Bonai State

{{Short description|Indian princely state}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox former subdivision |native_name = ବଣାଇ |conventional_long_name =Bonai State |common_name =Bonai |nation = British India |subdivision = Princely State |era = |year_start = 16th century |date_start = |event_start= |year_end = 1948 |date_end = |event_end= Accession to the Union of India |event1 = |date_event1 = |p1 = |s1 = India |flag_p1 = |flag_s1 = Flag of India.svg |image_flag = |image_coat = |image_map = BonaiKart (1).jpg |image_map_caption = Bonai State in the Imperial Gazetteer of India |stat_area1 =8907 |stat_year1 =1892 |stat_pop1 =24,026 |footnotes = }} '''Bonai State''' ({{langx|or|ବଣାଇ}}) was a minor princely state during the British Raj in what is today India. It was one of the Chota Nagpur States and had its capital at Bonaigarh,<ref name="sketch1875">Malleson, G. B.: An historical sketch of the native states of India, London 1875, Reprint Delhi 1984</ref> located in the present-day Sundergarh district of Odisha. It had an area of {{convert|8907|km2|sqmi}}, a population of 24,026 in 1892 and an average annual revenue of Rs. 60,000 in 1901.

==History== ===Origins of the Kadamba dynasty of Bonai=== As per legend, the founders of the dynasty claimed numerous obscure origins but lack of written archival records dispute them as untenable due to the mythical legends which shrouds the ancestry of the founding clans. Most research into the origins of the dynasty points that the founders of the Bonai State belonged to the head of the Bhuyan clans of the region which was later acquired mythical characteristics.<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V09_008.gif Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 9, p. 8.]</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Kshatriyaization and social change: A Study in Orissa setting |publisher=Popular Prakashan |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/83630303.pdf |author=Hermann Kulke |page=404 |date=1976 |access-date=8 March 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203426/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/83630303.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=South Asian Sovereignty: The Conundrum of Worldly Power |publisher=Taylor & Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D2GlDwAAQBAJ&q=kadamba+bhuiyan+odisha&pg=PT188 |author=David Gilmartin, Pamela Price, Arild E Rudd |date=24 July 2019 |isbn=9781000063820 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=The history of the Royal family of Bonai (from Voices from the Periphery: Subalternity and Empowerment in India) |publisher=Routledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bOcJEAAAQBAJ&q=kadamba+bhuiyan+odisha&pg=PT87 |author=Uwe Skoda |date=2012 |isbn=9781000365696 }}</ref>

The founding of the Bonai State led to the establishment of the Kadamba dynasty, named after the flowers of the Kadamba tree (Neolamarckia cadamba) which is also present in the founding legendary myths of the dynasty and also remains the symbol of one of its collateral branch of Athmallik State. The Kadamba tree also plays a central element in the legends of the dominant Bhuyan clans of the region demonstrating the close relationship that the clans play in the royal traditions and rituals of the dynasty. Reconstruction of the court records points that the founder of the dynasty Pratap Bhanu Deo founded the State with the help of local Bhuyan landlords and subjugated the region. The local Bhuyan landlords maintained a strong presence at the royal court, administrative levels and socio-religious traditions of the kingdom.<ref>{{citation |title=ODISHA DISTRICT GAZETTEERS SUNDARGARH |publisher=GAD, Govt of Odisha |url=http://gopabandhuacademy.gov.in/sites/default/files/gazetter/Sundargarh_Gazetteer.pdf |pages=47–51 |date=2014 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Chronicles of the Royal Family of Bonai, Odisha |publisher=Manohar Publishing Company |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322696884 |author=Rashmi Pramanik |date=January 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sitting on the Tribal Chief's Lap Coronation Rituals in Ex-Princely States of Orissa |url=https://www.academia.edu/3883739 |author=Cornelia Mallebrein |publisher=University of Tubingen |date=2010 }}</ref>

===Modern period===

On 1 January 1948 the last ruler of Bonai signed the certificate of accession to the Indian Union after independence and following which it merged with the state of Odisha (then Orissa). It is located in Western Odisha, forming a part of the Sundergarh district. The Bonai region is mostly inhabited by Sambalpuri speaking people.

==Rulers== The rulers of the Bonai State of Kadamba dynasty:<ref>[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_princes_A-J.html Princely States of India A-J]</ref>

*Pratap Bhanu Deo *... *Dayanidhi Chandra Deo (1804–1851) *Chandra Deo (1851–12 September 1876) *Indra Deo (12 September 1876 – 1898) *Nilambar Chandra Deo (1898 – 19 February 1902) *Dharani Dhar Deo (19 February 1902 – 1 January 1948)

===Titular=== *Dharani Dhar Deo (1948) *Kadamba Keshari Chandra Deo (1948 – 17 December 2002) *Bir Keshari Deo (17 December 2002 – current)

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{coord|21.75|N|84.97|E|region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki|display=title}} {{Princely states of the Eastern States Agency}}

Category:Princely states of Odisha Category:Sundergarh district Category:16th-century establishments in India Category:1948 disestablishments in India Category:States and territories disestablished in 1948