Suket State

Suket State was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj.^[1] The capital of the state was Pangna. Its last ruler signed the accession to the Indian Union on 15 April 1948. Formerly it belonged to the States of the Punjab Hills and currently, it is part of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The present-day Mandi district was formed with the merger of the two princely states of Mandi and Suket.

Kingdom of Suket
765–1948
Flag Coat of arms
Detail of the territory of Suket State from a map of the various Hill States of the Punjab Hills region, copied in 1852
Area
• 1931	1,088 km2 (420 sq mi)
Population
• 1931	58,408
History
• Established	765
• Accession in Dominion of India	15 April 1948
Succeeded by Dominion of India
Today part of	Himachal Pradesh, Republic of India

Raja Ranjit of Suket and Raja Shamsher Sen of Mandi in the Darbar; ca. 1772

History

According to tradition the predecessor state was founded about 765^[2] by Bira Sen (Vir Sen), claimed to be a son of a Sena dynasty King of Bengal, however such an early Sena Dynasty is not known. The early history of Suket was marred by constant warfare against other principalities, especially against the Kingdom of Kullu. At the time of Raja Bikram Sen, Kullu was under the overlordship of Suket State and was reduced to paying tribute to Suket. Raja Madan Sen's reign was the golden age of Suket, when its ruler reduced into submission the neighboring smaller states. During the reign of Raja Udai Sen Suket came under the influence of the Mughal Empire who were content with merely exacting tribute.

At the time of Raja Bikram Sen II, Sukket survived the invasion of the Gurkhas of Nepal (1803 to 1815) and the ensuing brief period of Sikh dominance thanks to the Raja's diplomatic skills. In 1845, when war broke out between the Sikhs and the British, the Rajas of Suket and Mandi took the side of the British, signing a Treaty of Alliance in Bilaspur in 1846. In the same year a sanad was granted to Raja Ugar Sen II confirming him and his heirs in the possession of the Suket territories.^[3]

The family goddess (kuldevi) or hut devi of the Rajas of Suket is at Jaidevi (known as rajrajeswari maa kamaksha). which is about 8 miles from Sundarnagar. All religious ceremonies in the royal family, e.g., Jarolan (hair-cutting ceremony), zanarbandi (the ceremony of investment with the sacred thread), etc., are performed at Jaidevi in the temple of the goddess. The Raja goes in a procession to the temple and offers bhel to the goddess on the occasion of these ceremonies.

Rulers

The rulers of Suket bore the title Raja.^{[citation needed]} The clan name of the royal lineage was 'Suketi' or 'Suketr'.^{[4][5][page needed]}

Name	Portrait	Reign	Reference(s)
Raja Dip Sen		ca.1590 – ca.1620	[4]
Raja Shyam Sen		ca.1620 – ca.1650	[4]
Raja Ram Sen		ca.1650 – ca.1663	[4]
Raja Jit Sen		ca.1663 – 1721	[4]
Raja Garur Sen		1721–1748	[4]
Raja Bhikam Sen		1748–1762	[4]
Raja Ranjit Sen		1762–1791	[4]
Raja Bikram Sen II		1791–1838	[4]
Raja Ugar Sen II		1838–1876	[4]
Raja Rudra Sen		1876 – Apr 1878	[4]
Raja Arimardan Sen		1878–1879	[4]
Raja Dasht Nikandan Sen		29 Mar 1879 – 27 May 1908	[4]
Raja Bhim Sen		27 May 1908 – 12 Oct 1919
Raja Lakshman Sen		13 Oct 1919 – 15 Aug 1947

Demographics

Religious groups in Suket State (British Punjab province era)

Religious group	1901[6]		1911[7][8]		1921[9]		1931[10]		1941[11]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hinduism [a]	54,005	98.77%	54,268	98.8%	53,625	98.71%	57,616	98.64%	69,974	98.43%
Islam	665	1.22%	587	1.07%	659	1.21%	733	1.25%	884	1.24%
Sikhism	6	0.01%	71	0.13%	44	0.08%	44	0.08%	234	0.33%
Christianity	0	0%	2	0%	0	0%	1	0%	0	0%
Buddhism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	14	0.02%	0	0%
Jainism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Zoroastrianism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Judaism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Others	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Total population	54,676	100%	54,928	100%	54,328	100%	58,408	100%	71,092	100%
Note: British Punjab province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

See also

• Punjab States Agency
• Political integration of India
• Lalit Sen
• Hari Sen
• kamksha
• Rulers of Suket and Mandi

Notes

1. 1931-1941: Including Ad-Dharmis