Bikaner State

This article is about the princely state during the British Raj. For the natural and historical region, see History of Bikaner.
Bikaner State
बीकानेर रियासत
Princely State of British India
1465–1947 →
Flag Coat of arms
Bikaner State in the Imperial Gazetteer of India
History
 • Established 1465
 • Independence of India 1947
Area
 • 1931 60,391 km2 (23,317 sq mi)
Population
 • 1931 936,218 
Density 15.5 /km2  (40.2 /sq mi)
Today part of Rajasthan, India
Bikaner Laxmi Niwas Palace
Maharaja Anup Singh of Bikaner hunting elephants
Honorific insignia in gold offered to the Maharaja of Bikaner by the Mughal Emperor.
Raja Karan Singh of Bikaner, Aurangzeb's ally and enemy.
Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner with his son in 1914
Bikaner Camel Corps
Board of combat daggers at the Darbar Hall

Bikaner State was a princely state in the Bikaner region from 1465 to 1947. Its capital was the city of Bikaner in the northern area of present-day Rajasthan State in India.

Covering an area of 60,391 km2 (23,317 sq mi), Bikaner State was one of the largest states under the Rajputana Agency. Heeding the call of Vallabhbhai Patel to integrate the princely states into the new independent India, Bikaner's last king, Maharaja Sadul Singh, advised by his dewan K. M. Panikkar, a respected historian, was one of the first rulers of a princely state to display willingness to join the Indian Union. By issuing a public appeal in April 1947 to his fellow princes to join the Constituent Assembly of India, the Maharaja of Bikaner set an example for other heads of the native states to follow.[1]

History

The state of Bikaner was founded in 1465. It became a British protectorate on 9 March 1818. Its rulers were Rajputs belonging to the Rathore dynasty. They were accorded a 17 gun salute by the British authorities.[2] By the time of Indian Independence, the territory of the state of Bikaner shared a border with Pakistan. The accession to the Indian Union was signed by the Maharaja on 7 August 1947.[3]

Maharajas

Dewans

The Dewans and Chief Ministers of the state were:

Chief ministers

Dewans

The post of Dewan was reinstated in 1927.

Family tree of the rulers of Bikaner

  • I. Rao Bikaji, of Bikaner (1438-1504; Rai: 1488; r. 1465-1504)
    • II.Rao Naroji, of Bikaner (1468-1505; r. 1504-1505)
    • III.Rao Lunkaraji, of Bikaner (1470-1526; r. 1505-1526)
      • IV. Rao Jetaji,of Bikaner (1489-1542; r. 1526-1542)
        • V.Rao Kalyan Mal, of Bikaner (1519-1574; r. 1542-1574)
          • VI. Raj Singh I, Rao of Bikaner (1541-1612; r. 1574-1612)
            • VII. Dalpat Singh, Rai of Bikaner (1565-1613; r. 1612-1613)
            • VIII. Surat Singh, Rao of Bikaner (1594-1631; r. 1613-1631)
              • IX. Karan Singh,Rao of Bikaner (1616-1669; r. 1631-1667)
                • X. Anup Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1638-1698; r. 1667-1698; Rao: 1667; Maharaja: 1675)
                  • XI. Sarup Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1689-1700; r. 1698-1700)
                  • XII. Sujjan Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1690-1735; r. 1700-1735)
                    • XIII. Zorawar Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1713-1746; r. 1735-1746)
                  • Anand Singh
                    • XIV. Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1723-1787; r. 1746-1787)
                      • XV. Raj Singh II, Maharaja of Bikaner (1744-1787; r. 1787)
                        • XVI. Pratap Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1781-1787; r. 1787)
                      • Chhatar Singh (1762-1779)
                        • Dalel Singh
                          • Sagat Singh
                            • Lall Singh (1831-1887)
                              • XX. Dungar Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1854-1887; r. 1872-1887)
                              • XXI. Ganga Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, GBE, KCB (1880-1943; r. 1887-1943)
                                • XXII. Sadul Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner GCSI, GCIE, CVO (1902-1950; r. 1943-1949; titular ruler: 1949-1950)
                                  • XXIII. Karni Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1924-1988; titular Maharaja: 1950-1971; family head: 1971-1988)
                                    • XXIV. Narendra Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1946-2003; family head: 1988-2003)
                                  • Amar Singh (b. 1925)
                                    • Chandra Shekhar Singh (b. 1948)
                                      • XXV. Ravi Raj Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (b. 1977; family head: 2003 - )
                          • Madan Singh
                      • XVII. Surat Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1765-1828; r. 1787-1828)
                        • XVIII. Ratan Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1790-1851; r. 1828-1851)
                          • XIX. Sardar Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner (1818-1872; r. 1851-1872)

[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ramachandra Guha, India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy. HarperCollins, 2007
  2. ↑ Rajput Provinces of India - Bikaner (Princely State)
  3. ↑ William Barton, The princes of India. Delhi 1983
  4. ↑ Bikaner - family genealogy

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bikanir". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

Coordinates: 28°01′N 73°18′E / 28.01°N 73.3°E / 28.01; 73.3

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