Jath State


Jath State, also spelled Joth, was one of the non-salute Maratha princely states of British India, one of the former Southern Maratha Jagirs. Jath State and Daphlapur State were the only two states belonging to the Bijapur Agency under the Bombay Presidency, which later became part of the Deccan States Agency.
The state was founded in 1686 by the hereditary Patil of Daphlapur.
Jath state covered an area of, and had a population of 68,665 in 1901, while the population of Jath town itself was 5,414 in that year.
The Raja was married to Princess Usharaje Gaekwad of Baroda who was the grand daughter of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad.

History

The Hindu ruling family of Jath State were Dafles of the Maratha Chavan clan, descendants of Lakhmajirao Yeldojirao Chavan, the Patil of Daphlapur. The Chavans traced their origin to Hindu Kshatriya Chauhan Rajput dynasty, Rajasthan. Lakhmajirao Yeldojirao Chavan entered the service of King Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur, and received a Desmukhi Watan of four Mahals in 1672. The Jagirs of Jath and Karajagi were conferred on his son in 1680. Emperor Aurangzeb confirmed these estates to the family in 1704. The male line failed four times during the state's history. Consequently, the state was either vested in widowed Ranis or ruled for them by regents for a total of seven decades.
Together with the small state of Daphlapur, Jath State formed the Bijapur Agency, under the collector of Bijapur District. Daphlapur had an area of only 249 km² and was annexed by Jath State in the early 20th century owing to lack of succession.
In 1911, the state enjoyed a revenue estimated at £24,000 and paid a tribute to the British Raj of £700. Its flag was an orange rectangle with a four-pointed star in the upper left hand corner.

Rulers of Jath

The rulers of Jath belonged to the Dafle dynasty and took the title of 'Deshmukh'. The last ruler Vijayasingh Rao Ram Rao took the title of 'Raja'.

Deshmukhs

Lieutenant Commander Shrimant Raja Vijaysinghrao Ramrao Babasaheb Dafle, educated like his father, Ramrao II, at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot, was the last ruler of Jath. Jath joined the Dominion of India on 8 March 1948 and is currently a part of the Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra. Regarded as something of a model ruler, Vijaysinhrao, the last sovereign ruler received the hereditary title of Raja in 1936. He formed a very effective partnership with his younger brothers, introducing far reaching educational, health and administrative reforms. He was also a noted cricket player. The Raja took up politics and represented his people in both the provincial and national parliaments after Indian Independence in 1947.