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

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

princely state. On 12 December 1818 it became a

British protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status wh ...

History

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

Pawar Pawar (also spelled as Pavar and Puar) is an Indian surname found among the Maratha, Mahar or Koli people in Maharashtra. Notable people bearing the Pawar name or its variants include: *Ajit Pawar (born 1959), Indian politician; deputy chi ...

clan of the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

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

Peshwa The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave t ...

Baji Rao I Bajirao I (né Visaji, ; 18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740) was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He was appointed Peshwa at the age of nineteen by Shahu I, following the death of his father, Balaji Vishwanath. He is credited with establi ...

as part of the Maratha Conquest of

Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...

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

, 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 noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

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 in 1901. From 1907, both Dewas states were in the

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

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 Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

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 Rajpramuk ...

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

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

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

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...

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 Pawar (b. c.1696 – d. 1754) *16 Nov 1754 – 24 Mar 1789 Krishnaji Rao I Pawar (b. 1740 – d. 1789) *16 Nov 1754 – 1756 Rani Savitribai (f) -Regent *24 Mar 1789 – 28 Sep 1827 Tukoji Rao II Pawar (b. 1783 – d. 1827) *24 Mar 1789 – 4 Oct 1794 Rani Gangabai (f) -Regent *28 Sep 1827 – 26 Jul 1860 Rukmangad Tukoji Rao Pawar (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 Pawar (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 Pawar "Kesho Rao" (b. 1888 – d. 1937) "Bapu Sahib" (from 12 Dec *1911, Sir Tukaji Rao III Pawar)

Maharajas

* 1 Jan 1918 – 21 Dec 1937 Sir Tukoji Rao III Pawar "Kesho Rao (s.a.) Bapu Sahib" (fled to Pondicherry, French India 26 Jul 1934) *21 Dec 1937 – 23 Mar 1947 Vikramsinh Rao I Pawar "Nana Sahib" (b. 1910 – d. 1983) (from 12 Jun 1941, Sir Vikramsinh Rao Pawar) (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 Pawar "Aba Sahib" (b.1932 – d. 1999)

Titular Maharajas

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

References