Bhaddaiyan Raj
After the defeat of Chauhan army in the battle of Tarain, the whole empire started crumbling and fell to the Ghorids and the neighboring states. Emperor Prithviraj Chauhan’s son Govindraj went southwards from Delhi and strengthened the stronghold of Chauhans in Malwa region and made it his base , the fortress came to be known as Ranthambore or Ranstambhpura. Till beginning of 14th century the Chauhans held Ranthambhore and the region of Malwa, Maharaj Hammir Dev Chauhan lost the state to Alauddin Khilji in 1301 during his campaign. Hamirdev’s son Ramdev chauhan left the fort before it fell and goes on exile towards Awadh region.Later Ramdev’s son,Takshah singh is given the title of “Rajkunwar” (Raj is the family title of the imperial chauhans and was used in their name and kunwar stands for the person who will carry the legacy of the imperial Chauhans i.e. a son, so rajkunwar stands for the person who will carry the legacy of the royal Chauhan blood or their direct descendent) by his father and he moves to the bank of river Gomti in present Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh.
Formation of State
Rao Takshah Singh Rajkunwar came to a place on the bank of river Gomti in Sultanpur district and bought large stretch of land then collected heavy revenue from them and bought more lands,after a few years he had a very large area under his control,this process was taken forward by his son Maharaj Rajshah Singh Rajkunwar .Later his son Ishari Singh Rajkunwar formed a raiding party and invaded the neighboring areas,after his coronation in 1368,he formed a small army and conquered small areas around their own and declared the foundation of Agniraj State. This process increased its intensity and till 15th-16th century,when the state defeated all the surrounding states and became the greatest power under the leadership of Agniraj Maharaj Bariarshah Rajkunwar.He also served the Mughal Empire at the time of Akbar.
Fall
It was during the revolt of 1857 that the state faced tough times by the East India Company because of supporting the native forces.Agniraj Maharaj Bariar Singh Rajkunwar fought battles against the company but lost the battle of Ughadpur near Sultanpur and received martyrdom. Many other supporters of the cause like the Bhale Sultan clan of Musafirkhana were also defeated.The British demoted the state to zamindari under Darbhangaraj .The state faced much greater loss then territorial ones. The then crown prince,Yuvraj Jokha singh Rajkunwar was taken away from the state for 5 years,the title of the head of Rajkunwars was snatched by the British and given to the raja of Deara who helped the British against the natives.The fort was also dismantled and all palaces seized.
List of Rulers
Maharaj Takshah Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Rajshah Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Devraj Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Chamundaraj Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Madho Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Jai Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Uday Pratap Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Pujandev Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Bir Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Jaipal Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Vigrahraj Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Bijaichand Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Jitrai singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Pratap Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Ganga Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Anand Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Kumbhkaran Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Meghraj Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Rudra Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Bijairaj Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Keshavdev Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Bariar Shah Rajkunwar
Maharaj Sangramraj Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Rustam Shah Rajkunwar
Maharaj Tej Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Prithviraj Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Rudra Pratap Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Veerbhadra Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Surya Narayan Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Bariar Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Jokha Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Harikishun singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Chandra Bhushan Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Shivadutta Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Gajadhar Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Mahadev Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Bhagwati Singh Rajkunwar
Maharaj Jwala Prasad Singh Rajkunwar
