State of Baroda | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1721–1949 | |||||||||
 Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||
 Baroda State in 1901 | |||||||||
| Status | State Within theMaratha Empire (1721–1805) Protectorate of theEast India Company (1805–1858) Princely State of theBritish Raj (1858–1947) State of theDominion of India (1947–1949) | ||||||||
| Capital | Baroda | ||||||||
| Official languages | Marathi | ||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||
| Demonym | Barodian | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Maharaja | |||||||||
• 1721–1732(first) | Pilaji Rao Gaekwad | ||||||||
• 1939–1949(last)[a] | Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1721 | ||||||||
| 1949 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | India ∟Gujarat | ||||||||
Baroda State was a kingdom within theMaratha Empire and later aprincely state in present-dayGujarat. It was ruled by theGaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until itsaccession to the newly formedDominion of India. With the city ofBaroda as its capital, its relations with theBritish Raj authorities were managed by theBaroda Residency. The revenue of the state in 1901 was Rs. 13,661,000.[1] Barodamerged into theDominion of India on 1 May 1949, before which an interim government was formed in the state.[2]
Baroda derives its native nameVadodara from theSanskrit wordvatodara, meaning 'in the heart of theBanyan (Vata) tree. It also has another name,Virakshetra orVirawati (land of warriors), mentioned alongsideVadodara by the 17th century Gujarati poetPremanand Bhatt, native to the city. Its name has been mentioned asBrodera by early English travellers and merchants, from which its later name Baroda was derived.[3] Geographically it comprised several disjointed tracts of land, measuring over 1000 square miles, spread across the presentGujarat state; these were subdivided into fourprant (states), namelyKadi,Baroda,Navsari andAmreli, which included coastal portions of the state, in theOkhamadal region nearDwarka andKodinar nearDiu.[4]
TheMarathas first attacked Gujarat in 1705. By 1712, a Maratha leader Khande Rao Dabhade grew powerful in the region and when he returned toSatara in 1716, he was made thesenapati (commander in chief). Thereafter during the "Battle of Balapur" in 1721, one of his officers, Damaji Gaekwad was awarded the titleShamsher Bahadur or Distinguished Swordsman. Damaji died in 1721 and was succeeded by his nephew Pilajirao.[5]
Thus the Baroda State was founded in 1721, when theMaratha generalPilaji Gaekwad conqueredSongadh from theMughals. Before this Pilajirao was appointed as general to collect revenues from Gujarat by thePeshwa, the Prime Minister of theMaratha Empire, who had taken over the region north and south ofSurat from the Mughals to established theSarkar of Surat. Songadh remained the headquarters of the "House of Gaekwad" until 1866.[6][7] After theSecond Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), theEast India Company wrested control of much of Gujarat from theMarathas. However, the Gaekwads of Baroda (Vadodara) acknowledged Britishsuzerainty and control of the state's external affairs in return for retaining internal autonomy.
Following the death of SirKhanderao Gaekwad (1828–1870), the popular Maharaja of Baroda, in 1870, it was expected that his brother,Malharrao (1831–1882), would succeed him. However, Malharrao had already proven himself to be of the vilest character and had been imprisoned earlier for conspiring to assassinate Khanderao. As Khanderao's widow,MaharaniJamnabai (1853–1898) was already pregnant with a posthumous child, the succession was delayed until the gender of the child could be proven. The child proved to be a daughter, and so upon her birth on 5 July 1871, Malharrao ascended the throne.
Malharrao spent money liberally, nearly emptying the Barodan state coffers (he commissioned a pair of solid gold cannon and a carpet of pearls, among other expenses) and soon reports reached the Resident of Malharrao's gross tyranny and cruelty. Malharrao further attempted to cover up his deeds by poisoning the Resident, ColonelR. Phayre C.B. with a compound ofarsenic.[8] By order of theSecretary of State for India,Lord Salisbury, Malharrao was deposed on 10 April 1875 and exiled toMadras, where he died in obscurity in 1882.[9] With the throne of Baroda now vacant, Maharani Jamnabai called on the heads of the extended branches of the dynasty to come to Baroda and present themselves and their sons in order to decide upon a successor.
Kashirao and his three sons, Anandrao (1857–1917), Gopalrao (1863–1938) and Sampatrao (1865–1934) walked to Baroda from Kavlana, a distance of some 600 kilometres, to present themselves to Jamnabai.
Eventually, Gopalrao was selected by the British Government as successor and was accordingly adopted by Maharani Jamnabai, on 27 May 1875. He was also given a new name, Sayajirao. On 16 June 1875, he ascended the throne asSayajirao Gaekwad III, but being a minor, reigned under a Council of Regency until he came of age and was invested with full ruling powers on 28 December 1881. founding numerous institutions. During the hunting season in 1933, he was saved from lion by two boys of Dhari town,Arjan Koli andHari Koli. After that both Koli brothers were respected in open court (Baroda state darbar) and their bronze statues were established in royalSayaji Baug (Kamati Baug) by Sayajirao Gaekwad.[10]
Various important state institutions were founded in the early 20th century, including theBank of Baroda on 20 July 1908. In 1908, Sayajirao also founded the Baroda Legislative Assembly (also known as the Baroda Dhara Sabha).[11]
By the beginning of the 20th century, the relations of the British with the four largest princely states—Hyderabad,Mysore,Jammu and Kashmir, and Baroda were managed by a BritishResident under the direct authority theGovernor-General of India.[12] In 1911, Baroda State spanned 3,239 km2 (1,251 mi2), and the population was 2,032,798 persons as per the 1911 census of India.[13] The state was very wealthy.The Pittsburgh Press reported in 1927 that the diamond necklace, which contained theStar of the South diamond, was a part of a royal collection worth $10,000,000 at the time, housed in theNazarbaug Palace (built 1721) inBaroda city; another important part of the collection was a cloth embroidered with precious stones and seedpearls, made to cover the tomb ofMohammed.[14][15] The Qatar National Museum now holds the Pearl Carpet of Baroda as one of its treasures.[16]
Dr.B.R.Ambedkar writes about his experience withuntouchability in Baroda in the second chapter of his autobiographical book,Waiting for a Visa.[17]
In 1937, theprincely states of theBaroda Residency were merged with those of the agencies adjacent to the northern part of theBombay Presidency —Rewa Kantha Agency,Surat Agency,Nasik Agency,Kaira Agency andThana Agency — in order to form theBaroda and Gujarat States Agency.[18] A few years before independence the process of the 'Attachment Scheme' began in order to integrate the smallest princely states, estates andthanas. Baroda State was one of the main beneficiaries of this measure by being able to add about 15,000 km2 and half a million inhabitants to the state. The merged states werePethapur on 1 February 1940, theKatosan Thana, withDeloli,Kalsapura,Maguna,Memadpura,Rampura,Ranipura,Tejpura,Varsora, thePalaj Taluka and bothIjpura States between June and July 1940. These were followed on 10 July 1943 by the states ofAmbliara,Ghorasar,Ilol,Katosan,Khadal,Patdi,Punadra,Ranasan,Wasoda andWao[19] Also many smallTalukas of the region were merged. On 24 July 1943Sachodar State and a few small places that had no own jurisdiction were annexed. By December of the same year the small states ofBajana,Bhilka,Malpur, Mansa andVadia met the same fate.[20]
Finally on 5 November 1944 the Baroda and Gujarat States Agency was merged with theWestern India States Agency (WISA) to form the largerBaroda, Western India and Gujarat States Agency.
After theindependence of India, which initially did not include Baroda or many other princely states, an interim government under Prime Minister Dr.Jivraj Narayan Mehta, son-in-law ofManubhai Mehta, then Dewan of Baroda state, was inaugurated in the State, on 4 September 1948, by the then Maharaja at a specialDurbar in theLaxmi Vilas Palace, Baroda.[21] Finally on 1 May 1949, Baroda State, the third largest state at the time ofBritish India, formallymerged into theDominion of India,[2][22] Initially, Baroda merged with theBombay state, and then, on 1 May 1960, when the two new states ofGujarat andMaharashtra were formed, it became part of Gujarat, with Dr.Jivraj Narayan Mehta becoming the firstChief Minister of Gujarat.
TheKoli rebellion was led by two brothersNathaji Patel andYamaji Patel, chiefs ofChandapTaluq. During the greatIndian Rebellion of 1857, the Kolis of Chandap under Nathaji and Yamaji planning for revolt and Gaekwad of Baroda received that news. So Gaekwad stationed his cavalry at Chandap to control the rebels. But cavalry of Gaekwad was killed and thrown out byKolis of Chandap. After that Kolis went intoTaranga hills and continued their rebellion for few months. In the end of October 1857, the combined forces of British,Idar State and Baroda attacked Kolis and burnt the Chandap village.[23]
Innorth-west Gujarat, around the southern tip of theAravali, a number ofKoliTalukdars revolted against the triumvirate of theBritish,Gaekwad and Raja ofIdar. Together, these three forces burnt down two Koli villages towards the end of 1857. The Koli chieftains collected an army of 2000 Koli- andBhil soldiers and attacked Gaekwadi villages near present dayGandhinagar. Adoptingguerrilla tactics, they continued their resistance till the end of 1858. While Koli chiefs fought around the riverSabarmati. The Kolis paid a huge price for their resistance to British and Baroda. They were not only defeated in battle and punished for having dared to resist but, in the aftermath, kolis were marginalized by the rest of society asoutlaws. Being arms-bearing community, they too were disarmed in early 1858 and also forced to practiseagriculture.[24]
The state owned theGaekwar's Baroda State Railway (GBSR), which started in 1862 as the first narrow-gauge in India. It consisted of 8 miles (13 km) of narrow gauge track fromDabhoi toMiyagam.[25] The railway network extended to Goyagate, Chandod,Bodeli and Samalaya Jn with Dabhoi as its focal point. After independence in 1949 this railway merged with theBombay, Baroda and Central India Railway. The lines are under conversion to broad gauge currently.[26]
In late 18th century, the Baroda state established a Naval set up atBillimora, a port about 40 miles south ofSurat, known asBunder Billimora Suba Armor. Here a fleet of 50 vessels was stationed, which included mostly sails, cargo vessels for trading and military vessels to secure the sea from Portuguese, Dutch and French.[6]
When political alignments changed, after the Second Anglo-Maratha war, a joint expedition of British and Barodan state troops under Colonel Walker, then resident of Baroda, approachedKathiawad in 1808, and eventually obtained bonds from the chiefs ofOkha-mandal and from the maritime states of Kathiawad renouncing piracy. Then in 1813, the Barodan government acquired theparganah ofKodinar (in presentJunagadh district), where at port ofVelan a small fleet of four frigates with 12-pounder guns on each for the protection of the trade between Bombay andSindh was established. These four armed vessels were namedAnandprasad,Sarsuba,Anamat Vart andAnne Maria, which was purchased from theShah of Iran, and was known as 'Shah Kai Khusru' until then.[6]
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The Gaekwad dynasty follows the standard of male primogeniture in matters of succession. The present line of succession is as follows:
The Royal House of Baroda awards the Most Noble Order of the Rising Sun in three grades, classed as Udayaditya, Vikramaditya, and Arunaditya. This order of chivalry was established during the reign ofMaharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III.[27] Being made of gold, the breast star is arranged as follows:
Twenty four centrifugally arranged petal-shaped diamond studded strips alternating with shorter but similar strips, fanning out from two red enamelled, diamond-bordered circles, inscribed at the topSatyameva Jayate (Truth Shall Triumph). Within the inner circle a diamond encrustedSirpech (pagri-shaped crown with royal pendant-shaped decoration rising upwards from the front of the crown) resting on a diamond encrusted sword below, which, on a strip of red enamel, the inscription in gold,Vadodara Raj (Baroda State)[27]
List of Diwans of Baroda:[28]
In 2007, Gujarat State Department of Archives started digitising 600,000 files, including Baroda state registers, prints, maps,abhinandan patra ormaan patra (felicitation letters) offered to the erstwhile King by different provincial states and organisation,aagna patrika (gazette),huzur orders, and volumes of letters exchanged and agreements of the princely state with other provincial states and theBritish Raj, currently housed at the 'Southern Circle Record Office' at Vadodara, where a permanent exhibition had also been set up.[29]
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