The Royal House of Benares

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Royal House of Benares (or the House of Narayan), was the ruling family of Benares from 1770 to 1835 as Rajas of Benares, Maharajas of Benares from 1835 to 1910 and rulers of the princely state of Benares from 1910 until Indian independence in 1947.

Contents

[edit] The Zamindars of Benares:Beginnings to 1770

The Royal House of Benares is of an ancient Gautam Brahmins clan dating to the year 1000, that originated from Gangapur near Benares. In the late 17th century, one Raja Mansa Ram of this family entered the service of the Nazim of Benares, Rustam Ali Khan. He grew immensely wealthy and rose to become Zamindar of Kaswar in the service of the Nazim. Appointed as successor to Rustam Ali Khan by the Nawab of Awadh, Saadat Khan, one year before his death in 1739 he arranged a grant from Mohammed Shah for the revenues of the sarkars of Benares, Jaunpur, Ghazipur and Chunar to be held by his eldest son along with the title of Raja Bahadur of Kaswar .

His eldest son, Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Raja Sri Balwant Singh Sahib Bahadur, succeeded his father as Raja of Kaswar and Nazim of Benares in 1738,leading a much more martial life. He built a fort and established a capital at Gangapur, but later removed to Ramnagar. In 1751, he expelled the representative of the Nawab of Awadh in an attempt to carve out a principality at Benares, but was forced to flee when the Nawab invaded his domain in March of 1752; however, he was not severely punished, but was instead restored to his titles by the Nawab. Emperor Alamgir II granted him a jagir in Bihar two years later. The first of his house to deal with the Honourable East India Company, he joined Shah Alam and Shuja ud-Daula in their 1763 invasion of Bengal. Following the Battle of Buxar in 1764, Emperor Shah Alam transferred Balwant Singh's zamindari to the Company, but the Company refused it along with the Treaty of Benares, signed by the Emperor the same year. Instead, the zamindari reverted once again to the Nawab of Awadh in 1765, five years before Balwant Singh's death in 1770.

[edit] The Rajas of Benares:(1770-1835)

Balwant Singh's elder son, Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Raja Sri Chait Singh Sahib Bahadur, succeeded to the throne as the first Raja of Benares in 1770. Although the Nawab still wished to hold total suzerainity over the zamindari, the British authorities prevailed upon him to recognise Chait Singh as zamindar in 1773. Two years later, the Nawab, by now fed up with British interference, transferred the domain to the Company under the direct control of the Governor-General of India, Warren Hastings. Under the new British terms, Chait Singh was empowered to contribute cavalry and maintenance grants for the Company's sepoy battalions. This, however, the Raja refused to do, and he began to secretly correspond with enemies of the Company in hopes of forcibly breaking the arrangement. Discovered, Chait Singh was stripped of his position and placed under house arrest in September 1781 pending an interview with Hastings. Instead, he killed his unarmed guards, gathered his small forces and escaped, appealing for assistance from local rulers, who did nothing. In skirmishes with the Company forces, Chait Singh's troops were easily defeated, the rebellion crushed and the zamindari confiscated and given over to his nephew Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Raja Sri Mahipat Narayan Singh Sahib Bahadur on the 14th September 1781. Chait Singh himself fled to Awadh, then to Gwalior, where he was granted a jagir for a while until it was later confiscated He died in Gwalior on 29 March 1810 in obscurity, leaving three sons. The incident greatly tarnished Hasting's image and capability, leading to his eventual impeachment by the Company.

Chait Singh's nephew, Raja Sri Mahipat Narayan Singh Sahib Bahadur, succeeded his maternal uncle on 14 September 1781 under the terms of the Company, which were that he should serve to dispense justice within his domains and make an annual contribution of 40 lakhs. However, he proved incapable of governing, and on 27 October 1794, under a formal agreement the four sarkars, or revenue districts, held by the Raja were transferred to the direct rule of the Company adminstration, leaving only the family domains under the rule of the Raja; in return Mahipat Narayan Singh received 1 lakh per year in compensation and any surplus revenue of the sarkars. Mahipat Narayan Singh died barely a year later, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Raja Sri Udit Narayan Singh Sahib Bahadur.

The eldest surviving son of Mahipat Narayan Singh, Udit Narayan Singh Sahib Bahadur (1770-4 April 1835, r. 12 September 1795-4 April 1835) proved even more incapable as an administrator than his father had been. In 1828, he petitioned the Company to annul the 1794 agreement under which the family had lost the sarkars, and to press for their return to family control. However, the Company instead ordered a detailed enquiry into Udit Narayan Singh's personal affairs and his governance of the family domains. Finding them to be grossly mismanaged, the Company confiscated the last remaining lands of the Rajas and placed them under their own control. It would be over five decades before the domains would be restored to the family. Udit Narayan Singh died on 4 April 1835, aged 65, and was succeeded by his nephew, Raja Sri Ishwari Prasad Narayan Singh Sahib Bahadur.

[edit] Maharaja of Benares:1835-1947

His Highness Maharaja Bahadur Sri Sir Ishwari Prasad Narayan Singh, GCSI, Kaiser-i-Hind (1822-13 June 1889) succeeded his uncle upon the latter's death in 1835, becoming the first of his line to be granted the title of Maharaja. Ascending the throne at the age of 13, during the First War of Independence, he remained loyal to the British Government throughout and assisted them in numerous ways. As a reward, he was promoted to the rank of Maharaja Bahadur in 1859. In 1867, he was granted a personal 13-gun salute; a decade later he was knighted with the GCSI, becoming Sir Ishwari. He eventually became a member of the Viceroy's Legislative Council and in the crowning achievement of his reign, restored all the family lands that had been lost to them for over a century. Given the title of His Highness in 1889, Sir Ishwari died several months later, aged 67 and was succeeded by his nephew, Prabhu Narayan Singh Sahib Bahadur.





[edit] References