The ruling
family claims common descent with those of Dewas Senior
and Dhar, from the ancient Parmar (or Puar) dynasty. The
family possesses a genealogical chart listing 238
generations descended from Agnipalak, who ruled more than
four thousand years ago. Vikramaditya (valorous as the
sun), perhaps the greatest ruler of this house and the
founder of an era still in use, began his reign at
Ujjain, in Malwa, in 56 BC. The domains of the ancient
Parmars extended beyon d the Narbudda river and
encompassed all of Central and Western India, the Indus
being their boundary in the West. They carried their arms
into the Deccan, perhaps the first to extend the Hindu
religion, south of the Narbudda. In the following
centuries the family endured great vicissitudes of
fortune. The descendants of Vikramaditya established
themselves as Rajas of Bijolya, in Mewar and Dhar in
Malwa. It is from these rulers that the ruling houses of
Dewas and Dhar descend. In 1728, the Peshwa of Satara
bestowed the town of Dewas and surrounding villages on
two brothers, Tukaji and Sivaji Puar, successful generals
in the Maratha conquest of Central India. The state was
ruled jointly by the descendants of these brothers for
close to a century (a common saying being - if a lime be
presented to Dewas, it must be cut in half and equally
shared). They entered into a treaty of friendship and
alliance with the HEIC in 1818. Dewas acceded to the
Dominion of India in 1947 and joined the Madhya Bharat
Union in 1948.