History of Jhansi:
In heart of India lies Bundelkhand “The land of the Bundelas”. A long time ago, it was divided into several kingdoms, the most important of them was Jhansi. Territorially, it was not a very large state. It lay on the southern foot hills of Vindhya Range.
To its north was Gwalior and Samthar state,
To the east lay Dhasan river and the state of Hammirpur.
To the south lay Lalitpur parganas and Orchha state
To west lay Datia and parts Gwalior state.
It was 4,986 sq miles in area and had a population of around 9 lakhs. It comprised of 2140 villages. The main rivers were the Chambal and the Dhasan. The main town was Jhansi which had a strong fort. It was in possession of Raja Chhatrasal . Peshwa Bajirao came to help Raja Chhatrasal against the mughal subedar. In gratitude, Raja Chhatrasal declared Bajirao to be his son and gave territory worth one crore as gift to the Marathas. It came to be known as Maratha Bundelkhand.
Peshwa Bajirao divided the territories which he had received into 3 parts or subas with a subedar (governor) to administer them.
- First part was given to Sardar Govindpant Bundele . It comprised of Jalaun, Sagar, Gurserai etc.
- Second part was given to Ali Bahadur, son of Bajirao from his love Mastani. This comprised of Banda, Kalpi etc.
- The smallest part which comprised of Jhansi was given to a minor official named Naro Shankar Motiwale.
In 1756, a revolt forced the Maratha subedar to leave Jhansi. Baji Rao appointed a brave warrior named Raghunath Hari Newalkar to Jhansi to quell the revolt. He quelled the revolt and re-established Peshwa’s rule in Jhansi. As a reward, he was made the subedar of Jhansi. On becoming the subedar, Raghunath Hari maintained a large army to maintain control over the local Bundela rajas.
The Parola fort in the Jalgaon district of Maharasthra. This was the ancestral home of the newalkar family.