Raja Durga Singh
Description: Baghat was a princely state in Solan district. The first capital of the state was Jaunaji. It was shifted in 1875 to Solan.
The founder of the Bhagat state is recorded as Basant Pal or Hari Chand Pal from Dharánágri in the Deccan region. It’s believed that Basant Pal had captured a small place in the hills of the Keonthan pargana of Patiala, which he subsequently named Basantpur, and which later came to be called Bassi. This settlement was inherited by his son Bakhsh Pál, who later annexed the parganas of Básál, Bhocháli and Bharauli from Patiála. The 8th rana, Bhawáni Pál, annexed the Bachhráng pargana and the territory of the Rana of Kasauli.
After the Gurkha- British war, British annexed considerable part of Bhagat estate and in 1839 state was lapsed into British territory as its ruler Rana Mahinder Singh died without issue.
However, in 1842, upon the request of Ummed Singh, a grandson of the late rana Dalel Singh, Lord Ellingham restored the state of Baghát to Bije Singh, the younger brother of the late rana. However, in 1849, he too died without leaving a direct heir, and the state again was deemed lapsed and was annexed according to the doctrine.
Ummed Singh then established a claim to the throne for himself, and pleaded his case before the Court of Directors. It was initially rejected, but eventually in 1861, upon the recommendation of Lord Canning, the claim was recognised by the court.
The last ruler of Baghát was Durga Singh, who succeeded his father in 1911 as a minor. In June 1928, he was accorded the hereditary title of Raja. Raja Durga Singh acceded his state to the Union of India on 15 April 1948.
