PRESENT HEAD OF HOUSE: (Tilokpur, near Kotla, Nurpur Tahsil, India)

PREDECESSORS AND SHORT HISTORY: The ancestor of the family, is traditionally stated to have been Raja Hamir Sen, a younger brother of Raja Vira Sen, founder of Suket in 765AD. The Raja of Kishtwar was forcibly converted to the Muslim faith in the 17th century, though they continued to use the Hindu form of names. Rulers were....

1. Raja KAHN SEN, 1st Raja of Kishtwar, scion of the Royal Family of Bengal or Suket, founder of Kishtwar sometime after 900AD, married and had issue.

   • Raja Gandharab Sen (qv)

   • Kunwar Madan Sen

   • Kunwar Deva Sen

2. Raja GANDHARAB SEN, 2nd Raja of Kishtwar, he ruled for 14 years.

3. Raja MAHA SEN, Raja of Kishtwar

4. Raja RAM SEN, Raja of Kishtwar

5. Raja KAM SEN, Raja of Kishtwar

6. Raja MADAN SEN, Raja of Kishtwar

7. Raja BRAHM SEN, Raja of Kishtwar

8. Raja UDHAT DEV, Raja of Kishtwar fl.1088

9. Raja MATA DEV, Raja of Kishtwar

10. Raja GANGA DEV, Raja of Kishtwar

11. Raja SANG DEV, Raja of Kishtwar

12. Raja RAKH DEV, Raja of Kishtwar

13. Raja INDUR DEV, Raja of Kishtwar

14. Raja AUTAR DEV, Raja of Kishtwar

15. Raja BHAG DEV, Raja of Kishtwar

16. Raja RAI DEV, Raja of Kishtwar, two petty local rulers succeeded in driving him out of his capital for one year.

17. Raja GUR DEV, Raja of Kishtwar

18. Raja UGAR DEV, Raja of Kishtwar, added Sartali/Shatali to his state.

19. Raja MULDAR DEV, Raja of Kishtwar

20. Raja LACHMAN DEV, Raja of Kishtwar, conquered Dachin in the Maru-Wardwan Valley.

21. Raja SANGRAM SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar fl.1420, conquered Nagsun, adding to his state.

22. Raja SANGAR SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar

23. Raja MAGAN SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar

24. Raja DEVA SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar

25. Raja FIROZ SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar

26. Raja NARAIN SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar

27. Raja SALHAN SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar (son), conquered Surur and Bonjwah, adding them to his domains, founded the village of Salhana above Kandani.

28. Raja RAI SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar -/ca1550, he was attacked by the Sultan of Kashmir in 1547.

29. Raja VIJAI SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar ca1550/1570, conquered Saraj, built the fort and village of Vijai, married and had issue. He was killed in a revolt by a local ruler in 1570.

    • Raja Bahadur Singh (qv)

    • Rani Shankar Devi, married 1572, Sultan Yakub Shah Chak of Kashmir, died about 1589 in Kishtwar, buried at Sirkot.

30. Raja BAHADUR SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1570/1588, the state was invaded by the Raja of Kashmir in 1572, married and had issue.

    • Raja Pratap Singh [aka Bhup Singh] (qv)

    • ?Rani Kandani Devi, married Raja Nag Pal, 8th Raja of Bhadrawah, died about 1620.

    • ?Rani (name unknown) Devi, married (as his 1st wife), Raja Bhupat Pal, Raja of Basohli, and had issue.

31. Raja PRATAP SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar ca1588/ca1610, the state was attacked by the Mughals about 1606 and he was driven out of his kingdom.

INTERREGNUM 1610/1618

32. Raja GUR SINGH [aka Gunwar Singh], Raja of Kishtwar 1618/1629, married and had issue. He died 1629.

    • Raja Jagat Singh (qv)

    • Raja Bhagwan Singh (qv)

33. Raja JAGAT SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1629/1642, he invaded Bhadrawah, but in his absence his state was captured by the Raja of Basohli, he was defeated and killed while trying to retake it. He died sp in 1642.

34. Raja BHAGWAN SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1642/1660, with the help of 1,000 soldiers provided by the Mughal Emperor, he succeeded in driving out the Basohli invaders.

35. Raja MAHA SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar [Mahajan Singh] 1660/1674 (abdicated), earned a reputation as a poet, he married and had issue.

    • Raja Jaya Singh (qv)

    • Mian Ram Singh, he converted to Islam taking the name Dindar Khan, Wazir of Kishtwar 1674/-

    • Mian Sirdar Singh.

36. Raja JAYA SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1674/1681, converted to Islam taking the name of Bakhtiyar Khan, married and had issue. He died 1681.

    • Raja Kirat Singh (qv)

    • Mian Muhammed Khan, received a khillat and a jagir of 8 villages in Kashmir from the Mughal Emperor.

    • Rajkumari Bhup Devi, married 3rd July 1717, Padshah Farrukhsiyar, Emperor of Delhi.

37. Raja KIRAT SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar [Sa'adat Yar Khan] 1681/1728, converted to Islam by force in 1687, assasinated at Gulab Bagh in 1728, married and had issue.

    • Raja Amluk Singh [aka Sa'adatmand Khan] (qv)

38. Raja AMLUK SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1728/1771, married and had issue. He died 1771.

    • Raja Mihr Singh (qv)

    • Raja Sujan Singh (qv)

    • Mian Dalel Singh, married and had descendants in Chamba.

    • Mian Guman Singh, tried to seize power in 1789, married and had issue.

      • Mian Ajit Singh, married and had issue.

        • Mian Fateh Singh, married and had issue.

          • Mian Anwar Singh, he was ranted a jagir in Himgari pargana in Chamba, whose present head (1930) is Mian Autar Singh of Himgari-Chamba.

          • Mian Dalip Singh

39. Raja MIHR SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1771/1786, married Rani Vilasamaji and had issue, one daughter, who was substituted for a boy born at the same time. He died 1786.

Mian Kundan Singh of Bhadrawah, he was appointed Raja of Kishtwar in 1786 for a short time, by the Raja of Chamba who had invaded and occupied Kishtwar, he was displaced and died in Chamba, where his descendants still live.

40. Raja SUJAN SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1786/1787 for 10 months, married and had issue. He died 1787.

    • Raja Inayatullah Singh (qv)

41. Raja PRITHI SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1787/1788, putative son of Raja Mihr Singh. He died sp in 1788.

42. Raja INAYATULLAH SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1788/1789, married and had issue.

    • Raja Muhammed Tegh Singh [aka Saifullah Khan](qv)

Raja LAL DEV of Jammu, held power for a period of two years 1788/1789 in opposition to the rightful ruler, a member of the Jammu Royal Family.

Raja GULAB SINGH, held power for 40 days in 1789, a cousin of the following.

43. Raja MUHAMMED TEGH SINGH, Raja of Kishtwar 1789/1823, displaced for a time by a relative, who was eventually poisoned, gave shelter to the Afghan ruler, Shah Shuja to 1816, from Maharaja Ranjit Singh, for which the state was annexed in 1820, he was imprisoned in Jammu and was later poisoned by his own servant without ever recovering his state, he married and had issue. He died 1823.

    • Mian Jaimal Singh (qv)

    • Mian Zorawar Singh, he was baptized as a Christian at Ludhiana where he wandered for many years as a faqir. He died sp in 1873.

    • Mian Dilawar Singh (qv)

44. Raja JAIMAL SINGH, Head of the Princely Family of Kishtwar 1823/1871, he died sp in 1871.

45. Raja DILAWAR SINGH, Head of the Princely Family of Kishtwar 1871/1890, born 1824, his family lived at Tilokpur near Kotla in the Nurpur tahsil in the Kangra Valley; married and had issue. He died 1890.

    • Raja Sardar Singh (qv)

    • Kumari Hussain Bibi, born 1881.

    • Raja Amir Singh (qv)

46. Raja SARDAR SINGH, Head of the Princely Family of Kishtwar 1890/1891, born 1867/1868, married Rani Lal Devi, she died sp in 1934. He died sp in 1891.

47. Raja AMIR SINGH, Head of the Princely Family of Kishtwar 1891/- , born 1883, married and had issue.

    • Mian Akram Singh, born 1908.

    • Mian Ahsan Singh, born 1913.

    • Mian Arshad Singh, born 1921.