Kuchesar

Kuchesar is village in Bulandshahr district, state of Uttar Pradesh, at a distance of 80 km from Delhi, off the NH 24. It was the seat of Zamindari, or small princely estate, during British Raj.

The Jat rulers of Kuchesar, who hailed from Mandoti in Haryana, Built their mud-fort sometime in the mid-18th century. The mud-fort of Kuchesar tells of the chequered history of the Jats who vied with the Sikhs, Marathas, Rohillas & Rajputs, as well as with French adventurers and the British East India Company, to fill the vacuum created by the decline of the Mughal empire.

Part of the Kuchesar Fort, built 1734, became a heritage hotel in 1998, after its restoration by Neemrana Hotels.[1][2]

Clan history

The ruling family of Kuchesar belonged to the Dalal (Rathore)clan of the Jat caste. Mr. Crook in his book “The Tribes and Castes of the north western provinces and Avadh” writes about the origin of the Dalal clan of Jats. He recounts that in the village of Mandothi, located in the Rohtak district of Haryana, there lived in a long-bygone era a man by name Dhanna Rao Rathore who belonged to the Rajput caste. He married a woman of the Princess Badgujar Jat They had three sons, by name Deswal, Dille, Suhag or Sehwag and Maan. The descendants of the three brothers formed three major lineages (gotras) and came to be known as Deswal, Dalal and Maan Gotras respectively.

Part of the Kuchesar Fort is now two heritage hotels, one is Mud Fort Kuchesar and Rao Raj Vilas.

In Kuchesar

In the lineage of Dille Rathore(i.e., in the Dalal clan) was born a certain Bhual. He and his three brothers Jagram, Jatmal and Gurva, are credited with founding a principality in Kuchesar. Bhaul had one son named Maujiram, who had two sons namely Ramsingh and Chhatar Singh. Chhatar Singh was very brave; he served under Mirza Ali Beg, the Muslim lord of nearby Chitsauna, obtaining both power and a large estate. His sons helped Jawahar Singh, the Jat ruler of Bharatpur, to avenge the death of his father Maharaja Suraj Mal. Najib-ud-Daula called them back and conferred on them the jagir of Kuchesar with the title of Rao; he also gave them the sobriquet "chor-maar", or destroyer of thieves.

When Jawahar Singh made war with the rulers of Delhi, the latter attacked Kuchesar. The Dalal Jats were defeated; their fort of Kuchesar was captured and razed. Rao Maganiram and Ramdhan Singh were arrested and imprisoned in the fort of Koyal.

The two brothers escaped from prison, reached Moradabad and aligned with the Marathas. In 1782, Maganiram and Ramdhan Singh, along with an army, recaptured Kuchesar from the Muslims. Rao Maganiram died after this victory. As per Jat custom, his widow and his younger brother were married to each other. By 1790, Ramdhan Singh had recaptured all of Kuchesar estate; he had also acquired Pooth, Siana, Thana Farida, Datyane and Saidpur on Malguzari lease from the rulers of Delhi. After 1782, Kuchesar mud-fort remained in unbroken possession of the family; it was granted to them in perpetual lease by the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam in 1790, a grant confirmed by the British in 1807.

British era

The British formalized their authority over the area in 1803; they recognized the estate of Kuchesar and its estate-holders without alteration to the status quo. Rao Ramdhansingh died in 1816 and was succeeded by Rao Fatehsingh who died in 1839. The latter was succeeded by his son Rao Bahadur Singh, who was killed in 1847.

Raja Gulab Singh aided the British during the uprising of 1857. He had no sons; the estate was managed by Rani Jaswant Kumari pending a settlement. She died quite soon afterwards, and was followed in these offices by Gulab Singh's only daughter, Bhup Kumari. Although she was childless, Bhup Kumari's husband Raja Khusal Singh, nephew of Raja Nahar Singh of Ballabhgarh, laid claim to the estates; this was disputed by other claimants. In 1868, the Panchyat court divided the estate into three parts:

In 1898, Umrao Singh died and Rao Giriraj Singh inherited the portion held by him.

Chronology of estate-holders

The chronology of Kuchesar Jat estate-holders is as under:

Family at Mohiuddinpur

Some of the descendants moved to the present day region of Mohiuddinpur (district Meerut) around 1857 where they are based till date. Their successors are as follows (list incomplete yet):

1. Gangabaksh Singh (and two other siblings)
2. Gopal Singh s/o Gangabaksh Singh
3. Girvar Singh, Gajpat Singh, Bishambar Singh, Jaswant Singh (sons of Gopal Singh)
4. Gurbachan Singh (s/o Girvar Singh) who had three daughters
5. Chhajju Singh, Narayan Singh (sons of Gajpat Singh)
6. Harikishan Singh, Srikishan Singh (sons of Bishamber Singh the latter was adopted by Jaswant Singh)

Successive Generations of the same lineage are:

1. Chhajju Singh had two daughters and one son Bhopal Singh
2. Bhopal Singh had three sons Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Shiam Pal Singh, VSM, ASC Sq. Ldr. (Retd.) Ravinder Pal Singh, IAF & Kunwar Chand Pal Singh
3. Maj. Gen.(Retd.) Shiam Pal Singh, VSM has one son Karan Singh & one daughter.
4. Sq. Ldr. (Retd.) Ravinder Pal Singh who has one daughter.
5. Kunwar Chand Pal Singh who has one son Prashant Kumar and one daughter Preeti Singh

6. Narayan Singh had three sons - Kunwar Mahendra Singh, Kunwar (Major) Prahlad Singh, Kunwar Kishan Singh and one daughter.
7. Kunwar Mahendra Singh who has three sons Kunwar Surendra Singh, Kunwar Bijendra Singh and Kunwar Gajendra Singh.
8. Kunwar Surendra Singh has two sons Kunwar Lalit Kumar who has one daughter Aarushi Dalal and one son Kunwar Tejansh Dalal and Kunwar Udaiveer Singh who has two daughters Disha Dalal and Prakarti Dalal.Kunwar Bijendra Singh has one son Kunwar Dharmendra Singh who has one daughter Tanya Dalal and one son Kunwar Abhay Dalal
9. Kunwar (Major) Prahlad Singh who has one daughter and two sons : Kunwar Ashok Kumar, advocate, who has two daughters Parul Sirohi and Harshita Dalal, Colonel Ajai Kumar (serving) ASC. who has one daughter Aditi Dalal and one son Kunwar Harshvardhan Dalal.
10. Kunwar Kishan Singh had two sons: Kunwar Anil Kumar and kunwar Satish Kumar


11. Harikishan Singh had three sons: Kr. Narendra Singh, Kr. Jeetendra Singh, Kr. Rajesh Kumar
12. Narendra Singh has two sons Vikas Kumar and Kapil Kumar and one daughter Chhavi.
13. Vikas Kumar has two sons SIDDHANT and VEDANSH.
14. Kapil Kumar has a son, Kush and a daughter, Ahana.
15. Chhavi has a daughter, Maansi and a son, Bharat.
15. Jeetendra Singh has two sons Abhinav Singh who has one son Pratyush and Abhishek Singh and one daughter Ruchira.
16. Rajesh Kumar has one son Manik Singh and one daughter Neha.

17. Srikishan Singh had four sons (Dr. Devendra Singh, Harendra Singh, Ravindra Singh and Yogendra Singh) and three daughters Siya Kumari, Vinay Kumari and Vijay Kumari.
18. Dr. Devendra Singh has two daughters
19. Kunwar Harendra Singh has one son Kunwar Pushpendra kumar and one daughter Shalu.Kunwar Pushpendra Kumar has one son Kunwar Tanishq Kumar and one daughter Tanisha. Shalu has two sons Pranay Tomar and Prakhar Tomar.
20. Ravindra Singh one son (Siddharth Kumar) and one daughter Sughanda.
21. Yogendra Singh two sons : Kapil Kumar and Rajat Kumar ...


Family at JAULIGARH Bulandshahr

Some of the descendants moved to a village Jauligarh or Jauli in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh

References

  1. ↑ "Ruins revisited: Forts and palaces get a fresh lease of life thanks to Aman Nath and Francis Wacziarg of Neemrana Hotels". The Hindu. Jul 29, 2004.
  2. ↑ Sandhu, Veenu (April 9, 2011). "No royalty". Business Standard News. Retrieved 2015-12-19.

External links

Coordinates: 28°41′N 77°57′E / 28.683°N 77.950°E / 28.683; 77.950

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.