TravelTill

History of Banswara


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Banswara (literally "the bamboo country"), was a Rajput feudatory state in Rajputana during British India. It borders Gujarat and is bounded on the north by the native states ofDungarpur and Udaipur or Mewar; on the northeast and east by Partabgarh; on the south by the dominions of Holkar and the state of Jabua; and on the west by the state of Rewa Kantha.

Banswara state was about 45 miles (72 km) in length from north to south and 33 miles (53 km) in breadth from east to west and had an area of 1,606 square miles (4,160 km). The population in 1941 was 258,760.

Banswara district forms eastern part of the region known as Vagad or Vagwar. The district was formerly a princely state ruled by the Maharavals. It is said that a Bhil ruler Bansia or Wasna, ruled over it and Banswara was named after his name. Bansia was defeated and killed by Jagmal Singh who became the first Maharaval of the princely state. It is named so because of the bamboo  which were found in abundance in the forests.

In 1913 some Bhils revolted under the headship of a social reformer Govindgiri and Punja which was suppressed in November 1913. Hundreds of Bhils were shot dead at the Mangarh hillock where they were holding a peaceful meeting by the Mewar and Sirohi forces. The place has become sacred and is better known as the Mangarh Dham. With the merger of the princely states in the Union of India, the Banswara State and Kushalgarh chiefship got merged in the Rajasthan in 1949 and Banswara was carved out as a separate district by merging these principalities
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