Dhar State


Dhar State was a princely state of British Raj. It was a salute state in the colonial sway of the Central India Agency. Dhar began as one of the states during Maratha dominance in India about 1730. In 1941 it had an area of and a population of 253,210. Dhar was the capital of the state since 1732. In 1948 it became part of Madhya Bharat.
Lying between 21°57' and 23°15' north, and 74°37' and 75°37' east, Dhar State was bordered on the north by Ratlam State and Sailana State; east by parts of Gwalior and Indore States; on the south by Barwani State, and on the west by Jhabua State and portions of Gwalior and Indore.
Hemendra Singh Rao Pawar is the present head of the former ruling family of Dhar.

History

The present Dhar dynasty was founded in 1729 by Udaji Rao Puar, a distinguished Maratha general who received the territory as a grant from the Chatrapati. During the Pindhari raids, the state's territory was whittled away, until it was restored in size on 10 January 1819, when it signed a Subsidiary alliance agreement with the British East India Company and became a major Princely state, enjoying indirect rule under British protectorate.

Rulers

The British granted Dhar a Hereditary gun salute of 15-guns.

Rajas

Postal/Philatelic Information

In 1897 primitive stamps with entirely native text. The second definitive issue bore the name DHAR STATE in Latin script; a total of 8 stamps. Since 1901 Indian stamps have been in use.