The past of Orchha sheds light on the magnificent past of the Madhya Pradesh city that was eminent as an erstwhile princely state in the Bundelkhand region. The famous Bundela chieftain Rudra Pratap Singh founded the town of Orchha, way back in the 16th century.

The town of Orchha was fought against the vagaries of time. The chronicles of Orchha history record that Raja Jujhar Singh, a former Orchha monarch had renegade against the mighty Mughal potentate, Shah Jehan in the 17th century. This tactical error met with unfortunate consequences and soon afterwards, in between 1635 to 1641 AD, the Mughal army took over the princely state and caused wanton carnage and destruction.

Orchha grew into a controlling empire. The only state that did not give way before the Marathas in the 18th century, Orchha has many a claim to its fame. In the year 1783, the town of Tehri ( present Tikamgarh) was established as the capital of Orchha. Tehri is also an historically eminent town that houses the majestic and crenelated fort of Tikamgarh.

In the long extraction of the Orchha emperors, Maharajah Hamir Singh was another celebrated monarch who ruled over Orchha between 1848 to 1874. The humanitarian Maharaja Pratap Singh, Hamir Singh's successor ascended to the throne in 1874 AD and worked solely for the noble cause of the sustainable growth and development of the state's engineering and irrigation facilities. In fact, Orccha reached the top of prosperity during his regime. 

In the year 1904, the state encompass an area of 2080 sq. miles and noticeable a net populace of 321,634 people. The first and leading of the Bundela states with a 15-gun salute, the Maharajahs of Orchha were deeply venerated in the region and were conferred the hereditary title of the First of the Princes of Bundelkhand. The annals regarding Orchha state that Vir Singh had coalesced his princely state with the Union of India on 1st January 1950. 

Orchha's splendor has been captured in stone, frozen in time, a rich inheritance to the ages. In this medieval city, the hand of time has rested unconscientiously and the palaces and temples built by its Bundela rulers in the 16th and 17th centuries retain much of their pristine perfection.

Orchha was founded in the 16th century by the Bundela Rajput chieftain, Rudra Pratap, who chose this extend of land along the Betwa River as a perfect site for his capital. Of the following rulers, the most notable was Raja Bir Singh Ju Deo who built the beautiful Jehangir Mahal, a tiered palace crowned by graceful chhatris.