Dewas Senior was established by Tukoji Rao I Puar during the Maratha conquest of Central India. It was a 15 Gun Salute

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

princely state. On 12 December 1818 it became a British protectorate.

History

The original state was founded in 1728 by Tukoji Rao, from the Puar clan of the

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

who together with his younger brother Jivaji Rao, had advanced into Malwa with

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later ...

Baji Rao I as part of the Maratha Conquest of

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syn ...

. The brothers divided the territory among themselves; their descendants ruled as the senior and

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

branches of the family. After 1841, each branch ruled his own portion as a separate state, though the lands belonging to each were intimately entangled; in

Dewas Dewas is a city in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The municipality was formerly the seat of two 15-Gun Salute state princely states during the British Raj, Dewas Junior state and Dewas Senior state, ruled by the Pua ...

, the capital town, the two sides of the main street were under different administrations and had different arrangements for water supply and lighting. The two

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

s heading Dewas states both lived in separate residences in the town of

, and ruled over separate areas. The Senior branch had an area of and a population of in 62,312 1901. From 1907, both Dewas states were in the

Malwa Agency Malwa Agency was an administrative section of India's Central India Agency. The headquarters of the political agent was at Mandsaur (Mandasor) / Neemuch (Nimach). The other chief towns of the region were : Ratlam and Jaora. History The Malw ...

of the

Central India Agency The Central India Agency was created in 1854, by amalgamating the Western Malwa Agency with other smaller political offices which formerly reported to the Governor-General of India. The agency was overseen by a political agent who maintained ...

. After India's independence in 1947, the

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 ...

s of Dewas acceded to India, and their states were integrated into

Madhya Bharat Madhya Bharat, also known as Malwa Union, was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jiwajirao Scindia as its Rajpramukh. ...

, which became a state of India in 1950. In 1956, Madhya Bharat was merged into

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 ...

state. Dewas Junior Darbar (Court) was composed of Jagirdars,

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been ...

s, Istamuradars and

Mankari Mankari (Mānkari or Maankari) is a hereditary title used by Maratha nobles and troops from the Indian subcontinent who held land grants, and cash allowances. They held an official position at the Darbar (court) and were entitled to certain cer ...

Rulers

HH Maharaja Tukoji Rao III Puar of Dewas Sr

Rajas

*1728 – 16 Nov 1754 Tukoji Rao I Puar (b. c.1696 – d. 1754) *16 Nov 1754 – 24 Mar 1789 Krishnaji Rao I Puar (b. 1740 – d. 1789) *16 Nov 1754 – 1756 Rani Savitribai (f) -Regent *24 Mar 1789 – 28 Sep 1827 Tukoji Rao II Puar (b. 1783 – d. 1827) *24 Mar 1789 – 4 Oct 1794 Rani Gangabai (f) -Regent *28 Sep 1827 – 26 Jul 1860 Rukmangad Tukoji Rao Puar (b. 1821 – d. 1860) "Khasi Sahib" *28 Sep 1827 – 1835 Bhawanibai Raje Sahib (f) -Regent (d. 1835) *26 Jul 1860 – 12 Oct 1899 Krishnaji Rao II Puar (b. 1849 – d. 1899) "Baba Sahib" *26 Oct 1860 – 23 Mar 1867 Maharani Yamunabai (f) -Regent (b. 1829 – d. 1909) *12 Oct 1899 – 1 Jan 1918 Tukoji Rao III Puar "Kesho Rao" (b. 1888 – d. 1937) "Bapu Sahib" (from 12 Dec *1911, Sir Tukaji Rao III Puar)

Maharajas

* 1 Jan 1918 – 21 Dec 1937 Sir Tukoji Rao III Puar "Kesho Rao (s.a.) Bapu Sahib" (fled to Pondicherry, French India 26 Jul 1934) *21 Dec 1937 – 23 Mar 1947 Vikramsinh Rao I Puar "Nana Sahib" (b. 1910 – d. 1983) (from 12 Jun 1941, Sir Vikramsinh Rao Puar) (administrator from 26 Jul 1934) *11 Aug 1941 – 15 May 1943 Maharani Pramilabai (f) -Regent (b. 1910 – d. 2008) (1st time) *23 Mar 1947 – 15 Aug 1947 Maharani Pramilabai (f) -Regent (s.a.) (2nd time) *23 Mar 1947 – 15 August 1947 Krishnaji Rao III Puar "Aba Sahib" (b.1932 – d. 1999)

Titular Maharajas

*15 August 1947 – 21 Jan 1994 Krishnaji Rao III Puar "Aba Sahib" *21 Jan 1994 – 19 June 2015 Tukoji Rao IV Puar (b.1963 – d. 2015) *19 June 2015 – Present Vikram Singh Rao II Puar (b.1989 – present)

References