The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories, was a region of

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 ...

, located in the central part of present-day

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 second ...

state in central India. It included the present-day districts of Sagar (Saugor),

Damoh Damoh is a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The city is also the district headquarters of Damoh district. History Early history Stone Age tools have been found in Singrampur Valley and it is believed that the area has been inhabit ...

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. ...

, and Narsinghpur. The region extended on either side of the Narmada River (Nerbudda). Jubbulpore was the capital and the military headquarters of the territory. The city was one of the candidates for the administrative capital of British India, when the Government decided to move the capital outside

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

in 1911.

History

The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were captured by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

from 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 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 ...

, in 1818. Saugor was the seat of a Maratha governor, and the northern portion of the territory was ceded by the Maratha

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later ...

; the southern portion, which included Jubbulpore and the upper Nerbudda valley, was ceded by the

Bhonsle The Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle) are a prominent group within the Maratha clan system of kunbi origin. They claimed descent from the Sisodia Rajputs but were likely Kunbi tiller-plainsmen. History Earliest members The earliest ...

Maharaja of

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

. Immediately after the occupation, the British authorities established a provisional administration under the superintendent of Political Affairs of

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 ...

. In 1820 a division containing 12 districts was formed which was known as the Agency of the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories. This new division was administered, from Jubbulpore, by an Agent to the Governor-General (AGG). In 1835 the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were incorporated into the newly-formed

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 ...

, which brought together the British Dominions in the southern portion of present-day

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

state. In 1842–1843, during the

Bundela rebellion The Bundela is a Rajput clan. Over several generations, the cadet lineages of Bundela Rajputs founded several states in area what came to be known as Bundelkhand anciently known as Chedi Kingdom from the 16th century. Etymology As per Jaswant ...

, two

Bundela The Bundela is a Rajput clan. Over several generations, the cadet lineages of Bundela Rajputs founded several states in area what came to be known as Bundelkhand anciently known as Chedi Kingdom from the 16th century. Etymology As per Jaswant ...

landlords rebelled against the British in Sagar district, spreading the unrest to Jabalpur District. Following the uprising the territory was placed again under the administration of an Agent to the Governor-General, Sir

William Henry Sleeman Major-general Sir William Henry Sleeman KCB (8 August 1788 – 10 February 1856) was a British soldier and administrator in British India. He is best known for his work from the 1830s in suppressing the organized criminal gangs known as Thuggee. ...

, but the arrangement did not work well and in 1853 the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were reattached to the North-Western Provinces. In 1861 the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were merged with Nagpur Province, which the British had annexed in 1853, in order to form the

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur ...

References

Subdivisions of British India Historical Indian regions 1818 establishments in Asia 1861 disestablishments in Asia States and territories established in 1818 States and territories disestablished in 1861 History of Madhya Pradesh {{India-history-stub

History

See also

References