Rulers of Kota: The Hada Maharaos from 1631 to 1948

The rulers of Kota were Hada Chauhan Rajputs, a younger branch of the house of Bundi, who governed the state on the east bank of the Chambal from the 1620s or 1631 until it merged into the Rajasthan Union in 1948. Their palace, the Garh, still stands above the river, and their portraits hang in the Rao Madho Singh Museum inside it. This page gives a dated list of the rulers, what each reign is remembered for, and where you can see traces of them in Kota today.

How Kota got its own rulers

Kota was part of the Hada kingdom of Bundi until the early 17th century. Rao Ratan Singh of Bundi gave the Kota territory to his second son, Madho Singh, and the Mughal court recognised it as a separate state as a reward for his military service. The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica says the grant was made by Shah Jahan for services rendered when the future emperor was in rebellion against his father Jahangir; other accounts emphasise Ratan Singh’s role. Dates vary: most sources, including Rajasthan Tourism’s Kota page, give 1631, while some give 1624 or 1625. Our Rao Madho Singh page discusses the difference. The story of Bundi itself is on our history of Bundi page.

The rulers of Kota: a list

Dates below follow the Kota State list on Wikipedia, cross-checked with the dates on our individual biographies. Sources disagree by a year in places, especially for the early reigns.

Ruler	Reign	Remembered for
Rao Madho Singh	1631-1648	Founder of the separate state; Hada service to the Mughals
Rao Mukund Singh	1648-1658	The Mukundara hills and pass are named after him; killed at Dharmat
Rao Jagat Singh	1658-1683	Long reign after the war of succession
Rao Prem Singh	1683-1684	Brief reign
Rao Kishore Singh I	1684-1696	Late 17th-century reign
Rao Ram Singh I	1696-1707	Killed at the battle of Jajau in 1707
Maharao Bhim Singh I	1707-1720	First Maharao; expanded the state
Maharao Arjun Singh	1720-1723	Short reign
Maharao Durjan Sal	1723-1756	Long reign; Jagmandir on Kishore Sagar built 1743-45
Maharao Ajit Singh	1756-1757	Brief reign
Maharao Chhatar Sal I	1757-1764	Kota’s victory over Jaipur at Bhatwara, 1761
Maharao Guman Singh	1764-1771	Died leaving a young heir
Maharao Umed Singh I	1771-1819	Reign dominated by the regent Zalim Singh Jhala
Maharao Kishore Singh II	1819-1828	Clash with the regent at Mangrol, 1821
Maharao Ram Singh II	1828-1866	Creation of Jhalawar (1838); the 1857 rising in Kota
Maharao Chhatar Sal II	1866-1889	Late 19th-century reign
Maharao Umed Singh II	1889-1940	Modernisation; Umed Bhawan Palace
Maharao Bhim Singh II	1940-1948	Merger into the Rajasthan Union

After 1948 the heads of the former royal family were Bhim Singh II (until 1991), Brijraj Singh (1991-2022) and Ijyaraj Singh (from 2022).

Founders and Mughal soldiers (1631-1707)

The first rulers were above all soldiers in Mughal service, and several died in imperial wars. Mukund Singh and his brothers were killed fighting for Shah Jahan’s side at Dharmat in 1658, during the war of succession between Shah Jahan’s sons; our page on the battle of Dharmat tells the story. Ram Singh I fell at Jajau in 1707, in the next succession war after Aurangzeb’s death. These deaths in distant battles are a recurring theme of the Hada chronicles.

The first Maharao (1707-1720)

Bhim Singh I was the ruler who turned Kota into a regional power. He received the title Maharao, which his successors kept, and he is linked with the Vallabh sect image of Brijnathji, which became Kota’s royal deity. His reign marks the point where Kota began to outgrow Bundi in land and revenue.

The age of the regent (1771-1838)

When Guman Singh died in 1771, his heir Umed Singh I was young, and the regency went to Zalim Singh Jhala. For almost fifty years Zalim Singh ran the state, filled its treasury and steered it through the Maratha wars, while the Maharao reigned in name. Kota signed its treaty with the British in 1817. When Kishore Singh II tried to take back power, his forces were defeated at Mangrol in 1821 by the regent’s troops, who had British support. The conflict ended in 1838, under Ram Singh II, when the British separated a third of Kota’s territory to create the state of Jhalawar for Zalim Singh’s grandson. Part of it was returned to Kota in 1897. Our history of Jhalawar explains the split.

1857 and after

Ram Singh II was on the throne in October 1857, when soldiers in Kota rose, killed the British Political Agent and held the city until British forces took it in March 1858. The 1857 revolt in Kota page covers those months.

Umed Singh II (1889-1940) was educated at Mayo College in Ajmer, served with the British army and ruled for more than fifty years. Railways reached Kota during his reign, and the European-style Umed Bhawan Palace was built for him.

The last ruling Maharao

Bhim Singh II succeeded in 1940, signed Kota’s accession to India in 1947 and, on 25 March 1948, joined Kota with Bundi, Jhalawar and other states in the Rajasthan Union, becoming its first Rajpramukh. Our page on the Rajasthan Union of 1948 tells how Kota briefly became the capital of the first union that grew into modern Rajasthan. Princely titles and privileges were abolished in 1971, but the family remains closely tied to the Garh and to Kota’s cultural life.

Where to see the rulers’ Kota

• The Garh and Rao Madho Singh Museum: portraits, weapons and Kota school paintings made for the court.
• Kesar Bagh: the cenotaphs of Kota’s rulers and royal family.
• Jagmandir on Kishore Sagar, built in the reign of Durjan Sal.
• Brijraj Bhawan and Umed Bhawan, the later palaces.

For the full sweep of the city’s past, read our history of Kota, or see all our people of Kota biographies.