Bawal Nizamat
Bawal Nizamat, 1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
A nizamat or administrative district of the
Nabha State, Punjab, lying between 28° and 28° 25' N. and 76° 15'
and 76° 45' E., with an area of 281 miles. The population in 1901
was 71,430, compared with 68,147 i" 1891. It contains one town,
Bawal (population, 5,739), the head-quarters ; and 164 villages. The
land revenue and cesses amounted in 1903-4 to 2-2 lakhs. The
nizamat consists of three separate pieces of territory : Bawal proper,
Kanti-Kalina, and the isolated village of Mukandpur Basi. Bawal
proper lies south of Rewari, a tahs'il of the British District of Gurgaon,
and forms a wedge jutting southwards into the Alwar and Jaipur States
of Rajputana. It is separated by the Rewari tahsil from the pargana of
Kanti-Kalina, 21 miles long by 19/2 broad, lying parallel to the Narnaul
nizamat of the Patiala State. The whole nizamat is geographically
a part of the Rajputana desert, being an arid, rainless tract, singularly
destitute of trees, streams, and tanks, though the Sawi, a seasonal
torrent which rises in the Jaipur hills, passes through the southern edge
of the Bawal pargana. It is divided into the two police circles of
Bawal Kanti and Chauki Deb-Kalan.
After 1947
Bawal Nizamat was a princely state in India during the British Raj. After India became independent in 1947, the princely states were given the option to join either India or Pakistan. Bawal Nizamat was a small state and it joined India.
Following India's independence, the princely states were gradually integrated into the Indian Union. The Constitution of India was adopted in 1950, which abolished the princely states and established a democratic republic. The rulers of the princely states were given a privy purse and other privileges by the Indian government, but their powers were significantly reduced.
In the case of Bawal Nizamat, the state's last ruler, Nawab Saif Ali Khan, was recognized as the head of the former ruling family and was given a privy purse by the Indian government. However, the state was merged with the nearby district of Rohtak in Haryana state, and its territory became a part of the Indian state of Haryana.
Today, Bawal Nizamat is a part of the Bawal tehsil in the Rewari district of Haryana state. The former palace of the Nawabs of Bawal Nizamat still exists in Bawal and is a popular tourist attraction.
See also
Bawal Nizamat
