The Eastern States Agency was an agency or grouping of

princely states 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 eastern India, during the latter years of the

Indian Empire 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 himsel ...

. It was created in 1933, by the unification of the former Chhattisgarh States Agency and the Orissa States Agency; the agencies remained intact within the grouping. In 1936, the Bengal States Agency was added.

History

Since the 19th century the

and the

tributary state A tributary state is a term for a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power (the suzerain). This to ...

s of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

and Chhota Nagpur were not part of Bengal, but British relations with them were managed by its government through the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia an ...

. The Eastern States Agency was created on 1 April 1933. This agency dealt with forty-two princely states in eastern India, located in the present-day Indian states of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prad ...

, Jharkhand,

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

, West Bengal and

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...

. Before the creation of the Eastern States Agency in 1933, twenty-three native states of the former Orissa Tributary States and

Chhota Nagpur States The Chota Nagpur Tributary States or Chota Nagpur States were a group of non-salute states (minor princely states) at the time of British Raj, located on the Chhota Nagpur Plateau. British suzerainty over the states was exercised through the ...

were under the

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is ca ...

of the British provinces of

Bihar and Orissa Bihar and Orissa was a province of British India, which included the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha. The territories were conquered by the British in the 18th and 19th centuries, and were governed by the then Indian Ci ...

and sixteen were under that of the

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur ...

The Agent reported to the

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 ...

and two Political Agents under his supervision were posted at

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Sam ...

and

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Ch ...

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in ...

and

were transferred from Bengal Province to the Eastern States Agency on 1 November 1936. On 1 December 1944, the status of this agency was raised to that of a first class

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

. These states were grouped into three political agencies, under the "Resident" in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

. The headquarters of the Orissa States Agency was at

, the headquarters of the Chhattisgarh States Agency was at

and the headquarters of the Bengal States Agency was at Calcutta. After the withdrawal of the British from India in 1947, the states acceded to the new Union of India and some of the states formed the

Eastern States Union The Eastern States Union was a short-lived (1947–48) union of princely states in newly independent India that gathered most of the princely states of the former Orissa Tributary States and Chhattisgarh States Agency in order to fill the vacuu ...

, an organisation that failed. Later they were integrated into the Indian states of

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 second ...

, Bihar,

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

and

.Amalgamation of Princely States
/ref> The eastern portion of Madhya Pradesh and the southern portion of Bihar became the states of

and

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

, respectively, in November 2000.
Link to the Map of Eastern States Agency

Princely states of the Eastern States Agency

Orissa States Agency

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 : *

Kalahandi Kalahandi (locally pronounced ''Kalahani'') is a district of Odisha in India. Archaeological evidence of Stone Age and Iron Age human settlement has been recovered from the region. Asurgarh offered an advanced, well civilised, cultured and u ...

, title HH Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 9-guns *

Mayurbhanj Mayurbhanj district is one of the 30 districts in Odisha state in eastern India. It is the largest district of Odisha by area. Its headquarters are at Baripada. Other major towns are Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala. , it is the third-most-pop ...

, title HH Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 9-guns *

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

, title HH Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 9-guns * Sonepur, title HH Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 9-guns Non-salute states, alphabetically : *

Athgarh Athgarh (ଆଠଗଡ) was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. The state was founded by Raja SriKaran Niladri Bebarta Patnaik in 1178 and had its capital in Athgarh (Athagad) town. It was made part of Cu ...

, title Raja * Athmallik, title Raja * Bamra, title Raja * Baramba, title Rawat * Baudh, title Raja * Bonai, title Raja *

Daspalla Dashapalla, also known as Daspalla, is an archaeologically important site situated in Nayagarh district, Odisha, India. History Available records, writings, books reveal that at first there was no such place known as Daspalla. Rather it was a ...

, title Raja *

Dhenkanal Dhenkanal is a town and a municipality in Dhenkanal district in the state of Odisha, India. Geography Dhenkanal is at . It has an average elevation of 80 metres (262 feet). Demographics As per the 2011 India census, Dhenkanal had a ...

, title Raja (from 1869 Maharaja) * Gangpur, title Raja *

Hindol Hindol is a Hindustani classical ''raga'' from the Kalyan Thaat. According to Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj, Hindol is an ancient raga associated with the spring season and is sung during the first part of the day. Origin The rag ...

, title Raja * Keonjhar, title Raja * Khandpara, title Raja * Kharsawan, title Thakur (from 1907 Raja) * Nayagarh, title Raja * Narsinghpur, title Raja * Nilgiri, title Raja * Pal Lahara, title Raja *

Rairakhol Redhakholis a town and a notified area council in Sambalpur district in the Indian state of Odisha.It has the following banks: Canara Bank, DCB Bank, State Bank of India, Union Bank, Utkal Gramin Bank, and Central Bank. Redhakhol town, which ...

, title Raja * Ranpur, title Raja * Saraikela (Seraikela), title Kunwar (from 1884 Raja) * Talcher, title Raja *

Tigiria Tigiria is a tehsil (block) of Cuttack district. There are 14 ''(panchayats)'' with a total of 50 villages under the Tigiria administrative division. Tigiria is part of the Athagarh Odisha Vidhan Sabha constituency which includes as well Athag ...

, title Raja

Chhattisgarh States Agency

Only non-salute states : * Bastar, title Raja (from 1936 Maharaja) * Changbhakar (Chang Bhakar), title Raja (from 1865, Bhaiya) * Chhuikandan (Kondka), title Mahant *

Jashpur Jashpur District is a district of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh bordering Jharkhand and Odisha. Jashpur Nagar is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district was formerly a princely state before Indpendence. Highly mou ...

, title Raja * Kanker, title Maharajadhiraja * Kawardha, title Thakur *

Khairagarh Khairagarh is a city in Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai district. Formerly, it was the part of Rajnandgaon district. History Khairagarh State was a feudatory state of the former Central Provinces of British India. Pandadah (8 kilometer from K ...

, title Raja *

Koriya Korea State, currently spelled as Koriya, was a princely state of the British Empire of India. After Indian independence in 1947, the ruler of Koreaccededto the Union of India on 1 January 1948, and Koriya was made part of Surguja District of ...

(Korea), title Raja * (Raj) Nandgaon, title Manhat *

Raigarh Raigarh is a city in Eastern Chhattisgarh. History The tradition preserved by the ruling family of the erstwhile state of Raigarh maintains that the Raj Gond family migrated to this region from Bairagarh/Wariagarh of Chanda district of Mahara ...

, title Raja Bahadur * Sakti, title Rana *

Sarangarh Sarangarh is a New District in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. History During the British Raj era, Sarangarh State was one of several princely states governed by the Raj Gond dynasty of Rajputs. It was originally a dependency of the Rat ...

, title Raja *

Surguja Surguja district is a district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The district is one of the oldest districts of Chhattisgarh. The headquarters of the district is Ambikapur. The district lies in its eponymous Surguja dialectal region (where ...

, title Raja (from 1820 HH Maharaja Bahadur) * Udaipur, (Dharamjaigarh)(-Chhattisgarh), title Raja Bahadur

Bengal States Agency

Salute states : *

, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 13-guns *

, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 13-guns

References

External links and Sources

WorldStatesmen – India – Princely States
{{Coord, 21, 22, N, 85, 15, E, region:IN_type:agency_source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Agencies of British India History of Odisha History of Chhattisgarh 1933 establishments in India 1947 disestablishments in India Bengal Presidency

History

Princely states of the Eastern States Agency

Orissa States Agency

Chhattisgarh States Agency

Bengal States Agency

See also

References

External links and Sources