Rajputana Agency
Encyclopedia
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
dealing with a collection of native states in India (now in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, west of Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
, northwestern India), under the political charge of an Agent reporting directly to the Governor-General of India
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
and residing at Mount Abu in the Aravalli Range
Aravalli Range
The Aravalli Range literally meaning 'line of peaks', is a range of mountains in western India and eastern Pakistan running approximately 800 km from northeast to southwest across states of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Gujarat and Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh...
. The total area of the states falling within the Rajputana Agency was 127541 square miles (330,329.7 km²), with eighteen states and two estates or chiefships.
Subdivisions
For the purposes of the British, Rajputana was subdivided into nine groups of states, consisting of three residencies and six agencies:- Mewar ResidencyMewar ResidencyMewar Residency was a residency of British India, during the British Raj, which was one of the three residencies of the Rajputana Agency, and had its headquarters at Udaipur, and included the state of Mewar...
, with headquarters at UdaipurUdaipur, RajasthanUdaipur , also known as the City of Lakes, is a city, a Municipal Council and the administrative headquarters of the Udaipur district in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It is located southwest of the state capital, Jaipur, west of Kota, and northeast from Ahmedabad...
, dealt with the state of MewarMewarMewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...
(Udaipur). - Western Rajputana States Agency dealt with the states of DungarpurDungarpurDungarpur is a city in the southernmost part of Rajasthan state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Dungarpur District. The rail line between Udaipur and Himatnagar in Gujarat runs through the town, shortest distance to the National Highway 8 from Dungapur town is...
, Partabgarh and BanswaraBanswaraBanswara is a city in Banswara District in south Rajasthan in India. Banswara princely state was founded by Maharawal Jagmal Singh. It is named for the "bans" or bamboo forests in the area. It is also known as 'City of Hundred Islands', due to presence of numerous islands in the Mahi River, which...
. This agency was part of Mewar Residency until 1906, when it was separated. - Jaipur Residency, with headquarters at Jaipur, dealt with the states of Jaipur StateJaipur State-History:During the British Raj, Jaipur was the capital of a princely state of the same name. Jaipur state, which existed from the twelfth century until Indian Independence in 1947, took its name from the city. It had a total area of 15,579 square miles in 1900. The maharajas of Jaipur belonged to...
and KishangarhKishangarhKishangarh is a city and a municipality in Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It lies 18 miles north-west of Ajmer. It is well connected via Indian Railways and National Highway #8. It is the birth place of the Kishangarh style of painting, which is known for the beautiful depiction...
and the estate of LawaLawaLawa may refer to* Lawa people, an ethnic group of Laos and Thailand.Towns* Lawa, Punjab, a small town in Punjab province, Pakistan* Lawa, Uttarakhand, a small village in Uttarakhand India...
. - Western Rajputana States Residency, with its headquarters at JodhpurJodhpurJodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...
, dealt with the states of Jodhpur, JaisalmerJaisalmer StateJaisalmer State was a princely state during the British Raj and was entitled to a 15 gun salute.As traditionally, the main source of income for the kingdom was levies on caravans the economy was heavily affected when Bombay emerged as a major port and sea trade replaced the traditional land routes...
, and SirohiSirohi StateSirohi State was a princely state in India.In 1405, Rao Sobhaji founded the town of Shivpuri on the western slope of Siranwa Hill. Shivpuri today lies in ruins...
. - Bikaner Agency, with headquarters at Bikaner.
- Tarangagadh, with headquarters at Taranga.
- Alwar Agency, with headquarters at Alwar.
- Eastern Rajputana States Agency, with headquarters at BharatpurBharatpur, IndiaBharatpur is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was founded by Maharaja Suraj Mal in 1733. Located in the Brij region, Bharatpur was once an impregnable, well-planned and well-fortified city, and the capital of Jat kingdom ruled by Sinsinwar Maharajas.The trio of Bharatpur, Deeg and...
, dealt with the states of Bharatpur State, Dholpur State, and Karauli StateKarauli StateKarauli State was a princely state in India.Legend has it that the princely state of Karauli ruled by jadon Rajputs was founded about 995 by Raja Bijai Pal a Yaduvanshi Rajput ruler ; or is claimed that he was 88th in descent from the hindu god Krishna...
. - Haraoti-Tonk Agency, with headquarters at DeoliDeoliDeoli is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the state of Maharashtra, India.-Geography:Deoli is located at . It has an average elevation of 262 metres .-Demographics:...
, dealt with the states of Tonk and BundiBundi StateBundi State was a princely state in British India. It belonged to Rajputana Agency....
and the estate of ShahpuraShahpuraSee Shahpura for disambiguationShahpura is a city and a municipality in Bhilwara district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.- Geography :Shahpura is located at . It has an average elevation of 364 metres .- Demographics :...
. - Kotah-Jhalawar Agency, with headquarters at KotaKota, RajasthanKota , formerly known as Kotah, is a city in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located south of state capital, Jaipur. Situated on the banks of Chambal River, the city is the trade centre for an area in which millet, wheat, rice, pulses, coriander and oilseeds are grown; industries...
, dealt with the states of Kotah and Jhalawar StateJhalawar StateJhalawar State was a princely state in India.The former ruling family of Jhalawar belonged to the Jhala clan of Rajputs, and their ancestors were petty chiefs of Halwad in Jhalawar District, in Kathiawar. About 1709 one of the younger sons of the head of the clan left his country with his son to...
.
All of the states had Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
rulers, except Tonk
Tonk (princely state)
Tonk was a Princely State of India which by treaty in 1817 accepted British suzerainty. Following the Partition of India in 1947, Tonk acceded to the newly independent Union of India. It was located in the region that is now the Tonk district.-History:...
, which had a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
ruler, and Bharatpur State and Dholpur State, which had Jat
Jat people
The Jat people are a community of traditionally non-elite tillers and herders in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subsequently into the Delhi Territory,...
rulers. The small British province of Ajmer-Merwara
Ajmer-Merwara
Ajmer-Merwara is a former province of British India in the historical Ajmer region. The territory of the province was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia by a treaty on June 25, 1818....
was also included within the geographical area of Rajputana, but that was under direct British rule. Although Rajputs ruled most of the states, they comprised a small minority of the population; in the 1901 census, of a total population of 9,723,301, only 620,229 were Rajputs, who were numerically strongest in the northern states and in Udaipur.
Other important castes and tribes of Rajputana were the Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s, who traditionally occupied the highest rank among castes, and were numerous and influential; the Bhat
Bhat
Bhat meaning a priest or scribe in Sanskrit, is a surname common in most parts of Nepal. A predominantly Hindu last name, it is found most commonly in the states of coastal areas of Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh, is a...
s, who were the keepers of secular tradition and of the genealogies; the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
mercantile castes; Jains
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
, who comprised the majority of the merchants; the powerful agricultural groups, such as the Jats and the Gurjars, the tribal peoples, Bhil
Bhil
Bhils are primarily an Adivasi people of Central India. Bhils are also settled in the Tharparkar District of Sindh, Pakistan. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages....
s, Meenas
Meenas
Meenas, Meena, Meenoat or Mina is a caste and community mainly found in Rajasthan, India. The name Mina is derived from Meen,meaning 'fish' in Sanskrit, and the Minas claim descent from the Matsya Avatar, or fish incarnation, of Vishnu.Meenas celebrate Meenesh Jayanti in the name of Vishnu on 3...
and Meo
Meos
Meo or Meos may refer to:* Plural of "Meo", Muslim inhabitants of Mewat, a region in North-Western India.* MEOS , an alternate ethanol metabolic pathway.* Meo or Mèo is another name for Miao people....
. In the 1901 census, 7,035,093 persons, or more than 72% of the total population spoke one of the Rajasthani language
Rajasthani language
Rajasthani Rajasthani Rajasthani (Devanagari: , Perso-Arabic: is a language of the Indo-Aryan languages family. It is spoken by 50 million people in Rajasthan and other states of India and in some areas of Pakistan. The number of speakers may be up to 80 million worldwide...
s.
Economy
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, the majority of the people were occupied in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. In the large towns banking and commerce flourished. In the north, the staple products for export were salt, grain, wool and cotton, and in the south opium and cotton. The major imports included sugar, hardware and piece goods. Rajputana had relatively little industrial production. The principal manufactures were cotton and woolen goods, metalwork, ivory carving, and other handicrafts which were chiefly carried on in the eastern states. The system of agriculture was very simple; in the drier country west of the Aravalli Range
Aravalli Range
The Aravalli Range literally meaning 'line of peaks', is a range of mountains in western India and eastern Pakistan running approximately 800 km from northeast to southwest across states of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Gujarat and Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh...
only one crop was raised in the year, while in other parts south and east of the Aravallis two crops were raised annually, and various kinds of cereals, pulses and fibres are grown. In the desert tracts fine breeds of camels, cattle, horses and sheep were to be found wherever there is pasturage. Irrigation, mostly from wells, was almost confined to the northern portion. Rajputana was traversed throughout by the Rajputana railway, with its Malwa branch in the south, and diverging to Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
and Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
in the north. Jodhpur, Udaipur and Bikaner had constructed branch railways at their own cost, the first of which was extended in 1901 to Hyderabad in Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
. In 1909 another line was opened running north near the eastern boundary from Kotah to Bharatpur.
Rulers
Pratihara
The Gurjara Pratihara , often simply called Pratihara Empire, was an imperial Indian dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries. At its peak of prosperity and power , the Gurajara-Pratihara Empire rivaled or even exceeded the Gupta Empire in the extent of its...
s, who ruled at Kanauj; the Paramara
Paramara
Paramara is a Maratha, Gurjar,& Rajput clan of India.The Paramara clan belongs to the Agnivansha of Rajputs ancient Kshatriyas...
s of Malwa; the Rahavers of Tarangagadh; the Chauhan
Chauhan
Chauhan, Chouhan or Chohan , , - is a clan who ruled parts of northern India in the Middle Ages. The clan is most famous for Rajput King Maharaja Prithviraj Chauhan...
s of Ajmer
Ajmer
Ajmer , formerly written as Ajmere, is a city in Ajmer District in Rajasthan state in India. Ajmer has a population of around 800,000 , and is located west of the Rajasthan state capital Jaipur, 200 km from Jodhpur, 274 km from Udaipur, 439 km from Jaisalmer, and 391 km from...
; the Solanki
Solanki
The Solanki was a royal Hindu Indian dynasty that ruled parts of western and central India between the 10th to 13th centuries. A number of scholars including V. A. Smith assign them Gurjar origin....
s of Anhilwara in Gujarat; the Guhilots with the Sesodia sept of Udaipur (Mewar
Mewar
Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...
); the Rahtors of Marwar
Marwar
Marwar is a region of southwestern Rajasthan state in western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. In Rajasthani dialect "wad" means a particular area. The word Marwar is derived from Sanskrit word 'Maruwat'. English translation of the word is 'The region of desert'., The Imperial Gazetteer...
(Jodhpur); and the Kachwaha
Kachwaha
Kachwaha are a Suryavanshi Kshatriya clan who ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states in India such as Alwar, Maihar, Talcher, while the largest kingdom was Jaipur which was founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727...
clan of Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
. The Rathor's', Sesodias and Kachwahas ruled until Indian independence. These Rajput dynasties were gradually supplanted or subordinated by the Moslem invaders of the 11th century and weakened by internal feuds. At the beginning of the 16th century the Rajput power began to revive, only to be overthrown by the Babur
Babur
Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of South Asia. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother...
, founder of the Mughal empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
at Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri is a city and a municipal board in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Built near the much older Sikri, the historical city of Fatehabad, as it was first named, was constructed by Mughal emperor Akbar beginning in 1570...
in 1527. The clans were finally either conquered, overawed or conciliated by Akbar, except for the distant Sesodia clan, which, however, submitted to Jahangir
Jahangir
Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
in 1616. From Akbar's accession to Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
's death in 1707, a period of 151 years, most of India was under Mughal control. Aurangzeb's death and the invasion of Nadir Shah of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
led to a triple alliance among the three leading Rajput chiefs, which internal jealousy so weakened that the Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
s, having been called in by the Rahtors to aid them, took possession of Ajmer about 1756. By the end of the century nearly the whole of Rajputana had been virtually subdued by the Marathas. The Second Anglo-Maratha War
Second Anglo-Maratha War
The Second Anglo-Maratha War was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.-Background:...
distracted the Marathas from 1807 to 1809, but afterwards Maratha domination of Rajputana resumed. In 1817 the British went to war with the Pindari
Pindari
The Pendharis or Free Companions were dispersed throughout the Maratha states and were countenanced and protected by the Maratha chiefs to whom they acted as agents for supplying all the commissariat required by their armies. They were composed of different tribes who congregated together solely...
s, raiders who were based in Maratha territory, which quickly became the Third Anglo-Maratha War
Third Anglo-Maratha War
The Third Anglo-Maratha War was the final and decisive conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha territory by 110,400 British East India Company troops, the largest...
, and the British government offered its protection to the Rajput rulers from the Pindaris and the Marathas. The Pindari were defeated, and the Afghan adventurer Amir Khan
Amir Khan (Pindari)
Nawab Muhammad Amir Khan was a leader, of Pashtun origin belonging to its Salarzai branch and the first ruler of the princely state of Tonk . He was the son of Hayat Khan and the grandson of Taleh Khan.He is often confused as a member of the Pindaris although he was a Pathan with his Pathan...
submitted and signed a treaty with the British, making him the ruler of Tonk. By the end of 1818 The Sword of Rever Dyansty again make war and in the history of Rajasthan this war is being remembered as victory of "Rahevars" with the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. Maratha Sindhia ruler of Gwalior gave up the district of Ajmer-Merwara
Ajmer-Merwara
Ajmer-Merwara is a former province of British India in the historical Ajmer region. The territory of the province was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia by a treaty on June 25, 1818....
to the British, and Maratha influence in Rajasthan came to an end. Most of the Rajput princes remained loyal to Britain in the Revolt of 1857, and few political changes were made in Rajputana until Indian independence in 1947.
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