Banswara was among the smaller Rajput states in what is now southern Rajasthan, and its rulers maintained the right to strike coinage — a privilege jealously guarded as a marker of sovereignty even as British paramountcy eroded nearly every other practical attribute of independent rule. Lakshman Singh ruled Banswara from 1844 until 1905, one of the longer reigns among the princely states of the region. By 1870, the Political Agent's oversight made these local issues increasingly ceremonial in character.
Banswara was among the smaller Rajput states in what is now southern Rajasthan, and its rulers maintained the right to strike coinage — a privilege jealously guarded as a marker of sovereignty even as British paramountcy eroded nearly every other practical attribute of independent rule. Lakshman Singh ruled Banswara from 1844 until 1905, one of the longer reigns among the princely states of the region. By 1870, the Political Agent's oversight made these local issues increasingly ceremonial in character.