[5] Even today the ancestral house cum fort of Jharia Raj family stands at Katras.
[5] As per family history, the zamindars were originally from Rewa in Central India and established their kingdom in the area around Jharia in year 1763.
[8] It became one of the richest zamindari estates of Bengal Presidency after the coal was discovered in the lands underneath and mining started in decade of 1890 in the area.
[2][3][4] Among the notable zamindars of Jharia Raj were, Raja Durga Prasad Singh who inherited estate in 1850s when he was still a minor.
In 1895, Dhanbad, Jharia, Katras, Kusunda and Patherdih were connected by railway lines via Asansol to Calcutta and this considerably helped mining industry of this area to take off in a big scale.
They met the then Raja of Jharia and purchased some land having underneath a vast wealth in the shape of coals on lease.
[2][3][4] Further, as late in 1985, Raja Kali Prasad Singh was instrumental in starting Kids Garden Secondary School at Jharia.
[23] Raja Kali Prasad Singh tried his hands in politics and contested in the elections of 1952 and won from Sindri constituency for the first time .
Although, he was an influential person and held major clout in the area, which was once his Raj but he was in his home constituency defeated by Purushottam K. Chauhan, a popular freedom fighter, coal miner and labor leader from Dhanbad.