Bikaner State Explained

Today:Rajasthan, India
Religion:Hinduism [1]
Event End:Independence of India
Population Estimate Year:1931
Population Estimate:936,218
Year End:1947
Year Start:1465
S1:India
Flag S1:Flag of India.svg
Official Languages:1 Rajasthani dialects -
  • Bagri in the North, North-west, Centre and East,
  • Marwari in the south,

2 Hindi

National Motto:"Jai Jungaldhar Badshah"
Demonym:Bikaneri
Native Name:बीकानेर रियासत
Conventional Long Name:Kingdom of Bikaner
Area Km2:61355

Bikaner State was the Princely State in the north-western most part of the Rajputana province of imperial British India from 1818 to 1947. The founder of the state Rao Bika was a younger son of Rao Jodha ruler of and founder of the city of Jodhpur in Marwar. Rao Bika chose to establish his own kingdom instead of inheriting his father's. Bika defeated the Jat clans of Jangladesh which today refers to the north and north-western Rajasthan along with his uncle Rao Kandhal and his adviser Vikramji Rajpurohit and founded his own kingdom. Its capital was the city of Bikaner.

The state was noted for the Bikaner style of Miniature Painting.[2]

Covering a vast area of 60391km2 Bikaner State was the second largest state under the Rajputana Agency after Jodhpur State with a revenue of Rs.26,00,000 in the year 1901.[3] Heeding the 1947 call of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to integrate the princely states into the new independent India, Bikaner's then ruler, Lt General Maharaja Sir Sadul Singh, advised by his dewan K. M. Panikkar a respected historian was one of the first rulers of a princely state to display willingness to join the Indian Union. By issuing a public appeal in April 1947 to his fellow princes to join the Constituent Assembly of India the Maharaja of Bikaner set an example for other heads of the princely states of India to follow.[4]

History

See main article: History of Bikaner. The state of Bikaner was founded in 1465. It became a British protectorate on 9 March 1818. They were accorded a 17 gun salute by the British authorities. Around the time of Indian Independence and the partition of India, the territory of the state of Bikaner came to share a border with Pakistan. The accession to the Indian Union was signed by the Maharaja on 7 August 1947.[5]

Rulers

The rulers belong to the Rathore Rajputs of the Suryavanshi lineage or of Solar descent representing a third junior branch of the parent ruling family of Jodhpur,[6] the second being Idar yet Bikaner was placed second on the basis of area, wealth and power by the colonial British India.

Rao/Raja's

Maharajas

Titular Rulers

Dewans

The Dewans and Chief Ministers of the state were:

Chief ministers

Dewans

The post of Dewan was reinstated in 1927.

Family tree of the rulers of Bikaner

Maharaj Kharak SinghMaharaj Madan SinghMaharaj Khuman Singh Maharaj Lall Singh of Chattargarh (1831–1887)

Maharaj Bijay Singh Ji, younger son of Maharaja Ganga Singh Ji.

[7]

Orders of chivalry

The Royal House of Bikaner awards two dynastic orders, the Order of the Star of Honour and the Order of Vikram Star. Maharaja Ganga Singh established the Order of the Star of Honour in six grades in order to "mark his golden jubilee on the throne". The Order of the Vikram Star was established in 1944 by Maharaja Sadul Singh of Bikaner in five grades "to recognize services to the state." The first grade (Grand Commander) includes a cordon with jewel, along with a breast star.[8] The breast star features "Twelve alternate petals of gold and silver overlapping and radiating from a central motif showing the Goddess Karni blessing Rao Bikaji who is standing with lance in hand next to his horse."[9] A red enamelled diamond in the center of the breast star, which is surrounded by a wreath, contains the inscription in the Devanagari script Shri Karni Aasisadi Bikatothirraj (Blessing by Karni Mati for his Perpetual Rule).[9]

Demographics

Religious
group! colspan="2"
1901[10] 19111921[11] 1931[12] 1941[13]
493,534 84.42%575,699 82.13%552,168 83.70%725,084 77.45%992,601 76.77%
66,050 11.30%91,929 13.11%74,748 11.33%141,578 15.12%185,323 14.33%
23,403 4.00%24,858 3.55%23,555 3.57%28,773 3.07%34,425 2.66%
1,4810.25%8,214 1.17%8,218 1.25%40,469 4.32%78,815 6.10%
95 0.02%151 0.02%191 0.03%298 0.03%420 0.03%
21 0.00%4 0.00%11 0.12%16 0.00%13 0.00%
Aarya41 0.01%128 0.02%784 0.12%-   0.00%-   0.00%
Others00.00%00.00%10 0.00%-   0.00%1,341[14] 0.10%
Total population584,627 100%700,983 100%659,685 100.00%936,218 100.00%1,292,938 100.00%
Demographic Trends (1891–1931): During the decade ending in 1901, the population of the state saw a significant decline due to a series of famines in 1891–92, 1896–97, and 1899–1900. These famines not only led to high mortality—primarily from cholera and malaria—but also prompted substantial emigration to neighbouring districts in the Punjab and Sindh. However, the following decade (1901–1911) marked a reversal of this trend. Improved rainfall and good harvests, along with generous state concessions such as land revenue remissions and taccavi loans for seeds and cattle, encouraged many former residents to return. Additionally, as the adjacent districts in Punjab had little remaining fallow land for grazing or cultivation, news of the Sutlej Canal's extension (Gang Canal) into the Hanumangarh and Mirzawala Tehsils drew new settlers—especially Sikh peasants—who were granted extensive tracts of Banjar (wasteland) at favourable rates for agricultural use.[15] The 1921 Census of Bikaner State recorded a population decline of 41,298 people (–5.9%) over the decade. This was primarily due to the failure of the 1920 monsoon, along with severe outbreaks of plague (1917) and influenza (1918), the latter causing an estimated 61,000 deaths—nearly 10% of the total population at the time. Migration also played a major role, with 126,615 people emigrating, compared to 53,273 immigrants, resulting in a net loss of 73,342. The largest number of emigrants—79,161—moved to Punjab, followed by 20,105 to Bengal. mostly for agriculture and trade.[16] Between 1921 and 1931, Bikaner's total population rose dramatically by 41.9%, with the Gang Canal area alone experiencing a 401.6% increase in population. A good number of Punjabi Sikhs & Muslims also came into the state, and the total number of immigrants reached 161,303 in 1931, more than a threefold rise, largely attributed to canal irrigation.[17]

See also

Notes

  1. Web site: Kingdom of Bikaner, Part I, Vol-I, Rajasthan – Linguistic Survey Of India. LSOI. 23 April 2021.
  2. Harle, J. C., The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press. (Pelican History of Art). .
  3. Web site: Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 8, page 214 – Imperial Gazetteer of India – Digital South Asia Library.
  4. [Ramachandra Guha]
  5. William Barton, The princes of India. Delhi 1983
  6. Web site: Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 8, page 204 – Imperial Gazetteer of India – Digital South Asia Library.
  7. News: 2022-04-12 . Maharaja Raviraj Singh Rathore's Health Deteriorated In Jaipur In The Morning, Breathed His Last In SMS Hospital, Last Rites In Bikaner Tomorrow . 2022-05-13 . Dainik Bhaskar.
  8. Haynes . Ed . The Awards of the Indian Pincely States: A Survey in a Broad Historical Context . Journal of Management Sciences and Applications . 2014 . 65 . 5 . 29–30.
  9. Book: McClenaghan . Tony . Indian Princely Medals: A Record of the Orders, Decorations, and Medals of the Indian Princely States . 1996 . Lancer Publishers . 978-1-897829-19-6 . 81 . en.
  10. CENSUS REPORT, 1911 BIKANER STATE Check Page No. 12 - https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/28201
  11. Census of Bikaner State 1921 Page no. 13 - https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/28202
  12. Bikaner State Census Book 1931 Part - II Tables, Page no. 61 - https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/28203
  13. Census Book 1941 of Rajputana & Ajmer Marwara, Page no. 155, 156 - https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/31660
  14. It's the entire population of the tribe of Rajputana.
  15. 1911 Bikaner State Census - https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/28201
  16. 1921 Bikaner State Census -https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/28202
  17. 1931 Bikaner State Census - https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/28204

External links

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