The Feudatory State of Jhalawar

Jhalawar was a Princely state in the Hadoti region of Rajputana, part of present-day Rajasthan. The state was established in 1838, out of a treaty between the British, the State of Kota and the State of Malwa, wherein a part of Kota was spun off to be given to the hereditary family of the Dewans, descendants of Zalim Singh, who later assumed the title of Maharaja Rana of Jhalawar.

The first ruler of Jhalawar, Maharaja Madan Singh, died in 1845 and was succeeded by his son, who assumed the name of Maharaj Rana Zalim Singh (II) Bahadur. Being a minor, he ruled under the regency of a council until he came of age. However, his relationship with the British gradually soured and in 1896, he was deposed on account of misgovernance. He was sent to Varanasi on a pension where he spent the rest of his life in relative quiet.

In 1899, the British restructured the state, limiting the area to 800 square miles and installed their candidate as the ruler. The new king, Maharaja Bhawani Singhji (1829-1929), was a capable administrator and initiated many reforms in governance. His successors proved to be equally modern and reformist and started many public welfare projects.

After independence, Jhalawar joined the Union of India and became part of the modern state of Rajasthan. The last ruler of the state, Maharaj Rana Harishchandra, joined the democratic process and became an elected representative.

Stamps of Jhalawar

Maharaj Rana Zalim Singh (1876-1896) issued the first and only stamps of Jhalawar in 1886. The stamps did not have a long reign and were withdrawn in 1900 when Bhawani Singhji ascended the throne.

The stamps of Jhalawar came in two denominations, the first being a 1 pies one and the other, a ¼ anna. Both the stamps had an image of a dancing figurine, presumably Rambha, in the centre. In the 1 pies stamp, the image was in an oval motive enclosed in a rectangle, while the second was in an irregular octagon. Both the stamps had the name of the state and the denomination in Devanagari and Persian scripts.

The stamps were printed on thick laid paper, ungummed and imperforate. The printing was done using typography and lacked the fineness of British Indian stamps or some other states. They carried a huge variation in the quality of paper and ink used.