Jhalawar State

Princely state: Jhalawar (झालावाड़)
Region	Hadoti
19th-century flag
Independence from:	Kota
State existed:	1838-1949
Dynasty	Jhalas
Capital	Jhalawar

Jhalawar State ^[1] was a princely state in India.

The former ruling family of Jhalawar belonged to the Jhala dynasty of Rajputs, and their ancestors were kings of Halwad in Jhalawar District, in Kathiawar. About 1709 one of the younger sons of the head of the clan left his country with his son to try his fortunes at Delhi. At Kota he left his son Madhu Singh, who soon became a favorite with the maharaja, and received from him an important post, which became hereditary. On the death of one of the Kota rajas (1771), the country was left to the charge of Zalim Singh, a descendant of Madhu Singh. From that time Zalim Singh was the real ruler of Kota. He brought it to a wonderful state of prosperity, and under his administration, which lasted over forty-five years, the Kota territory was respected by all parties. In 1838 it was resolved, with the consent of the chief of Kota, to dismember the state, and to create the new principality of Jhalawar as a separate provision for the descendants of Zalim Singh. The districts then severed from Kotah were considered to represent one-third (120,000) of the income of Kotah; by treaty they acknowledged the suzerainty of the British and agreed to pay an annual tribute of Rs.8000/-. Madan Singh received the title of maharaja rana, and was placed on the same footing as the other chiefs in Rajputana. He died in 1845.

An adopted son of his successor took the name of Zalim Singh in 1875 on becoming chief of Jhalawar. He was a minor and was not invested with governing powers till 1884. Owing to his maladministration, his relations with the British government became strained, and he was finally deposed in 1896, "on account of persistent misgovernment and proved unfitness for the powers of a ruling chief." He went to live at Varanasi, on a pension of Rs.2,000/- and the administration was placed in the hands of the British resident.

The Jhala clan of Rajputs are still regarded as the rulers of the state and thus maintain a large majority of their power over Jhalawar.

After much consideration, the British resolved in 1897 to break up the state, restoring the greater part to Kota, but forming the two districts of Shahabad and the Chaumahla into a new state of area 810 square miles (2,100 km²), which came into existence in 1899, and of which Kunwar Bhawani Singh, a descendant of the original Zalim Singh, was appointed chief. The population of the state was 90,175 in 1901, with an estimated revenue of Rs.26,000/- and a tribute of Rs.2000/-.

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