Sailana State was an 11 gun salute

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

in India, part of the Malwa Agency of

Central India Central India is a loosely defined geographical region of India. There is no clear official definition and various ones may be used. One common definition consists of the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which are included in alm ...

during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

. The state enjoyed an estimated revenue of Rs.5,00,000.

History

Sailana State was founded by Raja Jai Singh, great-grandson of Maharaja Ratan Singh, founder of

Ratlam State Ratlam State was a 13 gun salute (15 local) princely state in India, part of the Malwa Agency of Central India during the British Raj. The state's capital was Ratlam town in modern Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh. Ratlam State was origin ...

. It is a branch of the Rathore house. In 1716 Jai singh took revenge against his uncle for the murder of his father, he killed him in a pitched battle at sagode and secured Ratlam for his elder brother. The two brothers then divided the state between themselves. Jai singh's capital was initially at Raoti. He built Sailana as his new capital in 1736. During this period the Maratha influence in central India had been growing and several states had been annexed or forced to pay heavy tributes to the Peshwa. However Jai singh had the wisdom to form alliances with the Maratha officials, he helped the Peshwa agent Ambaji Pant Trimbak Purandare to collect tribute in Malwa and used the situation to annex the surrounding lands. He fought 22 battles in his lifetime, establishing himself as an independent ruler. Jai singh maintained an army that was feared by the surrounding states forcing some states to take

Holkar The Holkar (Pronunciation: �o(ː)ɭkəɾ dynasty was a Maratha clan of Dhangar origin in India. The Holkars were generals under Peshwa Baji Rao I, and later became Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Mar ...

's aid against him. The Raja of Sailana favoured Rajputs and Pathans as horsemen while the infantry was drawn from the local populace. His descendant Mokham Singh however replaced this army composition with a surplus of elephants and emptied the state coffers, allowing the Marathas and Pindaris to encroach and loot with impunity. Jai Singh was succeeded by a string of weak rulers. During Raja Mokham Singh's rule much of the territory of Sailana was annexed by

Scindia The Scindia dynasty (anglicized from Shinde) is a Hindu Maratha dynasty of maratha origin that ruled the erstwhile State of Gwalior. It had the Patil-ship of Kumberkerrab in Wai. It was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who started as a personal serv ...

and

, the Raja's of Sailana were further forced to pay tribute to the Scindias of Gwalior. Raja Lakshman Singh of Sailana tried to push the Scindia's out of his kingdom, in 1818 he refused to pay chauth which was regularly levied, the Scindias retaliated by sending an army under Bujang Rao, the

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the ...

army which had European arms and was French trained lost its advantage on the hills en route to Sailana and was defeated by Lakshman Singh, the captured soldiers were allowed to leave but all of their guns and artillery were taken. In 1819, Bapu Rao Sindia was appointed to punish the raja of Sailana and enforce tribute upon him. Bapu Rao had previously been sent by the Scindia's to defeat and exact tributes from the Maharaja of

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known as ...

and the Maharana of

Udaipur Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur dis ...

. On 5 January 1819,

John Malcolm Major-General Sir John Malcolm GCB, KLS (2 May 1769 – 30 May 1833) was a Scottish soldier, diplomat, East India Company administrator, statesman, and historian. Early life Sir John Malcolm was born in 1769, one of seventeen children of Geo ...

mediated between

and Sailana upon which Raja Lakshman Singh accepted British protection and agreed to pay a fixed tribute to

until 1860, in return for

Daulat Rao Sindhia Shrimant Daulat Rao Shinde (also Sindhia; 1779 – 21 March 1827) was the Maharaja (ruler) of Gwalior state in central India from 1794 until his death in 1827. His reign coincided with struggles for supremacy within the Maratha Empire, and war ...

agreeing to refrain from any interference in Sailana. The tribute treaty did not last for long as Daulat Rao soon relinquished his rights of tribute on Sailana and Ratlam, the tribute was thus paid directly to the British instead. During British rule Sailana saw development under the capable rule of Raja

Jashwant Singh II H.H. Raja Sir Jashwant Singh II K.C.I.E. (1864–1919) was the ruler of the princely state of Sailana State, India from year 1895 to 1919. He was the son of Bhawani Singh of Semlia, a jagirdar of Sailana State and a distant cousin of Raja Dule ...

and then under his son Raja

Dileep Singh H.H. Raja Sir Dileep Singh K.C.I.E. (18 March 1891 - 8 February 1961) was the last official ruler of the princely state of Sailana from 1919 to 1948. Raja Sir Dileep Singh was educated at the Mayo college Ajmer and completed his diploma and post ...

, many reforms were introduced over the coming years, with particular attention being paid to education and the provision of vernacular educational facilities. By 1947, education and medical aid were provided free of charge, the local municipality was placed on a democratic footing and the judiciary and executive made independent of each other. Although the economy was primarily agricultural, some limited industrialisation included oil mills, and iron and steel works. On 15 June 1948, Raja

signed the accession to the

Indian Union Union of India or Indian Union may refer to: * The country of India * Dominion of India (1947–1950) * The Government of India, whose legal name is "Union of India" as per Article 300 of the Indian constitution * Political integration of India ...

Rulers

The chiefs of Sailana are Rathore

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

s and have a common ancestry with the Maharajas of

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...

and Ratlam.Indian States: A Biographical, Historical, and Administrative Survey By R. V. Solomon, J. W. Bond. Pg.629-634
/ref>

Rajas

Jagirdars of Sailana State

All the jagirdars owe fealty and service to the ruler and pay cesses and tanka. No jagirdar has the right to adopt without the permission of the raja. The 1st class jagirdars are allowed to wear gold anklets, and at their succession, they are installed by the ruling raja himself. Half of the states lands were alienated because of the large number of Jagirs. Raja Dilip Singh () later extinguished several Jagirs and replaced them with governors. This harsh but effective action helped the states revenue which was then used to provide medical and educational facilities in Sailana.Sailana through the ages by Jayantilaal Mehta p. 109 The following were the 1st class Jagirdars of Sailana in 1908. The following were the 2nd class Jagirdars of Sailana in 1908. The 3rd class jagirdars were hereditary office holders of the state.

External links

Royal house of Sailana

References