Sonepur, also known as Sonpur State, 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 ...

. Its ruler was entitled to a nine-

gun salute A gun salute or cannon salute is the use of a piece of artillery to fire shots, often 21 in number (''21-gun salute''), with the aim of marking an honor or celebrating a joyful event. It is a tradition in many countries around the world. Histo ...

. Formerly it was placed under the Central India Agency, but in 1905 it was transferred to the

Eastern States Agency The Eastern States Agency was an agency or grouping of princely states in eastern India, during the latter years of the British Raj. It was created in 1933, by the unification of the former Chhattisgarh States Agency and the Orissa States Agenc ...

. Its capital was Sonepur, the only significant town in the area. The former state's territory is in the present-day Subarnapur district, Western Odisha.

History

The Sonepur state was founded in 1650 when the fourth Chauhan ruler of

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Samb ...

Madhukar Dev, conquered the region from the Bhanja rulers of Boudh and entrusted it to his younger son Madan Gopal who hence became the founder of the Chauhan dynasty branch of Sonepur. The state came under the control of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

post the Maratha defeat and later king Niladhar Singh Deo was awarded titles for services rendered to the British during the Sambalpur uprising.''Imperial Gazetteer of India'', v. 23, p. 90.
/ref> After Indian independence, Sonepur's last ruler acceded to the newly independent

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India, * * was an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations existing between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Until its Indian independence movement, independence, India had be ...

, on 1 January 1948 with the state forming much of the present-day Subarnapur district.

Rulers

Ruling Chiefs of Sonepur

Titular

References

External links