Maihar State was a princely state in India during 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 ...

, located in what is today

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 ...

, central India. The state had an area of , and a population of 63,702 in 1901. The state, which was watered by the Tons River, consists mainly of alluvial soil covering sandstone, and is fertile except in the hilly district of the south. A large area was under forest, the produce of which provided a small export trade. The state gained India-wide and later, worldwide fame for Maihar gharana, a gharana or school of Indian classical music. It is one of the most prominent gharanas of the 20th century; much of the fame of

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

in the west stems from this gharana.

History

Maihar was originally a dependency of Rewa, but Harde Sah, the eldest son of Chhatrasal, took advantage of the minority of Audhut Singh Ju Deo of Rewa, attacked him, and annexed Maihar and Bijairaghogarh to his territories. Hindupat, the

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 ...

of Panna, granted Maihar as a

jagir A jagir (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar ...

to his minister, Beni Singh (or Beni Hazuri), in 1770. Beni was a grandson of Bhim Singh who served Chhatrasal. After the death of Beni Singh, his son Rajdhar succeeded him. Like other chiefs of

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central and North India. It corresponds to the Post-Vedic Chedi kingdom. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Prad ...

, he was conquered by Ali Bahadur. Ali Bahadur later restored Maihar to Beni Singh's younger son, Durjan Singh. When

fell to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, Durjan executed a deed of allegiance to the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

in 1806. It was then administered as part of 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 B ...

under the Central India Agency. After Durjan's death in 1826, his territory was divided between his two sons. The eldest, Bishan Singh, succeeded him as the ruler of Maihar, while the younger, Prag Das, received the estate of Bijairaghogarh. Due to the rebellion of Prag's son, Surju Prasad, his estate was confiscated by the

in 1858 and incorporated into the territories under the chief commissioner of the Central Provinces. Maihar claimed that Bijairaghogarh, which was originally part of it, should be restored to it. However, the claim was denied. However, due to the valuable services rendered to the British by the ruler of Maihar in 1857, he was granted 11 villages from the confiscated state in 1859. In 1871 the eastern states of Bundelkhand Agency, including Maihar, were separated to form the new Bagelkhand Agency in Central India. In 1933 Maihar, along with ten other states in western Bagelkhand, were transferred back to the

. The state suffered severely from famine in 1896–1897. Maihar became a station on the East Indian Railway(now the West Central Railway) line between Satna and

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

, north of

. Extensive ruins of shrines and other buildings surround the town. As of 1940 it had a population of 79,558 and an area of 412 square miles. In 1948 Maihar was merged into India.

Maihar gharana

Brijnath Singh, one of Maihar's rulers, was a great patron of music and had learned it under Allaudin Khan, who settled in his dominions in 1918. He made Allaudin a musician in his durbar. Though the Maihar gharana existed before Allaudin's arrival, he made it more famous, and as such, the success of the gharana is attributed to him. This gharana is unique because its tradition is passed down not through family members but from teacher to student.

Rulers

The ancestors of the royal family are believed to have migrated from Alwar in the 17th or 18th century and acquired land from the then ruler of Orchha. The rulers of Maihar claimed to be

Rajputs Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

of the

Kachhwaha The Kachhwaha is a Rajput clan found primarily in India. They claim descent from the Suryavanshi (Solar) dynasty. Etymology According to Cynthia Talbot, the meaning of word ''Kachhwaha'' is tortoise. Origin There are numerous theories on ...

clan and asserted their relation to the royal families of

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

and Alwar. However, no evidence supported this claim, and it was denied by

and other

families. Ruler was entitled to a salute of nine guns. The rulers were:

Thakurs

*1770 – 1788 Beni Singh *1788 – 1790 Rajdhar Singh *1790 – 1826 Durjan Singh *1826 – 1850 Bishan Singh *1850 – 1852 Mohan Prasad *1852 – 1869 Raghubir Singh

Rajas

*1869 – 1908 Raghubir Singh *1908 – 1910 Jadubir Singh *1910 – 1911 Randhir Singh *1911 – 1968 Brijnath Singh

External links

States before 1947 K-W
(List of rulers of Maihar)

References

External links

{{Coord, 24.00, N, 80.75, E, source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Princely states of Madhya Pradesh Rajput history States and territories disestablished in 1948 1770 establishments in India 1948 disestablishments in India States and territories established in 1770 Gun salute princely states