PREDECESSORS AND SHORT HISTORY:
Predecessor state was founded circa 1140. The chiefs of
Rewa were Baghel Rajputs descended from the Solanki clan
which ruled over Gujrat from the tenth to the thirteenth
century. Vyaghra Deo, brother of the ruler of Gujarat, is
said to have made his way into northern India about the
middle of the thirteenth century and obtained the fort of
Marpha, 18 miles north-east of Kalinjar. His son Karandeo
married a Kalchuri (Haihaya) princess of Mandla and
received in dowry the fort of Bandhogarh which, until its
destruction in 1597 by Akbar was the Baghel Capital. In
1298, Ulugh Khan, acting under orders of emperor Alauddin
drove the last Baghel ruler of Gujrat from his country and
this is believed to have caused a considerable migration
of the Baghels to Bandhogarh. Until the 15th century the
Baghels of Bandhogarh were engaged in extending their
possessions and escaped the attention of the Delhi kings,
in 1498-9, Sikandar Lodi failed in his attempt to take the
fort of Bandhogarh. Rulers were...
- Maharaja SHAKTIVAN
Deo, Maharaja of Bandhogarh 1495/1500
- Maharaja VEER SINGH
Deo, Maharaja of Bandhogarh 1500/1540,
married and had issue.
- Thakur Nadbhanu [Horildeo], third son, he received
the estate of Beerha
as his patrimony in 1550, he was appointed a mansabdar
with the title of Horilshah by Emperor Humayun of
Delhi.
- Maharaja VIRBHAN
SINGH, Maharaja of Bandhogarh 1540/1555
- Maharaja RAMCHANDRA
SINGH, Maharaja of Bandhogarh 1555/1592
- Maharaja DURYODHAN
SINGH [Birbhadra Singh], 19th Maharaja of
Bandhogarh 1593/1618 (deposed), his accession gave
rise to disturbances, and Padshah Akbar of Delhi
intervened, captured and dismantled the Bandhogarh
fort in 1597 after a siege of eight months; married
1618, a natural daughter of Raja Badan Singh of
Bhadawar, because of which he was expelled and retired
to Bhadawar.
- Maharaja
VIKRAMADITYA, Maharaja of Rewah 1618/1630,
after the capture of the Fort of Bandhogarh, the town
of Rewa, was founded by Raja Vikramaditya in 1618
(which perhaps means that he undertook the
construction of palaces and other buildings there
because the place had already assumed importance in
1554 when it was held by Jalal Khan son of emperor
Shershah), and started gaining in importance; married
and had issue, four sons.
-
Maharaja Amar Singh II (qv)
-
Kunwar Indra Singh, he was
granted Patharhat Estate.
-
Kunwar Sarup Singh, he was
granted Panasi Estate.
-
Kunwar Angad Rai, he was granted Chandiya
Estate.
- Maharaja AMAR SINGH
II, Maharaja of Rewah 1630/1643, married and
had issue.
- Maharaja Anoop Singh (qv)
- Raja Fateh Singh, he rebelled against his father
and established himself in Sohawal.
- Maharaja ANOOP
SINGH, Maharaja of Rewah 1643/1660, married
and had issue, three sons.
- Maharaja Bhao Singh (qv)
- Kunwar Yashwant Singh, he was granted the Jagir of
Gudh, married and had issue, two sons.
- Kunwar Mukund Singh, he was granted the estate
of Semariya.
- Kunwar Anirudh Singh, adopted by his uncle adn
succeeded as Maharaja Anirudh Singh (qv)
- Kunwar Jhujhar Singh, he was granted the estate of
Ramnagar Itma.
- Maharaja BHAO SINGH,
Maharaja of Rewah 1660/1690, married 1stly, Maharani
Ajab Kunwar, daughter of Maharana Raj Singhji I of Udaipur, married
2ndly, 1668, Maharani Kunj Kumari, a daughter of
Raikwar Thakur Sadan Singh of Nadan in Rewah State,
and had adoptive issue. He died sp 1690.
- Maharaja ANIRUDH
SINGH, Maharaja of Rewah 1690/1700, born as
Kunwar Anirudh Singh, son of Thakur Yashwant Singh of
Gudh, adopted by his uncle; married and had issue, one
son.
- Maharaja Avadhut Singh (qv)
- Maharaja AVADHUT
SINGH, Maharaja of Rewah 1700/1755, the state
was sacked by Hirde Shah of Panna in about 1731,
causing the Raja to flee to Pratapgarh in Oudh;
married (amongst others), (a), Maharani Ratan Kumari
Devi, married (b), Maharani Sagun Kunwar, daughter of
Umara-i-Uzzam Maharaja Mahendra Gopal Singh of Bhadawar, and his
fifth wife, the daughter of Raja Madho Singh Sirnet of
Bansi, and had issue, one son.
- Maharaja AJIT SINGH,
Maharaja of Rewah 1755/1809, married Maharani Kundan
Kunwar, died 1802, daughter of Chandel Thakur Vikram
Singh of Silpatra, and had issue, one son. He died
1809.
- Maharaja JAI SINGH,
Maharaja of Rewah 1809/1835, born 4th January 1765; in
1812 a body of Pindaris raided Mirzapur from Rewa
territory. Upon this Jaisingh was called upon to
accede to a treaty, in which he acknowledged the
protection of the British Government, and agreed to
refer all disputes with neighbouring chiefs to their
arbitration and to allow British troops to march
through or be cantoned in his territories; married
1stly, a daughter of Gaharwar Raja Udhhat Singh of
Manda, married 2ndly, a daughter of Dikshit Raja
Madhav Singh of Goraiya, and had issue, three sons and
one daughter. He died 1835.
- Maharaja Vishwanath Singh Bahadur (qv)
- Babu Laxman Singh, he was granted the estate of
Madhavgarh estate, married and had issue, two
sons.
- Kunwar Ran Bahadur Singh, married a daughter of
Sirnet Raja Prakash Singh of Bansi in U.P. He died
sp.
- Kunwar (name unknown), succeeded his
brother in Madhavgarh, died without issue, and the
estate was merged into Rewah.
- Kumari (name unknown), married Maharana
Jawan Singhji of Udaipur.
- Kumari (name unknown), married 1834,
Maharana Jawan Singhji of Udaipur.
- Babu Balbhadra Singh, he was granted the estate of
Amarpatan; married Rani Chhavinath Kunwari, daughter
of Gaharwar Thakur Manbodh Singh of Kaithaha estate
in Rewah (a relation of the Raja Saheb of Manda in
U.P.), and had issue.
- Kumari (name unknown), married 1837,
Maharaja Sardar Singhji of Bikaner.
-
Maharajkumari Sahodar Kunwar, married 1823,
Maharana Jawan Singhji of Udaipur.
- Maharaja VISHWANATH
SINGH Bahadur, Maharaja of Rewah 1835/1854,
born 1789, married and had issue, one sons and three
daughters. He died 1854.
- HH Maharaja Raghuraj Singh Bahadur (qv)
- Maharajkumari (name unknown), married
Maharaja Ram Singhji II of Jaipur.
- Maharajkumari (name unknown), married
Maharaj Mahabat Singh of Jodhpur.
- Maharajkumari Subhadra Kumari, married 2nd July
1821, Yuvraj (later) Maharana Jawan Singhji Bahadur
of Udaipur.
 HH Maharaja RAGHURAJ
SINGH Bahadur, 32nd? Maharaja of Rewah
1854/1880, born 1831 (or 1834), Maharaja Raghuraj
Singh helped the British in quelling the uprisings in
the neighbouring Mandla and Jabalpur districta in the
mutiny of 1857, and in Nagod which is now a part of
Satna district, for this, the Maharaja was rewarded by
restoration to him of the Sohagpur (Shahdol) and
Amarkantak parganas, which had been seized by the
Marathas in the beginning of the century, Maharaja
[cr.1857]; married eight wives, including 1stly, 1845,
daughter of Bisen Raja of Bhadri in Oudh, married
2ndly, 1851, HH Maharani Sobhag Kanwar, daughter of
Maharana Sardar Singhji Bahadur of Udaipur, and had
issue, one son and several daughters. He died 5th
February 1880.
- Lt.-Col. HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhresh
Shri Maharaja Sir Venkat Raman Ramanuj Prasad Singh
Ju Deo Bahadur (qv)
- Maharajkumari Vishnuprasad Kunwar, born 1846,
married 1864, Maharaj Kishore Singh of Jodhpur.
- Maharajkumari (name unknown) [HH Maharani (name
unknown) Sahiba of Bundi], married 2nd
February 1903, Colonel HH Maharao Raja Shri Sir
Raghubir Singhji Sahib Bahadur of Bundi. She died 31st
December 1904 in Bundi.
- Lt.-Col. HH
Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhresh Shri Maharaja Sir
VENKAT RAMAN RAMANUJ PRASAD SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur,
Maharaja of Rewah 1880/1918, born 23rd July 1876,
G.C.S.I. [cr.1897], married 1stly, 1892, HH Maharani
Shivraj Kumari Devi, died 1917, daughter of Maharaja
Sir Radha Prasad Singhji Bahadur of Dumraon in Bihar,
married 2ndly, HH Maharani Gulab Kumari, died 1913,
daughter of HH Maharaja Sir Ranjit Singhji of Ratlam, married 3rdly, 1904,
HH Maharani Keerat Kumari, daughter of General
Thakur Bakhsh Singh Parihar of Thikana Jhagarpur in
U.P., and had issue, two sons and one daughter. He
died 3rd November 1918 (#1).
- Major-General HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja
Bandhvesh Shri Maharaja Sir Ghulab Singh Ju Deo
Bahadur (qv)
- Maharajkumar Ravendra Ramanuj Prasad Singh (by
Maharani Keerat Kumari), born 10th January 1917;
died 10th June 1940.
- HH Maharani Sudarshan
Prasad
Kumari, born 5th September 1906, married 18th April
1922, HH Maharajadhiraj Sri SADUL SINGH of Bikaner, and had
issue. She died 19th December 1971.
- Major-General HH
Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhresh Shri Maharaja Sir
GHULAB SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur, Maharaja of
Rewah 1918/1946 (deposed 30th January 1946), born 12th
March 1903, G.C.I.E. [cr.1.1.1931], K.C.S.I. [cr.
1.1.1927], married 1stly, 25th June 1919 (#2), HH Bandhveshwari Shri
Maharani Sahiba Samrajyi Kunwar, born 1903, died 1954,
daughter of HH Maharaja Dhiraj Maharaja Sri Sir Sardar
Singhji Bahadur of Jodhpur,
married 2ndly, 18th February 1925 (#2),
HH Maharani Ballabh Kumari, daughter of Lt.-Col. HH
Umdae Rajhae Buland Makan Maharajadhiraja Maharaja Sir
Madan Singhji Bahadur of Kishangarh, and had
issue, one son. He died 13th April 1950.
- HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhresh Shri
Maharaja Martand Singhji Ju Deo Bahadur (qv)
 HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhresh Shri
Maharaja MARTAND SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur,
Maharaja of Rewah 1946/1995, born 15th March 1923,
elected to the Fifth, Seventh and Eighth Lok Sabha
representing Rewa Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya
Pradesh during 1971-1977 and 1980-1989. An
agriculturist and businessman by profession, he was
Raj Pramukh of Vindhya Pradesh. He was a very popular
and active social worker. As a philanthropist, he
built hospitals, dispensaries and organised camps for
providing medical aid to indigent and sick people. He
donated his palace at Satna and other properties for
establishment of educational institutions like Banaras
Hindu University and College in Satna. A widely
travelled person, he evinced keen interest in the
fields of sports, education, photography, archaeology
and wildlife preservation. He established and
developed National Park at Bandhogarh. He had served
as a member of All India Wildlife Preservation Board
and as the Director of Madhya Pradesh Udyog Vikas
Nigam, Bhopal. He also made special efforts for
development of irrigation, industries, transport,
electrification and rail services in his area, married
1943, HH Maharani Praveen Kunverba, born 1926,
daughter of HH Maharajadhiraj Mirzan Maharao Shri
Vijayarajji Khengarji Sawai Bahadur of Kutch, and his wife, HH
Maharani Shri Padmakunwar Ba Sahiba, and had issue. He
died 20th November 1995 at Rewah.
- HH Samrajya Maharajadhiraja Bandhresh Shri
Maharaja Pushpraj Singh Ju Deo Bahadur (qv)
- HH Samrajya
Maharajadhiraja Bandhresh Shri Maharaja PUSHPRAJ
SINGH Ju Deo Bahadur, Maharaja of Rewah (see
above)
The help of Deepak Aggarwal is gratefully
acknowledged, June 2009. |