Page:The Imperial Durbar Album of the Indian princes, chiefs and zamindars.djvu/279

 Rajpipla.

RAJPIPLA is a State under the Political Agency of Rewa-Kantha in the Bombay Presidency. The family of the Chief is said to derive its origin from one Chokarana, son of Saidawat, Raja of Ujjain, a Rajput of the Parmar tribe, who having quarrelled with his father left his own country and established himself in the villages of Pipla, in the most inaccessible parts of the hills to the west of the modern town of Nandod. The only daughter of Chokarana married Moker or Mokheraj. a Rajput of the Gohel tribe, who resided in the island of Premgar or Piram in the Gulf of Cambay. Mokheraj had by her two sons, Dungarji and Geman Singhji. The former founded Bhavnagar, and the latter succeeded to Chokarana. Since that time (about 1420 A.D.) the Gohel dynasty has been ruling at Ra/pipla. The Musalman kings of Ahmedabad had, before this, taken an agreement from the Raja to furnish 1,000 foot- soldiers, and 300 horse-men ; and the agreement remained in force until Akbar took Gujrath in 1573 A.D. when he imposed a tribute of Rs. 35,550 on the country in lieu of the contingent. This was paid until the end of the reign of Aurangzeb, when the payments not only became irregular in consequence of the decline of the Imperial authority, but were even altogether evaded whenever it could be done.

Subsequent to the overthrow of the Mahomedan authority, Damaji Gaekwar, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, succeeded in securing a half share of four of the most fertile sub-divisions of the territory. These were afterwards released at the cost of an annual payment of Rs. 40,000 to the Gaekwar, and this sum later on was raised to Rs. 92,000. Such rapid and frequent encroachments on the State and internal quarrels led to the intervention of the British Government. About the close of 1821 A.D., of the two disputants for the gadi, the rightful claimant, Veri Salji, was placed on the throne by the British Government. Under the settlement made in 1823 A.D., the State pays an annual tribute of Rs. 50,001 to the Gaekwar on the understanding that a remission shall be granted in seasons of natural calamity. The State, owing to mismanagement, was placed under the joint administration of an officer of the British Government and the Raja in the year 1884 A.D. From 1 887' 1897 A.D., however, the administration was entrusted solely to a British officer. The present Chief, H. H. Maharana Chhatra Singhji, succeeded to the gadi in 1897 A.D. He is an enlightened Chief and takes a keen interest in the welfare of his subjects. He has travelled over India and Europe, and gained a knowledge of the world. He is considered to be one of the popular chiefs in the Rewa-Kantha Agency.

The area of the State is 1,517 square miles and its population is 1,17,175. The total revenue is about nine lacs of rupees.

His Highness Maharana Chhatra Singhji, the present ruler of Rajpipla, is entitled to a salute of 11 guns and holds a sanad authorising adoption.