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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2014}}
[[File:Malhar Rao and Robert Phayre 1875.jpg|thumb|right|Illustrations of [[Malhar Rao Gaekwad]] and [[Robert Phayre (Indian Army officer)|Robert Phayre]] in ''[[The Graphic]]'' (1875).]]

'''The Baroda Crisis''' was a political crisis took place in [[British Raj|British India]] between 1872 and 1876 in [[Baroda State|Baroda]], a 21-gun-salute [[Gujarat]]i [[princely state]].

==History==
The crisis began when [[Colonel]] [[Robert Phayre (Indian Army officer)|Robert Phayre]] was appointed as the [[Resident (title)|British Resident]] of Baroda. He had an increasingly negative relationship with [[Malhar Rao Gaekwad]], the [[Gaekwar of Baroda]]. This antagonism culminated in the Baroda Enquiry which found 'serious misgovernment' in the state. However, instead of taking into account the findings of the report, [[Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook|Thomas Baring]], the [[Viceroy of India]], instead only gave the Gaekwar a warning. This allowed the increasingly hostile relationship between Phayre and Gaekwad to develop, with Phayre increasingly unwilling to work with Rao.

The situation came to a head in November 1874. Phayre sent the Viceroy a damning report detailing the failings of the governance of the state. On the same day, the Gaekwar sent an urgent request to the Viceroy that Phayre be removed. Northbrook was sympathetic to Gaekwad and, on 12 November sent word to Bombay that Phayre should be replaced.

However, this action was taken too late as, on 9 March, an attempt was made to poison Phayre with a compound of [[arsenic]]. This led to the Gaekwar being convicted of [[high treason]]. By order of the [[Secretary of State for India]], [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Robert Gascoyne-Cecil]], Malhar Rao was deposed on 10 April 1875 and exiled to [[Madras]], where he died in obscurity in 1882.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_princes_A-J.html#Baroda|title=Indian Princely States A-J|last=Cahoon|first=Ben|website=www.worldstatesmen.org|access-date=2018-04-01}}</ref>

==Traditional perspective==
Traditionally, most notably put forward by [[Ian Copland]],<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=3862496|doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00077739|title = Ian Copland: The British Raj and the Indian princes: Paramountcy in Western India, 1857–1930. Xvi, 365 pp. London; Ssngam Books, 1982. £6.95. - S. R. Ashton: British policy towards the Indian states,1905–1939. (London Studies on South Asia, No.2.) xiv, 231 pp. London: Curzon Press, 1982. £6.75.|year = 1983|last1 = Moore|first1 = R. J.|journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|volume = 46|pages = 166–168|url-access = subscription}}</ref> the Baroda Crisis can be viewed as a demonstration of governmental rivalries of [[British Raj|British India]]. 'Official warfare' had long been occurring between the existing [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|presidencies]] of [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay]] and [[Calcutta Presidency|Calcutta]], however, the Baroda crisis intensified the conflicts. Aitchinson,{{who|date=May 2018}} the [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]], believed that India should be more centralised, which led to Calcutta increasingly attempting to break into Bombay's sphere of influence. This was worsened by a series of reforms which meant that Bombay no longer had the power to appoint the [[Baroda Residency|Resident of Baroda]]. Bombay's poor handling of the Baroda crisis allowed Calcutta a convenient excuse to assume all of Bombay's powers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/lhr/26.3/benton.html |title=Lauren Benton | from International Law to Imperial Constitutions: The Problem of Quasi-Sovereignty, 1870–1900 | Law and History Review, 26.3 | the History Cooperative |accessdate=2012-05-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120802161009/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/lhr/26.3/benton.html |archivedate=2 August 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Bombay's key failing was its indecision, which ultimately allowed the crisis to develop far more than it otherwise would have done. [[Robert Phayre (British Army officer)|Phayre]] had been established as unfit for residency long before the crisis began, but due to the volatile political situation, he was allowed to remain. This is because, if Bombay removed Phayre, it would appear that they could not control their staff, and therefore strengthen Calcutta's case for centralisation. When Bombay finally took the decision to remove Phayre, it was far too late.

==Modern perspective==
British historian Judith Rowbotham has put forward the view that, when looked at from a [[Postcolonialism|postcolonial]] perspective, the Baroda Crisis should primarily be viewed as a miscarriage of justice. Rowbowtham posits that rather than being tried by a jury, the Gaekwar of Baroda was convicted via an [[enquiry]], meaning that the [[British Raj|Raj]] was ultimately allowed to decide if he should be convicted. Furthermore, the Gaekwar could be found guilty under [[reasonable suspicion]], rather than the more stringent requirements of a criminal trial. If the Gaekwar had been tried fairly, there is no doubt that the verdict would have been 'innocent'. Rowbotham argues that this verdict could then be used as a warning to princes of other states.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1007/s10991-007-9025-2 | volume=28 | issue=3 | title=Miscarriage of Justice? Postcolonial Reflections on the 'Trial' of the Maharajah of Baroda, 1875 | year=2007 | journal=Liverpool Law Review | pages=377–403 | last1 = Rowbotham | first1 = Judith| s2cid=144613067 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Moulton, E.C. "British India and the Baroda Crisis 1874-75: A Problem in Princely Stat Relations." 1968, University of Saskatchewan.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baroda Crisis}}
[[Category:Baroda State]]
[[Category:History of Vadodara]]
[[Category:1870s in India]]
[[Category:1870s in British India]]
[[Category:Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury]]

The Baroda Crisis - Revision history

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