The Bundelkhand Agency was a political agency of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

, managing the relations of the British government with the protected princely states of the

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion l ...

region.

History

Historical background

The

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed a ...

s ceded parts of

, which were later called later British Bundelkhand, to the British in the 1802 Treaty of Bassein. After 1802, many of the local rulers were granted (leases) by the British, which entitled them to the lands they controlled at the death of Ali Bahadur, in return for the rulers signing a written bond of allegiance () to the British. A political officer attached to the British forces in Bundelkhand supervised British relations with the states. In 1806 British protection was promised to the Maratha ruler of Jhansi, and in 1817 the British recognized his hereditary rights to Jhansi state. In 1818 the Peshwa in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

ceded all his rights over Bundelkhand to the British at the conclusion of the

Third Anglo-Maratha War The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the English East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha ter ...

Creation of the agency

The states were organized into the Bundelkhand Agency in 1811, when a political agent to 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 ...

was appointed and headquartered at

Banda Banda may refer to: People * Banda (surname) * Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician * Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor * Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh ...

. In 1818 the headquarters were moved to Kalpi, in 1824 to Hamirpur, and in 1832 back to Banda. The political agent was placed under the authority of the Lieutenant-Governor of the

North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an Presidencies and provinces of British India, administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquere ...

, headquartered in

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra ...

, in 1835. In 1849 authority over the Bundelkhand Agency was placed briefly under the Commissioner for the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories, who appointed a political assistant based at

Jhansi Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative head ...

. Shortly thereafter, authority over Bundelkhand was placed under the Resident at Gwalior, and the headquarters of the political assistant was moved to Nowgong, which remained until 1947. In 1853 the Raja of Jhansi died childless, and his territory was annexed to British Bundelkhand. The

Jhansi State Jhansi was an independent princely state ruled by the Maratha Newalkar dynasty under suzerainty of British India from 1804 till 1853, when the British authorities took over the state under the terms of the Doctrine of Lapse, and renamed it the ...

and the Jalaun and

Chanderi Chanderi, is a town of historical importance in Ashoknagar District of the state Madhya Pradesh in India. It is situated at a distance of 127 km from Shivpuri, 37 km from Lalitpur, 55 km from Ashok Nagar and about 46 km fr ...

districts were then formed into a superintendency. In 1854 Bundelkhand Agency was placed under the authority of the newly created Central India Agency, headquartered at

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

. The widow of the Raja of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmi Bai, protested the annexation because she was not allowed to adopt an heir, and because the slaughter of cattle was permitted in the Jhansi territory. The

Revolt of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

found Jhansi ripe for rebellion. In June a few men of the 12th native infantry seized the fort containing the treasure and magazine, and massacred the European officers of the garrison. The Rani put herself at the head of the rebels, and they captured several of the neighboring British districts and princely states allied to the British. She died bravely in battle in

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

in 1858. It was not till November 1858 that Jhansi was brought under British control. After the revolt, Jhansi was given to the Maharaja of

, but came under British rule in 1886 when it was swapped for Gwalior fort. In 1865 the political assistant was replaced with a political agent. The eastern portion of the Agency was detached to form

Bagelkhand 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 ...

in 1871. The state of Khaniadhana was transferred to the authority of the Gwalior Resident in 1888, and in 1896

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. ...

, Jaso, and the Chaube Jagirs were transferred to Bagelkhand. In 1901 there were 9 states, 13 estates, and the

pargana Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the Sultanate period, Mughal times and British Raj, is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent and each ...

of Alampur belonging to

Indore State Indore State, also known as Holkar State, was a kingdom in India. Its rulers belonged to the Holkar dynasty. After 1857, Indore became a 19- gun salute Maratha princely state (a rare high rank) under the British Raj. Indore stat ...

, with a total area of and a total population of 1,308,326 in 1901. The most important of the states were Orchha, Panna, Samthar, Charkhari,

Chhatarpur Chhatarpur is a city and a municipality in Chhatarpur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Chhatarpur District. Chhatarpur is a city and a municipality in Chhatarpur district in the state of ...

Datia Datia is the district headquarter of the Datia District in north central Madhya Pradesh,a state of Central India. It is an ancient city, ancient town, mentioned in the Mahabharata ruled by King Dantavakra. The city is 78 km from Gwalio ...

Bijawar Bijawar is a city the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bijawar Taluk, and was formerly the capital of a princely state of British India of the same name. The people of Bijawar are demanding the distric ...

and Ajaigarh State.

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

accelerated during British rule. The population of the agency decreased 13% between 1891 and 1901 due to the effects 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 accompan ...

. In 1931 Bagelkhand Agency, with the exception of the state of Rewa State, was merged into the Bundelkhand Agency.

Princely States

The Bundelkhand Agency was bounded by Bagelkand to the east, the United Provinces to the north, Lalitpur District to the west, and the Central Provinces to the south. The Bagelkhand Agency was separated from Bundelkhand in 1871. In 1900 it included 9 states, 13 estates and the

of Alampur belonging to Indore State. In 1931, all of the Baghelkhand Agency states were transferred back to Bundelkhand, except Rewa (title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 15-guns)), which was placed under the authority of the Indore Residency. Salute states, by precedence : *

, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 15-guns * Orchha, title (from 1882, Saramad-i-Rajha-i-Bundelkhand Maharaja), Hereditary salute of 15-guns * Ajaigarh, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 11-guns * Baoni, title Nawab, Hereditary salute of 11-guns *

, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 11-guns * Charkhari, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 11-guns * Panna, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 11-guns * Samthar, title Raja, Hereditary salute of 11-guns Non-salute states : *

Alipura Alipura is a town in Nowgong tehsil, Chhatarpur district, Sagar division of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located near Harpalpur at an altitude of above sea level. The language of the local population is Hindi. History Formerly this town was ...

, title Rao * Beri (Beri-Bundelkhand), title Rao/Raja (originally Dewan) * Bihat *

, title * Garrauli * Gaurihar, title Sardar Sawai; from 1859, Rao *

Jigni Jigni State was a princely state of the Bundelkhand Agency of the British Raj. It was a small Sanad state of about 82.87 km2 with a population of 4,297 inhabitants in 1901. The state was surrounded by the Hamirpur and Jhansi districts o ...

, title Rao * Lugasi * Sarila, title Raja

Jagir A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, starti ...

s : * Banka-Pahari * Bijna * Bilheri ''

jagir A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, starti ...

'', under

, guaranteed by the British *

Dhurwai Dhurwai was a princely state in India during the British Raj. It was one of the Hasht-Bhaiya Jagirs, under the Bundelkhand Agency of British India. Its capital was the town of Dhurwai, with a population of 777 in 1901. Today it is part of Jhansi ...

, Raja Yadvendra Singh Judeo * Tori Fatehpur (one of the

Hasht-Bhaiya The Hasht-Bhaiya ( hi, आठभैया meaning 'Eight Brothers') (e)states were a group of jagirs (small feudatory estates, formally ranking below a proper princely state) of Central India during the period of the British Raj. They belonged ...

s'') * Hansari * Katera, Maharaj Shriprasad Choube

Former princely States that were annexed or seized

* Jalaun, annexed in 1840 *

, annexed in 1853 *

Jaitpur Jaitpur is a village and a Gram panchayat under Barahiya Tehsil in Lakhisarai district of Bihar, India. It is situated on the bank of river Ganges at a distance of 3.5 km from Barahiya, 15.5 km from Lakhisarai and 117 km dista ...

, annexed in 1849 * Khaddi, annexed * Chirgaon (one of the Hasht Bhaiya jagirs), seized * Purwa (one of the Chaube Jagirs), seized * Bijeraghogarh, seized * Tiroha, seized *

Shahgarh Shahgarh is a town and a tahsil in Sagar district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Its connected with National Highway No. 86 Route, National Highway 539 and MP SH 37. Geography Shahgarh is located at . It has an average elevation of 411 ...

, seized in 1857 * Banpur, seized in 1857, had been claimed by

Gwalior State Gwalior state was a semi-autonomous Maratha state. It was centred in modern-day Madhya Pradesh, arising due to the rise of the Maratha Empire and fragmentation of the Mughal Empire. It was ruled by the Scindia, House of Scindia (anglicized fro ...

but the claim was refused. Finally in 1860 it was ceded to Gwalior by means of a treaty in which part of the territory went to Jhansi.Great Britain India Office. '' The Imperial Gazetteer of India''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908

References