Home > Princely state
A princely state was a principality or kingdom in British India ruled by a local ruler, called a prince by the British (but who were truly kings). The princely states enjoyed local autonomy and had their own laws, languages, holidays, ministers, and monarchs, but were under British protection and were essentially vassals. At independence, nearly 680 such states existed in British India, and were represented in a special chamber of the Indian legislative assembly called the House of Princes.The least powerful Hindu rulers used the title "Thakur." Most Hindu rulers used the title " Raja," or a variant such as "Rana," "Rao," "Rawat" or "Rawal." The most influential Hindu rulers used the prefix "Maha" ("Great"), as in "Maharaja," "Maharana," etc. Muslim rulers almost all used the title " Nawab," with the prominent exceptions of the Nizam of Hyderabad & Berar and the Wali/ Khan of Kalat.
1 Precedence and titles
The gun-salute system was used to determine the precedence of the rulers. Princely rulers were entitled to be saluted by the firing of an odd number of guns between three and 21, with a greater number of guns indicating greater prestige. (There were many minor rulers who were not entitled to any gun salutes, and for the rule the majority of gun-salute princes had at least nine, with numbers below that usually the prerogative of Arab coastal sheikhs also under British protection.) Generally, the number of guns was the same for all rulers of a particular state, but individuals were sometimes granted additional guns on personal bases. Furthermore, rulers were sometimes granted additional guns within their own territories only.
At the time of Indian independence, only five rulers — the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Maharaja of Mysore, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, the Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda and the Maharaja Sindhia of GwaliorGwalior is a city in Madhya Pradesh, India. It lies 76 miles (122 km) south of Agra with a population of 690,342. The City At the heart of Gwalior is its fortress, one of the most formidable in India. It occupies an isolated rock outcrop, and is surrounde — were entitled to 21-gun salutes. A further five rulers — the Nawab of BhopalTowns and cities of Madhya Pradesh Cities in India Bhopl is a city in central India. It is the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh. Bhopal is also the name of a district in Madhya Pradesh with Bhopal city as its headquarters. Historically, Bhopal was a, the Maharaja Holkar of IndoreIndore is the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh MP. It is situated on the Malwa plateau, just south of the Satpura Range. It is the capital of the Indore district. History Indore was formerly ruled by Maratha Maharajas of the Holkar dynasty. The Dynast, the Maharana of UdaipurUdaipur is a city in Rajasthan, India. History Udaipur was the ancient capital of the kingdom on Mewar, ruled by Ranas of the Sisodia Rajput clan. Under British rule, this was a prominent Rajput state. It is famous for producing Rana Sangha, Rana Pratap,, the Maharaja of KolhapurKolhapur is a beautiful city, situated in the south west corner of Maharashtra, India Population of Kolhapur is around 419,000. The main languages are Marathi, Hindi, and English. It is popular for its temple to Mahalaksmi. It is situated on the bank of r and the Maharaja of TravancoreTravancore (originally called Thiruvithaamcoore, in Malayalam) was a princely state in India. It had a 19 gun salute in the British Empire. It was merged with two other Malayalam-speaking kingdoms namely Kochi in July 1, 1949 to form Thiru-Kochi, and late — were entitled to 19-gun salutes. (For comparison, one may note that the Emperor of India was entitled to a 101-gun salute.)
The most senior princely ruler was the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was entitled to the style Exalted Highness. Other princely rulers entitled to salutes of 11 guns or more were entitled to the style Highness. No special style was used by rulers entitled to salutes of fewer than 11 guns. After India became independent, the Maharana of UdaipurUdaipur is a city in Rajasthan, India. History Udaipur was the ancient capital of the kingdom on Mewar, ruled by Ranas of the Sisodia Rajput clan. Under British rule, this was a prominent Rajput state. It is famous for producing Rana Sangha, Rana Pratap, displaced the Nizam of Hyderabad as the most senior one, and the style Highness was extended to all rulers entitled to 9-gun salutes.
All princely rulers were eligible to be appointed to certain British orders of chivalry associated with India, The Most Exalted Order of the Star of IndiaThe article is about the order of chivalry known as "Star of India". For other items of the same name, please see disambiguation at Star of India. The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Victoria in 1861. The Order i and The Most Eminent Order of the Indian EmpireThe Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Victoria in 1877. The Order includes members of five classes: Knights Grand Commanders, Knights Commanders and Companions. No appointments have been made since 1947. The motto. Even women could be appointed as "knights" of these orders. Rulers entitled to 21-gun and 19-gun salutes were normally appointed to the highest rank possible (Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India).
