Bhopawar Agency


Bhopawar Agency was a sub-agency of the Central India Agency in British India with the headquarters at the town of Bhopawar, so the name. Bhopawar Agency was created in 1882 from a number of princely states in the Western Nimar and Southern Malwa regions of Central India belonging to the former Bhil Agency and Bhil Sub-agency with the capitals at Bhopawar and Manpur. The agency was named after Bhopawar, a village in Sardarpur tehsil, Dhar District of present-day Madhya Pradesh state. Manpur remained a strictly British territory.
The other chief towns of this region were: Badnawar, Kukshi, Manawar and Sardarpur, Chadawad Estate, Dattigaon. The mighty Vindhya and Satpura ranges crossed the territory of the agency roughly from east to west, with the fertile valley of the Narmada River lying between them. The agency also included the "Bhil Country", inhabited by the Bhil people.

History

At the time of its 1882 establishment, the agency had a total area of, and its population was 547,546 according to the 1901 census.
In 1904 certain districts were transferred from this agency to the Indore Residency, created in 1899, and the area of Bhopawar was thus reduced by.
In 1925 Bhopawar Agency was merged into Malwa Agency, and in 1927 the agency was renamed the Malwa-Bhopawar States Agency, which was renamed again as the Malwa Agency in 1934.
After Indian Independence in 1947, the rulers of the princely states within Malwa-Bhopawar Agency acceded to the Union of India, and the region became part of the new state of Madhya Bharat. Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956.

Princely states and their feudatory estates

Salute States

s in the agency, by precedence, with their feudatories :
  1. Dhar, title Maharaja, Hereditary salute of 15-guns
  2. * The following were the jagirs, ruled by the Bhilala tribes, that were under the Suzerainty of Dhar State. :
  3. # Jamnia,
  4. # Kali-Baori
  5. #Nimkhera
  6. # Rajgadh
  7. * There were several British guaranteed Fiefdoms which were under the suzerainty of Dhar Durbar, also known as Feudatory Estates. They were ruled by Rajputs.
  8. # Multhan, title Thakur
  9. # Kachhi-Baroda, title Thakur
  10. # Bakhatgarh, title Rao Saheb
  11. # Dhotria, alias Baisola, title Thakur.
  12. Alirajpur, title Raja, Hereditary salute of 11-guns
  13. * including the extinct State of Phulmaal, which was incorporated into it earlier as well as Fiefs
  14. # Ondhwa
  15. # Sondhwa.
  16. Barwani, title Maharana, Hereditary salute of 11-guns
  17. Jhabua, title Raja, Hereditary salute of 11-guns

    Non-salute states

Minor and petty Princely states in the agency included :
  1. Amjhera, title Rao
  2. Chhadawad, title Rao
  3. Jobat, title Raja
  4. Kathiwara, title Thakur
  5. Mathwar, title Rana
  6. Ratanmal, title Thakur.
  7. in Indore State Territory's few enclaves like - Petlawad Tehsil, Dahi Jagir etc.
  8. also including around about seventeen Feudal lords who paid direct tribute to Indore Durbar.
Further estates, not named above, include :