The actual importance of a princely state could not be read from the title of its ruler, which was usually
granted (or at least recognized) as a favour, often in recognition for loyalty and services rendered to the
British Raj. Although some titles were raised once or even repeatedly, there was no automatic updating when a state gained or lost real power. Princely titles were even awarded to holders of domains (mainly
jagirs) and even
taluqdars and
zamindars, which were not states at all. Most of the
zamindars who held princely titles were in fact erstwhile princely and royal states reduced to becoming
zamindars by the British East India Company. Various sources give significantly different numbers of states and domains of the various types. Even in general, the definitions of titles and domains are clearly not well-established. Bahadur Khan III (seated centre in an ornate chair) shown in an 1885 photograph with state officials and family . Sikkim was under the
suzerainty of the Provincial government of Bengal; its ruler received a 15-gun salute. , ruler of the
princely state of Mysore in
South India, with his brothers and sisters. In 1799, his grandfather, then aged five, had been granted dominion of Mysore by Britain and forced into a
subsidiary alliance. Britain later directly governed the state between 1831 and 1881. of the Maharaja of
Rewa. The palace which was built as a hunting lodge later became famous for the first
white tigers that were found in the adjacent jungle and raised in the palace zoo. In addition to their titles, all princely rulers were eligible to be appointed to certain British orders of chivalry associated with India, the
Most Exalted Order of the Star of India and the
Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire. Women could be appointed as "Knights" (instead of Dames) of these orders. Rulers entitled to 21-gun and 19-gun salutes were normally appointed to the highest rank, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India. Many Indian princes served in the
British Army, the
Indian Army, or in local guard or police forces, often rising to high ranks; some even served while on the throne. Many of these were appointed as an
aide-de-camp, either to the ruling prince of their own house (in the case of relatives of such rulers) or to British monarchs. Many saw
active service, both on the subcontinent and on other fronts, during both World Wars. Apart from those members of the princely houses who entered military service and who distinguished themselves, a good number of princes received honorary ranks as officers in the British and British Indian Armed Forces. Those ranks were conferred based on several factors, including their heritage, lineage, gun-salute (or lack of one) as well as personal character or martial traditions. After the First and Second World Wars, the princely rulers of several of the major states, including
Gwalior,
Patiala,
Nabha,
Faridkort,
Bikaner,
Jaipur,
Jodhpur,
Jammu and Kashmir and Hyderabad, were given honorary general officer ranks as a result of their states' contributions to the war effort. • Lieutenant/Captain/Flight Lieutenant or Lieutenant-Commander/Major/Squadron Leader (for junior members of princely houses or for minor princes) • Commander/Lieutenant-Colonel/Wing Commander or Captain/Colonel/Group Captain (granted to princes of salute states, often to those entitled to 15-guns or more) • Commodore/Brigadier/Air Commodore (conferred upon princes of salute states entitled to gun salutes of 15-guns or more) • Major-General/Air Vice-Marshal (conferred upon princes of salute states entitled to 15-guns or more; conferred upon rulers of the major princely states, including Baroda,
Kapurthala, Travancore,
Bhopal and
Mysore) • Lieutenant-General (conferred upon the rulers of the largest and most prominent princely houses after the First and Second World Wars for their states' contributions to the war effort.) • General (very rarely awarded; the Maharajas of Gwalior and Jammu & Kashmir were created honorary Generals in the British Army in 1877, the Maharaja of Bikaner was made one in 1937, and the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1941) It was also not unusual for members of princely houses to be appointed to various colonial offices, often far from their native state, or to enter the diplomatic corps.
Salute states of
Gwalior State, General Sir
Henry Daly (Founder of The
Daly College), with British officers and
Maratha nobility (
Sardars,
Jagirdars &
Mankaris) in
Indore,
Holkar State, The
gun salute system was used to set unambiguously the precedence of the major rulers in the area in which the British East India Company was active, or generally of the states and their dynasties. As heads of state, certain princely rulers were entitled to be saluted by the firing of an odd number of guns between three and 21, with a greater number of guns indicating greater prestige. Generally, the number of guns remained the same for all successive rulers of a particular state, but individual princes were sometimes granted additional guns on a personal basis. Furthermore, rulers were sometimes granted additional gun salutes within their own territories only, constituting a semi-promotion. The states of all these rulers (about 120) were known as
salute states. After
Indian Independence, the Maharana of
Udaipur displaced the
Nizam of Hyderabad as the most senior prince in India, because
Hyderabad State had not acceded to the new
Dominion of India, and the style
Highness was extended to all rulers entitled to 9-gun salutes. When the princely states had been integrated into the Indian Union, their rulers were promised continued privileges and an income (known as the
Privy Purse) for their upkeep. Subsequently, when the Indian government abolished the Privy Purse in 1971, the entire princely order ceased to be recognized under Indian law, although many families continue to retain their social prestige informally. Some descendants of the rulers remain prominent in regional or national politics, diplomacy, business, and high society. At the time of Indian independence, only five rulers – the
Nizam of
Hyderabad, the Maharaja of
Mysore, the Maharaja of
Jammu and Kashmir state, the Maharaja
Scindia of
Gwalior and the Maharaja
Gaekwad of
Baroda – were entitled to a 21-gun salute. Six more – the Nawab of
Bhopal, the
Maharaja Holkar of
Indore, the Maharaja of
Bharatpur, the Maharana of
Udaipur, the Maharaja of
Kolhapur, the
Maharaja of
Patiala and the Maharaja of
Travancore – were entitled to 19-gun salutes. The most senior princely ruler was the
Nizam of Hyderabad, who was entitled to the unique style
Exalted Highness and
21-gun salute. Other princely rulers entitled to salutes of 11 guns (soon 9 guns too) or more were entitled to the style
Highness. No special style was used by rulers entitled to lesser gun salutes. As
paramount ruler, and successor to the Mughals, the British
King-Emperor of India, for whom the style of
Majesty was reserved, was entitled to an 'imperial' 101-gun salute—in the European tradition also the number of guns fired to announce the birth of an heir (male) to the throne.
Non-salute states . Karauli mint. Struck in the name of the Mughal emperor
Shah Alam II. Dated 1784–5 CE There was no strict correlation between the levels of the titles and the classes of gun salutes, the real measure of precedence, but merely a growing percentage of higher titles in classes with more guns. As a rule the majority of gun-salute princes had at least nine, with numbers below that usually the prerogative of Arab Sheikhs of the
Aden protectorate, also under British protection. There were many so-called non-salute states of lower prestige. Since the total of salute states was 117 and there were more than 500 princely states, most rulers were not entitled to any gun salute. Not all of these were minor rulers –
Surguja State, for example, was both larger and more populous than
Karauli State, but the
Maharaja of Karauli was entitled to a 17-gun salute and the
Maharaja of Surguja was not entitled to any gun salute at all. A number of princes, in the broadest sense of the term, were not even acknowledged as such. On the other hand, the dynasties of certain defunct states were allowed to keep their princely status – they were known as
political pensioners, such as the Nawab of
Oudh. There were also certain estates of British India which were rendered as
political saranjams, having equal princely status. Though none of these princes were awarded gun salutes, princely titles in this category were recognised as a form of
vassals of salute states, and were not even in direct relation with the paramount power.
Largest princely states by area ==Doctrine of lapse==