Patiala

Patiala district is one of the famous princely states of erstwhile Punjab. Forming the south-eastern part of the state, it lies between 29 49’ and 30 47’ north latitude, 75 58’ and 76 54' east longitude.

It is surrounded by Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar District and Union Territory of Chandigarh in the north, Fatehgarh Sahib and Sangrur district in the west, Ambala and Kurukshetra District of neighbouring state of Haryana in the east and Kaithal district of Haryana in the south.

The early history of the founders of Patiala state is more of a myth and mystery than reality, the rulers of the erstwhile states of Patiala, Nabha and Jind trace their ancestry to one Jat Chaudhary Phul. Apparently the appellation of dynasty ‘Phulkian’ is derived from their common founder. One of his sons, Chaudhary Ram Singh was baptized and blessed by Guru Gobind Singh. His sons Ala Singh assumed the leadership in 1714 when Banda Bahadur was engaged in the fierce against the Mughals. A man with vision and courage, Ala Singh carved out an independent principality from a petty Zamindari of 30 villages. Under his successors, it expanded into a big state, touching the Shivaliks in north, Rajasthan in the South and upper courses of the Jamuna and Sutlej while confronting the most trying and challenging circumstances.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, Baba Ala Singh, unlike many of his contemporaries, displayed tremendous courage and shrewdness in dealing with the Mughals, Afghans and Marathas and successfully established and maintained a state which he had started building up bit by bit from its nucleus Barnala.

In 1763 Baba Ala Singh laid the foundation of the Patiala fort known as Qila Mubarak, around which the present city of Patiala is built. After the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 in which the Marathas were defeated, the writ of the Afghans prevailed through out Punjab. It is at this stage that the rulers of Patiala began to acquire ensigns of royalty. Ahmad Shah Abdali bestowed upon Ala Singh furm and banner, after latter’s death, his grandson Amar Singh succeeded and received the title of Raja-I-Rajaan. He was also allowed to strike coins.

After forty years of ceaseless struggle with the Mughals, Afghans and Marathas the borders of the Patiala state witnessed the trailing blaze of Ranjit Singh in the north and the other of the British in the east. Bestowed with the grit and instinct of survival, making right choice at right time the Raja of Patiala entered in a treaty with the British against Ranjit Singh in 1808, thus becoming collaborators in the ground empire building process by the British in the sub-continent of India. The British treated the rulers of Patiala, such as Karam Singh, Narinder Singh, Mahendra Singh, Rajinder Singh, Bhupinder Singh and Yadvindra Singh with respect and dignity.

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh (1900-1930) gave Patiala a prominent place on the political map of India and in the field of international sports. His son Yadvindra Singh was among those Indian princes who readily came forward to sign the Instrument of Accession, thus facilitating the process of national integration. In recognition of his services, he was appointed the Rajpramukh of the newly established state of Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), from its founding in 1948 until its merger with Punjab in 1956. The famous downtown area has Adalat Bazar which mean the court corridor because this was used as the administrative building by one of the caretakers when the King was not adult. The city of Patiala also is a famous seat of learning. It hosts Punjabi University, a government medical college, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Mohindra college, M M Modi college, Bikram College.