Saraikela State

Saraikela State ^[1] was founded in 1620 by Raja Bikram Singh (a forerunner to the ruling family's current nomenclature of Singh Deo), a descendant of the rulers of Porahat, who claimed descent from the Rathore clan of Rajputs. Porahat or Singhbhum Kingdom was a part or feudatory of Ganga Vanshi, Surya Vanshi Gajapati rulers of Orissa^{[citation needed]}. The state came under the influence of the Maratha rulers of Nagpur in the 18th century, and became a princely state of British India in 1803, at the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Maratha War at Deogaon of Orissa. After the war, East-India Company included the Saraikela princely state under the governance of Chhota-Nagpur Commissioner. The state had an area of 1163 km², and was one of the nine Chota Nagpur States under the authority of the governor of Bengal Presidency. In 1912 Saraikela came under the authority of the province of Bihar and Orissa, which was newly created from the eastern districts of Bengal. In 1936 the state was placed under the authority of the Orissa Province. Saraikela, along with 24 other princely states of the Eastern States Agency, acceded to the Government of India on January 1, 1948, with a will to merge the princely state with Orissa province of Indian Republic. This was accomplished by the last ruler HH Raja Aditya Pratap Singh Deo who signed the merger agreement acceding to the Indian Union. So both Saraikela and Kharsawan princely states were merged with Orissa in 1948. On January 1, 1948 itself, the tribals of these two princely states, who were in a majority, revolted against the merger with Orissa. This was supported by Patayet Sahib Maharajkumar Bhoopendra Narayan Singh Deo, third son of HH Raja Aditya Pratap Singh Deo, as a result of which he was imprisoned to ensure the popular movement died down. The central government appointed a commission under Mr. Baudkar to look into the matter. On the basis of the Baudkar commission report, Saraikela and Kharsawan princely states were merged with Bihar on May 18, 1948. These two princely states became part of Jharkhand when the state was separated from Bihar on November 15, 2000. From 18 May 1948 onwards, many non-tribal Oriyas of the districts of Saraikela-Kharsawan, East Singhbhum, and West Singhbhum have migrated and settled permanently in Orissa. The current scions of the former ruling family residing at The Palace, while pursuing business interests (real-estate, agriculture and politics) locally and in Bhubaneshwar and Kolkata, include Rajkumar Pratap Aditya Singh Deo (son of HH Raja Shata Bhanu Singh Deo), Rajkumar Jugobhanu Singh Deo (son of Tikayat Sahib Maharajkumar Nrupendra Narayan Singh Deo), Maharajkumar Jairaj Singh Deo (son of Patayet Sahib Maharajkumar Bhoopendra Narayan Singh Deo) and Rajkumar Rajvikram Singh Deo.

References

1. ^ http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V22_089.gif