Ramgarh Raj


Ramgarh Raj was a major Zamindari estate in the era of the British Raj, in the former Indian province of Bihar.
The estate was ruled by Narain Dynasty.
Territories which comprised the Ramgarh Raj presently constitute districts of Ramgarh, Hazaribagh,
Chatra, Giridih, Koderma, and Bokaro with 3672 villages. The entire area is rich in minerals like coal and mica and falls under the Indian State of Jharkhand. The First King was Maharaja Baghdeo Singh and the last ruling king was Maharaja Kamakhya Narain Singh of this estate, until
the estate was merged to the Republic of India. The revenue of the estate was about 3600000 and the ruling family was the first family in India to use helicopters in election campaigns.

History

The areas that would later comprise the Ramgarh Raj had initially belonged to the Raja of Chhota Nagpur.
According to Ramgarh Raj family, the Baghdeo and Singhdeo two brothers came for service of Nagvanshi king of Chotanagpur from Bundelkhand.
Around the year 1368, the area witnessed unrest for reasons not now known. The Raja deputed two brothers to restore order. After the job was done, the Raja did not render payment to them of the full promised amount. Baghdeo, who was anyway in control of the area after quelling rebellion, simply stayed on and declared himself Raja of that area, which is said to have been 24 parganas in extent. Nagvanshi king Pratap Karn had declared Baghdeo as King of Karnpura which gives rise to Ramgarh Raj.
Raja Bahadur Kamakshya Narain Singh was the last ruling chief of the Ramgarh Raj. In 1945, he ceded control to the Indian government. His son, Raja Bahadur Indra Jitendra Narain Singh had been the head of the family since 1970.

Rulers