Cambay, Kambay or Khambhat was a

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

in India during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. The City of

Khambat Khambhat (, ), also known as Cambay, is a city and the surrounding urban agglomeration in Anand district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was once an important trading center, but its harbour gradually silted up, and the maritime trade moved ...

(Cambay) in present-day

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

was its capital. The state was bounded in the north by the Kaira district and in the south by the Gulf of Cambay. Cambay was the only state in the Kaira Agency of the Gujarat division of the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

, which merged into the

Baroda and Gujarat States Agency Baroda and Gujarat States Agency was a political agency of British India, managing the relations of the British government of the Bombay Presidency with a collection of princely states. The political agent, who was also Collector of the Britis ...

in 1937.

History

Cambay was founded as a state in 1730 by the penultimate

Nawab Nawab ( Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian, Punjabi , Sindhi, Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...

of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, Mirza Ja‘far Mu’min Khan I, the last of the Mughal governors of Gujarat, at the time of the dismemberment of Mughal rule in India. In 1742 Mirza Ja‘far Mu’min Khan I defeated his brother-in-law Nizam Khan, governor of Khambhat, and established himself in his place. In 1780 Cambay was taken by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

, led by General Goddard Richards, but it was restored to the

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed a ...

s in 1783. Finally it was ceded to the British by the

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later ...

after the Treaty of Bassein in 1803. Cambay became a British protectorate in 1817. The state was provided with a railway in 1901. Cambay's last ruler signed the accession to the Indian Union on 10June 1948.

Hub of mercantile activity

The traders and the merchants reached here from across the world. Cambay was known for its cotton and silk cloths. Cambay was one of India's most active

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...

center since the 14th century (Source:

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim ...

). After 200 years, Duarte Barbosa described Cambay as an important commercial center with carpets, and other textile goods in Mughal established industries.

Rulers

The rulers of the state bore the title of '

' and had the privilege of an 11-

gun salute A gun salute or cannon salute is the use of a piece of artillery to fire shots, often 21 in number (''21-gun salute''), with the aim of marking an honor or celebrating a joyful event. It is a tradition in many countries around the world. Histo ...

Nawabs

*1730 – 1742 Mirza Jaffar Mumin Khan I, last Muslim Governor of Gujarat *1742 – 1743 Nur-ud-din Muftakher Khan *1743 – 1784 Najm ad-Dawla Ja`far Mu´min Khan II *1784 – 1790 Mohammad Qoli Khan (d. 1790) *1790 – 28 October 1823 Fath `Ali Khan (d. 1823) *1823 – 15 March 1841 Banda `Ali Khan (d. 1841) *1841 – Apr 1880 Husayn Yawar Khan I (d. 1880) *11 Jun 1880 – 21 January 1915 Najib ad-Dawla Mumtaz al-Molk Ja`far `Ali Khan (b. 1848 – d. 1915) *21 Jan 1915 – 1930 .... -Regent *21 Jan 1915 – 15 Aug 1947/10 June 1948 Nizam ad-Dawla Najm ad-Dawla Mumtaz al-Molk Husayn Yawar Khan II (b. 1911 – d. ....)

List of Nawabs of Cambay state

*Mirza JA'AFAR MU'MIN KHAN I 1730/1742, last Muslim Governor of Gujarat *Nawab NURADDIN MUFTAKHAR KHAN 1742/1743 *Nawab JA'AFAR MU'MIN KHAN II 1743/1784 *Nawab MUHAMMED QULI KHAN 1784/1790, son of Najam Khan (poisoned 1748), married and had issue. He died 1790. *Nawab FATH ALI KHAN (qv) *Nawab FATH ALI KHAN 1790/1823, eldest of three sons, he received the title Najum-ud-Daulah Mumtaz-ul-Mulk Khan Bahadur Dilawar Jung, and the rank of a commander of six thousand as Nawab of Cambay. *Najum-ud-Daulah Mumtaz-ul-Mulk Momin Khan Bahadur Dilawar Jung Nawab BANDA ALI KHAN 1823/1841 *Najum-ud-Daulah Mumtaz-ul-Mulk Momin Khan Bahadur Dilawar Jung Nawab HUSAIN YAWAR KHAN I 1841/1880 *Najum-ud-Daulah Mumtaz-ul-Mulk Momin Khan Bahadur Dilawar Jung Nawab JA'AFAR ALI KHAN Bahadur 1880/1915, born 1848, succeeded 11 June 1880 (#1), married 1stly, 1876, Bibi Gauhar Khanum Saheb, married 2ndly, 1882, Bibi Khurshid Jahan Begum. He died 21 January 1915. *HH Najum-ud-Daulah Mumtaz-ul-Mulk Momin Khan Bahadur Dilawar Jung Nawab Mirza HUSAIN YAWAR KHAN II Bahadur 1915/- , born 16 May 1911, educated at Rajkumar College, Rajkot; married January 1936, Nawabzadi Safia Sultan Qizilbash, daughter of Nawab Sir Fateh Ali Khan Qizilbash of Lahore (see Nawabganj), and had issue. *HH Najum-ud-Daulah Mumtaz-ul-Mulk Momin Khan Bahadur Dilawar Jung Nawab Mirza MUHAMMED JA'AFAR ALI KHAN

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20091009120131/http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/c/cambay.html

External links

* {{coord, 22.3, N, 72.62, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Princely states of India Anand district Gulf of Khambhat Bombay Presidency 1730 establishments in India 1948 disestablishments in India