Princely States of India

Introduction

Aug 25, 2021

I have been thinking what topic to start writing over. Let me start with the Princely States of India. Over time, I will try to build a history or at least an introduction of every Princely State of India as of 1947. First of all, there is no clear information over the number of states which existed. Some of them like Jammu and Kashmir or Hyderabad were geographical behemoths while some like Vij-o-ness had an area of a few hectares. There are two classifications in India - Princely States and Estates. Technically, there is no difference between both but historically, the Princely States are accepted as independent or vassals at some point in history while the other set are just estates ruled by a hereditary governor.

By Definition, a Princely State is an independent entity in terms of internal administration but in the physical limits of British India. All foreign aspects – army, international relationships and whatever are managed by the British Governemnt of India and anything internal like administration of justice etc were managed by the head of the administration albeit with some strings based on his capacity in serving the British and the historic relationship they had with the British.

Broadly, the Princely States of India can be classified under a few heads

Carved out of Vijayanagara Emprie - Pudukkottai, Mysore etc
Carved out of Maratha Empire - Gwalior, Bhor etc
Mughal Jagirs - Orchha, Janjira etc
Rajputana - Mewar, Marwar including Idar and Cutch
Kathiawar
Northern Hill States - Sirmaur, Garhwal etc
Tribal States of Central India - Bastar, Saraikela etc
Created by British - Garrauli, Pataudi etc
Miscellaneous States

There is no consensus on the number of kingdoms either with different official documents sharing different numbers. For example, the number of kingdoms mentioned in a Government Gazette of Bombay Presidency is less than the number of kingdoms in Kathiawar which signed pacts with India.

A look at the map, one would notice that except in Kathiawar and Central Provinces, the map is clean enough.

Kathiawar depicted below is a consequence of British takeover of revenue collection from the Gaekwads of Baroda where they made individual pacts with every petty princeling creating a geographical mess.

Central Provinces is a different ball game altogether. The fragmentation arose because of the balance of power which existed between the two main Maratha kingdoms of the area - Gwalior and Indore. One would notice more territorial fragmentation here and not number of kingdoms.

Below is the list of Princely States which I was able to gather. My aim with this series of articles is to give a description of each of these kingdoms. There is not going to be a set pattern over which kingdom I would choose and would try to cover that kingdom first in case you may want it to be covered earlier. Whatever kingdom I posted an article over, I will be updating the details of published articles here. A list of lapsed states will be added at the bottom of this list.

Note: I sense a level of duplication between Bundelkhand Agency and Malwa Residency though I am really not sure if this a duplication. Anyone knowledged enough, please help.

In fact, the evolution of British rule in India is a separate topic in itself.

Below are the compilations I brought out

Stamps of British India and It's States: This is an old book on Indian Princely States but I have added to the list because it also deals with an aspect of the Princely States of India
Princely States of India: Orissa
Princely States of India: Gujarat - Kathiawar and Kutch
Princely States of India: Rest of Gujarat
Princely States of India: Madhya Pradesh
Princely States of India: North India
Predecessor States of Jammu and Kashmir: Too much reading on the topic and with the level of information I am able to gather, I am thinking of bringing out two books - Predecessor States of Jammu and Kashmir, and a similar one on Himachal Pradesh. This book are supposed to contain information about all the vassals and the conquered kingdoms which form a part of Jammu and Kashmir
Princely States of India: South India and Chattisgarh
Princely States of India: Maratha States Vol I: Maratha states is split into two parts - the first part deals with Maratha Empire and the states in the core Maratha territory in Maharashtra and Karnataka
Princely States of India: Maratha States - Vol II: The second part deals with Maratha interests outside the core Maratha territory
Princely States of India: Rajputana - Vol I: Rajputana states is again split into two parts - the first one focuses on Sisodiya States and a brief study on the anthropological genesis of civilization in Rajasthan and one more on the genesis of British rule in India. I included the last one because the series is coming to a closure and it’s only logical to share as much information as possible on this topic.
Princely States of India: Rajputana - Vol II: Consider this the last book in the series(at least the main topics). This covers everything else in Rajputana. Here, Jaipur takes the main place in terms of information shared, surprisingly.
Princely States of Pakistan: Though these are not a part of India, they are still Princely States of British India. Along with this, I gave a brief sketch over Afghanistan and Stamps of Bahawalpur

Lapsed States

Estates

Jeypore

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