Dhar State was a princely state. It was a

salute state A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Scouting ...

in the colonial sway of the Central India Agency. Dhar began as one of the states during Maratha dominance in India about 1730. In 1941 it had an area of and a population of 253,210.

Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the Dhar ...

was the capital of the state since 1732 (from the 1728 foundation, the Raja's first seat had been at Multhan in

Dhar district Dhar district () is a districts of Madhya Pradesh, district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The historic town of Dhar is administrative headquarters of the district. The district has an area 8,153 km2. It is bounded by the distri ...

. In 1948, it became part of Madhya Bharat. Lying between 21°57' and 23°15' north, and 74°37' and 75°37' east, Dhar State was bordered on the north by Ratlam State and

Sailana State Sailana State was an 11 gun salute princely state in India, part of the Malwa Agency of Central India during the British Raj. The state enjoyed an estimated revenue of Rs.5,00,000. History Sailana State was founded by Raja Jai Singh, grea ...

; east by parts of

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

and

Indore State Indore State was a kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy ruled by the Maratha Holkar, Holkar dynasty. After 1857, Indore became a 19-Salute state, gun salute princely state within the Central India Agency of the Indian Empire (1876–1947), Ind ...

s; on the south by Barwani State, and on the west by

Jhabua State Jhabua State was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. It had its capital in Jhabua town. Most of the territory of the princely state was inhabited by the Bhil people, who constituted a majority of the po ...

and portions of

Gwalior State The Gwalior State was a List of Maratha dynasties and states, state within the Maratha Confederacy located in Central India. It was ruled by the Scindia, House of Scindia (anglicized from Sendrak), a Hindu Maratha Confederacy, Maratha dynasty. ...

and

. Prathmeshwar Singh Rao Pawar is the current titular crown prince of Dhar, as

Hemendra Singh Rao Pawar Hemendra Singh Rao Pawar (18 September 1968 - 07 November 2023), was the titular Maharaja of Dhar State. He was a descendant of the Pawar (Pawar, Puar) dynasty that ruled Dhar State. He was crowned as the Maharaja of Dhar State on 15 January 20 ...

(the titular Maharaja of Dhar) died in November 2023.

History

The present Dhar dynasty was founded in 1729 by Udaji Rao Pawar, a distinguished

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 ...

general who received the territory as a grant from the Chhatrapati. Yashwant Rao Pawar also had prominent role in the northern expansion of the

Maratha Empire 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 ...

. In the

Third battle of Panipat The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha Empire and the invading army of the Durrani Empire. The battle took place in and around the city of Panipat, approximately north of Delhi. The Afghan (ethnonym), Af ...

(1761), Atai Khan, the adopted son of the Wazir Shah Wali Khan, was said to have been killed by Yeshwant Rao Pawar when he climbed atop his elephant and struck him down. During the Pindhari raids, the state's territory was whittled away, until it was restored in size on 10 January 1819, when it signed a Subsidiary alliance agreement with the British East India Company and became a major Princely state, enjoying

indirect rule Indirect rule was a system of public administration, governance used by imperial powers to control parts of their empires. This was particularly used by colonial empires like the British Empire to control their possessions in Colonisation of Afri ...

under British

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

. The Dhar State Darbar (Court) was composed of

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, Jagirdars, Istamuradars, Mankaris, Thakurs and Bhumias. The state was confiscated by the British after the Revolt of 1857. In 1860, it was restored to Raja Anand Rao III Pawar, then a minor, with the exception of the detached district of Bairusia which was granted to the Begum of

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

. Anand Rao, who received the personal title Maharaja and the KCSI in 1877, died in 1898; he was succeeded by Udaji Rao II Pawar.

Rulers

Titular Maharajas

*2015–2023 :

*2023-Present : Prathmeshwar Singh Rao Pawar

Postal/Philatelic information

In 1897 primitive stamps with entirely native text. The second definitive issue bore the name DHAR STATE in Latin script; a total of 8 stamps. Since 1901 Indian stamps have been in use.

References

External links