History/City Profile
Pratapgarh is newest constituted district in rajasthan state. It came into existancce on 26th janurary 2008 as 33rd district of Rajasthan. It was carved out from Chittorgarh, Udaipur & Banswara district. Pratapgarh is situated in the southeastern part of Rajasthan in Chittorgarh district. The area adjoins Udaipur and Bhilwara districts of Rajasthan and Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh. It is situated in the junction of the Aravali mountain ranges and the Malwa Plateau; hence the characteristics of both prominently feature in the area. Pratapgarh is located at 24.03� North & 74.78� East. It has an average elevation of 491 meters(1610 feet). Well known for pure gold and glass-inlay handmade unique jewelry called "Thewa".
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. 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. Pratapgarh also have good scope of Eco Tourism. The Sita Mata wild Life Sanctuary encompasses good fauna and Flora; if you are lucky you can spot Flying squirrel, Black Naped Monarch Lesser Florican etc.