Jafarabad State

Jafarabad State Jafrabad State જાફરાબાદ રિયાસત
Princely State of British India In union with Janjira (1759 - 1948)
c. 1650–1948 →
Flag
Location of Jafrabad State in Saurashtra
History
•	Established	c. 1650
•	Indian independence	1948
Area
•	1901	68 km2 (26 sq mi)
Population
•	1901	12,097
	Density	177.9 /km2  (460.8 /sq mi)
Today part of		Gujarat, India
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:

Jafarabad or Jafrabad State was a tributary princely state in India during the British Raj. It was located in the Kathiawar Peninsula on the Gujarat coast. The state had formerly been part of the Baroda Agency and later of the Kathiawar Agency of the Bombay Presidency.

Jafrabad State was a dependency of the Nawab of Janjira State, located 320 km to the SSE on the Konkan coast. The states of Jafarabad and Janjira were united in a personal way.

Jafrabad town, the capital and only municipality, is located 275 km south of Ahmedabad and 240 southwest of Baroda. The state was formed by the city and 11 villages and initially consisted of two districts located on both sides of the estuary of the Ranai river. Jafrabad state had an area of 68 km² and a population in 1881 of 4,746 and in 1901 of 6,038 inhabitants. The majority of the population were Muslims (80%) and the rest Hindus. The state and the town took their name from Sultan Muzaffar Jafar from Gujarat who built fortifications.

History

Jafarabad State was founded around 1650. On 6 December 1733 the ruler of Jafarabad State signed a defensive and offensive treaty with the British East India Company. In 1759 Jafarabad and Janjira states entered into personal union. Finally in 1834 Jafarabad State became a British protectorate.

Around 1731 when the Mughal Empire rule was relaxed in Gujarat, the local Thanedar (ruler) who was an ally in the Muslim Mughal garrison became independent. Thereafter the Thanedar and the local Kolis were devoted to piracy, repeatedly attacking ships and disturbing commercial traffic from Surat. Sidi Hilal, the prince of the dynasty of Janjira which was then ruling Surat, attacked the Kolis, destroyed their boats and captured them demanding a hefty fine. The Thanedar of Jafarabad could not afford to pay the fine and hence Jafarabad town was sold to Sidi Hilal in 1759.

Sidi Hilal soon realized that he could not keep the city given the situation of lawlessness in the Kathiawar peninsula and in 1762 he transferred Jafarabad to the Nawab of Janjira, who paid the debts and appointed him governor.

Under British protectorate the Nawabs of Janjira were considered separate second class rulers among the rulers of Kathiawar, but they were later promoted to first class. In the nineteenth century the rulers maintained a military force of 123 men. Jafarabad State acceded to the Indian Union on 8 March 1948.

Rulers

Rulers initially held the title of Wazir and after 1803 the title of Nawab.

Thanadars of Jafarabad

• c.1650 - 16.. Fath Khan
• 16.. - 1678 Sambhol Yaqut Khan
• 1678 - 1734 Qasim Yaqut Khan
• 1734 - 1759 Surur Khan

Wazirs of Janjira

• 1676 - 1703 Kasim Yaqut Khan II (d. 1703)
• 1703 - 1707 Amabat Yaqut Khan II
• 1707 - 1732 Surur Yakut Khan II (d. 1732)
• 1732 - 1734 Hasan Khan (1st time) (d. 1746)
• 1734 - 1737 Sumbul Khan
• 1737 - 1740 `Abd al-Rahman Khan
• 1740 - 1745 Hasan Khan (2nd time) (s.a.)
• 1745 - 1757 Ibrahim Khan I (1st time) (d. 1761)
• 1757 Mohammad Khan I (d. 1757)
• 1757 - 1759 Ibrahim Khan I (2nd time) (s.a.)

Thanadars of Jafarabad and Wazirs of Janjira

• 1759 - 1761 Ibrahim Khan I (s.a.)
• 1761 - 1772 Yaqut Khan (usurper to 6 Jun 1772) (d. 1772)
• 1772 - 1784 `Abd al-Rahim Khan (d. 1784)
• 1784 - 1789 Jowhar Khan (d. 1789)
  • - in dispute with -
    • 1784 - 1789 `Abd al-Karim Yaqut Khan
• 1789 - 1794 Ibrahim Khan II (d. 1826)
• 1794 - 1803 Jumrud Khan (d. 1803)

Nawabs

• 1803 - 1826 Ibrahim Khan II (s.a.)
• 1826 - 31 Aug 1848 Mohammad Khan I (d. 1848)
• 31 Aug 1848 - 28 Jan 1879 Ibrahim Khan III (b. 1825 - d. 1879)
• 28 Jan 1879 - 2 May 1922 Ahmad Khan (b. 1862 - d. 1922) (from 1 Jan 1895, Sir Ahmad Khan)
• 28 Jun 1879 - 11 Oct 1883 .... -Regent
• 2 May 1922 - 15 Aug 1947 Mohammad Khan II (b. 1914 - d. 1972)
• 2 May 1922 - 9 Nov 1933 Kulsum Begum (f) -Regent (b. 1897 - d. 1959)

See also

• Janjira State
• Political integration of India
• Western India States Agency