Nurpur State

Nurpur State
नुरपुर रियासत
Princely State
11th century–1849 →
Entrance to the Nurpur fort
History
 • Established 11th century
 • Annexation by the British Raj 1849
Area
 • 1901 180 km2 (69 sq mi)
Population
 • 1901 102,289 
Density 568.3 /km2  (1,471.8 /sq mi)
Today part of Himachal Pradesh, India
Imperial Gazetteer of India[1]
Kayadhu, mother of Prahlada. Detail of a late 18th century Nurpur Pahari painting.

Nurpur was one of the Princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. It covered an area of 180 square kilometres (69 sq mi) and is now part of Himachal Pradesh state. The ancient rulers of Nurpur patronized the Pahari painting style.

The capital of Nurpur State was the town of Nurpur which had a population of 4,462 according to the 1901 Census of India.[1]

History

The state of Nurpur was founded towards the end of the 11th century by Raja Jhet Pal, who was the younger brother of the ruler of Delhi. It was ruled by Rajputs of the Tanwar or Pathania dynasty. Nurpur reached its peak between 1580 and 1613 during the reign of Raja Basu Dev who built an impressive fort that can still be seen today. The state became a feudatory state of the Mughal Empire and later resisted Sikh domination until it fell to Ranjit Singh in 1815. The state was annexed by the British Raj in 1849. Raja Jaswant Singh Pathania, the last ruling monarch of Nurpur, was paid a certain amount by the British as a compensation for the loss of his state.[2]

Earlier Nurpur was known by the name Dhameri. The name was changed after it was visited by Queen Nur Jahan (1569–1627). According to the local legend, the queen was so impressed by the beauty and richness of the town that she decided to stay there for the rest of her life. This decision worried the administration of Dhameri for at that time the Mughal Empire was expanding across India and the local leaders did not want their peaceful town to be a central point for Mughal domination and subject to the influence of external politics. Therefore, to deal with this without offending the queen and suffering the wrath of the Mughal Empire, they devised a simple but effective plan. They advised the queen that staying in their town for a long period of time could spoil her great beauty, and that there is also a fictitious local disease in town that might afflict her. This terrified the queen so much that she hurriedly left. Thus in 1622, the name of the town was changed to Nurpur in honor of the Mughal Queen who had fallen in love with the beauty of the place.[3]

Rulers

The rulers of Nurpur bore the title 'Raja'.[2]

Rajas

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 19, p. 232.
  2. 1 2 Nurpur Princely state
  3. ↑ History of Nurpur

Coordinates: 32°18′N 75°54′E / 32.3°N 75.9°E / 32.3; 75.9

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