Bānswāra, India

History

Banswara ("the bamboo city") was a Rajput feudatory state in Rajputana in British India. It borders Gujarat and was bounded on the north by the princely states of Dungarpur and Udaipur or Mewar; on the northeast and east by Partapgarh; on the south by the dominions of Holkar and the state of Jabua and on the west by the state of Rewa Kantha.

Banswara state was about 45 mi (72 km) in length from north to south and 33 mi (53 km) in breadth from east to west and had an area of 1,606 mi2 (4,160 km2). The population in 1941 was 258,760.

Banswara district forms the eastern part of the region known as Vagad or Vagwar. The district was formerly a state ruled by the Maharavals, named for the bamboo found in abundance in its forests.

On 17 November 1913, Banswara district was witness to a little-known massacre of around 1500 tribals by the British, echoing the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in which 329 people were killed in the firing. British forces opened fire on tribals who had gathered in the Mangarh hills situated of the Aravali mountains on the Rajasthan-Gujarat border. The tribals were led by their leader Govind Guru Banjara who inspired them to throw off the yoke of British rule.

From the History section of Banswara on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.