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Princely state
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==Princely status and titles== {{More citations needed section|date=August 2024}} [[File:Sayajirao Gaekwad III, Maharaja of Baroda, 1919.jpg|thumb|[[Sayajirao Gaekwad III]], The [[Maharaja]] of [[Baroda State]]]] The Indian rulers bore various titles including [[Maharaja]] or [[Raja]] ("king"), [[Sultan]], [[Emir]], [[Raje]], [[Nizam]], [[Wadiyar dynasty|Wadiyar]] (used only by the Maharajas of [[Mysore]], meaning "lord"), Agniraj Maharaj for the rulers of Bhaddaiyan Raj, [[Chogyal]], [[Nawab]] ("governor"), [[Nayak (title)|Nayak]], [[Wāli]], [[Inamdar (feudal title)|Inamdar]],<ref name="CommissionSimon1930">{{cite book|author1=Great Britain. Indian Statutory Commission|author2=Viscount John Allsebrook Simon Simon|title=Report of the Indian Statutory Commission ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTEoAAAAMAAJ|access-date=9 June 2012|year=1930|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office}}</ref> [[Saranjamdar]]<ref name="All India reporter">{{cite book|title=All India reporter|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.531944|access-date=9 June 2012|year=1938|publisher=D.V. Chitaley}}</ref> and many others. Whatever the literal meaning and traditional prestige of the ruler's actual title, the British government translated them all as "prince", to avoid the implication that the native rulers could be "kings" with status equal to that of the British monarch. [[File:British Residency in Kollam.jpg|right|thumb|An old image of the [[British Residency]] in the city of [[Quilon]], [[Kerala]]]] More prestigious Hindu rulers (mostly existing before the Mughal Empire, or having split from such old states) often used the title "[[Raja]]", or a variant such as Raje, [[Rai (title)|Rai]], [[Rana (title)|Rana]], [[Babu (title)|Babu]], [[Rao (title)|Rao]], Rawat, or [[Rawal (title)|Rawal]]. Also in this 'class' were several [[Thakur (Indian title)|Thakurs or Thai ores]] and a few particular titles, such as [[Sardar]], [[Mankari]], [[Deshmukh]], Sar Desai, Istamuradar, [[Saranjamdar]], Raja Inamdar, etc. The most prestigious Hindu rulers usually had the prefix "maha-" ("great", compare for example "[[grand duke]]") in their titles, as in ''Maharaja, Maharana, Maharao'', etc. This was used in many princely states including [[Kingdom of Nagpur|Nagpur]], [[Kolhapur State|Kolhapur]], [[Kingdom of Gwalior|Gwalior]], [[Baroda State|Baroda]], [[Mewar]], [[Travancore]] and [[Cochin]]. The state of [[Travancore]] also had [[queen regent|queens regent]] styled [[Maharani]], applied only to [[Marumakkathayam|the sister of the ruler]] in [[Kerala]]. [[Muslim]] rulers almost all used the title "[[Nawab]]" (the Arabic honorific of ''naib'', "deputy") originally used by Mughal governors, who became ''de facto'' autonomous with the decline of the Mughal Empire, with the prominent exceptions of the [[Nizam]] of [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad & Berar]], the [[Wali (administrative title)|Wali]]/[[Khan (title)|Khan]] of [[Kalat (princely state)|Kalat]] and the [[Wāli of Swat|Wali of Swat]]. Other less usual titles included [[Darbar (title)|Darbar Sahib]], [[Dewan]], [[Jam (title)|Jam]], [[Chitral (princely state)|Mehtar]] (unique to [[Chitral (princely state)|Chitral]]) and Mir (from [[Emir]]). The [[Sikh]] princes concentrated at [[Punjab region|Punjab]] usually adopted titles when attaining princely rank. A title at a level of [[Maharaja]] was used. There were also compound titles, such as (Maha)rajadhiraj, Raj-i-rajgan, often relics from an elaborate system of hierarchical titles under the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal emperors]]. For example, the addition of the adjective ''Bahadur'' (from Persian, literally meaning "brave") raised the status of the titleholder one level. Furthermore, most dynasties used a variety of additional titles such as [[Varma (name)|Varma]] in South India. This should not be confused with various titles and suffixes not specific to princes but used by entire (sub)castes. This is almost analogous to [[Singh]] title in North India.
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