| Ceded and Conquered Provinces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region of theBritish Empire in India | |||||||||||||
| 1805–1834 | |||||||||||||
 Map of theCeded and Conquered Provinces (1805). TheKumaon Division was annexed in 1816. | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Agra | ||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• 1835 (?) | 9,479 km2 (3,660 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
• 1835 (?) | 4,500,000 | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
• Established | 1805 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1834 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Today part of | Portions in Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand Delhi | ||||||||||||
TheCeded and Conquered Provinces constituted a region in northernIndia that was ruled by theBritish East India Company from 1805 to 1834;[1] it corresponded approximately—in present-dayIndia—to all regions inUttar Pradesh state with the exception of theLucknow andFaizabad divisions ofAwadh; in addition, it included theDelhi territory and, after 1816, theKumaun division and a large part[a] of theGarhwal division of present-dayUttarakhand state.[1] In 1836, the region became theNorth-Western Provinces (under a Lieutenant-Governor), and in 1904, theAgra Province within theUnited Provinces of Agra and Oudh.[1]
At the start of the 19th century, only theBenares division and the fort ofAllahabad in present-dayUttar Pradesh were under British rule.[1] In 1801, theNawab of Awadh,Saadat Ali, ceded some territory to the British in return for protection against a threat of attack from the north-west byZaman Shah Durrani, the grandson ofAhmad Shah Durrani.[1] The territory included theGorakhpur andRohilkhand divisions; the districts ofAllahabad,Fatehpur,Cawnpore,Etawah,Mainpuri,Etah; the southern part ofMirzapur; and theterai parganas ofKumaun, and came to be known as theCeded Provinces.[1] A year later theNawab of Farrukhabad cededFarrukhabad district to the British.[1]
With the outbreak theSecond Anglo-Maratha War,General Lake, took theMeerut division (includingAligarh, after theBattle of Ally Ghur), and soon, the rest of theAgra division (includingAgra city), and the districts aroundDelhi.[1] In addition, most of thetrans-Jamuna districts ofBanda andHamirpur were added, as well as a small area inJalaun district.[1]
In 1816, under theTreaty of Sugauli signed at the conclusion of theAnglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816), theKumaon division andDehradun district of present-dayUttarakhand state were annexed as well.[1]
TheCeded and Conquered Provinces were a part of theBengal Presidency ofBritish India under the administration of theGovernor-General-in-Council.[1] The great distance of the newly acquired territory from the capital of the presidency inCalcutta created administrative hitches.[2] In response, a number of temporary arrangements were attempted, but proved to be less than optimal; finally, in 1831, an independent Board of Revenue and a separateSadr Diwani andNizamat Adalat (Chief Civil and Criminal Courts) were created for these provinces.[2] In 1833, anact of the British Parliament, theGovernment of India Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 85) concurrently promulgated the division of theBengal Presidency, the elevation theCeded and Conquered Provinces to the newPresidency of Agra, and the appointment of a new Governor for the latter.[2] However, the plan was never carried out, and in 1835 another act of Parliament, theIndia (North-West Provinces) Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 52) renamed the region theNorth Western Provinces, this time to be administered by a Lieutenant-Governor, the first of whom, SirCharles Metcalfe, would be appointed in 1836.[2]
