The Kathiawar Agency, on the

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it ...

peninsula in the western part of the Indian subcontinent, was a political unit of some 200 small

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 ...

s 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 cal ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The agency's headquarters were at

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of ...

, the town where the Political Agent used to reside. He reported to the Political Department office at

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

History

The agency was formed in 1822, after the princely states in the area became British protectorates. The region was severely affected by the famine of 1899–1900. Between 1891 and 1901, the population of the states covered by the Agency decreased by 15 per cent, largely due to the results of the famine. On 10 October 1924, the agency was abolished and merged into the Western India States Agency, which had three subdivisions:The Indian Year Book, Volume 11 by Bennett, Coleman & Company, 1924,pp:151–152List of Princely States of India
/ref> * Eastern Kathiawar Agency (from 1926 onwards) * Western Kathiawar Agency (from 1926 onwards) * Sabar Kantha Agency (merged with Eastern Kathiawar Agency on 1 September 1943) including

Banas Kantha Agency Palanpur Agency, also spelled Pahlunpore Agency, was a political agency or collection of princely states in British India, within the Gujarat Division of Bombay Presidency. In 1933, the native states of the Mahi Kantha Agency, except for Danta, ...

(former Palanpur Agency)

Princely states

There were altogether 193 states of varying size and importance, of which fourteen exercised independent jurisdiction, while the rest were to varying degrees under British administration. The eight states of the first class were

Bhavnagar State Bhavnagar State was a princely state with 13 Gun Salutes during the British Raj. It was part of Kathiawar Agency in Saurashtra. The State of Bhavnagar covered an area of 2,961 sq. miles and had a population of 618,429 in 1941. Its ruler ...

Dhrangadhra State Dhrangadhra State was a princely state during the British Raj. The town of Dhrangadhra served as its capital. It was also known as Halvad-Dhrangadhra State. Halvad once had been the capital of this state. In 1735, Dhrangadhra was founded as its ...

Gondal State Gondal State is one of the eight first class princely states of Kathiawar Agency, Bombay Presidency in India. the capital of the state is Gondal town. History Gondal State is established in 1634 AD by Thakore Shri Kumbhoji I Meramanji, w ...

Jafarabad State Jafarabad, or Jafrabad State, was a tributary princely state in India during the British Raj. It was a dependency of the Nawab of Janjira State and located in the Kathiawar Peninsula on the Gujarat coast. The state had formerly been part of the ...

Junagadh State Junagarh or Junagadh ( ur, ) was a princely state in Gujarat ruled by the Muslim Babi dynasty in British India, until its integration into the Union of India in 1948. History Muhammad Sher Khan Babai was the founder of the Babi Pashtun d ...

, Morvi State,

Nawanagar State Nawanagar was an Indian princely state in the historical Halar region, located on the southern shores of the Gulf of Kutch. It was ruled by the Jadeja Rajput dynasty and became the part of newly formed India. The city is now known as Jamnaga ...

, and Porbandar State. The agency covered an area of , and in 1901 the population was 2,329,196. The headquarters of the political agent (who oversaw the affairs of the princely states on behalf of the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

) was at

, in the centre of the peninsula; this was also the site of the

Rajkumar College, Rajkot The Rajkumar College (or RKC) in Rajkot, Gujarat is one of the oldest K-12 institutions in India. RKC has a 26-acre (105,000 m²) campus in Rajkot. History The foundation stone of Rajkumar College was laid in 1868. The institution was designe ...

, where many of the sons of the rulers were educated. There was a similar school for ''girasias'', or chiefs of lower rank, at Gondal. The estimated gross revenue of the several states was 1,278,000

rupees Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, ...

in 1911; total tribute (payable to the British, the

Gaekwar The Gaekwads of Baroda (also spelled as Gaikwads, Guicowars, Gaekwars) (IAST: ''Gāyakavāḍa'') are a Hindu Maratha dynasty origin of the former Maratha Empire and its subsequent Princely States. A dynasty belonging to this clan ruled the prin ...

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capi ...

and the

nawab of Junagadh Nawab of Junagarh or Junagadh refers to the now defunct ex-lineage of rulers of the princely Junagarh State in British Raj, nowadays Junagadh district in the state of Gujarat in India. There are still several forts and palaces in India which were ...

), was 70,000 rupees. An excellent system of

metre-gauge railway Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, l ...

s was built at the cost of the leading states. Maritime trade was also very active, the chief ports being Porbandar, Mangrol and

Veraval Veraval also known as Somnath is a municipality and the headquarters of Gir Somnath district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is also known for the hub of fishing industries in India. Geography Veraval is located at . It has an average elev ...

. In 1903–1904 the total seaborne exports were valued at 1,300,000 rupees, and the imports at 1,120,000.

References

External links and Sources

Imperial Gazetteer - Kathiawar
{{Coord, 22, 18, N, 70, 48, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title 1924 disestablishments in India History of Gujarat

History

Princely states

See also

References

External links and Sources