The Kathiawar Agency, on the

Kathiawar Kathiawar (), also known as Saurashtra, is a peninsula in the south-western Gujarat state in India, bordering the Arabian Sea and covering about . It is bounded by the Kutch district in the north, the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by the ...

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

suzerainty A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...

of the Bombay Presidency of

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. The agency's headquarters were at

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the ...

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

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, Bombay Presidency.

History

The agency was formed in 1822, after the princely states in the area became

British protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status wh ...

s. 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 (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 (region), Saurashtra. The State of Bhavnagar covered an area of 2,961 sq. miles and had a population of 618,429 i ...

Dhrangadhra State Kingdom of Jhalavad was a Monarchy, kingdom present in the Kathiawar region of Gujarat. The kingdom came to be known as the Dhrangadhra State after it became a princely state in the nineteenth century. The town of Dhrangadhra served as its capi ...

, Gondal State, Jafarabad State,

Junagadh State The State of Junagadh or Junagarh was a princely state located in Gujarat, It was ruled by the Muslim Babi dynasty since 1654 by first Nawab of Junagarh, Nawab of Junagadh even within the Maratha Confederacy and later British India. which, aft ...

, Morvi State,

Nawanagar State Nawanagar was an Indian state and then a 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 a part of newly formed India. Its capital cit ...

, 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 official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

) was at

, in the centre of the peninsula; this was also the site of the Rajkumar College, Rajkot, 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 in 1911; total tribute (payable to the British, the Gaekwar of Baroda and the nawab of Junagadh), was 70,000 rupees. An excellent system of metre-gauge railways was built at the cost of the leading states. Maritime trade was also very active, the chief ports being Porbandar, Mangrol and Veraval. 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