Ranpur State

Ranpur State was one of many princely non-salute states of India during the period of the British Raj. It was one of the four native states located in present-day Nayagarh district, Odisha.

Not to be confused with Rampur State. Ranpur was also a former name of Porbandar State.

Ranpur State
Princely State of British India
c. 1700 BC–1948

Ranpur State in the Imperial Gazetteer of India
Area 
• 1931
526 km2 (203 sq mi)
Population 
• 1931
47,711
History 
• Established
c. 1700 BC
1948
Succeeded by
India
View of the Ranpur palace, former residence of the ruling family of Ranpur. Owing to lack of maintenance it is currently in a much dilapidated condition.

The state was bounded in the west by Nayagarh State and in all other directions by Puri district. It was very close to the seashore but had no coastline. Its southwestern part was thickly forested and was mostly uninhabited. The Ranpur ruling family claimed to belong to the most ancient lineage of the princely rulers of the Orissa Tributary States. The capital of the state was Ranpur, a small town near Kalupara Ghat railway station where the Raja resided.[1]

History

According to tradition Ranpur State is of very ancient origin. The legendary date of its foundation is placed some time in the 18th century BC[2] when the founder, a hunter named Basara Basuk, having defeated a giant demon named Ranasura, established his rule in the area. The name of the place is derived from the demon's name and was initially known as Ranasurapura, shortened to Ranpur in the course of time.

The state became a British protectorate in 1803. Raja Benudar Bajradhar Narendra Mahapatra —who had been granted a sanad of adoption by the British in 1862 for his loyalty during the Indian rebellion— claimed in 1877 that 109 generations of rulers had been at the head of the state since the original founder 3,600 years before.[3]

The rulers were Rajputs of uncertain origin, denying having any Khond blood, unlike most other rulers of princely states of Orissa. The last Raja of Ranpur signed the instrument of accession to the Indian Union, on 1 January 1948,[4] merging his state into Orissa State (now Odisha).

Rulers

The rulers of Ranpur State bore the title of Raja.[5]

Rajas
  •   1692 – 1727 Ramachandra Narendra
  •   1727 – 1754 Sarangadhar Bajradhar Narendra
  •   1754 – 1789 Narsingh Bajradhar Narendra
  •   1789 – 1821 Brujdaban Bajradhar Narendra
  •   1821 – 1842 Brajsundar Bajradhar Narendra
  •   1842 – 1899 Benudar Bajradhar Narendra Mahapatra (b. 1817/23 – d. ....)
  • 12 July 1899 – 21 June 1945 Birbar Krishna Chandra Narendra Mahapatra (b. 1875 – d. 1945)
  • 21 June 1945 – 1947 Brajendra Chandra Sing Deo Bajradhar Narendra Mahapatra (b. 1928 – d. 1980)

See also

References
  1. Great Britain India Office. The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908.
  2. Ranpur (Princely State)
  3. Great Britain India Office. The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908.
  4. Rajput Provinces of India — Ranpur (Princely State)
  5. Princely States of India

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