View source for Agencies of British India

{{Short description|Fully- or semi-autonomous administrative region of British India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{distinguish|Agency Houses in British India}}
{{Colonial India}}

An '''[[agency (country subdivision)|agency]] of British India''' was an internally autonomous or semi-autonomous unit of [[British India]] whose external affairs were governed by an agent designated by the [[Viceroy of India]].<ref>Great Britain India Office. ''[[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]]''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908.</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2020}}

== Description ==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2020}}
The agencies varied in character from fully autonomous self-governing dependencies such as [[princely states]], where the agent functioned mainly as a representative of the Viceroy, to tribal tracts which were integral parts of the [[British Empire]] and where the agent was completely in charge of law and order. The agent of a protected tract or princely state usually lived outside the territory in his charge, as opposed to a Resident who usually lived within his confines and was frequently the [[District Collector]] of the adjoining British district.

Civil and criminal justice in agencies were usually administered through locally made laws, and the [[Indian Penal Code]] was not applicable by default in these agencies.

==List of agencies==
{{Princely states topics}}
Political agencies were created, merged or abolished at different times during the history of the [[British Raj]].<ref>{{EB1911|wstitle=British Empire}}</ref> This list includes all agencies, regardless of the historical period.
*Aden Agency (1839 – 1859)
*[[Alwar Agency]] (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
*[[Bagelkhand Agency]] March 1871 / 1933
*[[Baluchistan Agency]]
*[[Banas Kantha Agency]]
*[[Baroda Agency]]
*Baroda and Gujarat Agency
*Baroda, Western States, and Gujarat Agency
*[[Bengal States Agency]]
*[[Bhopal Agency]] 1818 / 1947-08-15
*[[Bhopawar Agency]] 1882 / 1925 (merged with Malwa to form Malwa and Bhopawar Agency)
*[[Bikaner Agency]] (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
*[[Bundelkhand Agency]] 1811
*[[Central India Agency]] 1854
*Chhattisgarh Agency
*[[Cutch Agency]]
*[[Deccan States Agency]] 1930s
*Delhi Agency
*Eastern Rajputana States Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
*[[Eastern States Agency]] 1930s
*[[Ganjam Hill Tracts Agency]] (Madras Presidency)
*[[Gilgit Agency]] 1889
* Kotah-Jhalawar Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
*Haraoti Agency
* Haraoti-Tonk Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency)
*[[Kaira Agency]]
*[[Kathiawar Agency]] (Bombay Presidency)
*[[Kolaba Agency]]
*Kolhapur Agency
*[[Madras States Agency]] 1930s
*[[Mahi Kantha Agency]] (Bombay Presidency)
*[[Malwa Agency]]
** 1895 / 1925 (merged with Bhopawar Agency to form Malwa and Bhopawar Agency)
** 1934 / 1947
*Malwa and Bhopawar Agency 1925 / 1927 rename to Malwa and Southern States Agency
*Malwa and Southern States Agency 1927 renamed from Malwa and Bhopawar Agency / 1934 renamed to Malwa
*[[Nasik Agency]]
*[[North-East Frontier Agency]] (NEFA)
*[[North-West Frontier States Agency]]
*Orissa Agency 1905
*[[Palanpur Agency]] 1819 (belong to Bombay Presidency, merged 10 October 1924 in WISA)
*[[Punjab States Agency]] 1930s
*[[Rajputana Agency]] (consisting of three residencies and six agencies)
*[[Rewa Kantha Agency]] (Bombay Presidency)
*[[Sabar Kantha Agency]]
*[[South-West Frontier Agency]] (1833–1854)
*[[Surat Agency]]
*[[Thana Agency]]
*[[Vizagapatam Hill Tracts Agency]] (Madras Presidency)
*[[Western India States Agency]] (WISA)
* Western Rajputana States Agency (belonging to Rajputana Agency, part of [[Mewar Residency]] until 1906, when it was separated)

==See also==
*[[Indian Political Service]] (IPS)
*[[Subdivisions of British India]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Sources and external links==
* [https://archive.today/20140717212144/http://princelystates.com/CurrentIssue/fa-04-01d.shtml IPS Index, First Edition – Princely States Report]

[[Category:Agencies of British India| ]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of British India]]


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