Dhurwai was administered by the native ruler, who was addressed as Indian Prince by the British authorities.

Dhurwai State was founded in the Bundelkhand region in 1812 by a descendant of the royal family of Orchha Diwan Rai Singh of Baragaon near Jhansi.

He had 8 sons who were granted Jagirs, including Dhurwai, Bijna, and Tori Fatehpur.

[2] The state was located on the eastern part of Jhansi Province, bounded by the British United Provinces of Agra and Oudh on all sides except on the east where it shared a border with the states of Bijna and Tori Fatehpur.

About a century later the Diwan of Dhurwai was one of the original constituents of the Chamber of Princes, an institution established in 1920.