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BARODA
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BARODA , a native See also:state of See also:India, within the See also:Gujarat See also:province of Bombay, but in See also:direct relations with the See also:governor-See also:general. It consists of four isolated divisions, each of which is interlaced in the most intricate See also:fashion with See also:British territory or with other native states. Three of these divisions—Kadi, Baroda and Nausari—are in Gujarat proper; the See also:fourth, Amreli with Okhamandal, is in the See also:peninsula of See also:Kathiawar. The See also:total See also:area covers 8099 sq. m. In 1901 the See also:population was 1,952,692, showing a decrease of 19 % in the See also:decade, compared with an increase of 11 % in the preceding decade. This decrease was due partly to the famines of 1896–1897 and 1900-1901, partly to the epidemics of See also:cholera and See also:fever which accompanied them, and partly to the See also:plague which attacked the state in as See also:great measure as the surrounding See also:presidency: The princes of Baroda were one of the See also:chief branches of the Mahratta confederacy, which in the 18th See also:century spread devastation and terror over India. About 1721 one Pilaji See also:gaekwar carved a fertile slice of territory out of Gujarat, and afterwards received the See also:title of " See also:Leader of the Royal Troops " from the See also:peshwa. During the last See also:thirty-two years of the century the See also:house See also:fell a See also:prey to one of those See also:bitter and unappeasable See also:family feuds which are the ruin of great See also:Indian families. In 1800 the See also:inheritance descended to a See also:prince feeble in See also:body and almost idiotic in mind. British troops were sent in See also:defence of the hereditary ruler against all claimants; a treaty was signed in 1802, by which his See also:independence of the peshwa and his dependence on British See also:government were secured. Three years later these and various other engagements were consolidated into a systematic See also:plan for the See also:administration of the Baroda territory, under a prince with a See also:revenue of three-quarters of a million See also:sterling, perfectly See also:independent in all See also:internal matters, but practically kept on his See also:throne by subsidiary British troops. For some See also:time the See also:history of the gaekwars was very much the same as that of most territorial houses in India: an occasional able See also:minister, more rarely an able prince; but, on the other See also:hand, a See also:long dreary See also:list of incompetent heads, venal advisers and taskmasters oppressive to the See also:people. At last a fierce family See also:feud came to a See also:climax. In 1873 an See also:English See also:committee of inquiry was appointed to investigate various complaints of oppression against the gaekwar, Malhar See also:Rao, who had recently succeeded to the throne after being for a long time kept in See also:prison by his See also:brother, the former gaekwar. No real reform resulted, and in 1874 an See also:attempt at poisoning the British See also:resident led to the gaekwar being formally accused of the See also:crime and tried by a mixed See also:commission. The result of the trial (1875) was a failure to obtain a unanimous See also:verdict on the See also:charge of poisoning; the See also:viceroy, See also:Lord See also:Northbrook, however, decided to depose Malhar Rao on the ground of See also:gross misgovernment, the widow of his brother and predecessor, Khande Rao, being permitted to adopt an See also:heir from among the descendants of the founder of the family. This heir, by name Sayaji Rao, then a boy of twelve years in the humble See also:home of a Deccani See also:cultivator, was educated by an English See also:tutor, the administration being meanwhile placed for eight years under the charge of See also:Sir T. Madhava Rao, formerly diwan of See also:Travancore, one of the ablest and most enlightened of Indian statesmen. The result was a conspicuous success. The gaekwar showed himself a See also:model prince, and his territories became as well governed and prosperous as a British See also:district. He repeatedly visited See also:Europe in See also:company with his wife. In 1887 the See also:queen-empress conferred upon him at See also:Windsor the insignia of G.C.S.I., and in r89z upon his wife the Imperial See also:order of the See also:crown of India. The gross revenue of the state is more than a million sterling. In 1901 the state currency of Babashai rupees was withdrawn, and the British See also:rupee was introduced. The See also:regular military force consists of a See also: Pop. (1901) 103,790. The whole aspect of the city has been changed by the construction of handsome public buildings, the laying-out of parks and the widening of the streets. An excellent See also:water-See also:supply is provided from the Ajwa See also:lake. The cantonments, garrisoned by a native infantry See also:regiment, are under British See also:jurisdiction, and have a population of 4000. The city contains a college and many See also:schools. The chief hospitals are called after the countess of See also:Duff See also:erin, Sayaji Rao and Janmabai, the widow of Khande Rao. See Baroda Gazetteer, 1908. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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