PREDECESSORS AND SHORT
HISTORY:The ancestors of this family established
themselves as
military chiefs in Utrein at the turn of the 17th century
and rendered military service with the Mughal governers of
the Suba.
With the decline of central authority during the later
years of
Emperor Aurangzeb�s reign, the family occupied Pargana
Sanaut as
independent chiefs,
consolidating their power and authority over the entire
Magadh region
by the 1730's. They established their headquarters at
Tikari Fort.
After
the battle of Buxar, with the British EIC being appointed
Diwan by
Emperor Shah Alam, the autonomy of the principality became
curtailed
to that of principal zamindar of Bihar Suba along with the
Rajas of
Tirhut and Shahabad. Pitambar Singh, the Raja of Tikari
lost his
Gaddi to his second cousin Mitrajit Singh of the cadet
line for
siding with Raja Chyet Singh of Benaras against the
British EIC. In a
subsequent compromise, a small part of Tikari State was
carved out
with its nucleus at Maksudpur Fort, and Pitambar Singh
became the
Raja of Maksudpur,
whilst Mitrajit
Singh was recognized as the Maharaja of
Tikari. The estate was located in Bihar, and covered most
of the
present districts of Gaya, Aurangabad, Jehanabad and
Arwal, as wells as
parts of the districts of Nalanda and Nawada. Rulers
were....
- Malik BIR SINGH,
Zamindar of Sanaut, Malik of Utrein, he defeated
and killed Maqsud Khan, the Fauzdar of Pargana Sanaut,
and occupied
Sanaut Garh and established his headquarters at the
Qila Maksudpur, he
was recognized as the Zamindar of Sanaut by Padshah
Muhammad Shah and
received a Khillat and Rajgi in 1719;
married a
daughter of Raja Kanchan
Singh, Naib Subedar of Azimabad, and had issue.
- Raja Tribhuvan
Singh (qv)
- Raja Sundar Singh
(qv)
- Kunwar Chattar Singh, from
whom the Zamindars of Sanwara and Jamwara are
descended.
- Raja TRIBHUVAN
SINGH, Zamindar of Sanaut, during his reign
he conquered Pargana
Gaya in 1729, the conquest being ratified by decree of
Nawab Alivardi
Khan
Mahabat Jung; he shifted his headquarters to Tikari
and built the Fort
there; married and had issue, four sons. He died in
1736.
- Kunwar Nehal Singh, married and had issue, three
sons.
- Kunwar Pitamber Singh, he was adopted by Raja
Fateh
Singh, and succeded as Raja Pitambar Singh
Bahadur, Raja of Tikari (qv)
- Kunwar Chain Singh, he settled at Uttrawan
Garh, Maksudpur; married and had issue, two sons.
- Kunwar (name unknown) Singh, married
and had
issue.
- Kunwar Bishun Singh, married and had issue.
- Raja Ran Bahadur Singh, Raja of Tikari
(Seven
Annas) (see below)
- Kunwar Ram Singh, married and had issue.
- Kunwar Bikramajit Singh, married and had
issue.
- Kunwar Kanhaiya Dayal Singh, married and
had
issue.
- Kunwar Chote Narain Singh [aka Jung
Bahadur
Singh], married and had issue.
- Maharani Vidyavati Kuer, married (as
his
fourth wife), Lt. Col. (Hon.) Maharaja
Gopal Saran Narain Singh, Raja
of Tikari (Nine Annas) (see below)
- Kunwar Bechu Singh,
killed in the battle between Alivardi Khan Mahabat
Jung, Naib Subedar
of Suba Bengal and Raja Sundar Singh
- Raja SUNDAR SINGH,
Raja of Tikari, while he was still in his
teens, he fought the battle of Chandi Maidan defeating
and killing the
Mughal Pathan Generals, Himmat Khan and Sher Khan; at
the battle of
Lodipur, he defeated and killed the Mughal General
Faizullah Khan, who
was deputed by the Mughal Emperor to bring the Raja to
submission; at
another battle, fighting with odds heavily against
him, he led a
confederacy of Raja Kuer Singh of Siris Kutumba, Raja
Parwal Singh of
Chirkawan, Raja of Ramgarh and Nawab Kamgar Khan of
Narhat and
defeated Alivardi Khan Mahabat Jung and his general
Mustafa Khan; later received an imperial pardon on the
intervention of
Alivardi Khan and returned the favour by playing a key
role in
Alivardi Khan�s invasion of Bengal and subsequent
ascendance to the
Masnad; he conquered most of the Magadh region
bringing 12 Parganas
under his control and overran large parts of
Chotanagpur; fought
numerous battles against the invading Maratha armies
to defend the
Suba of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa; received a Khillat
and Rajgi
of Raja
of Magadh from the Mughal Emperor; he adopted Kunwar
Buniad Singh,
second son
of Raja Tribhuvan Singh; he was assassinated by the
captain of his
guard,
Ghulam Gaus in 1759 while leading an expedition on
behalf of Shahzada
Ali Gauhar (later Padshah Shah Alam) to conquer Bengal
from Nawab Mir
Jaffer, the prot�g� of Robert Clive; married and had
issue, as well as adoptive issue. He died 1759.
- Kunwar Dulha Singh, died in battle at the age of
eighteen
years.
- (A) Raja Buniad Singh (qv)
- Raja FATEH SINGH,
Raja of Tikari 1759/1763, served at the Court
of the Kingdom of Bengal as commander of his brigade
stationed for
the defence of Murshidabad between 1746 and 1759;
returned to Tikari
in 1759; married Rani Lagan Kuer and had issue, as
well as adoptive
issue; he was treacherously
executed in 1763 at Munger fort by Nawab Mir Kasim of
Bengal; his
widow Rani Lagan Kuer adopted Pitambar Singh, son of
Nihal Singh.
- Kunwar Trilok Singh,
executed in 1763 at Munger Fort by Nawab Mir Kasim
of Bengal.
- (A) Raja Pitambar
Singh Bahadur, founder of Maksudpur.
- Raja BUNIAD SINGH,
Raja of Tikari in 1763, succeeded by adoption,
established
the
trading town of Buniadganj on the Phalgu river near
Gaya; sided with
the British to oppose Kamgar Khan of Narhat, a rival
who had induced
Nawab Mir Kasim and Shehzada Ali Gauhar to plunder
Tikari
territories, his correspondence with the British
General fell in the
hands of Nawab Mir Kasim, who invited him to his
capital at Munger
along with Raja Fateh Singh and Trilok Singh, they
were all
treacherously imprisoned and executed in 1763 on the
eve of the
Battle of Buxar; married and had issue.
- Maharaja Mitrajit Singh Bahadur (qv)
Maharaja
MITRAJIT SINGH Bahadur, Raja of Tikari
1763/1840, born 1762,
Nawab
Mir Kasim of Bengal sent troops from Munger to Tikari
to
kill the infant Mitrajit after having executed his
father, uncle and
cousin; on the instructions of the widowed ranis of
Tikari, the
infant was secreted away from the fort concealed in a
basket of cow
dung cakes and handed over to Dilil Singh, chief
officer of Raja
Buniad Singh, who proceeded incognito with his charge
to a remote
hill fortress in the extreme south of Tikari
territories, remaining
there for 12 years before handing him over to the
British commanding
officer at Patna, where he remained under British
care;succeeded to
be recognized as the Maharaja of Tikari after Raja
Pitambar Singh�s
rebellion and the Permanent Settlement of 1793, he was
was the
wealthiest
zamindar
of Bihar with an annual income of 6,000,000Rs in the
year
1820 from which he paid 300,000Rs. as malguzari (annual
payment
to the British EIC); surrendered several sovereign
powers and
rights of the
Tikari Rajas to the British EIC, accepting
corresponding monetary
remission in the malguzari; many
territories held by feudal vassals and chiefs under
Tikari Rajas
became separate zamindari estates under the Permanent
Settlement; he
carved
out a large estate (Khan Bahadur Estate) for his
muslim son and
divided his remaining Raj between his two hindu sons,
the older
inheriting Tikari Raj Nine Annas, and the younger
Tikari Raj Seven Annas; married
1stly, Maharani (name
unknown) Kuer, married
2ndly, Naib Rani Barsati Begum from Kashmir, and had
issue. He died
1840.
- Maharaja Hit Narain Singh (by 1st wife), succeeded
to
nine
sixteenths of the estate as his share (#2)(qv)
- Raja Mod Narain Singh (by 1st wife), succeeded to
seven
sixteenths of the estate as his share (#2)(qv)
- Rajkumari (name unknown) (by 1st wife),
married
Rajkumar
Deomardan Singh, son of Raja Fateh Shahi of
Husseypur (Hathwa), Saran
(later Tamkuhi Raj, Gorakhpur).
- Rajkumari (name unknown) (by 1st wife),
married
Rajkumar
Arimardan Singh, son of Raja Fateh Shahi of
Husseypur (Hathwa), Saran
(later Tamkuhi Raj, Gorakhpur).
- Maharani (name
unknown) Kuer (by 1st wife), married the
Maharaja of
Bettiah.
- Ihtishamu'd Dowla Mubarizu'l Mulk Raja Khan
Bahadur Khan
Nusrat
Jung (by Naib Rani Barsati Begun), he was the
favourite son of his
father,
he became a famous name in muslim astronomy, he
retained at his court
the leading
astronomer, Ghulam Hussain Jaunpuri, who named two
of his famous works Jami
Bahadur-Khani and Jiz-i-Bahadur-Khani
after his
patron; he established the first English school at
Gaya and worked
towards the spread of education in Tikari Raj;
married and had issue,
later this branch lapsed and the Khan Bahadur Estate
was escheated to
the EIC Government.
TIKARI RAJ (NINE ANNAS)
- Maharaja HIT NARAIN
SINGH,
Maharaja of Tikari (Nine Annas) 1840/-, he received
nine
sixteenths of what remained of Tikari Raja from his
father; he was
granted the title of
Maharaja for
personal use
and a khillat on 10th November 1845 from Lord
Harding; he
carved out the Solano Estate(#3)
from Arwal
Circle of Tikari Raj for
his descendants from the second wife, he abdicated and
became an
ascete, and left the charge of the estate to his
first wife,
and lived at Chajjubagh, Patna with his
Spanish Rani; married 1stly, 30th April 1814, Maharani
Indrajit Kuer
(qv) of
Rusi Zamindari in Saran District, who adopted his
nephew, married
2ndly, a lady from the Solano family of Malaga in
Spain. He died 1861
at Patna.
- Maharani Indrajit
Kuer,
Maharani of Tikari (Nine Annas), she built various
public buildings
and
works, improved the administration of the Raj, built
the Tikari
temples at Patna and Brindaban (1871), set up the
Belkharra Trust
(with estates acquired from Sahebzada Himmat Bahadur
of Tikari Raj
Seven Annas) to support Raj temples and charities; she
was sympathetic
to
the mutineers in 1857 with British intelligence
reporting the
mounting of 200 cannon on the battlements of Tikari
fort; adopted her
brother�s son; married (as his first wife, Maharaja
Hit Narain Singh
(see above), and had adoptive issue. She died at
Brindaban in 1878.
- (A) Maharaja Ram Kishen Singh of Rusi Estate
(qv)
- Maharaja RAM KISHEN
SINGH,
Maharaja of Tikari (Nine Annas), succeeded by
adoption,
recognized as Maharaja of Tikari on 8th May 1873 by
the British
Government, he spent several lacs of rupees for
famine relief in 1874-75, contributed liberally for
social causes
including funding of the Patna College and the Prince
of Wales Patna
Hospital; married
Maharani
Rajrup
Kuer (qv), and had issue.
- Maharani Radheshwari Kuer (qv)
- Maharani
Rajrup
Kuer, Maharani of Tikari (Nine Annas), she
was groomed in
zamindari administration by her mother-in-law,
Maharani Indrajit Kuer; she established the Tikari
Raj High School and supported numerous social and
educational
programs and scholarships in the district and beyond;
married Maharaj
Ram Kishen Singh, and had issue (see above). She died
in 1884.
- Maharani
Radheshwari Kuer,
Maharani of Tikari (Nine Annas) 1884/1886, recognized
as the
Maharani of Tikari,
married Babu Ambika Saran Singh, and had issue. She
died 1886.
- Lt. Col. (Hon.) Maharaja Gopal
Saran Narain Singh (qv)
Lt. Col. (Hon.) Maharaja
GOPAL SARAN NARAIN SINGH, Maharaja of Tikari
(Nine Annas)
1886/1958,
born 1883, received the charge of the estate from
the Court of Wards in 1904, educated at St. Georges
School, Mussourie
and by private British tutors, first Indian prince to
motor race in
France and England and several other early Grand Prix
races in Europe
at the turn of the century; noted big game hunter of
the time;
volunteered for active service as Lieutenant at the
break of WWI, was
special dispatch officer to Field Marshall Haig and
saw
action in the trenches in France while serving with
the Corps Signal
Company, decorated and promoted to Captain during the
war; joined the
Indian freedom movement as a member of the Indian
National Congress
and contested elections under 1919 Govt of India Act,
twice defeating
Maharajadhiraj Sir Rameshwar Singh of Darbhanga, the
breakaway Swaraj
Party of Motilal Nehru and CR Das was founded during
the All India
Gaya Congress 1922 at his Gaya residence (The White
House); married
1stly, 1902, Maharani (name unknown) Kuer, died
sp 1923,
sister of Raja Indrajit
Pratap Shahi of Tamkuhi
Raj, Gorakhpur,
married 2ndly, 2nd May 1909 in Lucknow, Maharani Sita
Devi [n�e
Elsie Thompson],
born 2nd August 1883 in Sydney, Australia, died sp
21st
November 1967 in Australia, daughter of James Thompson
(she received a
perpetual annuity
starting in May 1913 of 36,000Rs p.a., 37 villages of
Aurangabad
Circle, from the Maharaja), married 3rdly, 1912, Kumar
Rani Sayeeda
Khatoon, the
Maharaja transferred the Aurangabad Circle of Tikari
Raj, (forming
the Kumar Rani Tikari Estate which had an annual
income of 1,200,000Rs
by 1946) to her and their sons, she died in 1972 in
Karachi,
Pakistan; married 4thly, 1919, Maharani Vidyavati
Kuer, daughter of
Kumar
Chote Narain Singh [aka. Jung Bahadur Singh of
Uttrawan Garh,
Maksudpur (collateral branch, great-great grandson of
Kunwar Chain
Singh, see above)], and had issue, four sons and one
daughter; he
transferred the remaining Tikari Raj Nine Annas (with
an annual
income of 1,000,000Rs in 1930) to Rani Bhuvneshwari
Kuer of Tikari
Raj Seven Annas in 1930 in lieu of a lifetime annuity.
He died in
1958.
- Maj. Maharajkumar
Amar Singh (by third wife), born 1910, volunteered
for
active service in World War II, he served with the
14th Cavalry Regimen
and saw extensive action on the Burma
front; later settled in Hazaribagh and worked as a
professional big
game hunter with the shikar outfitter S.A.H.A.A.
(Tootoo) Imam;
married 1stly (sep'd.), Begum Sultan Jahan, sister
of Nawab
Arif Khan, married 2ndly (sep'd.), Kumar Rani Nargis
(n�e
Kapadia),
married 3rdly,
Rani Ramkali Devi, (she married 2ndly, 1973, Major
John Wakefield),
and had issue. He died in 1968.
- Rajkumar Moinuddin
Tikari (by Begum Sultan Jahan)
- Rajkumar Jaffry Tikari [Jeff Tikari] (by Begum
Sultan
Jahan)
- Rajkumar Shuja Tikari (by Begum Sultan Jahan)
- Rajkumar Ghalib Tikari (by Kumar Rani Nargis)
- Rajkumari Juli Tikari (by Kumar Rani Nargis)
- Rajkumari Lakshmi Tikari (Mrs. Lakshmi
Sinclair)(by
Rani Ramkali Devi)
- Rajkumari Anjali Tikari (by Rani Ramkali Devi)
- Rajkumari Geeta Tikari (by Rani Ramkali Devi)
- Rajkumar Balbir Tikari (by Rani Ramkali Devi)
- Maharajkumar Fateh Singh Tikari [Prince George
Tikari]
(by third wife), married
Maharajkumari Jagatbir Kaur [Princess Beryl], died
11th February
2008 in Patna (she married 2ndly, her brother in
law, Maharajkumar
Sumair Singh Tikari, see below), daughter of HH
Maharaja Sir Ranbir
Singh of Jind, and had
issue, three
children.
- Rajkumar Rajbir Singh Tikari [Reggie Tikari],
married
Princess Pearl of Jind, and has issue.
- Rajkumar Ranbir Singh Tikari [Ronnie Tikari]
- Rajkumar Raghubir Singh Tikari [Robin Tikari],
married
and has issue.
- Kunwar Varun Singh Tikari
- Maharajkumar Vijay
Singh [Prince Viji Tikari] (by third wife),
volunteered for active
service in World War II, served under Field Marshall
Montgomery in
the Desert War in Egypt, and was killed sp
in action during the
Battle of
El
Alamein in 1942.
- Maharajkumar Sumair Singh Tikari [Prince Bobby
Tikari]
(by third wife), married 1stly, Begum Sultan Jahan
(former wife of his
elder brother, see above), married 2ndly,
Maharajkumari Jagatbir Kaur
[Princess Beryl] (former wife of his elder brother,
see above), and had
issue, three daughters. He died 2008.
- Rajkumari Ishrat Tikari (by Begum Sultan Jahan)
- Rajkumari Nusrat (Dolly) Tikari (by Begum Sultan
Jahan)
- Rajkumari Shaila Tikari (by Maharajkumari
Jagatbir
Kaur)
- Rani Umeshwari
Kuer, (by fourth wife) married 12th March 1930 in
Calcutta,
Raja Bahadur Raghuvanshmani Prasad Narain Singh of
Amawan Raj, son of
Rani Bhuvneshwari Kuer of Tikari Raj Seven Annas and
had issue (see
below). She died in her sleep on 18th February 2011.
TIKARI RAJ (SEVEN ANNAS)
- Raja MOD NARAIN
SINGH,
Raja of Tikari (Seven Annas), he received seven
sixteenths as his
share of what remained of the Tikari Raj from his
father, he
established his separate administration, and was
recognized as Raja
with title and a khillat; married 1stly, 1816,
Rani Aswamedh
Kuer
(qv), daughter of the Maharaja of Benaras,
married 2ndly, Rani Sunit
Kuer, died sp in 1873, married 3rdly, Naib
Rani Bairati Begum,
from a
muslim family and had issue (by his third wife); he
carved out the
Belkharra Estate in 1851, comprising 89 villages of
Belkharra Mahaal
and 21 villages of Dakhner Mahaal,
for his children from his third wife and left his
estate to
his two hindu Ranis. He died 1857/1858.
- Sahebzadi Sharifun
Nissa, she died sp in 1842.
- Sahebzada Ekbal
Bahadur, born 1842, he was granted the Dakhner
Mahaal (to be
administered by Dewan Hurmat Ali of Tikari Raj Seven
Annas during his
minority) by patta on the 3rd Pous 1258 F.S.
(22/12/1850) and later
received six sixteenths share of Belkharra
Mahaal; married Sahebzada Begum, died 1875 in Mecca.
He died sp
in 15th August 1867.
- Sahebzada Himmat
Bahadur, received six sixteenths share of Belkharra
Mahaal, which was later acquired by Maharani
Indrajit
Kuer of Tikari Raj Nine Annas; married and had
issue.
- Sahebzadi Bismilla
Begum, she received a quarter share (4 sixteenths)
in
the Belkharra Mahaal which was later acquired by R.
Solano of the
Spanish Solano Estate family of Arwal (Tikari Raj
Nine Annas);
married and had issue, one son.
- Mirza Jalal-uddin
Bakt Bahadur (Munna Saheb), he received through
deed of gift (by
Sahebzada Begum), the estates of Sahebzada Ekbal
Bahadur (Dakhner
Mahaal and six sixteenths of Belkharra Mahaal),
which the
government sued for and took possession of, on
22nd June 1879 through
escheat and made them Government Estates.
- Rani Aswamedh Kuer,
Rani of Tikari (Seven Annas), daughter of the Maharaja
of Benares,
she inherited half the estates of Tikari
Raj Seven Annas from her husband Raja Mod Narain Singh
and the other
half from Rani Sunit Kuer; through two separate deeds,
dated
31st August 1872 and 5th April 1873, she transferred
the entire Tikari
Raj Seven
Annas to Kumar Ran Bahadur Singh (qv) (next
reversionary heir of Raja
Mod Narain Singh, being of the collateral branch from
Uttrawan Garh,
Maksudpur), she married (as his first wife), Raja Mod
Narain Singh (see
above). She died sp.
- Raja RAN BAHADUR
SINGH,
Raja of Tikari (Seven Annas) 1873/1889,
great-grandson of Kunwar Chain Singh, recognized as
Raja in 1888 with
title
and Khillat, married Rani Rameshwar Kuer
(Dulhin Saheba)(qv),
and had issue, one son (who predeceased him); he
nominated his
granddaughter
as heir under a will dated 23rd March 1888. He died
31st March 1889 in
Calcutta.
- Rajkumar Narain
Singh, married and had issue, one daughter. He died
vp.
- Rajkumari Ratan
Kuer (Nanko Saheba) (qv)
- Rani Ratan
Kuer (Nanko Saheba), Rani of Tikari (Seven
Annas), she married
the Zamindar of Salemgarh in
Gorakhpur, and had issue, one daughter.
- Rani
Bhuvneshwari Kuer (Baccha Saheb) (qv)
- Rani Rameshwar Kuer
(Dulhin Saheba), Regent of Tikari (Seven Annas), she
ruled as regent of
Tikari Raj Seven
Annas and served as guardian during the minority of
her then infant
great grand daughter, Rani Bhuvneshwari Kuer; cleared
large debts on
the Raj and ran an efficient purdah administration,
married Raja Ran
Bahadur Singh, and had issue (see above).
- Rani
Bhuvneshwari Kuer (Baccha Saheb), Rani of
Tikari (Seven Annas)
-/1967 and Rani of Tikari (Seven Annas) 1930/1967,
born 2nd July 1884,
she was
recognized as Rani of Tikari Raj Seven
Annas and remained owner of the Raj in her own right
till the vesting
of the zamindari into the State of Bihar; in the
1920�s she was reputed
to be
the second richest woman in India, after the Begum of
Bhopal;
received through deed of gift in 1930 the Tikari Raj
Nine Annas from
Capt. Maharaja Gopal Saran Narain Singh; married Raja
Bahadur Harihar
Prasad Narain Singh of Amawan Raj, and had issue, five
sons and five
daughters; she converted the Tikari Raj Estates into
Trusts (under
Tikari Raj General Trust) with a hope to preserving
the inheritance.
She died in 1967.
- Rajkumari Savatri
Singh, married Kunwar Parmeshwari Nandan Singh of
Dorra Estate,
and had issue, two sons and three daughters.
- Kumari Hemprabha
Sinha, married Shri Shivaji Sinha (IPS) and had
issue.
- Rani Nalini Singh,
married Raja Ajai Singh Bahadur of Maksudpur,
and has issue.
- Kumar
Dr. Baidehi Ballabh Prasad Singh, married and
has issue.
- Justice Kumar Shashank K. Singh
- Rajkumari
Devki Devi, married Justice Bhuneshwar Dhari Singh
of Dharahra Estate,
and had issue.
- Rajkumari
Tripursundari Devi, married Kunwar Lal Bihari Saran
Singh of Mahadipur
Estate, and had issue.
- Raja Bahadur
Raghuvanshmani Prasad Narain Singh, married 12th
March 1930 in
Calcutta,
Rani Umeshwari Kuer,
died 18th February 2011, daughter of Capt. Maharaja
Gopal Saran Narain
Singh of Tikari Raj
Nine Annas (see above), and his fourth wife,
Maharani Vidyavati Kuer,
and had issue.
- Rajkumari Kanak Bihari Devi, married Raja Jasjit
Singh of
Tajpur Estate, Bijnor, and
had issue.
- Rajkumar
Raghvendra Prasad Narain Singh, married and had
issue.
- Rajkumar
Awadhendra Prasad Narain Singh, married and had
issue.
- Rajkumari Kanak
Kishori Devi, married Raja Mahesh Nandan Singh of Seohar Estate, and
had issue.
- Rajkumar
Kaushlendra Prasad Narain Singh, married and had
issue.
- Rajkumar
Awadheshwari Prasad Narain Singh, married and had
issue.
|