Aamir2580 at 11:52, 14 March 2026

2026-03-14T11:52:53Z

New page

{{Short description|Region of British India under Company rule (1805–34)}}
{{for|ceded provinces elsewhere|Cession}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision

|conventional_long_name = Ceded and Conquered Provinces
|common_name = Agra
|subdivision =Region
|nation = the [[Company rule in India|British Empire in India]]
|image_flag =
|image_coat =
|image_map = India1805CededConqueredProvinces.jpg|
|image_map_caption = Map of the ''Ceded and Conquered Provinces'' (1805). The [[Kumaon Division]] was annexed in 1816.
|capital = [[Agra]]
|stat_area1= 9479
|stat_pop1 = 4500000
|stat_year1=1835 (?)
|p1 = Mughal Empire
|image_p1 =
|p2 = Maratha Empire
|s1 = Agra Presidency
|image_s1 =
|s2=North-Western Provinces
|year_start = 1805
|event_start =
|year_end = 1834
|event1 =
|date_event1 =
|event2 =
|date_event2 =
|today = Portions in <br />[[Uttar Pradesh]]<br/> [[Uttarakhand]]<br/> [[Delhi]]
}}

[[File:SitaRam1814AllahabadTamarindTree.jpg|thumb|right|"A [[Tamarind|Tamarind tree]] at [[Allahabad]]", water color (1814) by Sita Ram, an artist who accompanied [[Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings|Lord Moira]], [[Governor-General of India]] on a journey from [[Calcutta]]—through the ''Ceded and Conquered Provinces''—to [[Delhi]].]]

The '''Ceded and Conquered Provinces''' constituted a region in northern [[Company rule in India|India]] that was ruled by the [[British East India Company]] from 1805 to 1834;<ref name=igi-XXIV-158>{{Harvnb|Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. XXIV|1908|p=158}}</ref> it corresponded approximately—in present-day [[India]]—to all regions in [[Uttar Pradesh|Uttar Pradesh state]] with the exception of the [[Lucknow Division|Lucknow]] and [[Faizabad Division|Faizabad]] divisions of [[Awadh]]; in addition, it included the [[Delhi Territory|Delhi territory]] and, after 1816, the [[Kumaon division|Kumaun division]] and a large part{{efn|It included the districts of [[Chamoli district|Chamoli]], [[Pauri Garhwal district|Pauri]], [[Dehradun district|Dehradun]], and [[Rudraprayag district|Rudraprayag]] in present-day [[Garhwal division]] of [[Uttarakhand]] state; the [[Haridwar district]] of Uttarakhand had become a part of the ''Ceded and Conquered Provinces'' in 1805. The two remaining districts, [[Tehri Garhwal district|Tehri Garhwal]] and [[Uttarkashi district|Uttarkashi]], of present-day [[Garhwal division]] of [[Uttarakhand]] state were part of the [[princely state]] of ''[[Garhwal Kingdom|Tehri]]'', and never a part of the ''Ceded and Conquered Provinces''.}} of the [[Garhwal division]] of present-day [[Uttarakhand]] state.<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/> In 1836, the region became the [[North-Western Provinces]] (under a Lieutenant-Governor), and in 1904, the [[Agra Province]] within the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]].<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/>

==Ceded Provinces==
At the start of the 19th century, only the [[Varanasi division|Benares division]] and the fort of [[Allahabad]] in present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]] were under British rule.<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/> In 1801, the [[Nawab of Awadh]], [[Saadat Ali Khan II|Saadat Ali]], ceded some territory to the British in return for protection against a threat of attack from the north-west by [[Zaman Shah Durrani]], the grandson of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]].<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/> The territory included the [[Gorakhpur division|Gorakhpur]] and [[Bareilly division|Rohilkhand]] divisions; the districts of [[Allahabad district|Allahabad]], [[Fatehpur district|Fatehpur]], [[Kanpur Nagar district|Cawnpore]], [[Etawah district|Etawah]], [[Mainpuri district|Mainpuri]], [[Etah district|Etah]]; the southern part of [[Mirzapur district|Mirzapur]]; and the [[Udham Singh Nagar district|terai parganas]] of [[Kumaon division|Kumaun]], and came to be known as the ''Ceded Provinces''.<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/> A year later the [[Nawab of Farrukhabad]] ceded [[Farrukhabad district]] to the British.<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/>

==Conquered Provinces==
[[File:Ceded Conquered Provinces details.jpg|thumb|right|A more detailed map showing the ''Ceded and Conquered Provinces'' on a later (1908) map of the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]].]]
With the outbreak the [[Second Anglo-Maratha War]], [[Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake|General Lake]], took the [[Meerut division]] (including [[Aligarh]], after the [[Battle of Ally Ghur]]), and soon, the rest of the [[Agra division]] (including [[Agra]] city), and the districts around [[Delhi]].<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/> In addition, most of the ''trans-Jamuna districts'' of [[Banda district (India)|Banda]] and [[Hamirpur District, Uttar Pradesh|Hamirpur]] were added, as well as a small area in [[Jalaun district]].<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/>

In 1816, under the [[Sugauli Treaty|Treaty of Sugauli]] signed at the conclusion of the [[Anglo-Nepalese War]] (1814–1816), the [[Kumaon division]] and [[Dehradun district]] of present-day [[Uttarakhand]] state were annexed as well.<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/>

==Administration==
[[File:CededConqueredProvincesDelhiTerritory.jpg|right|thumb|The "Delhi Territory", shown here in a 1908 map of [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab province]], was a part of the ''Ceded and Conquered Provinces''.]]
The ''Ceded and Conquered Provinces'' were a part of the [[Bengal Presidency]] of [[Company rule in India|British India]] under the administration of the [[Company rule in India#Regulation of Company rule|Governor-General-in-Council]].<ref name=igi-XXIV-158/> The great distance of the newly acquired territory from the capital of the presidency in [[Calcutta]] created administrative hitches.<ref name=igi-V-72>{{Harvnb|Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. V|1908|p=72}}</ref> In response, a number of temporary arrangements were attempted, but proved to be less than optimal; finally, in 1831, an independent Board of Revenue and a separate ''Sadr Diwani'' and ''Nizamat Adalat'' (Chief Civil and Criminal Courts) were created for these provinces.<ref name=igi-V-72/> In 1833, an [[act of Parliament (UK)|act of the British Parliament]], the [[Government of India Act 1833]] ([[3 & 4 Will. 4]]. c. 85) concurrently promulgated the division of the [[Bengal Presidency]], the elevation the ''Ceded and Conquered Provinces'' to the new ''Presidency of Agra'', and the appointment of a new Governor for the latter.<ref name=igi-V-72/> However, the plan was never carried out, and in 1835 another act of Parliament, the [[India (North-West Provinces) Act 1835]] ([[5 & 6 Will. 4]]. c. 52) renamed the region the ''North Western Provinces'', this time to be administered by a Lieutenant-Governor, the first of whom, Sir [[Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe|Charles Metcalfe]], would be appointed in 1836.<ref name=igi-V-72/>

==See also==
*[[Company rule in India]]
*[[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]]
*[[British Raj]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation | last = Alavi | first = Seema | year = 1993 | title = The makings of Company power: James Skinner in the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, 1802–1840 | journal = Indian Economic and Social History Review | volume = 30 | issue = 4 | pages = 437–466 | doi = 10.1177/001946469303000403| s2cid = 143864350 }}
* {{Citation | last = Bayly | first = C. A. | title = Rulers, Townsmen, and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion 1770–1870 |year = 2002 | publisher = Delhi: Oxford University Press. Pp. 530 | isbn = 0-19-566345-4}}
* {{Citation | last = Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. V | title = Abāzai to Arcot ("Agra Province" pp. 71–72) | publisher = Published under the authority of His Majesty's Secretary of State for India in Council, Oxford at the Clarendon Press. Pp. viii, 1 map, 437. | year = 1908}}
* {{Citation | last = Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. XXIV | title = Travancore to Zīra ("United Provinces" pp. 132–276) | publisher = Published under the authority of His Majesty's Secretary of State for India in Council, Oxford at the Clarendon Press. Pp. vi, 1 map, 437. | year = 1908}}
* {{Citation | last = Mann | first = Michael | title = A permanent settlement for the Ceded and Conquered provinces: Revenue administration in north India, 1801-1833 | year = 1995 | journal = Indian Economic and Social History Review | volume = 32 | issue = 2 | pages = 245–269 | doi = 10.1177/001946469503200205| s2cid = 143460002 }}
{{refend}}

{{coord missing|Uttar Pradesh}}
{{Divisions of British India}}

[[Category:Subdivisions of British India]]
[[Category:British administration in Uttar Pradesh| ]]
[[Category:History of Prayagraj]]
[[Category:1805 establishments in British India]]
[[Category:Territorial evolution]]

Ceded and Conquered Provinces - Revision history

Aamir2580 at 11:52, 14 March 2026