Nayagarh

Nayagarh lies among the hills west of the Odisha coastal plain. It was the seat of a small kingdom whose ruling family traced its origins to Suryamani, a Baghela pilgrim said to have come from Rewa. The family’s emblem was a tiger’s head, and its rulers patronized the worship of Vishnu and local deities.

According to the local account, Bagel Singh moved the capital to Nayagarh during his reign around the turn of the sixteenth century. Later Raghunath Singh took advantage of political upheaval in Odisha to expand against neighbouring chiefs, acquiring lands from Ranapur, Boudh and Ghumusar. Before his death he divided his estate among his sons; one received Nayagarh and another the lands that became Khandapara. In 1817 the ruler of Nayagarh supported the uprising against the East India Company centred on nearby Khurda.