Ballabhgarh
| Ballabhgarh | |
|---|---|
| town | |
|
Ballabgarh railway station | |
  Ballabhgarh Location in Haryana, India | |
| Coordinates: 28°35′N 77°31′E / 28.583°N 77.517°ECoordinates: 28°35′N 77°31′E / 28.583°N 77.517°E | |
| Country |
 India |
| State | Haryana |
| District | Faridabad |
| Elevation | 197 m (646 ft) |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 187,067 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Hindi |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 121004 |
| Telephone code | 0129 |
| Sex ratio | 850 ♂/♀ |
| Literacy | 65.35% |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Faridabad |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Ballabgarh |
Ballabhgarh (or Ballabgarh [1]) is a town and a tehsil (subdistrict) in Faridabad District of Haryana, India, and is part of the National Capital Region.[2] Jat Raja Nahar Singh (1823–1858) was the last king of the princely state, he was executed died for taking part in the 1857 war of independence in 1858. The state was founded by Balram Singh, in 1739, who also built the Nahar Singh Mahal palace in the same year. The small kingdom of Ballabhgarh was only 20 miles (32 km) from Delhi, and today lies on the National Highway 2, a major portion of historical Grand Trunk Road.[3]
History
The name Ballabgarh is a corruption of Balramgarh, 'the fort of Balram,' Balram Singh, a Jat chief who held the surrounding country under Suraj Mal of Bharatpur, and built the fort and palace, Nahar Singh Mahal in 1739. In 1775 the estate was transferred by the Delhi emperor to Ajit Singh, whose son Bahadur Singh was recognized in 1803 as chief and built the town.[4]
The founders of the princely state of Ballabgarh had come from village Janauli, which is more than 2000 years old. The Tewatia Jat Sardar Gopal Singh left Janauli in 1705 (in Palwal) and got settled at Sihi, a village of Tewatia Jats in Ballabgarh at a distance of about 5 km from Ballabhgarh. The Mughal ruler Aurangzeb had died. Gopal Singh started establishing power in Delhi, Khair and Mathura areas. With the help of villagers of ‘Lagon’ he attacked Rajput Chaudhary of that area and did a treaty with Mugal officer Murtija Khan of Faridabad and became Chaudhary of Faridabad pargana in 1710. He wanted to expand his army and collect huge wealth but died soon. His successor was Charan Das. Charan Das was also ambitious and when saw weakening of the Mughal rule, he stopped paying malgujari (octroi). The army of Mughals arrested Charan Das.
Charan Das's son, Balram Singh, later rose to a powerful king. Princely state of Ballabgarh is after his name. He was brother in law of Maharaja Suraj Mal and mama of Jawahar Singh. Jats along the Royal Delhi-Agra route at that time were in revolt against the oppressive Mughal rule. Tewatias of this area had already established themselves as counter force in this area. Balram Singh often called Ballu by the local people moved on a few Elephants, Horses and Camels loaded with Big drums (Nagaade) and Dhaunse (big band) followed by his local army. Went wherever Ballu with this band it was assumed that area was no longer of Mughals and Ballu had won that. It was a sort of Aswamedh Yagna that he performed. Here from started a saying "Dheeng Dheeng Ballu ka Raj". Immediately peace returned to those areas, which were won over by Ballu.
Murtija Khan’s son Akvitmahmud killed Balram Singh on 29 November 1753. After Balram Singh, Maharaja Suraj Mal appointed Balram Singh’s sons Bisan Singh and Kisan Singh as Kiledars. They ruled Ballabhgarh till 1774, when Hira Singh became the ruler of Ballabhgarh.
Bahadur Singh's successor Raja Nahar Singh ascended the throne in 1829 and proved to be a just ruler. Raja Nahar Singh was ruler of 101 villages of Ballabhgarh. Raja Nahar Singh, along with Nawab Ahmed Ali Khan of Farrukhnagar, and rulers of neighbouring principalities, like Rewari and Jhajjar, took part in the India's First War of Independence (Indian Rebellion) in May 1857.[5] On 10 September 1857, just four days before the British Army stormed Delhi, Nahar Singh wrote a letter to Governor General of India, Lord Elllenborough (1842-1844), whom he had met as a young man, seeking his protection. The letter dictated in English to a secretary, is to be auctioned at Bonhams "Photography and Travel: India and Beyond" auction in London, on 4 October 2011 and is expected to fetch an estimated £1,000 to 1,500. According to an official, "it seems was written as a ruse to deceive the British in the event of his capture... as he was fully committed to the cause of Indian Independence".[6][7]
After the mutiny was suppressed, he along with all the rulers were captured, tried and executed and their estate confiscated by the British Raj.[4] As was Gulab Singh Saini, the commander-in-chief of the army of state of Ballabhgarh. The territory of Ballabhgarh was added into the Delhi district as a new tehsil, which was now made part of Punjab, while Faridabad became the headquarters of the pargana till now in jagir by the Ballabgarh rulers.[8] It was made a municipality in 1867.[5]
In early 20th century Ballabhgarh was a tehsil of Delhi district, which contained towns of Ballabhgarh and Faridabad, with a population of 126,693 in 1901, up from 119,652 in 1891. Ballabhgarh town had a population of 4,506, (1901).[5]
Demographics
The total population of Ballabgarh, as per the 2001 Census of India was 187067, up from 144215 in 1991 Census. Of this, 0 are Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 37428 are Scheduled Caste (SC),However Jats has highest density along with Ahirs, Rajputs, Agarwals, Punjabis, Brahmins. The sex ratio of the population in Ballabgarh is 851 females per 1000 males.The literacy rate in the city is 65.35 per cent, 79.96 for males and 48.25 for females.[9]
Nahar Singh Mahal
The earliest parts of Nahar Singh's palace, called Nahar Singh Mahal were constructed by his ancestor Rao Balram after whom the estate was named, who came to power in 1739, the construction however continued in parts till about 1850, under Nahar Singh.
Raja Nahar Singh Palace
It was built by Raja Rajkumar Nahar Singh Tewatia,the 5th successor of Amar Shaheed Raja Nahar Singh.
Institutes
Home to the Cement Research Institute of India as well as Comprehensive Rural Health Services Project (AIIMS) or called Civil Hospital. It is the rural field practice area of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
Administration
Faridabad district is divided into two sub divisions viz. Faridabad and Ballabgarh each headed by a Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM).
Ballabgarh is a Haryana Legislative Assembly constituency segment, within the Faridabad Lok Sabha constituency,[10] and the current representative in the state assembly is Moolchand Sharma.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 "Members of Haryana Legislative Assembly (MLAs) From District: Faridabad:Ballabgarh". Faridabad district website.
- ↑ Coverage ncrup.up.nic.in.
- ↑ "Expanding woes". Frontline (magazine). Volume 19 - Issue 22, 26 October – 8 November 2002. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - 1 2 Imperial V. 6, p. 250
- 1 2 3 Imperial V. 6, p. 249
- ↑ "Photos of Mysore may get £200,000". Asian Age. 24 September 201. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "Princely letter up for sale". IBN Live. 14 September 2011.
- ↑ Imperial V.11, p. 225
- ↑ "Census". Faridabad district.
- ↑ "Parliamentary/Assembly Constituency wise Electors in Final Roll 2009" (PDF). Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana.
- "Ballabgarh Tahsil". The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. 6. Oxford at Clarendon Press. 1909. p. 248.
- "History of Delhi District". The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. 11. Oxford at Clarendon Press. 1909. p. 225.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1859). "Petition of Rajah of Ballabhgarh, May–August, 1857". House of Commons papers, Volume 18. HMSO. pp. 30–39.
External links
- http://www.pugmarks.com/nahar/history.htm
- "Villages and Colonies in Ballabgarh Tehsil" (PDF). Faridabad district website.