Rewah Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Rewah Town
Capital of the State of the same name in Central India, and head-quarters of the Huzur tahsil situated in 24 32' N. and 81 18' E., 31 miles by metalled road from Satna on the East Indian Railway; 1,045 feet above the sea. Population (1901), 24,608, of whom 19,274, or 78 per cent., were Hindus, and 5,097 Musalmans, Rewah was already a place of importance in 1554, when it was held by Jalal Khan, son of the emperoi Sher Shah, It became the chief town after the capture of Bandhogarh, the old capital, by Akbar in 1597 ; and Raja Vikramaditya, who, according to some accounts, founded the place in 1618, probably added palaces and othei buildings About 1731 Rewah was sacked by Hirde Sah of Panna, Raja Avdhut Singh flying to Partabgarh in Oudh,
The old city is still enclosed by a wall 20 feet high, On the east side it is entered through the Jhula Darwaza ('swing gate'), a finely carved gateway taken from the old town of Gurgi Masaun, of which the remains lie 12 miles east of the capital. In 1882 a large part of the modern town was destroyed by a flood. Between the old walled town and the modern extension lies a deep ravine, crossed by a cause- way at a point known as the Bundela Gate, from a gate that formerly stood there, erected by the Bundelas after their capture of the city. The chief buildings are the palace of Vishvanath Singh, the KothI or new palace erected in 1883, and the State offices. The town also contains a school with a boarding-house attached, a State printing press, a jail, a combined post and telegiaph office, and a small dak- bungalow.
A garden known as the Lakshman Bagh contains several modern Vaishnavite temples erected by the chiefs, which are supervised by the Swami or high priest of the State, the spiritual director of the Rewah chief. Three generations back the chief of Rewah became an ardent supporter of Vaishnavism An income of Rs. 40,000 a year is attached to the post, and the Swami has great influence in temporal as well as spiritual matters.
