Bijawar is a city the state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bijawar

Taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

, and was formerly the capital of a princely state of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

of the same name. The people of Bijawar are demanding the district status from their state government. It is the 53rd proposed district of Madhya Pradesh

History

The native state of Bijawar covered an area of 2520 km² (973 sq. m.) in the

Bundelkhand Agency The Bundelkhand Agency was a political agency of the British Raj, managing the relations of the British government with the protected princely states of the Bundelkhand region. History Historical background The Marathas ceded parts of Bu ...

. Forests covered nearly half the total area of the state, which was believed to be rich in minerals, but lack of transport facilities had hindered the development of its resources. The state takes its name from the chief town, Bijawar, which was founded by Bijai Singh, one of the Gond chiefs of Garha Mandla, in the 17th century. The first ruler of the state was Bir Singh Deo (1765–93), a

Bundela The Bundela is a Rajput clan. Over several generations, the cadet lineages of Bundela Rajputs founded several states in area what came to be known as Bundelkhand anciently known as Chedi Kingdom from the 16th century. Etymology As per Jaswant ...

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

descended from the ruler of

Orchha Orchha is a town, near city of Niwari in Niwari district of Madhya Pradesh state, India. The town was established by rajput ruler Rudra Pratap Singh some time after 1501, as the seat of an eponymous former princely state of covering parts of c ...

. It was conquered in the 18th century by Chhatarsal, the founder of Panna, a Rajput of the Bundela clan, by whose descendants it was held till its accession to India. It was confirmed to Ratan Singh in 1811 by the British government for the usual deed of allegiance. In 1857 Bhan Pratap Singh rendered signal services to the British during the Mutiny, being rewarded with certain privileges and a hereditary salute of eleven guns. In 1866 he received the title of ''

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

'', and the prefix ''Sawai'' in 1877. Bhan Pratap was succeeded on his death in 1899 by his adopted son, Sanwant Singh, a son of the Maharaja of Orchha. The state acceded to India on 1 January 1950, and became part of the state of

Vindhya Pradesh Vindhya Pradesh was a former state of India. It occupied an area of 23,603 sq. miles. It was created in 1948 as Union of Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand States, shortly after Indian independence, from the territories of the princely states in the ea ...

, which was merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956. Bijawar is also known for Jatashankar, a holy place about 18 km from the town. Bijawar is also known for Janki Nibas Temple because it is similar to Ayodhya Temple. Another famous temple, Kanchan Temple, was built by Maharani Kanchan Kuwar of Bijawar. Maharani Kanchan Kuwar was born in Karahiya and Princes of Karahiya and was the daughter of Rao Shahab of Karahiya.

Rulers

The rulers belonged to the

dynasty.

Rajas

* 1769 - 1793 Bir Singh Deo (b. ... - d. 1793) * 1793 - 1802 Himmat Bahadur * 1802 - Dec 1810 Keshri Singh (b. ... - d. 1810) * 1811 - 1833 Ratan Singh * 1833 - 1847 Lakshman Singh * 23 Nov 1847 - 1866 Bham Pratap Singh

Maharajas (title from 1877 Sawai Maharaja)

* 1866 - 15 Sep 1899 Bham Pratap Singh * Jun 1900 - 30 Oct 1940 Savant Singh (b. 1877 - d. 1940) * 30 Oct 1940 – 15 Aug 1947 Govind Singh (b. 1934 - d. 1983)

Geography

Bijawar is located at .Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Bijawar
/ref> It has an average elevation of 398 metres (1305 feet).

Demographics

As of the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Bijawar had a population of 20,513 - 10,838 males and 9,675 females, giving a sex ratio of 893 compared to the state average of 931. There were 2942 children aged 0–6 i.e. 14.34% of the population. The literacy rate was 74.32% compared to a state average of 69.32%. Male literacy was 82.23% but female literacy was only 65.43%.

References

{{Sagar Division Cities and towns in Chhindwara district History of Madhya Pradesh Bundelkhand Chhatarpur