Hill States of India

The Hill States of India were princely states lying in the northern border regions of the British Indian Empire.

History

During the colonial Raj period, two groups of princely states in direct relations with the Province of British Punjab became part of the British Indian Empire later than most of the former Mughal Empire, in the context of two wars and an uprising.

For its princely rulers the informal term Hill Rajas has been coined. It does not apply to other native hill country princes such as the Rawat of Rajgarh.

After the independence and split-up of British India, the Hill States

28

• the Rana (also styled as Rana Saheb) of
  Kumharsain
  . Tributaries of Kumharsain until 1815 were:
  • the Rana of Balsan
  • the Thakur of Madhan
  • the Thakur of Bharauli
• the Thakur of Beja State
• the Rana of Bhaji /Bhajji
• a prince of Bhagat
• the Raja of
  Kehloor
  ), entitled to an 11-guns salute
• the Rana of Darkoti
• the Rana (Shri) of Dhami
• the Raja (formerly Rana) of Jubbal, which had two tributaries:
  • the Thakur (sahib) of Dhadi State, initially tributary to Tharoch, then to Bashahr and finally in 1896 to Jubbal.
  • (title?) Rawin = Rawingarh
• the Raja (formerly Rana) of
  jagirdars
  collecting a special tax) :
  • a Jagirdar Gundh
  • a Jagirdar Madhan = Kiari
  • the Rana Sahib of
    Koti
    (since 1815)
  • the Thakur Saheb (also styled as Rana) of Ratesh (popularly known as Kot, 'fortress')
  • the Rana of Theog
• the Thakur of Kunihar
• the Rana of Kuthar
• the Thakur of Mahlog
• the Rana of Mangal
• the Raja of Nalagarh
• the Thakur (or Rai Mian) of
  Sangri State
• the Thakur (originally titled Rana up to the occupation by the Gurkhas; Thakurs from 1815 to 1929) of Tharoch = Tiroch

NB - For various of the entities above, the authentic title of the chieftain is missing. While some of the lowest ranking may have had none, for the princes that can merely be due to insufficient sources available

The princely states of the Simla Hills all ultimately became part of the modern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Demographics

Religious groups in Simla Hill States (

British Punjab province

era)

Religious group	1901[4]		1911[5][6]		1921[7]		1931[8]		1941[9]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Hinduism [a]	373,886	96.03%	386,953	95.7%	292,768	95.45%	317,390	95.93%	345,716	96.16%
Islam	11,535	2.96%	11,374	2.81%	9,551	3.11%	10,017	3.03%	10,812	3.01%
Buddhism	2,223	0.57%	2,709	0.67%	2,052	0.67%	1,308	0.4%	10	0%
Sikhism	1,318	0.34%	2,911	0.72%	2,040	0.67%	1,817	0.55%	2,693	0.75%
Jainism	274	0.07%	172	0.04%	142	0.05%	141	0.04%	126	0.04%
Christianity	113	0.03%	224	0.06%	164	0.05%	176	0.05%	161	0.04%
Zoroastrianism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	1	0%	2	0%
Judaism	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Others	0	0%	0	0%	1	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Total population	389,349	100%	404,343	100%	306,718	100%	330,850	100%	359,520	100%
Note1: Sangri states.

States of the Punjab Hills

Some nearby Hindu and Sikh states include :

• the Maharaja of Kangra,
• the Raja (Saheb) of Chamba, entitled to an 11 gun salute
• the Raja of Mandi,
• the Raja of Suket,
• the Raja of
  Siba
  , no salute, as Siba was not fully part of the British Indian Empire, only Siba Jagir (Jagir of Mian Devi Singh) up to Kotla.
• etc.

Notes

References