The Princely States

As we shall come across the doings of the various princely states in the Bengal Presidency, it is important to understand what the term means.

At Indian Independence in 1947, there were over 500 Princely States (also called Native States), which consisted of 40% of the area and 23% of the population of the whole of British India. They were not a part of British India but were under the protection of the British, either as a subsidiary alliance or under indirect rule. They were the parts of British India that were neither conquered nor annexed, and many had been vassals of the Mughal Emperor. In principle, these states had internal autonomy, though by treaty, it was the British who had suzerainty and were thus responsible for the states’ external affairs. They were ruled by potentates, but the influence of the British was not trivial.

In accordance with the Indian Independence Act of 1947, the British gave up their suzerainty of the Princely States and they were left to choose whether to remain with India or join the new country of Pakistan or even remain independent of either. Although some did attempt to form a federation of states that belonged neither to India nor Pakistan, this ultimately came to nothing. By the end of 1949, all of the states had either chosen to accede to either nation or had been conquered and annexed. The Doctrine of Lapse would prove useful after all as a means to an end. When the British left in 1947, only four of the largest of these states still had a British Resident, a title held by the diplomatic advisor who resided in the states’ capital. The rest were under the control of Agencies.

LIST OF AGENCIES

Political agencies were by no means permanent. These were created, merged, and abolished at different periods throughout British rule.

• Aden Agency (1839 – 1859)
• Alwar Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
• Bagelkhand Agency March 1871 / 1933
• Baluchistan Agency
• Banas Kantha Agency
• Baroda Agency
• Baroda and Gujarat Agency
• Baroda, Western States, and Gujarat Agency
• Bengal States Agency
• Bhopal Agency 1818 / 1947-08-15
• Bhopawar Agency 1882 / 1925 (merged with Malwa to form Malwa and Bhopawar Agency)
• Bikaner Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
• Bundelkhand Agency 1811
• Central India Agency 1854
• Chhattisgarh Agency
• Cutch Agency
• Deccan States Agency 1930s
• Delhi Agency
• Eastern Rajputana States Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
• Eastern States Agency 1930s
• Ganjam Hill Tracts Agency (Madras Presidency)
• Gilgit Agency 1889
• Kotah-Jhalawar Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
• Haraoti Agency
• Haraoti-Tonk Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
• Kaira Agency
• Kathiawar Agency (Bombay Presidency)
• Kolaba Agency
• Kolhapur Agency
• Madras States Agency 1930s
• Mahi Kantha Agency (Bombay Presidency)
• Malwa Agency – 1895 / 1925 (merged with Bhopawar Agency to form Malwa and Bhopawar Agency – 1934 / 1947)
• Malwa and Bhopawar Agency 1925 / 1927 rename to Malwa and Southern States Agency
• Malwa and Southern States Agency 1927 renamed from Malwa and Bhopawar Agency / 1934 renamed to Malwa
• Nasik Agency
• North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA)
• North-West Frontier States Agency
• Orissa Agency 1905
• Palanpur Agency 1819 (belong to Bombay Presidency, merged 10 October 1924 in WISA)
• Deccan States Agency
• Punjab States Agency 1930s
• Rajputana Agency (consisting of three residencies and six agencies)
• Rewa Kantha Agency (Bombay Presidency)
• Sabar Kantha Agency
• Surat Agency
• Thana Agency
• Vizagapatam Hill Tracts Agency (Madras Presidency)
• Western India States Agency (WISA)
• Western Rajputana States Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency, part of Mewar Residency until 1906, when it was separated)

Former Kingdoms Annexed by the East India Company

•  Carnatic (1801)
• Sivagangai (1803)
• Guler (1813)
• Jaitpur (1849)
•  Jalaun (1840)
• Jaswan (1849)
•  Jhansi (1854)
•  Kangra (1846)
•  Kumaon (1816)
•  Lakhahi 
•  Kutlehar (1825)
• Sambalpur (1849)
• Siba (1849)
• Tanjore (1855)
•  Punjab, Multan (1849)
•  Nagpur (1854)
• Nurpur (1849)
•  Oudh (1856)
•  Ramgarh(1858)

Princely States annexed during the British Raj

• Ballabhgarh (1858)
• Banpur, seized in 1857
• Bhaddaiyan Raj (1858)
• Bijeraghogarh
• Chirgaon 
• Khaddi
• Kulpahar (1858)
• Makrai (1890 – 1893)
• Purwa 
• Satara state (1849)
• Shahgarh, seized in 1857
• Tiroha
• Tulsipur (1859)
• Udaipur, Chhattisgarh (1854 – 1860)
• Vallbhpur (1860)
• Manipur (1891) – the last princely state to be annexed.

We shall now turn our attention to how these various districts were governed, for to do so required some very special men.

District Collectors and Magistrates

^{Sources:
Danvers, Frederick Charles. Bengal: Its Chiefs, Agents and Governors. London: Edward Stanford, 1888.
Families in British India Society. “Category: Locations.” FIBIwiki. Accessed May 27, 2026. fibis.org.
Holland, Thomas H., ed. Provincial Geographies of India. 4 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1913–1923.
Imperial Gazetteer of India. 26 vols. Digital South Asia Library. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907–1909. uchicago.edu.
Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series. 25 vols. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, 1908–1909.
Madras District Gazetteers. Various volumes. Madras: Government Press, 1906–1915.
Thornton, Edward. A Gazetteer of the Territories Under the Government of the East-India Company, and of the Native States on the Continent of India. London: Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1857.}

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