History

Sisodia family is amongst the ancient royal families in India. This family ruled Mewad for more than eight hundred years. The famous marward rajputs Maharana Sanga and Maharana Pratap belong to this royal family. The rulers of Pratapgarh raj were descendants of this Mewad royal family.

In the 14th Century Chittorgarh was ruled by Maharana Kumbha. Due to some dispute with his younger brother Kshemkarn he expelled him out of his territory. Kshemkarn's family took sharan (refuge) in the Aravali ranges in South Rajasthan. His son Rajkumar Surajmal conquered the adivasis of Devgarh and became the ruler of Devgarh (which is 45 kilometers from Mandsaur) in 1514. This raj later came to be known as Pratapgarh raj.

As the environment of Devgarh was not found to be suitable by the royal family, one of the descendents of Raja Surajmal, Rajkumar Pratapsingh started to build a new town near Devgarh in 1698 and named it as Pratapgarh. A detailed and proper planning was done before starting the work. As per the plans it was decided to build 3 Markets, 52 Streets, temples, etc. During the regime of Rajkumar Pratapsingh the actual work started and he developed the main market (Sadar Bazar). His successor Rajkumar Gopalsingh (son) took over the reins of the raj in 1721. He developed the Gopalgunj Mohalla during his regime. His son Rajkumar Salimsingh continued the work further and developed the Salampura Mohalla and Salamgarh Gram. It was during his rule that Pratapgarh was cordoned off from all sides by building up walls on all the sides. There were 8 doors of entry provided during that time. They were manned by security guards during the day and were closed in the night. Rajkumar Salimsingh also introduced a local currency and named it as Salimshahi Sikka (coin), which was made in a local mint. (Taksal)

Pratapgarh remained to a large extent unaffected during the Mughal era. However in order to safeguard itself from being taken over or destroyed by the Britishers, the Maharawat - Sawantsingh signed a treaty with the British Government in 1804. As per the terms of this treaty large sums (lagan) had to be paid to the British rulers. However as a result of this Pratapgarh remained largely unaffected from the wrath of the Britishers.

As Pratapgarh started developing the old capital of Devgarh started getting neglected. The famous royal palace of Devgarh wore a deserted look and started getting deteriorated. On the other hand Rajkumar Udaysinghji built a new palace in Pratapgarh in the year 1867 on the lines of those built by the Britishers and started living there. He then started getting involved in the development of Pratapgarh regularly. He opened the first dispensary of Pratapgarh in 1867 where allopathic treatment was given to the patients. Thereafter he built Pathshallas (school) in 1875. The Municipal Committee was formed in 1893. During this period only the Mandsaur Pratapgarh road was made. Slowly the legal machinery started getting developed and three levels of courts - The Diwani Court, The Jilla Court and The High Court started functioning from Pratapgarh. The Jilla Court had powers upto proclaiming the death sentence or expelling a person outside the territory. However such harsh punishment required ratification from the Raja.

The development gathered pace and by 1900 Pratapgarh had a school up to Middle level (8th Standard). This was an achievement for a small town like Pratapgarh because during that time the better developed towns around like Mandsaur, Neemach, Javra, Chotisadri, Badisadri, Nimbhara; chittorgarh did not have any high schools or organiosed hospitals. The hospital of Pratapgarh was big and famous. During the time it started had two wards - Male ward which had 45 beds and female ward which had 30 beds. It had all the facilities for surgery. Due to these facilities it was nominated as Jilla Hospital, which housed the offices of District Medical and Health Officer of the area.

After independence, like with all other towns and states ruled were merged and brought under one single rule which is the Government of India. Due to the developed status of Pratapgarh during that time, on the application of the Rajkumar; Pratapgarh got the distinction of having the Jilla headquarters in Pratapgarh. The offices of Jilla and Satra courts, Jilla Medical and Health office, Jilla prison and the Collector's office were set up in Pratapgarh which added to its fast development. However this was not appreciated by the bigger neighbors and due to pressure from them all these offices were subsequently shifted to Chittorgarh.

As a result of the above the pace of development was hampered or virtually stopped. Inspite of the best efforts of all concerned the pace of development has not been speeded up in the last 5 decades.