Central Provinces and Berar in 1909, showing the districts, divisions, and princely states under the authority of the province, as well as the 1905 changes to the eastern boundary
The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the British from the Hyderabad State. Through an agreement signed on 5 November 1902, 6th NizamMahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI leased Berar permanently to the British for an annual payment of 25 lakhs rupees. Lord Curzon decided to merge Berar with the Central Provinces, and this was proclaimed on 17 September 1903.[1]
After the defeat of the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, the territories north of the Satpura Range ceded in 1817 by the Maratha Peshwa (parts of Saugor and Damoh) and in 1818 by Appa Sahib, were in 1820, formed into the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories under an agent to the governor-general. In 1835 the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were included in the newly formed North-Western Provinces (which later became the United Provinces of Agra & Oudh). In 1842, in consequence of an uprising, they were again placed under the jurisdiction of an agent to the governor-general. They were restored to the North-Western Province in 1853.[4]
In 1818, the Maratha Bhonsle Maharajas of Nagpur submitted to British sovereignty. In 1853, on the death of Raghoji III without heirs, Nagpur was annexed by the British under the doctrine of lapse. Until the formation of the Central Provinces in 1861, Nagpur Province, which consisted of the Nagpur Division, Chhindwara and Chhattisgarh, was administered by a commissioner under the central colonial government.
Central Provinces and Berar, 1903. Princely states are shown in yellow.
The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were joined with the Nagpur province to constitute the new Central Provinces in 1861. on 1 October 1903 Berar was placed under the administration of the commissioner of the Central Provinces. In October 1905, most of Sambalpur and the princely states of Bamra, Rairakhol, Sonpur, Patna, and Kalahandi were transferred from the Central Provinces and Berar to Bengal, while the Hindi-speaking Chota Nagpur States of Chang Bhakar, British Korea, Surguja, Udaipur, and Jashpur were transferred from Bengal to the Central Provinces & Berar.[4]
The Government of India Act 1912 permitted the creation of legislative councils for provinces under a chief commissioner, and on 8 November 1913, the Central Provinces Legislative Council was formed.[6] The Government of India Act 1919 changed the administrator of the province from a chief commissioner to a governor, and enlarged the legislative council and expanded the voting franchise.
The first elections for the Legislative Council under the 1919 Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms were in November and December 1920. The Council consisted of 71 members - 53 elected members, 2 ex-officio members (members of Executive Council), and 16 official and non-official nominated members (Zamindar owners declared as backward, Depressed Classes, Europeans and Anglo-Indians). Out of the 53 elected members, 40 came from general constituencies (30 rural and 10 urban), 7 communal constituencies and 6 special constituencies (Central Provinces & Berar Mining Association, Central Provinces & Berar Commerce & Industry Association, Berar Commerce & Industry, and Central Provinces & Berar Landholders). The Indian National Congress had decided at its Calcutta Conference to boycott the elections as part of the Non-cooperation Movement, and many prominent nationalist leaders, including Ravishankar Shukla, E. Raghavendra Rao, B. S. Moonje, Daulat Singh, Makhan Lal Chaturvedi, and Vishnudutta Shukla, either decided not to run, or withdrew their candidacies. The legislative seats went mostly to Liberals and Loyalists. Gangadhar Rao Chitnavis was nominated as the President of the Council.[7]
The Montagu-Chelmsford reforms also introduced the principle of dyarchy, whereby certain responsibilities such as agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers but some responsibilities such as home, finance and revenue were reserved with the Members of the Executive Council of the Governor. Some of the Indians who served as members of the Governor's Executive Council were Moropant Vishvanath Joshi (Home) and E. Raghavendra Rao.
By 1923, the nationalists had decided to participate in the legislative elections, and in the November and December 1923 election, and the Swaraj Party, which advocated Indian independence, won 41 of the 54 elected seats. 4 seats went to independents who generally allied with the Swarajists, four to the Liberals, and five to independents allied with the Liberals. The Swarajists were led by B. S. Moonje from Vidarbha, E. Raghavendra Rao from Mahakoshal, and S. B. Tambe and B. G. Khaparde of Berar. S. M. Chitnavis was leader of the Liberals. Despite winning a majority of seats, the Swarajists, consistent with the party's policy of obstruction and non-acceptance of office, refused to form a government, and Governor Frank Sly selected Chitnavis and Syed Hifazat Ali, a Muslim independent, as ministers.[7]
In the 1926 election, the Swarajists split, with one faction continuing with the policies of obstruction and non-acceptance of office, while the Responsive Cooperation Party which chose to participate in government. After the election B. S. Moonje formed a ministry by uniting Responsive Cooperation, Independent Congress, Liberal, and independent legislators into a National Party, with 33 members.[7]
The ministry collapsed in 1933 due to infighting among the ministers and a new ministry was formed under Raghavendra Rao with Muhammad Yusuf Shareef and V. B. Choubal as ministers. This ministry collapsed in 1934 and a new ministry was formed with B. G. Khaparde as Chief Minister and K. S. Naidu as the other minister. This ministry remained in office till 1937.[7]
In 1933, the princely states in Chhattisgarh Division were transferred to the Eastern States Agency, and Makrai to the Central India Agency. On 24 October 1936, the Central Provinces became the Central Provinces and Berar when it was fully merged with Berar Division, although it remained under the nominal sovereignty of Hyderabad.[8]
In 1935, the Government of India Act was passed by the British Parliament. This act provided for the election of a provincial assembly, with an electorate made up of men with a minimum of financial resources, and excluding women and the poor. Supervisory powers over the enclaved and attached Princely States were reserved to the Governor and removed from the authority of the popular provincial governments. Elections were held in 1937, and the Indian National Congress took a majority of the seats but declined to form the government. A minority provisional government was formed under E. Raghavendra Rao.[9]
Revenue, Land Records, Survey, Settlement, Forest, Excise, Stamp, and Education
Syed Wakil Ahmed Rizvi
Finance, Local Self-Government, Medical, Public Health, and Public Works
Dharamrao Bhujangrao
Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, and Registration
The Congress reversed its decision and resolved to accept office in July 1937. Therefore, the Governor invited N. B. Khare to form the government in August 1937.[10][11][12]
Khare resigned in 1938, and Ravi Shankar Shukla next became Premier. In 1939, along with Congress leaders from other provinces, Shukla resigned in protest of the Governor-General's declaration of war on Germany without consulting with Indian leaders, and the Central Provinces & Berar came under Governor's Rule. Another round of elections were held in 1946, yielding another Congress majority, and Shukla again became Premier.[8]
After Indian independence
India became independent on 15 August and the Central Provinces & Berar became a province of the Dominion of India. The princely states, which were under the Central Provinces before 1936, were merged into the province, and organized into new districts. When the Constitution of India went into effect in 1950, the Central Provinces & Berar was reorganized with territorial changes as the state of Madhya Pradesh, which name also means Central Province.
On 1 November 1956, Madhya Bharat, together with the states of Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal State, was merged into Madhya Pradesh. In 1956, strong demand due to linguistic similarity from MarathiIrredentists, the Berar and Nagpur divisions were transferred to Bombay State. In 1960, the Bombay State was partitioned into Maharashtra & Gujarat. In 2000, the eastern portion of Madhya Pradesh was split off to become the new state of Chhattisgarh.[13]
Demographics
The 1911 census counted a population of 16,033,310 for the Central Provinces and Berar. Droughts in 1917 and 1920 caused famine in several districts, and the Central Provinces were affected by bubonic plague in 1911, 1912, 1915, 1917, and 1918, and by the 1918 influenza pandemic. In the 1921 census, the population declined by 0.3% from 1911 to 15,970,660.[14]
The 1931 census found a total population of 17,990,937 for the Central Provinces and Berar - 12,065,885 for the British districts, 3,441,838 for Berar, and 2,483,214 in the princely states.[15]
Administration
The 1941 Census of India counted 16,813,584 persons in the province, of which 2,093,767 were urban and 14,719,817 were rural.[16]
Districts
The Central provinces and Berar was made up of 22 districts, grouped into five divisions:
Sagar (Saugor) is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sagar district of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Situated on a spur of the Vindhya Range, 1,758 feet (536 m) above sea-level. The city is around 172 kilometres (107 mi) northeast of state capital, Bhopal.
The Central India Agency was created in 1854, by amalgamating the Western Malwa Agency with other smaller political offices which formerly reported to the Governor-General of India. The agency was overseen by a political agent who maintained British relations with the princely states and influence over them on behalf of the Governor-General. The headquarters of the agent were at Indore.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court is the High Court of the state of Madhya Pradesh which is located in Jabalpur. It was established as the Nagpur High Court on 2 January 1936 by Letters Patent dated 2 January 1936, issued under Section 108 the Government of India Act, 1935. This Letters Patent continued in force even after the adoption of the constitution of India on 26 January 1950 by virtue of Articles 225 & 372 thereof. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 53.
Korea State, currently spelled as Koriya, was a princely state of the British Empire of India. After Indian independence in 1947, the ruler of Korea acceded to the Union of India on 1 January 1948, and Koriya was made part of Surguja District of Central Provinces and Berar province. In January 1950, "Central Provinces and Berar" province was renamed Madhya Pradesh state. After November 2000, Korea and the former princely state of Changbhakar became Koriya district of Chhattisgarh state.
The Nagpur Division is one of six administrative divisions of the state of Maharashtra in India. Nagpur is the easternmost division in the state, with an administrative headquarters in the city of Nagpur. It covers 51,336 km² (19,821 mi²). The Amravati and Nagpur divisions make up the Vidarbha region.
Amravati Division, also known as Varhad, is an Indian one of the six administrative divisions of Maharashtra state in India. Amravati and Nagpur divisions constitute the ancient Vidarbha region. Amravati Division is bound by Madhya Pradesh state to the north, Nagpur Division to the east, Telangana state to the southeast, Marathwada region to the south and southwest, and Nashik Division to the west.
Nagpur Province was a province of British India that covered parts of the present-day states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh. The city of Nagpur was the capital of the province.
The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories, was a region of British India, located in the central part of present-day Madhya Pradesh state in central India. It included the present-day districts of Sagar (Saugor), Damoh, Jabalpur, and Narsinghpur.
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another, they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods:
The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Nagpur was the primary winter capital while Pachmarhi served as the regular summer retreat. It became the Central Provinces and Berar in 1903.
The Kingdom of Nagpur was an Indian kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries. It came under the rule of the Marathas of the Bhonsle dynasty in the mid-18th century and became part of the Maratha Empire. The city of Nagpur was the capital of the state.
Chhattisgarh Division was an administrative division of the Central Provinces of British India. It was located in the east of the Central Provinces and encompassed the upper Mahanadi River basin, in the central part of present-day Chhattisgarh state of India.
Ravishankar Shukla was a leader of the Indian National Congress, Indian independence movement activist, the Premier of the Central Provinces and Berar from 27 April 1946 to 25 January 1950, first Chief Minister of the reorganised Madhya Pradesh state from 1 November 1956 until his death on 31 December 1956, he was elected from Saraipali in Madhya Pradesh. He also served as Member of Constituent Assembly of India from Central Provinces and Berar.
Raghoji I or Raghuji the Great of the Bhonsale dynasty, was a Maratha general who took control of the Nagpur Kingdom in east-central India during the reign of Shahu I. His successors ruled the kingdom until 1853.
Changbhakar State, also known as Chang Bhakar, was one of the princely states of British Empire in India in the Chhattisgarh States Agency. It included 117 villages and had an area of 2,330 square kilometres (899 sq mi) with a 1941 population of 21,266 people. Bharatpur was the capital of the princely state.
The history of Nagpur, in central India, spans over 5,000 years, including the Kingdom of Nagpur in the 18th and 19th century. Human existence around present-day Nagpur city can be traced back 3,000 years to the 8th century BC. Menhir burial sites at Drugdhamna indicate megalithic culture existed around Nagpur and is still followed in present times.
The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines.
The Jubbulpore Division, named after its capital Jabalpur (Jubbulpore), was one of the four former administrative divisions of the Central Provinces of British India. It was located in the Mahakoshal region of present-day Madhya Pradesh state of India. The Jubbulpore Division had an area of 48,401 km² with a population of 2,201,633 in 1881.
The Bhonsles of Nagpur were a Maratha royal house that ruled the Kingdom of Nagpur from 1739-1853. They hailed from the Bhonsle clan of Marathas and were one of the most important and powerful Maratha chiefs in the Maratha Empire.
Mohan Singh was the last ruler of the Haihaiyavanshi Kingdom, the dynasty which ruled Chhattisgarh for over 700 years. He ruled Chhattisgarh under the suzerainty of the Bhonsles of Nagpur Kingdom.
This articleincorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Central Provinces and Berar". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol.5 (11thed.). Cambridge University Press. pp.681–683. This contains a more-detailed account of the geography and history of the provinces up to the 19th century.
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