Political divisions of Madhya Bharat under the Raj.

What we call Madhya Pradesh today,was divided into different Princely states and Provinces during the Raj years.

        From map of India by Dodd, Mead and Company, 1903.Library of Congress Geography and Map Collection.

Parts of eastern MP like Jabalpur,Sagar,Hoshangabad,Mandla constituted the British India’s Central Province.

Central Provinces was directly administered by the British Crown and had an Accountant General, Central Provinces in Nagpur.

The bulk of MP however had several Princely States with their own hereditary princes and chiefs whose sovereignity was subject to their agreement with the British Crown.Apart from the Gwalior Residency (whose ruler got a 21-gun salute),there were the Bhopal and Indore Agencies(19-gun salute) with several sub-princes under them.Together they constituted the Central India Agency (CIA).There were in all 58 princely states in CIA.

Though the British did not directly administer the Princely States, in practice they exercised a great deal of control through Political Agents (or Residents in the Residencies) appointed by the Governor-General. 

Political agents were usually members of the “Political Department,” the diplomatic service, , of the British in India. The Political Department was an especially elite corps within the British administration, and hand-picked its members from the Indian Civil Service as well as the Indian Army.

British residents monitored state finances and administration, and kept a hawk’s eye on expenses ;ensured that the young princes were properly educated. Often, in the case of princes who had not attained majority, these residents would act directly as guardian-administrators; and in general interference in day-to-day matters was not uncommon. Rulers who defied the residents were from time to time removed.

To keep watch on princely profligacy,the office of the financial Comptroller was crucial. The Comptroller was responsible for budgeting,reporting on actual expenditures and for scrupulous accounting of every paisa into the appropriate heads.

The old records of AG (MP) provide a fascinating glimpse into this forgotten world of the early twentieth century.

We have found comprehensive and systematic recording of receipts and disbursements by the  India Office, of the staff of the Palace establishments of princely states and correspondences of the CAG’s of yore with the Comptroller in CP.Through these documents we get an insight into how Administration was conducted in the Raj years and the problems of amalgamation in the early years of Independence.