Rewa was a princely state of India, surrounding its eponymous capital, the town of Rewa.
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With an area of about 13,000 mi², Rewa was the largest princely state in the Bagelkhand Agency and the second largest in Central India Agency. The British political agent for Bagelkhand resided at Satna, on the East Indian railway. The Bagelkhand Agency was dissolved in 1933 and Rewa was placed under the authority of the Indore Residency.
Rewa was bordered to the north by the United Provinces, to the east by Bengal and to the south by the Central Provinces. On the west, it met other princely states of Bagelkhand, namely Maihar, Nagod, Sohawal, Kothi Baghelan and Panna. The south of the state was crossed by the Bengal-Nagpur railway, (the branch between Bilaspur and Katni) which taps the Umaria coal-field.
The Rajas of Rewa were of the Baghela(vaghela) branch of the Solanki or Chalukya clan (Hindu Agnivanshi clan of Gurjar stock), and claimed descent from the founder of the Anhilwara (Patan) dynasty in Gujarat.They ruled from Bandhavgarh under the first ruler Raja Vyaghradev who was direct descendant of famous Gujarati King and Warrior Vir Dhawal . In the mid 1550s, Raja Ramachandra Singh Baghela maintained a musically talented court, including the legendary Tansen. In 1617, Maharaja Vikramaditya Singh moved his capital to Rewa. Maharaja Martand Singh was the last ruler of Rewa who acceded to the Union of India after the country became ind Birbal was born in Sidhi District of Rewa Kingdom. The Emperor Sher Shah Suri, died fighting with Ruler of Rewa Vir Singh at Fort of Kalinjar.
Maharaja Ramchandra Singh and Akbar stayed friends. Two of the Navratnas of Akbar, Tansen and Birbal(original name Mahesh Das.) were sent from Rewa by Maharaja Ramchandra Singh once Akbar became the Emperor of India.
Rewa is also famous for its white tigers, the first one, nicknamed Mohan, was caught in Rewa.
Sitar Virtuoso Pandit Ravi Shankar studied music from Alauddin Khan of Maihar, also in Rewa state.
Rewa is the first princely state in India to declare Hindi as a national language in times of Maharaja Gulab Singh. He is also credited for declaring the first responsible government in modern India, providing citizens of Rewa state a right to question monarch's decision. The state came under British paramountcy in 1812 and remained a princely state within the Raj until India's independence in 1947.
In 1901, the population of the state was 1,327,385, showing a decrease of 12% over a decade; the population of the town that year was 24,608. Many of the inhabitants of the hilly tracts were Gonds and Kols. The estimated revenue of the state was Rs.200,000/- p.a. The staple crops were rice, millets and wheat. More than one-third of the area was covered with forests, yielding timber and lac. The state suffered from famine in 1896-1897 and again (to a lesser extent) in 1899-1900.
During the long minority of Raja Venkat Raman Singh (b.1876, ruled 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, it was still adjudged among the most backward areas of the country by V.P. Menon, after he visited the state in 1947.
Post-independence: 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.
In 1956, Vindhya Pradesh was merged with other nearby political entities to form the Indian constitutive state of Madhya Pradesh. The Maharaja's Raj [i.e. colonial]-era palace has now been converted into a museum.
In February 2007, the most extensive book on history of Rewa was published. Published by Oxford University Press, it is named "Baghelkhand, or the Tigers’ Lair" and is authored by Dr D.E.U Baker, ex H.O.D, History Department, St Stephen's College, New Delhi after 12 years of gruelling research in which the author consulted numerous sources of information for Rewa's history like the state and national archieves as well as old records of Rewa state.
Bagheli is local language of Rewa.
Predecessor state was founded circa 1140. The chiefs of Rewa were Baghel Rajputs descended from the Solanki clan which ruled over Gujrat from the tenth to the thirteenth century. Vyaghra Deo, brother of the ruler of Gujarat, is said to have made his way into northern India about the middle of the thirteenth century and obtained the fort of Marpha, 18 miles north-east of Kalinjar. His son Karandeo 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 Baghel Capital. In 1298, Ulugh Khan, acting under orders of emperor Alauddin drove the last Baghel ruler of Gujrat from his country and this is believed to have caused a considerable migration of the Baghels to Bandhogarh. Until the 15th century the Baghels of Bandhogarh were engaged in extending their possessions and escaped the attention of the Delhi kings, in 1498-9, Sikandar Lodi failed in his attempt to take the fort of Bandhogarh. Rulers were...
27. Maharaja SHAKTIVAN Deo 1495/1500
28. Maharaja VEER SINGH Deo 1500/1540, married and had issue.
* Thakur NADBHANU [Horildeo], third son, received the estate of Beerha as his
patrimony in 1550, he was appointed a mansabdar with the title of Horilshah
by Emperor Humayun of Delhi.
29. Maharaja VIRBHAN SINGH 1540/1555
30. Maharaja RAMCHANDRA SINGH 1555/1592
31. Maharaja DURYODHAN SINGH [Birbhadra Singh] 1593/1618 (deposed), 19th Raja of Bandhogarh,
married 1618, a natural daughter of Raja Badan Singh of Bhadawar, because of which he was
expelled and retired to Bhadawar.
32. Maharaja VIKRAMADITYA 1618/1630, his accession gave rise to disturbances, Akbar intervened
and captured and dismantled the Bandhogarh fort in 1597 after a siege of eight months. It
is after this that the town of Rewa started gaining in importance. It is said to have been
founded by Raja Vikramaditya in 1618 (which perhaps means that he undertook the construction
of palaces and other buildings there because the place had already assumed importance in 1554
when it was held by Jalal Khan son of emperor Shershah), married and had issue, four sons.
*
Maharaja AMAR SINGH II (qv)
*
Kunwar Indra Singh, he was granted Patharhat Estate.
*
Kunwar Sarup Singh, he was granted Panasi Estate.
*
Kunwar Angad Rai, he was granted Chandiya Estate.
33. Maharaja AMAR SINGH II 1630/1643, married and had issue.
* Maharaja ANOOP SINGH (qv)
* Raja FATEH SINGH, rebelled against his father and established himself in Sohawal.
34. Maharaja ANOOP SINGH 1643/1660, married and had issue, three sons.
* Maharaja BHAO SINGH (qv)
* Kunwar Yashwant Singh, he was granted the Jagir of Gudh, married and had issue,
two sons.
o Kunwar Mukund Singh, he was granted the estate of Semariya.
o Kunwar Anirudh Singh, adopted by his uncle and succeeded as Maharaja ANIRUDH
SINGH (qv)
* Kunwar Jhujhar Singh, he was granted the estate of Ramnagar Itma.
35. Maharaja BHAO SINGH 1660/1690, married 1stly, Maharani Ajab Kunwar, daughter of Maharana
RAJ SINGH I of Udaipur, married 2ndly, 1668, Maharani Kunj Kumari, a daughter of Raikwar
Thakur Sadan Singh of Nadan in Rewah State, and had adoptive issue. He died sp 1690.
36. Maharaja ANIRUDH SINGH 1690/1700, born as Kunwar Anirudh Singh, son of Thakur Yashwant
Singh of Gudh, adopted by his uncle; married and had issue, one son.
* Maharaja AVADHUT SINGH (qv)
37. Maharaja AVADHUT SINGH 1700/1755, the state was sacked by Hirde Shah of Panna in about
1731, causing the Raja to flee to Pratapgarh in Oudh; married (amongst others), (a),
Maharani Ratan Kumari Devi, married (b), Maharani Sagun Kunwar, daughter of Umara-i-Uzzam
Maharaja Mahendra GOPAL SINGH of Bhadawar, and his fifth wife, the daughter of Raja Madho
Singh Sirnet of Bansi, and had issue, one son.
* Maharaja AJIT SINGH (qv)
38. Maharaja AJIT SINGH 1755/1809, married Maharani Kundan Kunwar, died 1802, daughter of
Chandel Thakur Vikram Singh of Silpatra, and had issue, one son. He died 1809.
* Maharaja JAI SINGH (qv)
39. Maharaja JAI SINGH 1809/1835, born 4 January 1765; in 1812 a body of Pindaris raided
Mirzapur from Rewa territory. Upon this Jaisingh was called upon to accede to a treaty,
in which he acknowledged the protection of the British Government, and agreed to refer
all disputes with neighbouring chiefs to their arbitration and to allow British troops
to march through or be cantoned in his territories; married 1stly, a daughter of Gaharwar
Raja Udhhat Singh of Manda, married 2ndly, a daughter of Dikshit Raja Madhav Singh of
Goraiya, and had issue, three sons and one daughter. He died 1835.
* Maharaja VISHWANATH SINGH
* Babu Laxman Singh, he was granted the estate of Madhavgarh estate, married and
had issue, two sons.
o Kunwar Ran Bahadur Singh, married a daughter of Sirnet Raja Prakash Singh
of Bansi in U.P. He died sp.
o Kunwar (name unknown), succeeded his brother in Madhavgarh, died without
issue, and the estate was merged into Rewah.
o Kumari (name unknown), married Maharana JAWAN SINGH of Udaipur.
o Kumari (name unknown), married 1834, Maharana JAWAN SINGH of Udaipur.
* Babu Balbhadra Singh, he was granted the estate of Amarpatan; married Rani
Chhavinath Kunwari, daughter of Gaharwar Thakur Manbodh Singh of Kaithaha
estate in Rewah (a relation of the Raja Saheb of Manda in U.P.), and had issue.
o Kumari (name unknown), married 1837, Maharaja SARDAR SINGH of Bikaner.
* Maharajkumari Sahodar Kunwar, married 1823, Maharana JAWAN SINGH of Udaipur.
40. Maharaja VISHWANATH SINGH 1835/1854, born 1789, married and had issue, one sons and
three daughters. He died 1854.
* HH Maharaja RAGHURAJ SINGH Bahadur (qv)
* Maharajkumari (name unknown), married Maharaja RAM SINGH II of Jaipur.
* Maharajkumari (name unknown), married Maharaj Mahabat Singh of Jodhpur.
* Maharajkumari Subhadra Kumari, married 2 July 1821, Yuvraj (later) Maharana
JAWAN SINGH of Udaipur.
41. Lt.Col. HH Maharaja Sir RAGHURAJ SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur (1876–1918)
1854/1880, born 1831, Maharaja Raghuraj Singh helped the
British in quelling the uprisings in the neighbouring Mandla and Jabalpur districta
in the mutiny of 1857, and in Nagod which is now a part of Satna district, for this,
the Maharaja was rewarded by restoration to him of the Sohagpur (Shahdol) and
Amarkantak parganas, which had been seized by the Marathas in the beginning of the
century, Maharaja [cr.1857]; married eight wives, including 1stly, 1845, daughter of
Bisen Raja of Bhadri in Oudh, married 2ndly, 1851, HH Maharani Sobhag Kanwar, daughter
of Maharana SARDAR SINGH of Udaipur, and had issue, one son and several daughters. He
died 5 February 1880.
* Lt.Col. HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhavesh Shri Maharaja Sir VENKAT RAMAN
RAMANUJ PRASAD SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur (qv)
* Maharajkumari Vishnuprasad Kunwar, born 1846, married 1864, Maharaj Kishore
Singh of Jodhpur.
* Maharajkumari (name unknown), married 1903, HH Maharao Raja Sir RAGHUBIR SINGHJI
Sahib Bahadur of Bundi. She died 1904.
42. Lt.Col. HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhavesh Shri Maharaja Sir VENKAT RAMAN RAMANUJ
PRASAD SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur 1880/1918, born 23 July 1876, G.C.S.I. [cr.1897], married
1stly, 1892, HH Maharani Shivraj Kumari Devi, died 1917, daughter of Maharaja Sir RADHA
PRASAD SINGH Bahadur of Dumraon in Bihar, married 2ndly, HH Maharani Gulab Kumari, died
1913, daughter of HH Maharaja Sir RANJIT SINGH of Ratlam, married 3rdly, 1904, HH
Maharani Keerat Kumari, daughter of General Parihar Thakur Bakhsh Singh of Thikana
Jhagarpur in U.P., and had issue, two sons and one daughter. He died 3 November 1918.
* HH Bandhvesh Maharaja Sir GHULAB SINGH Bahadur (qv)
* Maharajkumar Ravendra Ramanuj Prasad Singh (by Maharani Keerat Kumari), born
10 January 1917; died 10 June 1940.
* HH Maharani Sudarshan Prasad Kumari, born 5 September 1906, married 18 April
1922, HH Maharajadhiraj Sri SADUL SINGH of Bikaner, and had issue. She died 19
December 1971.
43. Major-General HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhavesh Shri Maharaja Sir GHULAB SINGH Ju
Deo Bahadur 1918/1946 (deposed 30 January 1946), born 12 March 1903, G.C.I.E. [cr.1.1.1931]
K.C.S.I. [cr. 1.1.1927], married 1stly, 25 June 1919, HH Bandhveshwari Shri Maharani
Sahiba Samrajyi Kunwar, born 1903, died 1954, daughter of HH Maharaja Dhiraj Maharaja Sri
Sir SARDAR SINGHJI Bahadur of Jodhpur, married 2ndly, 18 February 1925, HH Maharani
Ballabh Kumari, daughter of Lt.-Col. HH Umdae Rajhae Buland Makan Maharajadhiraja Maharaja
Sir MADAN SINGH Bahadur of Kishangarh, and had issue, one son. He died 13 April 1950.
* HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhavesh Shri Maharaja MARTAND SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur
(qv)
44. HH Bandhvesh Maharaja Sir GHULAB SINGH Bahadur (1903–1950)HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja
Bandhavesh Shri Maharaja MARTAND SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur 1946/1995, born 15 March 1923,
elected to the Fifth, Seventh and Eighth Lok Sabha representing Rewa Parliamentary
Constituency of Madhya Pradesh during 1971-1977 and 1980-1989. An agriculturist and
businessman by profession, he was Raj Pramukh of Vindhya Pradesh. He was a very popular
and active social worker. As a philanthropist, he built hospitals, dispensaries and
organised camps for providing medical aid to indigent and sick people. He donated his
palace at Satna and other properties for establishment of educational institutions like
Banaras Hindu University and College in Satna. A widely travelled person, he evinced kee
n interest in the fields of sports, education, photography, archaeology and wildlife
preservation. He established and developed National Park at Bandhogarh. He had served as
a member of All India Wildlife Preservation Board and as the Director of Madhya Pradesh
Udyog Vikas Nigam, Bhopal. He also made special efforts for development of irrigation,
industries, transport, electrification and rail services in his area, married 1943, HH
Maharani Praveen Kunverba, born 1926, daughter of HH Maharajadhiraj Mirzan Maharao Shri
VIJAYARAJJI KHENGARJI Sawai Bahadur of Kutch, and his wife, HH Maharani Shri Padmakunwar
Ba Sahiba, and had issue. He died 20 November 1995 at Rewa.
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