The Bhopal Agency was a section of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

's colonial

Central India Agency The Central India Agency was created in 1854, by amalgamating the Western Malwa Agency with other smaller political offices which formerly reported to the Governor-General of India. The agency was overseen by a political agent who maintained ...

, a British political unit which managed the relations of the British with a number of autonomous

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

s existing outside

.Great Britain India Office. ''

The Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908.

History

The Agency was formed in 1818 at the conclusion of the

Third Anglo-Maratha War The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the English 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 te ...

, and covered the

s of

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

(largest and eponymous),

Khilchipur Khilchipur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Rajgarh district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In 2022 Janpad Panchayat election held in which BJP emerged as a winner and make their candidate Janpad Adhyaksh and up-adhyaksh under the lea ...

Kurwai Kurwai is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Vidisha district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. History The town of Kurwai was founded by mohm. Diler khan in 1715 of Kurwai State Kurwai was formerly a Muslim princely state of British India. ...

, Narsingarh, Muhammadgarh, Pathari and Rajgarh surrounding Bhopal, as well as the districts of

Bhilsa Vidisha (विदिशा, formerly known as Bhelsa and known as Besnagar in ancient times) is a city in central Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located 62.5 km northeast of the state capital, Bhopal. The name "Vidisha" is derived from th ...

and

Isagarh Isagarh, is a town in Ashoknagar District of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Isagarh tehsil. Name The original name of Isagarh was "Ondila" or "Unda" until 1808, when Durjan Lal Khichi conquered ...

, which belonged to the

Gwalior State Gwalior state was a semi-autonomous Maratha state. It was centred in modern-day Madhya Pradesh, arising due to the rise of the Maratha Empire and fragmentation of the Mughal Empire. It was ruled by the House of Scindia (anglicized from Shinde) ...

and also the district of

Sironj Sironj is a town and a municipality in Vidisha district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Demographics India census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a g ...

, which belonged to Tonk State in

Rajputana Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...

. The head of the Agency was appointed by the British

Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

. In 1854 the Bhopal Agency became part of the newly created

. In 1895 the Gwalior districts of Bhilsa and Isagarh were transferred from Bhopal Agency to

Gwalior Residency Gwalior Residency was a political office in the British Indian Empire, which existed from 1782 until the British withdrawal from India in 1947. The Gwalior Residency was placed under the Central India Agency in 1854, and separated from it in ...

. In 1931 the princely states of

Dewas Senior Dewas Senior was established by Tukoji Rao I Puar during the Maratha conquest of Central India. It was a 15 Gun Salute Maratha princely state. On 12 December 1818 it became a British protectorate. History The original state was founded in ...

and

Dewas Junior Dewas Junior was established by Jivaji Rao I Puar in 1728 during the Maratha conquest of Central India. It was a 15 Gun Salute Maratha princely state. On 12 December 1818, it became a British protectorate. History The original state was fou ...

were added to the agency and in 1933 the state of

Makrai Makrai is a village in the Harda district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The village was the headquarters of the Makrai princely state during the British Raj. History According to legend the Makrai princely state was established in 1663 by Raj G ...

was transferred from the

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the B ...

. Bhopal Agency ceased to exist at the stroke of midnight on 15 August 1947 when British India became independent, and all treaty relations between the princely states and the British ceased to exist. After the departure of the British, the rulers of these states all acceded to the

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...

, and all but Bhopal were incorporated into the new state of

Madhya Bharat Madhya Bharat, also known as Malwa Union, was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jiwajirao Scindia as its Rajpramukh. ...

, while

became a

Chief Commissioner's Province Chief Commissioner's Province refers to middle-level and minor type of provinces of India and in the post-colonial successor states, not headed by a ( lieutenant-)governor but by a Chief commissioner, notably : * in present India : ** Chief Commi ...

. Madhya Bharat and Bhopal were merged into

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

state on 1 November 1956.

States and territories

Until 1931 the agency included nine princely states, as well as a number of estates ruled by Thakurs and other minor territories.

Princely states

Four

Salute state A salute state was a princely state under the British Raj that had been granted a gun salute by the British Crown (as paramount ruler); i.e., the protocolary privilege for its ruler to be greeted—originally by Royal Navy ships, later also ...

s, by precedence : *

, title Nawab, Hereditary salute of 19-guns (21-guns local) * Narsinghgarh, title Raja, Hereditary salute of 11-guns * Rajgarh, title Raja, Hereditary salute of 11-guns *

, title Raja, Hereditary salute of 9-guns Non-salute states, alphabetically : *

Basoda Ganj Basoda, called Basoda, city and municipality in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Ganj Basoda is one of the eleven tehsils of Vidisha district and is 39 kms from Vidisha. History Earlier there was an oil and flour mill named "Standard ...

* Korwai * Maksudangarh * Muhammadgarh * Pathari

References

{{coord, 23.2500, N, 77.9369, E, source:wikidata, display=title Agencies of British India History of Madhya Pradesh History of Bhopal 1818 establishments in British India 1854 disestablishments in India