Hasht-Bhaiya

Hasht-Bhaiya हस्तभैया जहागिर
Jagir States
1690–1948 →
The area of the Hasht-Bhaiya Jagirs in the Imperial Gazetteer of India
History
•	Established	1690
•	Accession to the Union of India	1948
Area
•	1901	223 km2 (86 sq mi)
Population
•	1901	11,529
	Density	51.7 /km2  (133.9 /sq mi)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:

Dhurwai flag. Dhurwai was one of the Hasht-Bhaiya Jagirs.

The Hasht-Bhaiya, Hindi: आठभैया ath bhaiya meaning 'Eight Brothers', jagir states were a group of small feudatory states of Central India during the period of the British Raj. They belonged to the Bundelkhand Agency and all of them had been originally part of the princely state of Orchha. The Hasht-Bhaiya Jagirs were a British protectorate between 1823 and 1947. Their last rulers joined the Indian Union in 1948.

The rulers of the states were Rajputs of the Bundela dynasty.

History

Early history

Towards 1690 Udot Singh, the Maharaja of Orchha, gave to his brother, Diwan Rai Singh, the jagir of Baragaon near Jhansi. After Rai Singh's death the jagir went to his sons and it was divided into eight parts (hasht) among the brothers (bhaya) in order to form the following estates:

• Kari (extinct)
• Pasari (extinct)
• Tarauli (extinct)
• Chirgaon (annexed by the British in 1841)
• Dhurwai 47 km², pop. 1826 in 1901
• Bijna 70 km², pop. 1578 in 1901
• Tori-Fatehpur 93 km², pop. 7099 in 1901
• Banka-Pahari 13 km², pop. 1056 in 1901

The three first jagirs were merged into the others owing to lack of issue.

In the 18th century the dismemberment of Orchha State by the Marathas and the formation of Jhansi State brought about disputes regarding the sovereignty and control of the remaining five Hasht-Bhaiya estates.

British rule

In 1818 the British established their rule and in 1821 a settlement was reached by which the five jagirs would remain under direct dependence of the British Raj. The British decided that the tribute levied by Jhansi should be paid through the Hasht-Bhaiya jagirs and that their rulers would keep and respect the traditional protocol towards the Maharaja of Orchha as head of the ruling families of the jagirs. The jagirdars were granted sanads on 1821 and 1823.

In 1841, following the rebellion of Jagirdar Bakht Singh, the British authorities took possession of Chirgaon State invoking the Doctrine of lapse. After this only four of the original eight principalities remained.

See also

• Doctrine of lapse
• Vindhya Pradesh