Nawab of Tonk

All you want to know about Nawab of Tonk

Princely flag of Tonk

The founder of the princely state of Tonk was Amir Khan, a Muslim freebooter of Afghan descent, leader of the early 19th century. In 1817, upon submitting to the British during the War, he received the territory of Tonk and the title Nawab. The state was part of the Rajputana agency and consisted of six isolated tracts, some of which were under the Central India Agency.

The total area of the princely state was 2553 sq. mi, with a total population in 1901 of 273,201. The town of Tonk, capital of the state, had a population of 38,759 in that year. The town was surrounded by a wall and boasted a mud fort. It had a high school, the Walter female hospital under a lady superintendent, and a hospital for males.

The princely state enjoyed an estimated revenue of £77,000/-; however, no tribute was payable to the British Raj. Grain, cotton, opium and hides were the chief products and exports of the state. Two of the outlying tracts of the state were served by two different railways. The state suffered much distress due to drought in 1899-1900.

In the twentieth century

Nawab Muhammad Ibrahim Ali Khan GCIE (ruled 1867-1930) was one of few chiefs to attend both Lord Lytton's Durbar in 1877 and the Delhi Durbar of 1903 as ruler. A former minister of Tonk state, Sahibzada Obeidullah Khan, was deputed on political duty to Peshawar during the Tirah campaign of 1897.

Upon India gaining its independence in 1947, the Nawab of Tonk acceded unto the Union of India; most of the area of the state of Tonk later became part of Rajasthan state, while some of its eastern enclaves became part of Madhya Pradesh.