Nagpur kingdom

Nagpur State नागपुर
Princely State
← 1818–11 December 1853 →
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History
•	British protectorate	1818
•	Indian rebellion	11 December 1853
Today part of		Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha (India)
Princely States of India - Nagpur

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The Kingdom of Nagpur was a kingdom in east-central India founded by the Gond rulers of Deogarh in the early 18th century. It came under the rule of Marathas of the Bhonsale dynasty in the mid-18th century. The city of Nagpur was the capital of the state.

The kingdom clashed with British already in the early 19th century. It became a princely state of the British Empire in 1818, and was annexed to British India in 1853 becoming Nagpur Province.

There is no historical record of the Nagpur kingdom prior to the beginning of the 18th century, when it formed part of the Gond Kingdom of Deogarh, in Chhindwara District. Bakht Buland, the ruler of Deogharh, visited Delhi, afterwards was determined to encourage the development of his own kingdom. To this end he invited Hindu and Muslim artisans and cultivators to settle in the plain country, and founded the city of Nagpur. His successor, Chand Sultan continued the development of his country, and moved his capital to Nagpur.

In the history of Nagpur, rule by the Marathas began with Raghoji Bhonsale. On Chand Sultan's death in 1739, there were disputes as to his succession, and his widow invoked the aid of the Maratha leader Raghoji Bhonsale, who was governing Berar on behalf of the Maratha Peshwa. The Bhonsale family were originally headmen from Deur, a village in Satara District. Raghoji's grandfather and his two brothers had fought in the armies of Shivaji, and to the most distinguished of them was entrusted a high military command and the collection of chauth (tribute) in Berar. Raghoji, on being called in by the contending Gond factions, replaced the two sons of Chand Sultan on the throne from which they had been ousted by a usurper. Raghoji then retired back to Berar with a suitable reward for his assistance. Dissentions, however, broke out between the brothers, and in 1743 Raghoji again intervened at the request of the elder brother and drove out his rival. But he had not the heart to give back, for a second time, the country he held within his grasp. Burhan Shan, the Gond Raja, though allowed to retain the outward insignia of royalty, became practically a state pensioner, and all real power passed to the Marathas.

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