Madras States Agency
The Madras States Agency was a colonial agency for the indirect rule of princely states associated with British India. Founded in 1923, it consisted of these five princely states (by precedence) :
- Travancore, ruled by a Maharaja with a hereditary salute of 19-guns;
- Cochin, ruled by a Maharaja with a hereditary salute of 17-guns;
- Pudukkottai, ruled by a Raja with a hereditary salute of 11-guns;
- Banganapalle, ruled by a Nawab with a hereditary salute of 9-guns;
- Sandur, a non-salute state ruled by a Raja.
| Madras States Agency | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agency of British India | |||||||||
| 1923–1948 | |||||||||
 1913 map of the Madras Presidency including the Princely States. | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Establishment of the agency | 1923 | ||||||||
| 1948 | |||||||||
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| Princely state |
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| Individual residencies |
| Agencies |
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| Lists |
History
Prior to 1923, the five states have been subject to the government of the Madras Presidency which was represented in each state by a resident usually the District Collector[1] of a neighbouring Madras district.[2] When in 1923, all the states were brought under the direct control of the Government of India, the individual residencies were abolished and replaced with a single unitary agency responsible to the Governor-General of India.
The agent was based in Trivandrum, the capital of Travancore. He supervised the foreign relations of the princely states and their relationship with the Central government in New Delhi.
The agency was abolished when India became independent in 1947. Between 1947 and 1950, the Madras states with the exception of Travancore and Cochin were merged with the neighbouring districts of Madras Province.
Chief officers
Agents
| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C. W. E. Cotton | 26 June 1923 | 4 May 1926 | 1 |
| 2 | H. A. B. Vernon (acting) | 4 May 1926 | 11 November 1926 | 1 |
| 3 | C. W. E. Cotton | 9 November 1926 | 18 April 1928 | 2 |
| 4 | C. G. Croswaithe | 19 April 1928 | 4 December 1929 | 1 |
| 5 | A. N. L. Cater | 4 December 1929 | 20 October 1930 | 1 |
| 6 | H. R. N. Pritchard | 20 October 1930 | 21 November 1932 | 1 |
| 7 | Donald Muyle Field | 21 November 1932 | 22 February 1935 | 1 |
| 8 | W. A. M. Garstin | 22 February 1935 | 19 November 1936 | 1 |
| 9 | Clairmont Percival Skrine | 19 November 1936 | 1 April 1937 | 1 |
Residents
On 1 April 1937, the Madras States Agency was converted into a residency and on 1 January 1939, the princely states of Banganapalle and Sandur were transferred to the Mysore Residency.
References
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 288–291.
- Great Britain India Office. The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Oxford, Clarendon Press 1908