Rajgarh State

The Kingdom of Rajgarh also known as Rajgarh State was a princely state in present-day India, named after its capital Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh. It was part of the colonial Bhopal Agency of the Central India Agency during the British Raj. It lay in the region of Malwa known as Umathwara after the ruling Umath clan of Rajputs, a branch of the Paramara dynasty. The neighbouring Narsinghgarh State was ruled by a cadet branch of this family, after being partitioned in 1681. The Rajgarh State had an area of 2,492 km² and a population of 88,376 in 1901.

The state revenue reached Rs.450,000 in 1901, the privy purse was Rs.140,000 rupees. The Grain and opium were the principal articles of trade.

The Umats of Rajgarh claim descent from the medieval Paramara dynasty that ruled over Malwa for some 600 years. The Umats were driven out of Sindh by the Samma dynasty during the 14th century; Samma sources assign this event to either 1334 or 1351 CE, while the Umats assign it to 1347. Upon being expelled from Sindh, the Umats migrated to Malwa under the leadership of one Sarangsen, who then acquired land in the area between the Sindh and Parbati rivers. This area would come to be known as Umatwara after the Umats.

Sarangsen is said to have later received the title of Rawat by the Rana of Chittor. His descendants were held in high regard by the Delhi Sultans; Rawat Karam Singh, 4th in descent from Sarangsen, is said to have been made governor of Ujjain under Sikandar Lodi. Karam Singh received a sanad for 22 districts in Umatwara, and he made his capital at Duparia, near Shajapur.

A later descendant, Rawat Krishnaji or Kishen Singh, was also governor of Ujjain, and the Kishenpura quarter of Ujjain was supposedly named after him. He died in 1583 and was succeeded by his son Dungar Singh, who founded the town of Dungarpur near Rajgarh and made it his capital. Dungar Singh had six sons, with the two oldest being Udaji and Dudaji. After Dungar Singh was killed at Talen in 1603, Udaji inherited the estate and was recognised as the rightful heir in a sanad granted by Akbar. He moved the capital to Ratanpur and ruled until 1621.

Udaji's successor, Chhatar Singh, died in battle in 1638 and was succeeded by his son Mohan Singh. As Mohan Singh was still a minor at the time, the diwan Ajab Singh, a descendant of Dudaji who had served as a minister of Chhatar Singh, was made regent of the Umatwara estate. The capital was moved back to Dungarpur for the duration of Ajab Singh's regency, and the town of Rajgarh was founded in 1640. After Ajab Singh died in battle at Nalkhera in 1668, his son Paras Ram succeeded as manager of the estate. At this point, Mohan Singh moved his capital to Rajgarh, while Paras Ram moved his capital to Patan, just south of Rajgarh, where he built a fort.

The division of Umatwara into Rajgarh and Narsinghgarh States took place in 1681. An initial division of villages had been made in 1675, leading to a sort of dual jurisdiction between Mohan Singh and Paras Ram that proved to be unmanageable. Thus, a formal division of the Umatwara territory into two states was made in 1681, with the ruler of Rajgarh (Mohan Singh) receiving five extra villages in recognition of his seniority. The daughter Mrinalini fled to the Himalayas and named her new seat (in present Himachal Pradesh) Rajgarh as well.^{[citation needed]}

In 1855, Rajgarh State contributed Rs. 25,000 towards the construction of the parts of the Agra-Bombay road that were within its borders.