Mahi Kantha was a political agency or collection 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 ...

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 ...

, within the

Gujarat Division 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- ...

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 ...

. In 1933, the states of the Mahi Kantha Agency, except for Danta, were included in the

Western India States Agency The Western India States Agency (WISA) was one of the agencies of British India. This agency was formed on 10 October 1924 as a part of the implementation of the Montague Chelmsford report on constitutional reforms. It was formed by merging the ...

. The total area of the agency was ; the population in 1901 was 361,545.

History

The states came within the British sphere of influence after the

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War ...

of 1803–1805. In 1811, when the Maratha power was declining, the British Government stipulated to collect and pay over to the ruler of Baroda the yearly tribute of the Mahi Kantha states. In 1820 they finally took over the management of the whole territory, agreeing to collect and pay over the tribute free of expense to Baroda, while Baroda was pledged not to send troops into the country, or in any way to interfere with the administration. After a few disturbances in the 1830s, in 1857-58 and 1867, peace remained unbroken in the region until 1881, when the Bhils of Pol rose against their chief and extorted from him a settlement of their claims. The famine of 1899–1900 was severely felt in Mahi Kantha, and the population of the agency decreased by 38% in the decade 1891–1901 due to famine. Many of the inhabitants were

Bhil Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2013, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India. Bhils are listed as tribal people of ...

s and

Kolis The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas they ...

. In 1897 a metre-gauge railway was opened from

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per ...

through Parantij to Moyad, Vagpur, Sitwada , jagiri Rathod near Ambliara State to

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1 ...

. At

Sadra The Iran Marine Industrial Company ( fa, شرکت صنعتی دریایی ایران), also known as SADRA, was founded in 1968 as a small ship repair yard in Bushehr. Since then, SADRA has established itself as the leading shipbuilding and shipr ...

was the Scott College for the education of the sons of rulers on the lines of a

British public school In England and Wales (but not Scotland), a public school is a fee-charging endowed school originally for older boys. They are "public" in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, denomination or paternal trade or professio ...

. There were also

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

schools at Sadra, Idar and Mansa.

Successor jurisdictions

In 1933 the agencies of Mahi Kantha and Banas Kantha, known as Palanpur Agency until 1925, were merged. However Palanpur State was transferred to the

Rajputana Agency The Rajputana Agency was a political office of the British Indian Empire dealing with a collection of native states in Rajputana (now in Rajasthan, northwestern India), under the political charge of an Agent reporting directly to the Governor ...

and was thus not part of the newly created agency. After the

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

in 1947, the rulers of the Mahi Kantha states acceded to the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, and the area was reorganized into districts of

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding So ...

. In 1960, Bombay State was split along linguistic lines, and the area of Mahi Kantha became part of the new state of

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 ...

List of Princely States

Mahi Kantha Agency during British India 1820-1933 with States and Thanas

The states were classified in the following manner:

Salute states

First Class state

* Idar (styled (Maha)Raja), a 15-guns

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 ...

, covering over half of the territory of the agency.

Second Class state

* Danta (styled Maharana), an 11-guns

Non-Salute states

Third Class states

* Malpur * Mansa * Mohanpur

Fourth Class states

* Ilol * Ghodasar * Katosan * Khadal *

Pethapur Pethapur State was a small princely state belonging to the Mahi Kantha Agency of the Bombay Presidency during the era of the British Raj. It was centered on Pethapur village, in present-day Gandhinagar district of Gujarat State, a place renowne ...

* Vallbhapur * Ranasan * Sudasna * Varsoda *

Ambliara The Ambliara State, also spelt Ambaliyara was a princely state under Mahi Kantha Agency of the Bombay Presidency during the era of the British Raj in India. History According to the Gujarat State Gazetteers, the rulers were " Khant Kolis" by ...

* Antroli * Moyad * Vaghpur

Timba Timba is a Cuban genre of music based on Cuban ''son'' with ''salsa'', American Funk/R&B and the strong influence of Afro-Cuban folkloric music. Timba rhythm sections differ from their salsa counterparts, because timba emphasizes the bass dru ...

* Umri * Virsoda

Estates

The agency included as well a large number of estates belonging to

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

formerly feudatories of

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 capital ...

; several of the states paid tribute to Baroda, and some, being classed as non-jurisdictional thalukdars, were under British administration.

References

* {{coord missing, Gujarat History of Gujarat Agencies of British India Bombay Presidency 1947 disestablishments in India