Orissa Tributary States

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{{Short description|Group of princely states in Odisha, India}}

{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|native_name =
|conventional_long_name =Orissa Tributary States
|common_name =Garhjats
|nation = [[British India]]
|subdivision = Group of [[princely state]]s
|era =
|year_start = 1888
|date_start =
|event_start= Orissa chiefs put under the control of a superintendent
|year_end = 1947
|date_end =
|event_end= [[Independence of India|Accession to the Indian Union]]
|event1 =
|date_event1 =
|p1 =Agencies of British India
|s1 = India
|flag_p1 = British Raj Red Ensign.svg
|flag_s1 = Flag of India.svg
|image_flag =
|image_coat =
|image_map =Orissa Tributary States-IGI.jpg
|image_map_caption = Orissa Tributary States in a 1901 map of the [[Imperial Gazetteer of India]]
|stat_area1 =
|stat_year1 =
|stat_pop1 =
|footnotes =
}}
The '''Orissa Tributary States''', also known as the '''Garhjats'''<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V19_258.gif Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 19, p. 252.]</ref> and as the '''Orissa Feudatory States''',<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Feudatory_States_of_Orissa.html?id=gOwLAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y L. E. B. Cobden-Ramsay, ''Feudatory States of Orissa'']</ref> were a group of [[princely state]]s of [[British India]] now part of the present-day Indian state of [[Odisha]].

The Orissa Tributary States were located in the [[Garhjat Hills]], the hilly and former heavily forested region of eastern Orissa, on the border with present-day [[Chhattisgarh]] and [[Jharkhand]] states.
[[File:BonaiKart (1).jpg|right|thumb|Bonai and Gangpur feudatory states]]

==History==
{{Refimprove section|date=October 2008}}
In the 18th century, the entire region came under the control of the [[Maratha Empire]], in particular the [[Bhonsle]] maharajas of [[Nagpur]]. Meanwhile, the [[British India|British]] had become established in [[Bengal]], and were expanding their influence into the lowland tracts of Orissa. The British and the Marathas came into conflict in the late 18th century, and at the conclusion of the [[Second Anglo-Maratha War]] in 1803, the Maharaja of Nagpur ceded Orissa to the British. Some of the former Maratha territory was ruled directly by the British, and attached to the [[Bengal Presidency]]; other territories became [[princely state]]s, under the control of local rulers under a treaty of [[subsidiary alliance]] to the British monarch following the [[annexation]] in 1803. The local chiefs' status was recognised by the British as 'tributary chiefs' and their estates became the 'Tributary Mahals' of Orissa.

These territories were managed the Political Department and were not subject to any regular Settlement and Revenue system. Originally there were nineteen Tributary States, but two of them were confiscated and annexed by the British; [[Angul State]] in 1847 for the rebellion of its Raja when he opposed the British officers that had been sent to suppress the [[Meriah sacrifice]] among the [[Khonds]], and [[Banki State]] in 1840, after its ruler had been convicted of murder.<ref>Baden-Powell, B. H. (2013). ''The Land Systems of British India'' (Vol. 1). London: Forgotten Books. (Original work published 1892) pp. 474–5.</ref>

The status of the Orissa Tributary States, the largest of which were [[Mayurbhanj State|Mayurbhanj]], [[Keonjhar State|Keonjhar]], [[Dhenkanal (princely state)|Dhenkanal]], [[Baudh State|Baudh]], and [[Nayagarh State|Nayagarh]], was unclear until 1888, when the [[Secretary of State for India]] accepted the view that they did not form part of British India, and modified powers were handed over to the Orissa chiefs under the control of a superintendent.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Orissa |volume=20 |page=277}}</ref>

In 1905 five [[Oriya language|Oriya]]-speaking states of [[Bamra State|Bamra]], [[Rairakhol State|Rairakhol]], [[Sonepur State|Sonpur]], [[Patna State|Patna]], and [[Kalahandi State]]) were added from the [[Central Provinces]] and two states, [[Gangpur State|Gangpur]] and [[Bonai State|Bonai]], from the [[Chota Nagpur States]].<ref name=EB1911/> With the addition of these states, the total area was {{convert|72638|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and the population was 3,173,395 per the 1901 census.<ref name=EB1911/>

In 1912, the province of [[Bihar and Orissa]] was detached from Bengal, and the Orissa Tributary States were under the authority of the governor of Bihar and Orissa. In 1936 Orissa became a separate province, but the Orissa Tributary States were merged into the [[Eastern States Agency]], which was under the direct authority of the [[Governor-General of India]] rather than that of the provincial governor. After the [[Partition of India|Indian independence]] in 1947, the rulers of the states acceded to the [[Government of India]]. They established the [[Eastern States Union]] in the same year. Their aim was to establish a unit that would be large enough to exist as a separate state within the [[Dominion of India|Indian Union]].<ref>Frederick George Bailey, ''Politics and Social Change: Orissa in 1959''. p. 179</ref> But the union failed and the former Orissa Tributary States, except the Oriya speaking princely states of [[Saraikela State|Saraikela]] and [[Kharsawan State|Kharsawan]], were integrated into the state of Orissa.

==Princely states==
The list of princely states under Orissa States Agency:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Princely states in Orissa
! Princely state !! Capital
|-
| [[Athgarh State]] || [[Athagad]]
|-
| [[Athmallik State]] || [[Athmallik]]
|-
| [[Bamra State]] (Bamanda) || [[Debagarh]]
|-
| [[Baramba State]] || [[Baramba, India|Baramba]]
|-
| [[Baudh State]] || [[Boudh]]
|-
| [[Bonai State]] || [[Bonaigarh]]
|-
| [[Daspalla State]] || [[Dashapalla]]
|-
| [[Dhenkanal State]] || [[Dhenkanal]]
|-
| [[Gangpur State]] || [[Sundergarh]]
|-
| [[Hindol State]] || [[Hindol, Odisha|Hindol]]
|-
| [[Kalahandi State]] (Karond) || [[Bhawanipatna]]
|-
| [[Keonjhar State]] || [[Kendujhar]]
|-
| [[Khandpara State]] || [[Khandapada]]
|-
| [[Mayurbhanj State]] || [[Baripada]]
|-
| [[Narsinghpur State]] || [[Narasinghpur]]
|-
| [[Nayagarh State]] || [[Nayagarh]]
|-
| [[Nilgiri State]] || [[Nilagiri]]
|-
| [[Pal Lahara State]] || [[Pallahara]]
|-
| [[Patna State]] || [[Balangir]]
|-
| [[Rairakhol State]] || [[Rairakhol]]
|-
| [[Ranpur State]] || [[Raj-Ranpur, Odisha|Raj-Ranpur]]
|-
| [[Sonepur State]] || [[Subarnapur, Odisha|Subarnapur]]
|-
| [[Talcher State]] || [[Talcher]]
|-
| [[Tigiria State]] || [[Tigiria]]
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Princely states in Jharkhand
! Princely state !! Capital
|-
| [[Kharsawan State]] || [[Kharsawan]]
|-
| [[Saraikela State]] || [[Saraikela]]
|}

==See also==
*[[Sambalpur State]]
*[[Banki State]]
*[[Eastern States Agency]]
*[[Chota Nagpur Tributary States]]
*[[Political integration of India]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Odisha}}
{{Princely states of the Eastern States Agency}}

[[Category:Princely states of Odisha]]
[[Category:Bengal Presidency]]
[[Category:1888 establishments in India]]

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Orissa Tributary States