History
A Brief History
of Arki
This former princely state was overrun by the Gorkha army at the beginning of the 19th century and its commander Amar Singh Thapa turned Arki into a capital and the fort into his palace…
Like many other places of Solan district in Himachal Pradesh, Arki too has a Gorkha and British past and of course a royal history of Ranas and Rajas. Arki used to be the capital of the Baghal princely state. The Baghal state was founded by Ajai Dev, a Rajput, who had come here from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
The origin of the name ‘Baghal’ is doubtful and believed to be corrupted from the word ‘Baghar’ — the name of the clan to which the founder of the state belonged — or from ‘Gabhal,’ which means central part of a country. It may also be derived from ‘Baghalaya,’ which means the land of the leopards. According to various accounts, Arki was made the capital of Baghal by ruler Rana Sabha Chand in around 1650.
Amar Singh Thapa’s Capital
The Baghal state was invaded by the Gorkha army commander Amar Singh Thapa as part of his war campaign in the hills of Himachal Pradesh that he had launched around 1805. Thapa expelled ruler Rana Jagat Singh and made Arki his capital. Thapa made Arki fort as his residence and many of his future campaigns and war plans would be planned and take shape in this fort.
According to Simla Gazetteer, 1934, the expelled Rana Jagat Singh lived in exile in the Nalagarh state (then called Hindur) for seven years till Britishers defeated Gorkhas in 1815 and captured the Arki fort.
After the Gorkha defeat, Britishers restored Rana Jagat Singh on September 3, 1815 on conditions including that bound him to assist British army with troops in time of war and to keep the Baghal state roads well-maintained for movement of troops. Rana Jagat Singh died in 1828.
From Ranas to Rajas
following the Independence in 1947.
The Baghal rulers were given the title of Raja for helping Britishers during the 1857 Indian mutiny. At that time, Baghal state ruler was Kishan Singh. According to Simla Gazetteer, 1934, Baghal state soldiers guarded the road from Shimla to Jalandhar where 3rd, 33rd and 31st Bengal Regiments had revolted. Kishan Singh had also sent troops under his brother Mian Jai Singh to Shimla to assist the Britishers.
In return for all this help, Britishers rewarded the brothers and conferred the title of Raja upon Kishan Singh, making him the first Raja of the Baghal state. During Kishan Singh’s rule, many artistes, scholars and businessmen settled in Arki as he gave them land free of cost. Raja Kishan Singh ruled till his death in 1876.
Some other rulers of Baghal state included Raja Dhian Singh, Tikka Bikram Singh, Tika Surinder Singh and Rajender Singh, who was the last Raja before the princely states were merged after independence in 1947.
