, he agreed to the accession of his state to the new Dominion of India, but not before a last-minute dramatic scene.

Rulers: House of Rathore

Rulers 1250–1459

Name		Reign Began	Reign Ended
1	Rao Shiva	1250	1273
2	Rao Asthan – He was killed in battle against the forces of Sultan Jalal-ud-din Firuz Khilji of Delhi, 1292.	1273	1292
3	Rao Duhad	1292	1309
4	Rao Rai Pal	1309	1313
5	Rao Kanha Pal	1313	1323
6	Rao Jalhansi	1323	1328
7	Rao Chhada	1328	1344
8	Rao Tida	1344	1357
9	Rao Salkha	1357	1374
10	Rao Viram Deo	1374	1383
11	Rao Chandra – He was killed in battle against Salim Shah of Multan, 1424	1383	1424
12	Rao Kanha	1424	1427
13	Rao Rid Mal Ranmal	1427	1438

Rulers 1459–1947

Name			Reign Began	Reign Ended
1	Rao Jodha of Mandore		12 May 1459	6 April 1489
2	Rao Satal		6 April 1489	March 1492
3	Rao Suja		March 1492	2 October 1515
4	Rao Biram Singh – son of Bagha		2 October 1515	8 November 1515
5	Rao Ganga		8 November 1515	9 May 1532
6	Rao Maldeo – Lost Merta and Ajmer to Emperor Akbar, and forced to send two of his sons as hostages to the Imperial Court.		9 May 1532	7 November 1562
7	Rao Chandra Sen – Lost his territories in wars with the Mughals		7 November 1562	1565
8	Raja Udai Singh Mota Raja – restored by the Mughals with the title 'Raja' as a vassal		4 August 1583	11 July 1595
9	Sawai Raja Suraj-Mal		11 July 1595	7 September 1619
10	Maharaja Gaj Singh I – To be the first to take the title 'Maharaja' by himself		7 September 1619	6 May 1638
11	Maharaja Jaswant Singh		6 May 1638	28 November 1678?
12	Raja Rai Singh – Son of Raja Amar Singh		1659	1659
13	Maharaja Ajit Singh - Rao Raghunath Singh Bhandari ruled as Maharaja in place of Ajit Singh from 1713-1724, while he was in Delhi		19 February 1679	24 June 1724
14	Raja Indra Singh – Installed in opposition to Maharaja Ajit Singh by Emperor Aurangzeb but unpopluar with people of Marwar		9 June 1679	4 August 1679
15	Maharaja Abhai Singh		24 June 1724	18 June 1749
16	Maharaja Ram Singh – First Reign		18 June 1749	July 1751
17	Maharaja Bakht Singh		July 1751	21 September 1752
18	Maharaja Vijay Singh – First Reign		21 September 1752	31 January 1753
19	Maharaja Ram Singh – Second Reign		31 January 1753	September 1772
20	Maharaja Vijay Singh – Second Reign		September 1772	17 July 1793
21	Maharaja Bhim Singh		17 July 1793	19 October 1803
22	Maharaja Man Singh		19 October 1803	4 September 1843
23	Maharaja Sir Takht Singh – Not in the direct line, but a great-great-great grandson of Ajit Singh. Formerly Regent of Ahmednagar.		4 September 1843	13 February 1873
24	Maharaja Sir Jaswant Singh II – Kaisar-i-Hind		13 February 1873	11 October 1895
25	Maharaja Sir Sardar Singh – Colonel in the British Indian Army		11 October 1895	20 March 1911
26	Maharaja Sir Sumair Singh – Colonel in the British Indian Army		20 March 1911	3 October 1918
27	Maharaja Sir Umaid Singh – Lieutenant-General in the British Indian Army		3 October 1918	9 June 1947
28	Maharaja Sir Hanwant Singh – Ruler of Marwar (Jodhpur)		9 June 1947	15 August 1947
29	Maharaj Gaj Singh II of Jodhpur - Present

• Silver Shaded Rows signify the Mughal Empire.
• Yellow Shaded Rows signify the British Indian Empire

Thikanas

Jiliya or Abhaypura was a Princely Thikana of the State of Jodhpur.

See also

• Political integration of India
• Marwar region
• Naubat Khan

References

• Jodhpur, Published by [s.l.], 1933.
• Maharaja Man Singh of Jodhpur and His Times (1803–1843 A.D.), by Padmaja Sharma. Published by Shiva Lal Agarwala, 1972.
• The Administration of Jodhpur State, 1800–1947 A.D., by Nirmala M. Upadhyaya. International Publishers, 1973.
• Marwar under Jaswant Singh, (1658–1678): Jodhpur hukumat ri bahi, by Satish Chandra, Raghubir Sinh, Ghanshyam Datt Sharma. Published by Meenakshi Prakashan, 1976.
• Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer: Desert Kingdoms, by Kishore Singh, Karoki Lewis. Lustre Press Ltd. 1992.
• The House of Marwar: The Story of Jodhpur, by Dhananajaya Singh. Lotus Collection, Roli Books, 1994. ISBN 81-7436-002-6.
• Modern Indian Kingship: Tradition, Legitimacy & Power in Jodhpur, by Marzia Balzani. Published by James Currey Limited, 2003. ISBN 0-85255-931-3.
• Jodhpur and the Later Mughals, AD 1707–1752, by R. S. Sangwan. Published by Pragati Publications, 2006.

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• The Maharaja Gaj Singh II Of Marwar-Jodhpur (present maharaja), Official website
• Jodhpur History and Genealogy at RoyalArk