Central Provinces and Berar
The
Central Provinces and Berar was a
province of
British India. The province comprised British conquests from the
Mughals and
Marathas in central India, and covered much of present-day
Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh and
Maharashtra states. Its capital was
Nagpur. It was formed in
1861 by the merger of the
Saugor and Nerbudda Territories and
Nagpur Province. The Marathi-speaking
Berar region of the
Hyderabad princely state was annexed to the Central Provinces in 1903. After Indian Independence in
1947, the Central Provinces became the new states of Madhya Pradesh, which at that point did not incorporate the surrounding princely states collectively known as Madhya Bharat. On November 1, 1956, Madhya Bharat, together with the states of Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal, was merged into Madhya Pradesh.
The Central Provinces and Berar were bounded on the north and northeast by the
Central India Agency, including the
Bundelkhand and
Bagelkhand agencies, and along the northern edge of
Sagar District by the
United Provinces; on the west by the states of
Bhopal,
Indore, and
Kandesh District of
Bombay Presidency; on the south by
Hyderabad State and the large
zamindari estates of the
Madras Presidency; and on the east by these latter estates and the tributary states of
Bengal.
After the defeat of the Marathas in the
Third Anglo-Maratha War, the territories north of the
Satpura Range ceded in 1817 by the Maratha
Peshwa (parts of Saugor and Damoh) and in 1818 by
Appa Sahib were in 1820 formed into the
Saugor and Nerbudda Territories under an agent to the
governor-general. In 1835 the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were included in the newly formed
North-Western Provinces. In 1842, in consequence of a rising, they were again placed under the jurisdiction of an agent to the governor-general. They were restored to the North-Western Province in 1853.
In 1818, the Maratha
Bhonsle Maharajas of Nagpur submitted to British sovereignty. In 1853, on the death of Raghoji III without heirs, Nagpur was annexed by the British under the
doctrine of lapse. Until the formation of the Central Provinces in 1861, Nagpur Province, which consisted of the Nagpur Division,
Chhindwara and Chhattisgarh, was administered by a commissioner under the central government.
|
Central Provinces and Berar in 1909 |
The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were joined with the Nagpur province to constitute the new Central Provinces in 1861. On the 1st of October 1903 Berar also was placed under the administration of the commissioner of the Central Provinces. In October 1905 most of
Sambalpur and the princely states of Bamra, Rairakhol, Sonpur, Patna and Kalahandi were transferred from the Central Provinces to Bengal, while the Hindi-speaking
Chota Nagpur states of Chang Bhakar, Korea, Surguja, Udaipur and Jashpur were transferred from Bengal to the Central Provinces.
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Central Provinces and Berar, 1903 |
The Central provinces and Berar was made up of 22 districts, grouped into five divisions:
*
Jubbulpore (Jabalpur) Division (18,950 sq. mi.) which included
Jubbulpore,
Saugor (Sagar),
Damoh,
Seoni and
Mandla districts.
* Nerbudda (Narmada) Division (18,382 sq. mi.), which included
Narsinghpur,
Hoshangabad,
Nimar,
Betul and
Chhindwara districts.
*
Nagpur Division (23,521 sq. mi.), which included
Nagpur,
Bhandara,
Chanda,
Wardha, and
Balaghat districts.
*
Chhattisgarh Division (21,240 sq. mi.), which included
Durg,
Raipur, and
Bilaspur districts.
*
Berar Division, which included Amraoti (
Amravati),
Akola,
Ellichpur,
Buldhana and
Wun districts.
The Central Provinces and Berar also had jurisdiction over 16
princely states. The states of Raigarh (1486 sq. mi.) and Sarangarh (540 m².) were under the authority of Chhattisgarh Division.
After Indian Independence in 1947, the Central Provinces and Berar became part of India, and was merged with the princely states under its authority to become the Indian
State of
Madhya Pradesh in 1950. In 1956, the
Marathi-speaking areas of Madhya Pradesh, which comprised the Berar and Nagpur divisions, became part of
Bombay state. In 2000, the eastern portion of Madhya Pradesh split off to become the new state of
Chhattisgarh.
