Banswara: There is small patch of land on the southern tip of Rajasthan lying between latitudes 230-11’ to 260-56’ and longitudes 740 and 740-47’. It covers an area of about 5077 sq km. The land was commonly known over the years as bagar, literally meaning jungle. The western part of the land has small hill ranges, the central portion has wide valleys and flat hilltops and the eastern portion is full of uneven stretches of land. The land is fed by a large network of rivers and local streams and rivulets. Main rivers of the area are Mahi and Anas. These are perennial rivers. All other rivers and streams are seasonal. River Mahi nurtures a string of small lush green islands all along its flow path. The annual rainfall of the area is 922 mm ( about 37 inches). The land does not have any natural lake, but it is served by more than 500 tanks and reservoirs, constructed from time to time. The soil is fertile and all valleys and flatlands are good for agriculture. The climate is generally hot and humid. Bamboo and Khajur grow extensively almost everywhere. Teak, Shisham, Haldu and other timber trees grow on the slopes of hills. By and large, the whole area is green forestland and full of vegetation. The land supports all types of wild life, animals and birds. Banswara is part of this bagar or jungle. It used to be a princely state before independence and presently, it is one of the districts of the state of Rajasthan. Most of the people living in the rural areas of Banswara are tribals with a predominance of Bhils.
Historical Background: Almost four thousand years back there was a flourishing human civilization in the area covered by bagar. That was perhaps part of the Ahar civilization. Unfortunately, there are no recorded accounts of the rulers or the people of bagar for that period and for almost two thousand years that followed. In the year 1911 some coins for the period 181 BC to 353 BC were found. These coins carry the stamps of Shak rulers who were in occupation of bagar two to four centuries before Christ. It seems that during the Maurya period bagar was under the domination of the Magadh empire. Chandra Gupta II of the Gupta dynasty annexed bagar to his empire in the year 388 AD. The neighbouring states of bagar are Mewar on the north, Malwa on the west and Ratlam on the south. Those were very tumultuous times. Whenever, the central authority in India showed signs of weakness, local kings, princes and warlords had their sway. As such, after the downfall of Gupta Empire, bagar had frequent changes of rulers. The area was attacked by belligerent neighbours and warlords off and on, for loot and domination. Whenever, there were conflicts between Ranas of Mewar and the Moghul Emperors of Delhi the rulers of bagar had to bow down to one power or the other. Bagar also suffered considerably due to the frequent attacks and ransacking by Arabs, Huns, Pindaries, Marathas, Sultans of Gujrat and Mandu and a host of other warlords. Sometimes in the beginning of the sixteenth century, Rawal Udaisingh became the ruler of bagar. He was a powerful ruler, who fought many battles against Malwa, Idar and Gujrat and consolidated his gains. Rawal Udaisingh and his son Jagmal assisted Rana Sanga in his battle against Babar at Khanwa in the year 1527. Udaisingh had two sons. He divided bagar into two independent states named Banswara and Doongarpur and handed them over to his sons Jagmal and Prithviraj. Thus, a separate state of Banswara came into existence and Jagmal became the first ruler of Banswara sometimes in 1520. As times rolled on, Rawal Umed Singh became the ruler of Banswara in the year 1816. He entered into a treaty with the British in the year 1817 from considerations of safety and security from frequent loot, arson and attacks by warlords and belligerent neighbours. After a few generations, Rawal Pratapsingh became the ruler of Banswara in the year 1913. He died in the year 1944, when his son Chandravir Singh became the last ruler of Banswara. After the independence of India in 1947 and subsequently with the formation of Rajasthan, Baswara became a district of Rajasthan in Udaipur Division.
City: The city of Banswara was built by Maharawal Jagmal Singh, who was the first ruler of Banswara. The city had hill ranges on all sides. It was a walled city with the palace of the Maharawal located high on a hill, within the city. Temples were built on the hilltops. Tanks, gardens and orchards were all there to impart natural colour and beauty to the city. The old city is now in ruins. The palace of Maharawal Jagmal, which is a heritage building is also in ruins. Now, the new city has sprung up a few kilometers north of the old city. It has hill ranges on all sides and carries with it, all the natural beauty and colour of the old city. The valley is narrow with all the ups and downs along the roads. Buildings have been constructed almost at all levels in the valley and provide a panoramic view of the city. Construction of Mahi Bajajsagar Dam about sixteen kilometers west of the city has provided a tremendous boost to the development and growth of the city. Presently, Banswara does not have a rail head. The nearest railway station is Ratlam. The rail link between Ratlam and Doongarpur is under construction and as and when it is completed, Banswara will get connected to the railway network of the country. Banswara does not have any airport either. The nearest airport is at Udaipur. Banswara did not have all weather roads all these years and therefore, most of the time, it was landlocked and the process of development was very much stunted. It has now been connected to different parts of the country by national highways and a network of other local roads,
People: Seventy percent of the people of Banswara are tribals, who have survived for centuries, on the bounties of the forest lands. They are hardy, intelligent and resourceful and were able to weather all the storms through centuries of inhospitable times. Sometimes in the past, they were the rulers of bagar. They retreated to the jungles to escape from the onslaughts of Rajputs and other invaders. How is it, that, they have gradually fallen into the category of most undeveloped people? They are a closeknit bunch of simple folk, tied to their roots. They have continued to remain in their shell, while the so-called winds of developmental change were encroaching on their traditional habitat and resource base. Time does not wait for anybody. Clock goes on ticking. The show goes on and the people hesitantly look to it with awe and amazement. In the meantime, they miss the available opportunities and are left behind.
Most of the tribals of Banswara are Bhils and Meenas engaged in agriculture. Banswara has opened up substantially after the independence of India. The children of tribals are going to schools, colleges and technical and professional institutions. Adult members of the community are finding employment in government, semi-government and other public enterprises, as also in private commercial and industrial establishments. There was a time when they were considered as unemployable. However, with proper education and acquisition of common job skills, they are gradually rubbing shoulders with almost everybody and are getting a firm foothold in the workforce of the country and in many cases, they have been able to get into senior political and administrative positions and are functioning as leaders and decision makers.
Our association with Banswara: Our father served the erstwhile state of Banswara as Secretary of the Municipal Council from the year 1920 to 1930 and was responsible for the maintenance and development of municipal services in the old city. He was also associated with the subsequent development of the present city. During that period, he was also working as the personal tutor of the then prince Chandravir Singh, who became the ruler of Banswara in the year 1944. Our father was socially very active and was fond of tennis and other outdoor sports. We were living in a spacious house in the old city during that period.
I was born at Banswara in the year 1925. Our father moved from Banswara to Bundi in the year 1930. As such, I spent the first five years of my life at Banswara. I have an extremely hazy recollection of the walled city, the location of our house, accomodation available in the house and the way we lived there. Subsequently, I visited Banswara on a few occasions between 1976 and 1980, when I was working as Director of Technical Education of the Government of Rajasthan. It may look slightly intriguing that the Zila Pramukh of Banswara and the Chief Minister of Rajasthan who hailed from Banswara, told me during one of my visits, that, they were small kids when our father was working at Banswara and they used to watch him playing tennis and picked up the balls for him at that time. I had the privilege of starting the first Industrial Training Institute at Banswara under the Tribal Area Development Plan of Banswara. That was the time, when tribals of Banswara were not getting jobs in government, semi-government or public sector undertakings and private commercial and industrial establishments, as they did not have the necessary education and job skills. We initiated programmes under the tribal area development plan, under which the employers were requested to go through the selection process of tribals for specific jobs and we undertook to train them for the transfer of requisite job skills in the technical institutions and industries of the state to enable them to work directly on the shopfloors of their employers. Now of course, a number of schools and colleges have sprung up in Banswara. Apart from these schools and colleges, industrial training institutes, polytechnics, and engineering colleges and other professional institutions have also been established in Banswara.