Keonjhar State (), also known as Keunjhar, was one of the princely states of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

during the period of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. The second largest of the states of the Orissa States Agency, it was located in present-day

Kendujhar district Kendujhar district, also known as Keonjhar district, is an administrative district of Odisha. The district is one of the fifth Scheduled Areas of Odisha. The town of Kendujhar (or Kendujhargarh) is the district headquarters. The district has t ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

The state was bounded in the north by

Singhbhum District Singhbhum was a district of India during the British Raj, part of the Chota Nagpur Division of the Bengal Presidency. It was located in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. Chaibasa was the district headquarters. Located in the southern ...

, in the east by the State of Mayurbhanj and

Balasore District Balasore District, also known as Baleswar District, is an administrative district of Odisha state, in eastern India. Balasore is one of the coastal districts of Odisha and lies on the northernmost part of the state. Etymology Baleswar is sa ...

, in the south by

Dhenkanal State Dhenkanal State was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. The area of the former state is now referred to as Dhenkanal district, Odisha, with Dhenkanal, India, Dhenkanal town as its district headquarters.Dh ...

and

Cuttack District Cuttack district is one of the 30 districts of Odisha state in India. It is located in the coastal part of the state and its administrative headquarters are located in the city of Cuttack. As of 2011 Census, after Ganjam district, Ganjam, it is t ...

, and in the west by the states of

Pal Lahara Pal Lahara is a small town in Angul district of the state of Odisha and located on NH6, where it intersects with NH23, by road north of Angul. Not far from the banks of the Rengali Reservoir which is to the west, the Malayagiri Forest Range ...

and Bonai. The state consisted of two clearly differentiated areas: Low Keonjhar, a region of flat river valleys — the main river being the Baitarani, and the High Keonjhar, an area of forests dominated by mountain ranges with the Gandhamadan reaching a height of 1078 m. The capital was at

Keonjhar Kendujhar, also known as Keonjhar, is a town with municipality in Kendujhar District in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kendujhar district, and it is one of the fifth scheduled areas of Odisha ...

. Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 15, p. 202
/ref>

History

According to traditions, Keonjhar State was founded during the 12th century rule of the

Eastern Ganga dynasty The Eastern Ganga dynasty (also known as Purba Gangas, Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas) were a large medieval era Indian royal Hindu dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas rul ...

when the founder Jyoti Bhanja of the

Bhanja dynasty The Bhanja dynasty is a dynasty that originated in the northern and central regions of modern Odisha (in the Khiching region of Utkala and Khinjali mandalas) before the Gupta Empire became an imperial power. The dynasty, of ancient local Kshatr ...

, who was the brother of Adi Bhanja of Mayurbhanj, was enthroned as the Raja of Keonjhar with the help of the dominant local

Bhuyan The Bhuiyan or Bhuiya are an indigenous community found in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. They are not only geographically disparate but also have many cultural variations an ...

clans. The influence of the Bhuyans on the enthronement rituals and regnal traditions of Keonjhar suggests a long-standing relationship with the kingdom. Around the 14th century, a prince from Keonjhar named Ananga Bhanja, who was a nephew of the Raja of Keonjhar was named the king of Baudh by the local chieftains under Ganga rule. After the

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

in 1947 Keonjhar merged into

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...

on 1 January 1948 following which it became the part of Keonjhar district (now Kendujhar).

Rulers

The rulers of Keonjhar State of the

. The Keonjhar royal family adopted the emblems of the neighbouring State of Mayurbhanj, a

peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

and the yellow and blue colours.Princely States of India
/ref> *Jyoti Bhanja (12th cen CE) *... *Jagannath Bhanja (1688 - 1700) *Raghunath Bhanja (1700 - 1719) *Gopinath Bhanja (1719 - 1736) *Narsingh Narayan Bhanja (1736 - 1757) *Daneswar Narayan Bhanja (1757 - 1758) *Jagateswar Narayan Bhanja (1758 - 1762) *Pratap Balbhadra Bhanja (1762 - 1794) *Janardan Bhanja (1794 - 1825) *Gadadhar Narayan Bhanj Deo (1825 - 22 March 1861) *Dhanurjai Narayan Bhanj Deo (4 September 1861 – 27 October 1905) *Gopinath Narayan Bhanj Deo (27 Oct 1905 – 12 August 1926) *Balbhadra Narayan Bhanj Deo (12 Aug 1926 – 1 January 1948)

Titular

*Balbhadra Narayan Bhanj Deo (1 January 1948 – 1963) *Nrusingh Narayan Bhanj Deo (1963 – 1979) *Anant Narayan Bhanj Deo (1979 – 1 December 2019) *Dhananjay Bhanj Deo (1 December 2019 – current)

References

Princely states of Odisha History of Odisha Kendujhar district 12th-century establishments in India 1948 disestablishments in India {{india-hist-stub

History

Rulers

Titular

See also

References