Orissa Tributary States

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The Orissa Tributary States are a group of former princely states of British India, now part of the present-day Indian state of Orissa.

The Orissa Tributary States were located in the hilly region of eastern Orissa, on the border with Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand states. In the 18th century, the entire region came under the control of the Maratha Empire, in particular the Bhonsle maharajas of Nagpur. Meanwhile, the British had become established in Bengal, and were expanding their influence into the lowland tracts of Orissa. The British and the Marathas came into conflict in the late 18th century, and at the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803, the Maharaja of Nagpur ceded Orissa to the British. Some of the former Maratha territory was ruled directly by the British, and attached to the Bengal Presidency; other territories became princely states, under the control of local rulers under a treaty of subsidiary alliance to the British monarch. The status of the Orissa Tributary States, the largest of which were Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Boudh, and Nayagarh, was unclear until 1888, when the Secretary of State for India accepted the view that they did not form part of British India, and modified powers were handed over to the Orissa chiefs under the control of a superintendent.

In 1905 five Oriya-speaking states (Bamra, Rairakhol, Sonpur, Patna, and Kalahandi) were added from the Central Provinces and two (Gangpur and Bonai) from the Chota Nagpur States. With the addition of these states, the total area was 72,638 km² (28,046 square miles) and the population was 3,173,395 per the 1901 census. In 1912, the province of Bihar and Orissa was detached from Bengal, and the Orissa Tributary States were under the authority of the governor of Bihar and Orissa. In 1936 Orissa became a separate province, but the Orissa Tributary States were merged into the Eastern States Agency, which was under the direct authority of the Governor-General of India rather than that of the provincial governor. After Indian independence in 1947, the rulers of the states acceded to the Government of India, and the former Orissa Tributary States except Oriya speaking prinly states of Sarikela and Kharsawan,were integrated into the state of Orissa.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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