Ranchi Knowledge Guide

History

The early evidence of use of several iron slag, pot sheds, iron tools found in Chota Nagpur region around 1400 BCE. Magadha Empire exercised indirect control over the territory, which lasted until the reign of the Ashoka. Armies of Samudra Gupta passed through the region on their expedition to the Deccan. Nagvanshi king Raja Pratap Rai choose Chutia as his capital which is now a place in Ranchi. Few ruins of Chutia trace back to 2nd Century CE. With the expansion of the Mughal Empire, the sovereign status of the Nagvanshi dynasty was technically affected, but they continued to rule and administer independently. King of Barkagarh Jagannathpur Thakur Ani Nath Shahdeo built Jagannath Temple in 1691. After Battle of Buxar, Nagvanshi became vassal of East India Company. British reduced Nagvanshi rulers to Jamindar in 1817. In 1833, Captain Wilkinson established head quarter of the South-West Frontier agency in the neighborhood of the present day "Chutia" village. Thakur Vishwanath Shahdeo, Pandey Ganpat Rai, Tikait Umrao Singh and Sheikh Bhikhari played a pivotal role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. British made Ranchi as municipality in 1869. Freedom fighter Birsa Munda died in the Ranchi jail on 9 June 1900. Last ruler of the Nagvanshi dynasty was Lal Chintamani Sharan Nath Shahdeo (1931 – 2014). After the formation of the state of Jharkhand, Ranchi became its capital.