The Hill States under Colonial Power

A named syllabus topic. The British never annexed most of the hill states; they subordinated them through a legal instrument — the sanad — and a supervisory officer.

The sanad system (from 1815)

• A sanad is a charter granting recognition of the ruler's authority. After Segauli the restored rajas each received one.
• Terms: internal autonomy retained; external relations, war and diplomacy surrendered; succession subject to British recognition; tribute or nazrana payable; troops and supplies on demand.
• States that had helped against the Gorkhas got favourable terms; those that had submitted to them got less.

Administrative machinery

• Superintendent of Hill States at Subathu (1815), later a Political Agent; the post moved with the growth of Shimla.
• Simla Hill States — the cluster of about 28 small states around Shimla, dealt with as a group.
• Punjab Hill States — the larger states (Chamba, Mandi, Suket, Bilaspur) under the Punjab government.
• After 1858 the states came under the Crown; the Punjab States Agency was constituted in 1930s reorganisations.

Direct annexation

• 1846 — Kangra, Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti annexed after the First Anglo-Sikh War and made the district of Kangra under Punjab.
• 1849 — Jaswan, Datarpur and Siba annexed after the Second Anglo-Sikh War.
• 1850 — Baghat annexed under the doctrine of lapse; restored in 1862 to Rana Durga Singh.
• Retained tracts from 1815: Subathu, Kotgarh, Kotkhai and the Shimla site.

1857 and after

Most rulers sided with the British and were rewarded with sanads confirming their rights in perpetuity, grants of land, titles and gun salutes. Bushahr alone gave no assistance. The 1858 settlement made the hill states' position secure — and froze them, which is why the Praja Mandal movement of the 1930s had to be directed at the rajas rather than at the British.