Tonk, India


Tonk is a town in the Indian state of Rajasthan. The town is situated 95 km by road south from Jaipur, near the right bank of the Banas River. It is the administrative headquarters of Tonk District. Tonk was also the capital of the eponymous princely state of British India from 1817 to 1947.

Demographics

In the 2011 Indian census, Tonk had a population of 165,363, with 48% being female. 14% of the population under age six. Tonk has an average literacy rate of 69.47%: 78.7% in males, and 59.85% in females.

History

The founder of the state and its first ruler was Nawab Muhammad Amir Khan, an adventurer and military leader of Pashtun descent from Afghanistan. Amir Khan rose to be a military commander. In 1806, Khan conquered the area, taking it from Yashwant Rao Holkar. The British government captured it in turn. Khan then received the state of Tonk from the British Government who returned it. In 1817, after the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Amir Khan submitted to the British British East India Company and kept his territory of Tonk while receiving the title of Nawab. Tonk was founded one year later after Khan was granted land by the ruler of Indore.
During the regime of Nawabs, the natives were invited to an Islamic function of Milad-un-nabi without regard to caste, color or creed. It was organised by the ruling Nawabs for a period of seven days in the month of Rabi al-awwal.
Tonk was known as Samwad Lakshya in the Mahabharat period. In the Mauryan regime, it was under the Mouryas and then it was merged into Malvas. Most of the period was under Harsh Vardhan. According to Huen Tsang, visitor to China, it was under Bairath State. In the regime of the Rajputs, this state was under, Solankis of Toda and later Kachvahs took over when Man Singh defeated the Rao of Toda. Later, it was under the regime of Holkar and Sindhia.