Indore State

This article is about the princely state during the British Raj. For the dynasty, see Holkar.

Indore State इंदौर रियासत
Princely State of British India
← 1818–1948 →
Flag Coat of arms
Map of the territories of Indore State, some forming enclaves in neighbouring Gwalior and Bhopal states
History
•	Maratha Confederacy, British protectorate	1818
•	Indian independence	15 June 1948 1948
Area
•	1931	24,605 km2 (9,500 sq mi)
Population
•	1931	1,325,089
	Density	53.9 /km2  (139.5 /sq mi)
Today part of		Madhya Pradesh, India
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:

The Rajawada (Old Palace) of Indore.

The Sukhnivas Palace.

The Maharaja of Indore on his state elephant.

Yashwant Rao Holkar and Ranjit Singh in 1805.

Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar II.

Tukojirao Holkar III, Maharaja of Indore.

Maharani Shrimant Chandravati Bai Sahib Holkar, First Wife of Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar III of Indore.

Maharani Indira Bai Sahib Holkar, Second Wife of Maharaja of Indore Tukojirao Holkar III.

Indore State, also known as Holkar State, was a Maratha princely state in India during the British Raj. Its rulers belonged to the Holkar dynasty and the state was under the Central India Agency. Indore was a 19 Gun Salute (21 locally) princely state (a rare high rank).

Indore princely state was located in the present-day Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The capital of the state was the city of Indore. The state had an area of 24,605 km² and a population of 1,325,089 inhabitants in 1931; other important towns besides Indore were Rampura, Khargon, Maheshwar, Mehidpur, Barwaha and Bhanpura; there were also a total of 3,368 villages.

History

See also: Holkar

See also: Rao_Nandlal_Chaudhary

The city of Indore existed before Peshwa Bajirao Balal invaded Malwa. Indore was founded by Rao Raja Nandlal Mandloi. The predecessor state was founded in 1733 by Malhar Rao Holkar (1694-1766) when he established the dynasty's rule over Indore. In the 1720s, he led Maratha armies into the Malwa region, and in 1733 was granted 9 parganas in the vicinity of Indore by the Peshwa.

After the defeat of the Holkar rulers in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, an agreement was signed on 6 January 1818 with the British and Indore State became a British protectorate. The Holkar dynasty was able to continue to rule Indore as a princely state mainly owing to the efforts of their Dewan (Chief minister) Tatya Jog.

The capital was moved from Maheshwar to Indore on 3 November 1818 and the Indore Residency, a political residency with a British resident was established in the city. Later Indore would be established as the headquarters of the British Central India Agency. In 1906 electric supply was started in the city, a fire brigade was established in 1909 and in 1918, the first master-plan of the city was drawn by noted architect and town planner Patrick Geddes.

During the period of Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar II (1852–86) efforts were made for the planned development and industrial development of Indore. During the reigns of Maharaja Shivaji Rao Holkar, Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar III and Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar business in Indore flourished thanks to the railways that had been introduced in the state in 1875.

Post Independence

After the independence of India in 1947, Indore State, along with a number of neighbouring princely states acceded to India. Yashwant Rao Holkar II, the last ruler of the state, signed the instrument of accession to the Indian Union on 1 January 1950. The territories of the state became part of the new Indian state of Madhya Bharat.

Rulers

The kings of Indore held the title of 'Maharaja' Holkar. The rulers of the state were entitled to a 19 gun salute by the British authorities.

Rulers (title Maharaja Holkar)

Name	Birth	Death	Reign
Malhar Rao I Holkar I	1694	1766	1731 – 20 May 1766
Male Rao Holkar II	1745	1767	20 May 1766 – 5 Apr 1767
Ahalya Bai Holkar (III)(f), regent	1725	1795	Apr 1767 – 13 Aug 1795
Tukoji Rao I Holkar IV	1723	1797	13 Aug 1795 – 29 Jan 1797 (also listed as co-ruler from Apr 1767)
Kashi Rao Holkar V	?	1808	29 Jan 1797 – Jan 1799
Khande Rao I Holkar VI	1798	1806	Jan 1799 – 1806
Yashwant Rao I Holkar	1776	1811	1806 – 27 Oct 1811 (regent from Jan 1799)
Malhar Rao III Holkar VII	1801	1833	Nov 1811 – 27 Oct 1833
Maharani Tulsi Bai (f), regent	?	1817	Nov 1811 – 20 Dec 1817
Martand Rao Holkar VIII	1830	1849	27 Oct 1833 – 2 Feb 1834
Hari Rao Holkar IX	1795	1843	2 Feb 1834 – 24 Oct 1843
Khande Rao II Holkar X	1828	1844	24 Oct 1843 – 17 Feb 1844
Maharani Maji (f), first regency	?	1849	24 Oct 1843 – 17 Feb 1844
Tukoji Rao II Holkar XI (knighted 25 Jun 1861)	1835	1886	27 Jun 1844 – 17 Jun 1886
Maharani Maji (f), second regency (s.a.)	?	1849	27 Jun 1844 – Sep 1849
Shivaji Rao Holkar XII (knighted 30 Jun 1887)	1859	1908	17 Jun 1886 – 31 Jan 1903
Tukoji Rao III Holkar XIII (knighted 1 Jan 1918)	1890	1978	31 Jan 1903 – 26 Feb 1926
Yashwant Rao II Holkar XIV (knighted 1 Jan 1935)	1908	1961	26 Feb 1926 – 15 Aug 1947
Usha Devi Holkar,	1961	Present

Dewans (Chief ministers)

• c.1808 - 1811 Bala Ram Seth
• 1811 - Dec 1817 Ganpal Rao
• 1818 - Apr 1826 Tantia Jogh (Tatya Joga) (d. 1826)
• Apr 1826 - 1827? Raoji Trimbak
• 1827 Daji Bakhshi
• 1827? - 1829 Appa Rao Krishna
• 1829 - 1834? Madhav Rao Phadnis
• Apr 1834 - Nov 1836 Sardar Revaji Rao Phanse
• 1836 - 1839? Abbaji Ballal (or Bhawani Bin)
• 1839? - 1840? Bhao Rao Phanse (1st time)
• 1840? - Oct 1841 Narayan Rao Palshikar
• 1841 - 1842? the ruler
• 1842? - 1848 Bhao Rao Phanse (2nd time)
• 1848 - 1849? Ram Rao Palshikar
• 1852 - 1873 the ruler
• 1873 - 1875 Sir Madhava Rao (b. 1828 - d. 1891)
• 1875 - 1881 Ragunath Rao (1st time) (b. 1831 - d. 1912)
• 1881? - 1884? Shahamat Ali
• 1884 - 1886 Nana Moroji Trilokekar
• 1886 - 1888 Ragunath Rao (2nd time) (s.a.)
• c.189. Balkrishna Atmaram Gupte
• 189. - 1913? Munshi Nanak Chand ji Airen
• 4 Apr 1913 - Oct 1914 Narayan Ganesh Chandravarkar
• 1914 - 1916 ....
• 1916 - 19.. Ram Prasad Dube (1st time)
• Nov 1921 - 1923? Chettur Sankaran Nair (b. 1857 - d. 1934)
• 1923? - 1926? Ram Prasad Dube (2nd time)

Prime ministers

• Feb 1926 - 1939 Siremal Bapna (s.a.)
• 1939 - 1942? Sardar Dina Nath
• 1942 - 1947 Raja Gyannath Madan
• 1947 R.G. Horton
• 1 Sep 1947 - 3 Jan 1948 E.P. Menon
• Jan 1948 N.C. Mehta
• 26 Jan 1948 - Mar 1948 M.V. Bhide

British Residents

British Residents of the Indore Residency.

• 1840 - 1844 Sir Claude Martin Wade (b. 1794 - d. 1861)
• 1845 - 1859 Robert North Collie Hamilton (b. 1802 - d. 1887)
• 1859 - 1861 Sir Richmond Campbell Shakespear (b. 1812 - d. 1861)
• 1861 - 1869 Richard John Meade (b. 1821 - d. 1899)
• 1869 - 1881 Henry D. Daly
• 1881 - 1888 Henry Lepel-Griffin (b. 1838 - d. 1908)
• 1888 - 1890 P.F. Henvey
• 1890 - 1894 R.J. Crosthwaite
• 1894 - 1899 David W.K. Barr
• 1899 - 1902 Robert Henry Jennings
• 1902 - 1903 Francis Younghusband (b. 1863 - d. 1942)
• 1903 - 1907 Oswald Vivian Bosanquet (1st time) (b. 1866 - d. 1933)
• 1907 - 1909 James Levett Kaye (b. 1861 - d. 1917)
• 1909 - 1910 Charles Beckford Luard
• 1910 - 1916 Charles Lennox Russell
• 1916 - 1919 Oswald Vivian Bosanquet (2nd time) (s.a.)
• 1919? - 1921 Francis Granville Beville
• 1921 - 1924 Denys Brooke Blakeway (b. 1870 - d. 1933)
• 1924 - 1929 Sir Reginald Glancy
• Mar 1927 - Oct 1927 Edward Herbert Kealy (acting for Glancy)
• 1929 - 1930 H.R.N. Pritchard
• 1930 - 1931 Frederick Bailey
• 1931 - 1932 G.M. Ogilvie
• 1933 - 21 Mar 1935 Rawdon James MacNabb (b. 1883 - d. 1935)
• 1935 - 1940 Kenneth Samuel Fitze (b. 1887 - d. 1960)
• 1940 - 1942 Gerald Thomas Fisher
• 1942 - 1946 Walter F. Campbell
• 1946 - 1947 Henry Mortimer Poulton (b. 1898 - d. 1973)

British Agents

Agents to the Governor-General for the Central India Agency. The headquarters of the agent were at Indore.

• 1845 - 1854 Robert North Collie Hamilton (s.a.)
• 1854 - 1899 the British Residents in Indore
• 1899 - 1900 David W.K. Barr
• Mar 1900 - 1905 Charles S. Bayley
• 1905 - 1910 Hugh Daly
• 1910 - 1912 Michael Francis O'Dwyer (b. 1864 - d. 1910)
• 1912 - 1913 John B. Wood
• 1913 - 1916 Oswald Vivian Bosanquet (s.a.)
• 1916 - 1944 the British Residents in Indore
• 1944 - 1946 Walter Campbell
• 1946 - 1947 Henry Mortimer Poulton (b. 1898 - d. 1973)

See also

• Holkar
• Maratha
• Maratha Empire
• List of Maratha dynasties and states
• Central India Agency
• Political integration of India

External links

• The Fabulous Cars of the Holkars of Indore
• Santa Ana's Richest Resident, The Maharajah of Indore
• Royal Family of Indore