Kushalgarh
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Kushalgarh
Estate or petty chiefship in the south-east of the State of Banswara, Rajputana. Its area is 340 square miles, and in physical aspects it is not dissimilar to Banswara. It consists of 257 villages, with a population in 1901 (when the first complete Census was taken) of 16,222, of whom 11,538, or more than 71 per cent., were Bhils. The normal revenue, excluding that derived from villages in the Ratlam State, was, prior to the famine of 1899- 1900, about Rs. 50,000, but has since fallen to about Rs. 35,000. The village or town of Kushalgarh, the population of which was 2,838 in 1901, con- tains a post office, a small vernacular school attended by 80 bo)'s, and a dispensary. The estate is of some political interest, in con- sequence of the position of its holder relative to the chief of Banswara.
The family belong to the Rathor clan of Rajputs, and claim descent from Jodh Singh, the founder of Jodhpur city. They appear to have migrated east, and their earliest possessions were in Ratlam, where they still hold 60 villages and pay a tribute of Rs. 600 a year to the Raja of that State. In the latter part of the seventeenth century they acquired the country now called Kushalgarh, but accounts differ as to the mode of acquisition. According to the Banswara version, the country was taken from the Bhils by Kushal Singh, then chief of Banswara, and given by him to Akhai Raj as a reward for services rendered, being named after the donor; but the Kushalgarh family say that it was actually taken from the Bhils by Akhai Raj himself, and that it w-as named after the Bhil chieftain, Kushla, whom he defeated.
However this may be, there is no doubt that a portion of the estate, notably the district of Tambesra in the north-west, was granted in jaglr by a chief of Banswara, and that the Rao of Kushalgarh, as he has been called since about 1783, pays a tribute of Rs. 550 a year to Banswara. In consequence, however, of frequent attempts on the part of the late ]\Iaharawal to claim rights over the estate to which he was not entitled, Kushalgarh was finally declared to be practically independent of Ban- swara for all purposes other than the payment of tribute and personal attendance on certain occasions, such as the installation of the Maha- rawal and marriages in the latter's family. The Rao's position may be described in general terms as that of a mediatized or guaranteed feudatory ; he pays tribute to Banswara through, and corresponds on all matters directly with, the Assistant to the Resident in Mewar. He exercises civil and criminal powers in his own estate ; but the pro- ceedings in all heinous cases have to be submitted for approval to the Assistant to the Resident, while sentences of death or imprison- ment for life are subject to the confirmation of the Governor-General's Agent in Rajputana.
