Hill States of India

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The Hill States of India were princely states lying in the northern border regions of the British Indian Empire.

Contents

History

During the colonial Raj period, two groups of princely states in direct relations with the Province of British Punjab became part of the British Indian Empire later than most of the former Mughal Empire, in the context of two wars and an uprising.

For its princely rulers the informal term Hill Rajas has been coined. It does not apply to other native hill country princes such as the Rawat of Rajgarh.

After the independence and split-up of British India, the Hill States acceded to the new Dominion of India and were later divided between India's constituent states of Punjab (proper), Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Simla Hills

Map of some Hill states, 1911 Chamba Kangra Bilaspur Mandi Kulu 1911.jpeg
Map of some Hill states, 1911

28 princely states (including feudatory princes and zaildars) in the promontories of the western Himalaya were named after Shimla as the Simla Hill States. [1] These states were ruled mainly by Hindu Rajputs. [2] [3]

Three quarters of the about 4,800 square miles (12,000 km2), on both sides of the Sutlej river, was the territory of the Raja (earlier Rana) of Bashahr. The direct tributaries of Bashahr were :

Initially both Khaneti and Delath were feudatory of Kumharsain.

The other, all far smaller, princely states, including a few with some petty dependencies of their own, were further south, on the left bank of the Sutlej :

NB - For various of the entities above, the authentic title of the chieftain is missing. While some of the lowest ranking may have had none, for the princes that can merely be due to insufficient sources available

The princely states of the Simla Hills all ultimately became part of the modern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Demographics

Religious groups in Simla Hill States (British Punjab province era)
Religious
group		1901 [4] 1911 [5] [6] 1921 [7] 1931 [8] 1941 [9]
Pop. %Pop.%Pop.%Pop.%Pop.%
Hinduism Om.svg [lower-alpha 1] 373,886386,953292,768317,390345,716
Islam Star and Crescent.svg 11,53511,3749,55110,01710,812
Buddhism Dharma Wheel (2).svg 2,2232,7092,0521,30810
Sikhism Khanda.svg 1,3182,9112,0401,8172,693
Jainism Jain Prateek Chihna.svg 274172142141126
Christianity Christian cross.svg 113224164176161
Zoroastrianism Faravahar.svg 00012
Judaism Star of David.svg 00000
Others00100
Total population389,349404,343306,718330,850359,520
Note1: British Punjab province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

Note2: 1901-1911 census: Including Jubbal, Bashahr, Keonthal, Baghal, Bilaspur, Nalagarh, and other minor hill states.

Note3: 1921-1931 census: Including Bashahr, Nalagarh, Keonthal, Baghal, Jubbal, and other minor hill states.

Note3: 1941 census: Including Bashahr, Nalagarh, Keonthal, Baghal, Jubbal, Baghat, Kumarsain, Bhajji, Mahlog, Balsan, Dhami, Kuthar, Kunihar, Mangal, Bija, Darkoti, Tharoch, and Sangri states.

States of the Punjab Hills

Some nearby Hindu and Sikh states include :

Notes

  1. ↑ 1931-1941: Including Ad-Dharmis

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References

  1. ↑ Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 8, p. 233.
  2. ↑ "Part I: Kangra (1883-1884)", Gazetteer of the Kangra District, 1883-84; reprinted Indus Publ. Co., New Delhi, 1994, p. 33. ISBN   8173870241
  3. ↑ Crill, Rosemary; Jariwala, Kapil (2010). The Indian Portrait, 1560-1860. Mapin Publishing Pvt. ISBN   9788189995379.
  4. ↑ "Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province". 1901. p. 34. JSTOR   saoa.crl.25363739 . Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  5. ↑ "Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1911. p. 27. JSTOR   saoa.crl.25393788 . Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  6. ↑ Kaul, Harikishan (1911). "Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II". p. 27. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables". 1921. p. 29. JSTOR   saoa.crl.25430165 . Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1931. p. 277. JSTOR   saoa.crl.25793242 . Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. ↑ "Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab". 1941. p. 42. JSTOR   saoa.crl.28215541 . Retrieved 30 March 2024.
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