Khetri, in present known worldwide as copper mining, was a major destination of the princely state of Jaipur before independence. Khetri, a sub divisional headquarter in Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, was the capital of the Thikana which is situated at 28⁰nort latitude and 75⁰ 53⁰ longitude, 90 miles south west of Delhi and 75 miles north of Jaipur. This Thikana was established by Thakur Bhupal Singh, born in a branch of Shekhawat, known as Sadhani¹. From the establishment of the base in 1757 AD till the merger of it with unification of Rajasthan, Khetri was ruled by 11 rulers for about two hundred years. Khetri Thikana was divided into two geographical areas of Rajasthan, Shekhawati and Torawati (Tanwarawati) Its Kotputali Nizamat and some part of Babai Tehasil was in Torawati and the reamaing part of thikana was in Shekawati which is currently under Jhunjhunu district. The total area of ​​Khetri Thikana was 903 square miles, out of which 118 square miles was surrounded by hills and mountains and 50 square miles area came under river drains. ² Of the total area 335.43 square miles area, which includes 198 square miles of Kotputali nizamat and 137.43 square miles of Babai Tahsil, was under Torawati and 567.57 square miles under Shekawati region. At the time of merger in unification of the princely states in Rajasthan, Khetri thikana had control over a total of 331 villages. Of these, 294 villages were wholly owned by Khetri and 37 villages were under joint control of Khetri as well as other thikanas.³

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Keywords: copper mining, Khetri, Thikana, Kotputali Nizamat, Tanwarawati.