Partabgarh

Partabgarh or Pratabgarh princely state was situated in the south of Rajputana with an area of 886 square miles. In 1425, the state was established as Kanthal state and later was renamed after its capital city Pratapgarh. Geographically, it was bounded on the north and the north-west by Udaipur, on the west and south-west by Banswara, on the south by Ratlam ; and on the east by Jaora, Sindhia's districts of Mandasor and Nimach, and a portion of the Rampura-Bhanpura district of Indore.

The major portion of the state consisted of fine open land. But the north-west side was occupied with rocky and hilly ranges. Prartabgarh was entitled to 15 gun salutes by the British authority.

Earlier, this territory was called as Kanthal which meant boundary between Malwa and Gujarat. The northern portion was resided by Bhil and rest of the portion by various clans of Rajput. The founder of the State was one Bika, a descendant of Rana Mokal of Mewar who left his estates of Sadri and Dariawad in 1553 and proceeded to the south where he suppressed the aboriginal tribes. In 1561, he founded the Deogarh town and named it after a female chieftain Mini Devi. Jaswant Singh was murdered by his eldest son at the Champa Bagh, meanwhile Kanthal was occupied by Mewar troops. Jaswant Singh's second son, Hari Singh, proceeded to Delhi and recognized himself as an independent chief by Emperor Shah Jahan on payment of a tribute of Rs. I5, 000 a year. He received titles such as the rank of Haft hazari, or `Commander of 7, 000,' the title of Rawat and Maharawat title. He was succeeded by his son Pratap Singh in 1674.

The next successor was Sawant Singh. During his reign, the state was captured by the Marathas, and it was saved only when they agreed to pay a tribute of 72,720 Salim Shahi to Holkar. The tribute to Holkar was paid through the British Government, and from 1904 was converted to Rs. 36,360 British currency. The next successors of the state were Dalpat Singh (1844 – 1864) Udai Singh (1864 - 1890) Raghunath Singh (1890 - 18 Jan 1929) and Ram Singh (1929 - 15 Aug 1947). Ram Singh signed the accession to the Indian Union on 7 April 1949.