The Indian Political Department , formerly part of the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India , was a government department in British India . The department looked after the diplomatic and "political" relations with the subsidiary states of the British Empire in India, and some states overseas. The nature of its work was indirect rule . The department was disbanded at the time of Indian independence and replaced by a newly formed States Department in the Government of India.
16-471: Saurashtra Railway came into being in April, 1948 with the amalgamation of state railways like Bhavnagar State Railway , Gondal Railway , Porbandar Railway , Jamnagar & Dwarka Railway , Morvi Railway , Dhrangadhra Railway , Okhamandal State Railway , Junagadh State Railway , Baria State Railway , Rajpipla Railway etc. Upon the independence of India and the merger of various princely states into
32-469: A mere 10 km away. But nothing materialized. The Bhavnagar-Gondal Railway was a joint venture with funds from both states 1839. Bhavnagar contributed Rs. 86 lakhs and Rs.29 lakhs was Gondal's contribution. The Bhavnagar-Wadhwan line had a length of a 166 km; the Dhola - Dhasa - Dhoraji line had a length of 144 km. The work was carried out between 1878 and 1880. In March 1879, Mr. Alexander Izat
48-486: A railway from Bhavnagar to Wadhwan in the north and Dhoraji in the west with the line from Dhasa to Dhoraji funded by Gondal State . During 1863, Maharaja Jaswantsinhji received a proposal to start a Narrow Gauge line like in parts of Gaekwad Railway in Baroda. Maharaja was not inclined, as by that time another company called Ghogha Kathiawad Light Railway Company had been formed and it could be easily joined at Vartej,
64-726: The Union of India , it became necessary to merge various state railways owned by these princely states into one. As the various states of Saurashtra and Kathiawar were merged to make Saurashtra State , the Government of India , similarly merged the various state railways of Gujarat into a separate entity called Saurashtra Railway. On 5 November 1951, Saurashtra Railway, Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway , Rajputana Railway , Jaipur State Railway , and Cutch State Railway were merged and Western Railway came into existence. Bhavnagar State Railway Bhavnagar State Railway (BSR)
80-634: The IPS were seconded from their original service and were subject to their original service's pension and retirement rules. The IPS was allowed to recruit two ICS officers every year, which was reduced to one every fifth year. On the Army side, four or five Indian Army officers were recruited on alternate years. When the process of Indianisation reached the IPS, some were also recruited from the Provincial Civil Services and services connected with
96-707: The May Frere at port of Bhavnagar, Colonel Barton (the political Agent ), Major Woodhouse (the Assistant Political Agent) and Diwan Sahib Samaldas went in a steam launch and brought the Governor and his party ashore. Takhtsinhji received the Governor at the landing steps and welcomed him. The Governor was then taken to the town and the evening spent in sight seeing and visiting the Gaurishankar Lake. Early next morning on 18 December 1880,
112-572: The department was renamed the Foreign Department, and renamed again to Foreign and Political Department in 1914. A post of Political Secretary was created in 1914 as well. A separate Political Department came into being only in 1937, necessitated by the Government of India Act 1935 , which separated the two functions of the Viceroy of India , viz., Governor-General (for the administration of British India ) and Crown Representative (for
128-556: The frontier. Employees of the political service were predominantly European, although small numbers of Indians were employed. In 1947 it had a staff of 170 officers, of which 124 were serving. They included 17 Indians, of which 12 were Muslim, four Hindus and one Sikh. The political officers attached to individual states were called Political Agents or Residents , the latter rank being limited to large states like Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir (typically "salute states"). The large states had full legislative and judicial powers, and
144-434: The governor drove the last spike of the permanent way at the city station (now Bhavnagar Terminus) in the presence of a large gathering and declared the railway line from Bhavnagar to Wadhwan open, then went to a welcome at Limdi station. The Bhavnagar State Railway along with other state railways of Kathiawar and Saurashtra were merged in April 1948 into Saurashtra Railway by the Government of India . Saurashtra Railway
160-535: The role of residents would tend to be mainly diplomatic. In smaller states, some of the legislative and judicial functions would be carried out under the guidance of the political agents, or directly by them. In addition, the rank of Agent to the Governor-General (AGG) was used for officers in charge of collections of states in a region, which were then called Agencies . An Agency might have several Political Agents or assistants attached to it, reporting to
176-724: The supervision of the princely states ). A fresh post of Political Advisor to the Crown Representative was created, with a cabinet rank. The post-holder headed the Political Department. Sir Conrad Corfield was the last person to hold this post before Indian independence. The staff employed by the IPD, known as the Indian Political Service , were generally referred to as political officers, and were recruited from four areas: All members of
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#1732790311753192-571: Was a metre gauge railway line in Bhavnagar State , now part of Gujarat in India . In November 1878, on the instance of Maharaja Takthasinhji of Bhavnagar State, the Governor of Bombay Sir Richard Temple sanctioned the extension of a meter gauge railway line from Wadhwan to Bhavnagar , which was opened on 18 December 1880. Maharaja Takhtasinhji accorded sanction for construction of
208-622: Was appointed as the Engineer-in-Chief. He was earlier the Chief Engineer of Daund-Manmad line (which had opened in 1878). Mr. R. Proctor Sims who was Bhavnagar's state Engineer had carried out the survey from Bhavnagar to Botad . The survey from Dhasa to Dhoraji was carried out under Mr. Ford who held analogous post in Gondal . An engineer from BB & CI, Mr. Hargreaves did the survey from Botad to Wadhwan . The earth-work
224-603: Was commenced as a famine work with all possible haste and finished within an astonishingly short time by May 1880. His Highness requested the Governor of Bombay Sir James Ferguson (who had succeeded Sir Richard Temple in March 1879) to inaugurate the line in December and declare it open for traffic. On 17 December 1880 the Governor and his entourage arrived at Bhavnagar by a special steamer from Bombay named May Frere. Many guests, both European and native, were invited. On approach of
240-403: Was merged with BB&CI to form Western Railways . In 1936, the company owned 35 locomotives, 1 railcar, 187 coaches and 1059 goods wagons. It was labeled as a Class II railway according to Indian Railway Classification System of 1926. The BSR was converted to 1,676 mm ( 5 ft 6 in ) broad gauge in 2003. Political officer (British Empire) A department
256-534: Was originally formed under the name "Secret and Political Department" on 23 September 1783, It was created by a resolution of the board of directors of the East India Company ; this decreed the creation of a department which could help “relieve the pressure” on the administration of Warren Hastings in conducting its "secret and political business". From 1784 to 1842, the department was divided into three branches: secret, political and foreign. In 1843,
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