page_title: Orchha State
section_title: Before Company Rule
hierarchical_section_title: Orchha State / History / Before Company Rule
caption_attribution_description: Illustrations from the 1636 Padshahnama of Shah Jahan showing Moghul Soldier &amp; Civilian Costume. Illustrations to the text of Abdul Hamid Lahori
context_page_description: Orchha State was a kingdom situated in the Bundelkhand region and later a princely state in British India. It was located within what is now the state of Madhya Pradesh.
  The Chaturbhuj Temple was built, during the time of Akbar, by the Queen of Orchha, while the Raj Mandir was built by Madhukar Shah during his reign, 1554 to 1591. In 1811, during the period of Company Rule in India, it became part of the Bundelkhand Agency within the Central India Agency; after the independence of India in 1947, it acceded to the Union of India, in 1950.
context_section_description: Orchha State was founded in 1531 by the Rudra Pratap Singh, who became its first king. He had a fortress at Garh Kundar and took advantage of the politically unstable environment of the time to make territorial gains. He moved to Orchha on the banks of the river Betwa and established it as his new capital. He died in the same year.
  Rudra Pratap Singh was succeeded by his son, Bharatichand, who died without leaving an heir in 1554 and was in turn succeeded by his younger brother, Madhukar Shah. Both Bharatichand and Madhukar had to deal with attacks, organised under the Afghan Islam Shah Suri (r. 1545-53) and the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605). Events involving the former were noted by the court poet Keshavdas and those involving Madhukar, who had to relinquish lands to Akbar in 1577 and 1588, were recorded in the Akbarnama. Madhukar's position had become so precarious in the 1570s that he agreed to Orchha becoming a tributary state and to enlistment of himself and his family in the service of the Mughal empire, but another near-contemporary historian, `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni, records him as a rebel in 1583.
  During the rule of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, his vassal, Vir Singh Deo, was ruler of the Orchha area. His reign ended in either 1626 or 1627 and it was during this period that Orchha reached its zenith in both political power and architectural splendour. Esxamples of the architecture include the Jahangir Mahal (built ca. 1605) and the Sawan Bhadon Mahal.
  In the early-17th century, Raja Jhujhar Singh rebelled against the Mughal emperor but was defeated. Shah Jahan placed the former raja's brother on the throne in 1641. Orchha was the only Bundela state not entirely subjugated by the Marathas in the 18th century.
  The town of Tehri, Tikamgarh, about 52 miles (84 km) south of Orchha, became the capital of Orchha state in 1783, and is now the district town; Tehri was the site of the fort of Tikamgarh, and the town eventually took the name of the fort.
caption: The capture of Orchha by invading Mughal forces (October 1635).
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