Orchha (or Urchha) is a town in Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh state, India. Orchha is also the name of a former princely state of central India, in the Bundelkhand region. Orchha is on the Betwa River, not far from Jhansi. It possesses an imposing fort, dating mainly from the early 17th century. This contains a number of palaces and other buildings connected one with another. The most noteworthy are the Rajmandir, a massive square building of which the exterior is almost absolutely plain; and the Jahangirmahal, of the same form but far more ornate, a singularly beautiful specimen of Hindu domestic architecture. Elsewhere about the town are fine temples and tombs, among which may be noticed the Chaturbhuj temple on its vast platform of stone.

History

Orchha was founded in the sixteenth century by the Bundeli chief Rudra Pratap, who became the first Raja of Orchha. In the early 17th century raja Jujhar Singh rebelled against Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, whose armies devastated the state. Orchha was the only Bundeli state not subjugated by the Marathas in the eighteenth century. The town of Tehri, presently Tikamgarh, about 40 miles south of Orchha, became the capital of Orchha state in 1783, and is presently the district capital. It is home to the fort of Tikamgarh, and the town eventually took the name of the fort.

Hamir Singh, who ruled from 1848 to 1874, was elevated to Maharaja in 1865. Maharaja Pratap Singh (born 1854, died 1930), succeeded to the throne in 1874 and took a great personal interest in the development of his state, and himself designed most of the engineering and irrigation works that were executed during his reign. In 1901, the state had an area of 2080 sq. mi, and population of 321,634. It was the oldest and highest in rank of all the Bundeli states, with a fifteen-gun salute, and its Maharajas bore the hereditary title of First of the Princes of Bundelkhand. Vir Singh, Pratap Singh's successor, acceded to India on January 1, 1950. The district became part of Vindhya Pradesh state, which was merged into Madhya Pradesh state in 1956.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.