Rajputana Agency

Rajputana Agency was a collection of native states in India (now in Rajasthan, west of Jaipur, northwestern India), under the political charge of an agent to the Governor-General of India who resided at Mount Abu in the Aravalli Range. The total area of Rajputana was 127,541 square miles (330,330 km²). It included 18 states and 2 estates or chiefships. For administrative purposes Rajputana was subdivided into nine groups of states, consisting of three residencies and six agencies:

* Mewar Residency, with headquarters at Udaipur, included the state of Mewar (Udaipur).
* Western Rajputana States Agency, which included the states of Dungarpur, Partabgarh and Banswara. This agency was part of Mewar Residency until 1906, when it was separated.
* Jaipur Residency, with headquarters at Jaipur, comprising the states of Jaipur and Kishangarh and the estate of Lawa.
* Western Rajputana States Residency, with headquarters at Jodhpur, comprising the states of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Sirohi.
* Bikaner Agency, with headquarters at Bikaner.
* Tarangagadh, with headquarters at Taranga.
* Alwar Agency, with headquarters at Alwar.
* Eastern Rajputana States Agency, with headquarters at Bharatpur, comprising the states of Bharatpur, Dholpur, and Karauli.
* Haraoti-Tonk Agency, with headquarters at Deoli, comprising the states of Tonk and Bundi and the estate of Shahpura.
* Kotah-Jhalawar Agency, with headquarters at Kota, comprising the states of Kotah and Jhalawar.

All of the states had Hindu Rajput rulers, except Tonk, which had a Muslim ruler, and Bharatpur and Dholpur, which had Jat rulers. The small British province of Ajmer-Merwara was also included within the geographical area of Rajputana, but was under direct British rule. Although Rajputs ruled most of the states, they comprised a minority of the population; in the 1901 census, of a total population of 9,723,301, 620,229 were Rajputs, who were numerically strongest in the northern states and in Udaipur.

Other important castes and tribes of Rajputana were the Brahmins, who traditionally occupied the highest rank among castes, and were numerous and influential; the Bhat caste, who were the keepers of secular tradition and of the genealogies; the Hindu mercantile castes; Jains, who comprised the majority of the merchants; the powerful cultivating groups, such as the Jat caste, the Gujars and the Meenas, the tribal peoples, Bhils and Meo. In the 1901 census, 7,035,093 persons, or more than 72% of the total population spoke one of the Rajasthani languages.

Economy

Under the British Raj, the majority of the people were occupied in agriculture. In the large towns banking and commerce flourished. In the north, the staple products for export were salt, grain, wool and cotton, and in the south opium and cotton. The major imports included of sugar, hardware and piece goods. Rajputana had relatively little industrial production. The principal manufactures were cotton and woolen goods, metalwork, ivory carving, and other handicrafts which were chiefly carried on in the eastern states. The system of agriculture was very simple; in the drier country west of the Aravalli Range only one crop was raised in the year, while in other parts south and east of the Aravallis two crops were raised annually, and various kinds of cereals, pulses and fibres are grown. In the desert tracts fine breeds of camels, cattle, horses and sheep were to be found wherever there is pasturage. Irrigation, mostly from wells, was almost confined to the northern portion. Rajputana was traversed throughout by the Rajputana railway, with its Malwa branch in the south, and diverging to Agra and Delhi in the north. Jodhpur, Udaipur and Bikaner had constructed branch railways at their own cost, the first of which was extended in 1901 to Hyderabad in Sindh. In 1909 another line was opened running north near the eastern boundary from Kotah to Bharatpur.

Rulers

, and few political changes were made in Rajputana until Indian independence in 1947.

References

*1911