The state was
founded in 1652 by a great grandson of Raja Udai Singh of
Jodhpur, namely Raja Rattan Singhji, son of Mahesh Das of
Jhalor. The latter, father and son, had performed
important military services for the Emperor Shah Jahan.
In reward for their services and in recognition of their
great deeds of valour, large territories in the
south-western districts of Rajputana were conferred on
them. The state also served an ulterior political
purpose; it acted as a buffer against the Emperor's
ambitious sons, Murad and Aurangzeb, Viceroys of the
Deccan and Gujarat, respectively. The state acceded to
the Dominion of India in 1947
SALUTE:
15-guns (1921).
ARMS: Or semé of poppy heads; Hanuman statant armed
with a mace and katarproper; a chief paly
of five tenne, argent, gules, or,
and vert. Helmet: Argent. Crest:
A dexter hand holding a katar imbrued proper.
Supporters: Falcons proper. Motto:
"Ratanasya Sahasam Tadvansh Ratnam" (Ratan's
valour is the glory of his race) sable on a riband
argent. Lambrequins: Tenne and argent.
FLAG:
A rectangular horizontal bicolour of equal bands of dark
green and yellow (top to bottom).
STYLES AND TITLES:
The ruling prince: Maharaja Shrimant (personal name)
Singhji Sahib Bahadur, Maharaja of Ratlam, with the style
of His Highness.
The consort of the ruling prince:
The Heir Apparent:
The younger sons of the ruling prince: Maharajkumar
Shrimant (personal name) Singh.
The daughters of the ruling prince: Shrimant
Maharajkumari Bapu Lalji (personal name) Kunverba
Sahiba.
ORDERS & DECORATIONS:
None known.
RULES OF SUCCESSION:
Male primogeniture, with the right of adoption by the
recognised head of the family, on the failure of natural
heirs.
SOURCES:
Administration Report of the Ratlam State. 1938,
1940-1945. IOR/V/10, Oriental & India Office
Collection, British Library, St Pancras, London.
C.U. Aitchison. A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and
Sanads Relating to India and Neighbouring Countries.
Vols. IV and V Containing The Treaties, &c., Relating
to the Central India Agency. Part I-Central India and the
Mediatized Chiefs & Part II-Bundelkhand and
Baghelkhand. Revised and continued up to the 1st June
1906 By the Authority of the Foreign Department.
Superintendent Government Printing, India. Calcutta,
1909.
Amarnath. Brief History of Ratlam.
S.K. Bhatt and P.K. Sethi. Ratlam State Coinage. Academy
of Indian Numismatics and Sigillography, Indore, 1980.
Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. Burke's
Peerage Ltd, London, 1900-1959.
Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and
Companionage. Odhams Press Ltd, London, 1900-1959.
Captain C.E. Luard, MA, IA (compiler). Western States
(Malwa) Gazetteer, Volume V. The Central India State
Gazetteer Series, Byculla, Bombay, 1908.
Major C. Eckford Luard, IA, MA (compiler). Chiefs and
Leading Families in Central India. Government of India,
Calcutta, 1916.
Rulers, Leading Families and Officials in the States of
Central India, Fifth Edition. Manager of Publications,
Delhi, 1935.
Thacker's Indian Directory, Thacker's Press &
Directories, Ltd., Calcutta 1863-1956.
A. Vadivelu, The Ruling Chiefs, Nobles & Zamindars of
India. G.C. Loganadham Bros., Madras, 1915.
D.F. Vakil. An account of the Viceregal visit to Ratlam
August 1928 and of the festivities in connection with the
birth of the heir-apparent of Ratlam, November 1927. The
Times of India Press, Bombay, 1928.
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Father Lawrence Ober, SJ.