List of princely states of British India (by region)

Before the partition of India in 1947, about 584 princely states, also called "native states", existed in India. These were not part of British India, the parts of the Indian subcontinent which were under direct British administration, but rather under indirect rule, subject to subsidiary alliances.

Things moved quickly after the partition of British India in 1947. By the end of 1949, all of the states had chosen to accede to one of the newly independent states of India or Pakistan or else had been conquered and annexed.

Overview

In principle, the princely states had internal autonomy, while by treaty the British Crown had suzerainty and was responsible for the states' external affairs. In practice, while the states were indeed ruled by potentates with a variety of titles, the British still had considerable influence.

By the time of the departure of the British in 1947, only four of the largest of the states still had their own British resident, a diplomatic title for advisors present in the states' capitals, while most of the others were grouped together into agencies, such as the Central India Agency, the Deccan States Agency, and the Rajputana Agency.

Starting in 1920, the states were represented in the Chamber of Princes, which held its meetings in New Delhi.

The most important states were ranked as salute states, whose rulers were entitled to a given number of salute guns.

By the Indian Independence Act 1947, the British gave up their suzerainty of the states and left each of them free to choose whether to join one of the newly independent countries of India and Pakistan or to remain outside them. For a short time, some of the rulers explored the possibility of a federation of the states separate from either, but this came to nothing. Most of the states then decided to accede to India or to Pakistan, such as Junagadh (1947–1948), Bilaspur on 12 October 1948, and Bhopal on 1 May 1949. Travancore also chose to remain an independent country.

Hyderabad State was the largest which chose to remain independent. In Operation Polo, in September 1948, it was invaded and annexed by India.

In Jammu and Kashmir, a state with a Muslim majority but a Hindu ruler, the Maharaja hoped to remain independent but acceded to India on 27 October 1947 at the outset of the invasion of Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan — leading to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.

On 31 March 1948, Kalat acceded to Pakistan, although the brother of the Khan led a rebellion against this decision.

Princely states at the time of partition on 15 August 1947 Individual residencies MapName of stateBritish residentNow part ofLast ruler HyderabadIndividual residency Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka, IndiaMir Osman Ali Khan Jammu and KashmirIndividual residency Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, India; Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan; Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract, ChinaHari Singh MysoreIndividual residency Karnataka, IndiaJayachamarajendra Wadiyar TravancoreIndividual residency status under Madras Presidency Kerala and 5 taluks (Kanyakumari district) of Tamil Nadu, IndiaChithira Thirunal Balarama Varma

Baluchistan Agency Princely states of the Baluchistan Agency.

MapName of stateBritish residentNow part ofLast ruler KalatBaluchistan Agency Balochistan, PakistanMir Ahmad Yar Khan Ahmedzai KharanHabibullah Khan Las BelaJam Ghulam Qadir Khan MakranBai Khan Baloch Gikchi

Deccan States Agency and Kolhapur Residency (Maratha) Princely states of Deccan States Agency and Kolhapur Residency (Maratha).

Name of stateBritish Resident or AgentNow part ofLast or present ruler AkkalkotPrincely State Maharashtra, IndiaShrimant Malojiraje Bhosle AundhPrincely State Maharashtra, IndiaBhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi BhorPrincely State Maharashtra, IndiaRaghunathrao Shankarrao Pandit Pant Sachiv, Raja of Bhor JamkhandiPrincely State Karnataka, India Saheb Shrimant Raja Pranay Rao Parshuram Rao Patwardhan JanjiraPrincely State Maharashtra, India Sidi Muhammed Khan II Sidi Ahmad Khan, Nawab of Janjira JathPrincely State Maharashtra, IndiaLt. Shrimant Raja Vijaysinghrao Ramrao Babasaheb Dafle KolhapurPrincely State Maharashtra, IndiaRajadhiraj Chhatrapati Shahu II Bhosle IchalkaranjiPrincely State Maharashtra, IndiaShrimant Govindrao (Abasaheb) Ghorpade Kurundvad SeniorPrincely State Maharashtra, India Shrimant Bhalchandrarao Chintamanrao Patwardhan, Raja of Kurundwad Sr. Kurundvad JuniorPrincely State Maharashtra, India Shrimant Hariharrao Raghunathrao Bapusaheb Patwardhan, Raja of Kurundwad Jr. Miraj JuniorPrincely State Maharashtra, India Madhavrao Hariharrao Patwardhan Miraj SeniorPrincely StateMaharashtra, India Narayan Rao Jatya Sahib Patwardhan MudholPrincely State Karnataka, IndiaShrimant Raja Bhairavsinhrao Malojirao Ghorpade II PhaltanPrincely State Maharashtra, IndiaShrimant Ramraje Prataosinha Naik-Nimbalkar SangliPrincely State Maharashtra, IndiaChintamanrao Dhundirao Patwardhan SavanurPrincely State Karnataka, IndiaNawab of Savanur, Abdul Majid Khan II SawantvadiPrincely State Maharashtra, IndiaRaja Khem Sawant-Bhosle Bahadur

Gwalior Residency Princely states of the Gwalior Residency.

Name of stateBritish Resident or AgentNow part ofLast or present ruler GwaliorPrincely State Madhya Pradesh, India Shrimant Jyotiraditya Scindia GarhaPrincely State Madhya Pradesh, India KhaniyadhanaPrincely State Madhya Pradesh, India RamgadiPrincely State Uttar Pradesh, India Diwan Mahadev Mishra Rajgarh StatePrincely State Madhya Pradesh, India Maharani Shushila Sinha Rudrani RampurPrincely State Uttar Pradesh, India Raza Ali Khan of Rampur Benares StatePrincely State Uttar Pradesh, India Maharaja Vibhuti Narayan Singh

Madras Presidency Princely states of the Madras Presidency.

Name of stateBritish Resident or AgentNow part ofLast or present ruler BanganapallePrincely State Andhra Pradesh, IndiaSayyid Fazl-i-'Ali Khan IV Bahadur CochinPrincely State Kerala, IndiaRama Varma Pareekshit Thampuran PudukkottaiPrincely State Tamil Nadu, IndiaRajagopala Tondaiman SandurPrincely State Karnataka, IndiaYeshwantrao Ghorpade

North-West Frontier States Agency Princely states of the North-West Frontier States Agency. Agencies included the Dir, Swat, and Chitral Agency, and the Deputy Commissioner of Hazara acting as the political agent for Amb and Phulra.

MapName of stateBritish residentNow part ofLast ruler AmbNorth-West Frontier States Agency Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PakistanNawab Muhammad Farid Khan Tanoli ChitralMehtar Saif-ul-Mulk NasirMuhammad Shah Khosru Khan PhulraNawab Abdul Latif Khan TanoliWali Miangul Jahan Zeb

Gilgit Agency The States of Hunza and Nagar and many feudal Jagirs (Puniyal, Shigar, etc.) in the Gilgit Agency were tributary to the Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir.

Name of stateBritish residentNow part ofLast ruler HunzaGilgit AgencyGilgit–Baltistan, PakistanMohammad Jamal Khan NagarShowkat Ali Khan

Province of Sind

Name of stateBritish residentNow part ofLast or present ruler KhairpurSind Province Sindh, PakistanGeorge Ali Murad Khan

Punjab States Agency States of the Punjab States Agency (Punjab).

Name of stateBritish Resident or AgentNow part ofLast or present ruler BahawalpurPrincely State Punjab, Pakistan Sadeq Mohammad Khan V BilaspurPrincely State Himachal Pradesh, India Anand Chand FaridkotPrincely State Punjab, India Harinder Singh JindPrincely State Punjab and Haryana, India Satbir Singh KalsiaPrincely State Haryana, India Ravisher Singh KangraPrincely State Himachal Pradesh, India Aditya Dev Chand Katoch KapurthalaPrincely State Punjab, India Jagatjit Singh KumharsainPrincely State Himachal Pradesh, IndiaRana Surendra Singh Loharu StatePrincely State Haryana, India Amin ud-din Ahmad Khan MalerkotlaPrincely State Punjab, India Ahmad Ali Khan MandiPrincely State Himachal Pradesh, India Joginder Sen NabhaPrincely State Punjab, IndiaPratap Singh of Nabha PatialaPrincely State Punjab, IndiaYadavindra Singh RajgarhPrincely State Himachal Pradesh, IndiaMaharani Sushila Sinha SirmurPrincely State Himachal Pradesh, India Rajendra Prakash Suket/SundernagarPrincely State Himachal Pradesh, IndiaHari Sen SibaPrincely State Himachal Pradesh, India Ashok K. ThakurTharochPrincely StateHimachal Pradesh, IndiaRana Rakesh Singh Tehri GarhwalPrincely State (Zamindari) Uttarakhand, IndiaManabendra Shah

Rajputana Agency States of the Rajputana Agency. Name of stateBritish Resident or AgentNow part ofLast or present ruler AlwarPrincely State Rajasthan, India Sawai Tej Singh Naruka BanswaraPrincely StateJagmal Singh II BharatpurPrincely StateBrijendra Singh BikanerPrincely StateSadul Singh BundiPrincely StateBahadur Singh DholpurPrincely State Hemant Singh DungarpurPrincely StateLaxman Singh JaipurPrincely StateSawai Man Singh II JaisalmerPrincely StateJawahir Singh JhalawarPrincely StateHarish Chandra Singh JodhpurPrincely StateHanwant Singh KarauliPrincely StateGanesh Pal Deo KishangarhPrincely StateSumer Singh KotahPrincely StateBhim Singh II KushalgarhPrincely StateRao Harendra Singh SardargarhPrincely State MewarPrincely StateBhupal Singh Patan, RajasthanPrincely StateRao Bir Bikram Singh PratabgarhPrincely StateRam Singh ShekhawatiPrincely StateShri Maharao Sheoraj Singh ShahpuraPrincely StateSudershan Singh SirohiPrincely StateMaharao Raghubir Singh TonkPrincely StateMuhammad Faruq Ali Khan

Gujarat States Agency and Baroda Residency

Kathiawar Agency +Princely states of Kathiawar in SaurashtraName of stateBritish Resident or AgentNow part ofLast or present ruler Dhrol StatePrincely State Later Kathiawar, IndiaNow Gujarat, India Chandrasinhji Dipsinhji Nawanagar StatePrincely StateDigvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja Makaji MeghparJagir Hardhrol Bhayats Rajkot StatePrincely statePradyumansinhji Lakhajirajsinhji Gondal StatePrincely stateBhojrajji Bhagwatsimhji Morvi StatePrincely stateLakhdirji Waghji Porbandar StatePrincely stateNatwarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavnagar StatePrincely stateKrishna Kumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Wadhwan StatePrincely state Shri Suredrasinhji Jhala Junagadh StatePrincely stateMuhammad Mahabat Khan III Jafarabad StatePrincely stateMohammad Khan II

States of Central India Agency

Ajaigarh Alipura Alirajpur Baraundha Barwani Basoda Bhaisunda Bhopal Bijawar Charkhari Chhatarpur Chirgaon Datia Dewas Junior Dewas Senior Dhar Dhurwai Gaurihar Gwalior Indore Jamnia Jaora Jaso Jobat Kamta-Rajaula Khaniadhana Khilchipur Kothi Kurwai Maihar Makrai Muhammadgarh Nagod Narsighgarh Orchha Pahra Paldeo Panna Pathari Piploda Rajgarh Ratlam Rewa Sailana Sitamau Sohawal Taraon Tori Fatehpur

Eastern States Agency

Orissa States Agency

Athgarh Athmallik Bamra Baramba Baudh Bonai Daspalla Dhenkanal Gangpur Hindol Kalahandi (Karond) Keonjhar Khandpara Kharsawan Mayurbhanj Narsinghpur Nayagarh Nilgiri Pal Lahara Patna (Balangir) Rairakhol Ranpur Seraikela Sonepur Talcher Tigiria

Chhattisgarh States Agency

Bastar Changbhakar Chhuikandan Jashpur Kanker Kawardha Khairagarh Koriya (Korea) Nandgaon Raigarh Sakti Sarangarh Surguja Udaipur (Dharamjaigarh)

Bengal States Agency Cooch Behar Tripura

Mahi Kantha Agency

Idar Danta Vijaynagar (Pol) Malpur Mansa Mohanpur Ilol Katosan Ambaliara Pethapur Punadra Ranasa Dabha Dadhalia Rupal Varsoda Vasna Dedhrota

Former Princely States annexed during the British Raj

Ballabhgarh (1858) Banpur, seized in 1857 Bhaddaiyan Raj (1858) Bijeraghogarh Chirgaon (one of the seized Hasht Bhaiya jagirs) Khaddi Kulpahar (1858) Makrai (1890–1893) Purwa (one of the seized Chaube Jagirs) Shahgarh, seized in 1857 Tiroha Tulsipur (1859) Udaipur, Chhattisgarh (1854–1860) Vallabhipura (1860) Manipur (1891), the last princely state annexed, for a brief period but later restored in the same year.

Former kingdoms annexed during the British East India Company era

Rohilkhand (1774) Carnatic (1801) Sivagangai (1803) Guler (1813) Jaitpur (1849)