Saraikela State
Saraikela State, also spelt Seraikela, Saraikella or Seraikella, was a princely state in India during the era of the British Raj. Its capital was at Saraikela.
The state had an area of 1163 km², and was one of the nine Chota Nagpur States under the authority of the governor of Bengal Presidency. The last ruler of the state, HH Raja Aditya Pratap Singh Deo, signed the merger agreement acceding to the Indian Union on 18 May 1948.
History
The state was founded in 1620 by Raja Bikram Singh (a forerunner to the ruling family's current nomenclature of Singh Deo), a descendant of the rulers of Porahat, who claimed descent from the Rathore clan of Rajputs. The state came under the influence of the Maratha rulers of Nagpur in the 18th century, and became a princely state of British India in 1803, at the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Maratha War at Deogaon of Orissa. After the war, the East India Company included the Saraikela princely state under the governance of the Chhota Nagpur Commissioner.
