Surguja State
| Surguja State | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
British India | |||||||||
| 1613–1948 | |||||||||
 Flag | |||||||||
Ambikapur | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• 1901 | 15,770 km2 (6,090 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1901 | 351,011 | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1613 | ||||||||
• Accession to the Union of India | 1948 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Surguja State was one of the main princely states of Central India during the period of the British Raj, even though it was not entitled to any gun salute. Formerly it was placed under the Central India Agency, but in 1905 it was transferred to the Eastern States Agency.
The state spread over a vast
History
According to
Maharaja Indrajit Singh Deo (1827–1879) of Surguja was described as a lunatic by Anglo-Indian writer George Robert Aberigh-Mackay in 1877.[5]
Maharaja Ramanuj Saran Singh Deo, the last ruler of this princely state signed the accession to the Indian Union on 1 January 1948.[6] The Maharaja has the notorious record of having shot and killed a total of 1710 Bengal tigers, the highest known individual score;[7][8] he doesn't hold the official record of shooting into extinction 3 of the last physically recorded Asiatic cheetahs in India, effectively making the species almost locally extinct in 1947, considering that a female was spotted in what was to be the District of Korea in 1951. The last three Asiatic Cheetas were shot by Maharaja Ramanuj Partap Singh Deo of Korea.[9][2]
Rulers
The rulers of Surguja State bore the title of 'Maharaja', although a few had the title of 'Maharaja Bahadoor', including the last head of the state.[10]
Rajas
- 1678 – 1709 Baiha Dadu Singh Deo
- 1709 – 1728 Balbhadra Singh I Deo
- 1728 – 1749 Jaswat Singh Deo
- 1749 – 1758 Bahadur Sigh Deo
- 1760 – 17.. Sheo Singh Deo
- 1792 – 1799 Ajit Singh Deo
- 1799 – 1800 Balbhadra Singh II Deo (1st time)
- 1800 – 1813 Lal Singram Singh Deo
- 1813 – 1816 Balbhadra Singh II Deo (2nd time)
- 1816 – 1820 interregnum
- 1820 – 1851 Lal Amar Singh Deo (from 1820 with hereditary style Maharaja)
- 1851 – 25 March 1879 Indrajit Singh Deo (b. 1827 – d. 1879)
- 25 Mar 1879 – 31 December 1917 Raghunath Saran Singh Deo (b. 1860 – d. 1917) (from 1887 with personal style Maharaja; from 1896 Maharaja Bahadur)
- 31 Dec 1917 – 1918 Ramanuj Saran Singh Deo (b. 1895 – d. 1965) (with hereditary style Maharaja)
Maharaja
- 1820 – 1851 Lal Amar Singh Deo (from 1820 with hereditary style Maharaja)
- 1851 – 25 March 1879 Indrajit Singh Deo (b. 1827 – d. 1879) (Maharaja Bahadur)
- 25 Mar 1879 – 31 December 1917 Raghunath Saran Singh Deo (b. 1860 – d. 1917) (from 1887 with personal style Maharaja; from 1896 Maharaja Bahadur)
- 1918 – 15 August 1947 Ramanuj Saran Singh Deo ( Maharaja Bahadur)
- 2001 - (present day) T. S. Singh Deo ( Titular Maharaja )
See also
- Balrampur district, Uttar Pradesh
- Bhaiyathan
- Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh
- Chota Nagpur States
- Eastern States Agency
- Political integration of India
- Rehar River
- Surajpur district
References
- ^ The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India
- ^ a b Divyabhanusinh (1999). The End of a Trail: the Cheetah in India. Banyan Books, New Delhi.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 156.
- ^ Malleson, G. B.: An historical sketch of the native states of India, London 1875, Reprint Delhi 1984
- ^ G. R. Aberigh-Mackay, The Native Chiefs and Their States in 1877:A Manual of reference.
- ^ Rajput Provinces of India – Surguja (Princely State)
- ^ The scent of shikar
- ^ Tiger Hunting in India 1924
- ^ "Article: Interesting Shikar Trophies: Hunting Cheetah Acinonyx Jubatus". Journal of the Bombay Natural History. 47: 718. 1947 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ Princely States of India
External links
Media related to Surguja State at Wikimedia Commons
