The Bagelkhand Agency was a British political unit which managed the relations of the British with a number of autonomous

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 ...

existing outside

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 ...

, namely

Rewa Rewa may refer to: Places Fiji * Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji), a former electoral division of Fiji * Rewa Plateau, between the Kaimur and Vindhya Ranges in Madhya Pradesh * Rewa Province, Fiji * Rewa River, the widest river in Fiji ...

and 11 minor states, of which the most prominent were

Maihar Maihar is a tehsil in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India. Maihar is known for the temple of the revered mother goddess Sharda situated on Trikuta hill. Origin of the name It is said that when lord Shiva was carrying the body of the dead mother go ...

Nagod Nagod or Nagaud is a town and a nagar panchayat in Satna district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is located from the town of Satna. It is the administrative headquarters of Nagod Tehsil.It is believed that it was a small state owned b ...

and

Sohawal Sohawal is a town and tehsil in Faizabad district (officially Ayodhya district) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and is subpost office of Faizabad. Sohawal is 18 km west of district headquarters Ayodhya. Demographics India census, Sohawa ...

. Other principalities included Jaso, Kothi,

Baraundha Baraundha (also known as Pathar Kachhar) was a princely state of colonial India, located in modern Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. Although historically far larger, at the time of Indian independence in 1950, it was a saluted state of 9 guns. ...

(aka

Patharkachhar Baraundha (also known as Pathar Kachhar) was a princely state of colonial India, located in modern Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. Although historically far larger, at the time of Indian independence in 1950, it was a saluted state of 9 guns. ...

) as well as the

Kalinjar Chaubes The Chaube Jagirs, also known as 'Kalinjar Chaubes', jagir states were a group of five feudatory states of Central India during the period of the British Raj. They were a British protectorate from 1823 to 1947 and belonged to the Bagelkhand A ...

, consisting of the princely estates of

Paldeo Paldeo, also spelt 'Paldev', was a Jagir, princely estate (Jagir) in India during the British Raj. It was under the Bundelkhand Agency of the Central India Agency until 1896 when it was transferred to the Baghelkhand Agency. In 1931 it was transf ...

Kamta-Rajaula Kamta-Rajaula was a princely state in India during the British Raj. History It was one of the Chaube Jagirs, part of the Bagelkhand Agency which was merged into the Indian state of Vindhya Pradesh in 1948. Kamta-Rajaula was a place of pilgrim ...

, Taraon,

Pahra Pahra was a jagir in India during the British Raj. It was under the Bundelkhand Agency of the Central India Agency until 1896 when it was transferred to the Baghelkhand Agency. It was later transferred back to the Bundelkhand Agency. Pahra had a ...

and

Bhaisaunda Bhaisunda, also spelt 'Bhaisaunda', was a princely state in India during the British Raj. History Bhaisaunda state was founded in 1812 by the Kalinjar family. It was one of the Chaube Jagirs, which were part of the Bagelkhand Agency of British ...

.Malleson, G. B. ''An historical sketch of the native states of India,'' London 1875, Reprint Delhi 1984

History

The Agency was established in March 1871 and was named after the

Bagelkhand Bagelkhand or Baghelkhand is a proposed state and a mountain range in central India that covers the northeastern regions of Madhya Pradesh and a small area of southeastern Uttar Pradesh. History Dahala Baghelkhand was known as Dahala 6th–1 ...

region. From 1871 to 1933 the Agency was under the political supervision of 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 ...

's Agent for Central India, and under the direct supervision of a political Agent residing ordinarily at

Satna Satna is a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of Satna district. It is 7th largest city and 8th most populous city of the state. The city is 500 km east of the state capital Bhopal. The city is ...

The total area was , and the population in 1901 was 1,555,024, a decrease of 11% over the previous census ten years before, largely due to the results of

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...

. The rainfall was very deficient in 1895–1897, causing a famine in 1897; and in 1899-1900 there was another drought in some states. In 1931, the eleven smaller states were transferred to the

Bundelkhand Agency The Bundelkhand Agency was a political agency of the British Raj, managing the relations of the British government with the protected princely states of the Bundelkhand region. History Historical background The Marathas ceded parts of Bu ...

, and in 1933 the agency was dissolved, when

Rewa State Rewa State, also known as Rewah, was a Rajput princely state of India, surrounding its eponymous capital, the town of Rewa. With an area of about , Rewa was the largest princely state in the Bagelkhand Agency and the second largest in Centra ...

joined the

Indore Residency Indore was one of the residencies of British India. Indore Residency included most of Indore State, and, after 1933, Rewa State, which formerly belonged to Bagelkhand Agency. It was part of Central India Agency The Central India Agency was ...

. After the

partition of British India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

into two independent states—

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

—in 1947, the princely states that made up the

Baghelkhand Agency The Bagelkhand Agency was a British political unit which managed the relations of the British with a number of autonomous princely states existing outside British India, namely Rewa and 11 minor states, of which the most prominent were Maihar, Na ...

all chose to accede to India and were merged with Rewa to form the new

Vindhya Pradesh Vindhya Pradesh was a former state of India. It occupied an area of 23,603 sq. miles. It was created in 1948 as Union of Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand States, shortly after Indian independence, from the territories of the princely states in the ea ...

, which was in turn merged into

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 seco ...

on November 1, 1956.

References

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History

See also

References