Jharia Estate was a zamindari estate in British India, located at Jharia in the Bihar province of Bengal Presidency, Dhanbad -Jharkhand

History of Jharia

Jharia Estate was a zamindari estate in British India, located at Jharia in the Bihar province of Bengal Presidency.

The present Jharia Garh is a branch of Palganj of Hazaribagh and was earlier established at Katrasgarh. Even today, the separate house cum fort of Jharia royal family is situated in Katras. According to family history the Zamindar was originally from Rewa in Central India and had established his kingdom in the area around Jharia in the year 1763. In 1864, Jaynagar Estate was purchased by Jharia Estate. The village of Katras houses the residence of the Zamindar, which according to tradition was the headquarters of the Jharia Raj before it was divided into the separate houses of Katras, Jharia and Navagarh. It became one of the richest zamindari estates of the Bengal Presidency after coal was discovered in the lowland and mining began in the area in the 1890s.
Among the notable zamindars of Jharia Raj was Raja Durga Prasad Singh who inherited the estate in the 1850s. When he was a minor. Durga died in 1916, who was succeeded by Raja Shiv Prasad Singh. Shiv Prasad died in January 1947 and his eldest son Shri Kali Prasad Singh became the last Raja of Jharia until the Zamindari was abolished in 1952.

The major coal mining areas were in five large estates – Jharia Raj, Navagarh Raj, Katrasgarh Raj, Tundi Raj and Pandra Raj, which covered the entire area between the Damodar and Barakar rivers in the erstwhile Manbhum district, which later became Dhanbad district. .
Jharia Raj was part of Manbhum district with its headquarters at Bangsorna which was later shifted to Govindpur. In 1904 it was decided by Sir Andrew Fraser, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, that the headquarters of the subdivision should be shifted from Govindpur to Dhanbad. However the actual transfer took place on 27 June 1908. With the shifting of the headquarters to Dhanbad various facilities were provided which attracted people to live in the Raj.

It is written in the history of Jharia royal family as it is known from Wikipedia and all other sources that these people were originally Rajputs of Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.
All the members of the royal family of Jharia Katrasgarh who are still present speak only Bengali language.
Dhanbad city did not even exist, Jharia is an ancient city and is connected to the ancient culture of Manbhum.