Rewa State Rewah State रेवा रियासत |
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Princely State of British India | ||||||
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Rewah State in the Imperial Gazetteer of India | ||||||
History | ||||||
• | Established | c. 1790 | ||||
• | Independence of India | 1948 | ||||
Area | ||||||
• | 1901 | 33,670 km2(13,000 sq mi) | ||||
Population | ||||||
• | 1901 | 1,327,385 | ||||
Density | 39.4 /km2 (102.1 /sq mi) | |||||
Today part of | India | |||||
Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1952) p. 369 |
Rewa State, also known as Rewah, was a princely state of India, surrounding its eponymous capital, the town of Rewa.
With an area of about 13,000 mi², Rewa was the largest princely state in the Bagelkhand Agency and the second largest in Central India Agency. The British political agent for Bagelkhand resided at Satna, on the East Indian railway. The Bagelkhand Agency was dissolved in 1933 and Rewa was placed under the authority of the Indore Residency.
Rewa State was bordered to the north by the United Provinces, to the east by Bengal and to the south by the Central Provinces. On the west, it met other princely states of Bagelkhand, namely Maihar, Nagod, Sohawal, Kothi Baghelan and Panna. The south of the state was crossed by the Bengal–Nagpur railway, the branch between Bilaspur and Katni which taps the Umaria coal-field.
In 1901, the population of the state was 1,327,385, showing a decrease of 12% over a decade; the population of the town that year was 24,608. Many of the inhabitants of the hilly tracts were Gonds and Kols. The estimated revenue of the state was Rs. 200,000/- p.a. The staple crops were rice, millets and wheat. More than one-third of the area was covered with forests, yielding timber and lac. The state suffered from famine in 1896-1897 and again, to a lesser extent, in 1899–1900.
Rewa is also famous for its white tigers; the first one, nicknamed Mohan, was caught in Rewa. Sitar virtuoso Pandit Ravi Shankar studied music from Alauddin Khan of Maihar, who migrated to Rewa State from Bengal.