>Aj Ajay Mehta 007 at 19:13, 24 April 2021

2021-04-24T19:13:43Z

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{{Short description|Princely state during British Raj}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|native_name =
|conventional_long_name = Bushahr State
|common_name = Bushahr
|nation = [[British India]]
|subdivision = [[Princely State]]
|era =
|year_start = 1412
|date_start =
|event_start =
|year_end = 1948
|date_end =
|event_end = [[Independence of India]]
|event1 =
|date_event1 =
|p1 =
|s1 = India
|flag_p1 =
|flag_s1 = Flag of India.svg
|image_flag =
|image_coat =
|image_map = Punjab-Districts_1911.png
|image_map_caption = Bushahr in a map of Punjab, 1911
|stat_area1 = 8907
|stat_year1 = 1941
|stat_pop1 = 115,000
|demonym =
|capital = [[Rampur, Himachal Pradesh|Rampur Bushahr]] (Last)
|today =
}}
'''Bushahr''', also spelt as 'Bashahr' and 'Bussahir' or 'Bushair' was a [[princely state]] in India during the [[British Raj]]. It was located in the hilly western [[Himalaya]] promontory bordering [[Tibet]] in the northern part of colonial [[Punjab region]].

The territory of this former state is now part of [[Kinnaur]] and [[Shimla district|Shimla]] districts of the present [[Himachal Pradesh]] state. The erstwhile Bushahr state was traversed by the [[Sutlej]] river. It was bordered on the west by the [[Kullu district|Kulu]], [[Lahaul and Spiti district|Lahaul and Spiti]] states and by [[Garhwal Kingdom|Tehri Garhwal]] on the east. It had an area of {{cvt|8,907|km2}}.

==History==
[[File:Bashar 1911.png|thumb|right|280px|Map of the Bushahr state, 1911]]
[[File:Eastern-Punjab-1863.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Bushahr and Tehri Garhwal shown in yellow in an 1863 map of Eastern Punjab]]
The erstwhile Bushahr state was occupied by a [[Gurkha|Gorkha]] king from central [[Nepal]] from 1803 to 1815. [[Ranjit Singh]], the ruler of the [[Sikh Empire|Sikh state]] in the [[Punjab region|Punjab]], intervened in 1809 and drove the Nepalese army east of the [[Satluj]] river. A rivalry between Nepal and the [[British East India Company]] over the annexation of minor states bordering Nepal eventually led to the [[Anglo-Nepalese War]] (1815–16) or the [[Gurkha War]]. Both parties eventually signed the [[Sugauli Treaty|Treaty of Sugauli]], following which the Gurkhas were expelled from Kamru, the capital of Bushahr.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}}

In 1898, Bushahr state was taken over by the British administration, although the ''Râja'' remained nominally in charge.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Bashahr|volume=3|page=464}}</ref> After British occupation, the Bushahr state was by far the largest of the 28 [[Simla Hills States]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}} There was a tax revolt by Bushahr's peasants in 1906.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Heads of State===
The original seat of the rulers of the erstwhile Bushahr state was at the Kamru Fort, in the village of Kamru at the banks of the [[Baspa River]] at [[Sangla, India|Sangla]] in [[Kinnaur]]. The fort is currently abandoned and houses an idol of Kamakhya Devi (Kamakshi Dev), which is believed to have been brought several centuries ago from [[Kamakhya temple]] in Guwahati. The rulers subsequently moved to [[Sarahan]].
The Palace of the "Raja of Bushahr state" at Sarahan ("The Srikhand view") was built by order of Raja Padam Singh for his lodging in September 1917.
The current residence of the "Raja of Bushahr state" is at the Padam Palace at [[Rampur, Himachal Pradesh|Rampur]], [[Shimla district]]. The town of [[Rampur, Himachal Pradesh|Rampur]] may have been founded by Raja Kehri Singh in the 17th century or by Raja Ram Singh in the 18th. The rulers moved down from their traditional seat in Sarahan to the banks of the river [[Sutlej]]. Bushair was one of the richest princely states in the hills and was an important center for trade between Tibet, Kinnaur and the lower areas.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}}

With a personal [[gun salute]] of 9 guns, the ruler of Bashahr was the only Hills "Raja" amongst India's upper class of princely [[salute state]]s, but was not entitled to the style of [[His Highness]] until independence in 1947.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}}

==Rulers==
Rulers bore the title of [[Rana (title)|Rana]] and then [[Raja]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_princes_A-J.html|title=Indian Princely States before 1947 A-J|website=www.worldstatesmen.org|access-date=2019-08-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rulers.org/indstat1.html|title=Indian states before 1947 A-J|website=rulers.org|access-date=2019-08-30}}</ref>

'''Ranas'''
*????: Kehri Singh
*????: Ram Singh
*???? - 1803 : Ugar Singh
*1803 - 1815 : ''[[Nepal]]ese occupation''
'''Rajas'''
*1816 - 1850 : Mahendra Singh
*1850 - 1887 : Shamsher Singh
*1887 - 1898 : Raghunath Singh
*1898 - 1914 : Shamsher Singh (''return to power'')
*1914 - 1947 : Padam Singh
*1947 - till date: [[Virbhadra Singh]]

== See also ==
*[[Simla Hills States]]
*[[Political integration of India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.uq.net.au/%7Ezzhsoszy/ips/b/bashahr.html Genealogy of the rulers of Bashahr]

{{Coord|31|31|12|N|77|48|00|E|region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki|display=title}}
{{Princely states of the Punjab and Simla Hills}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Shimla district]]
[[Category:Princely states of Himachal Pradesh]]

Bushahr - Revision history

>Aj Ajay Mehta 007 at 19:13, 24 April 2021