In the year 1818, after the culmination of the Third Anglo Maratha War, the Maratha Bhonsle Maharaja surrendered to a subsidiary alliance. Consequently, the territory of Nagpur was appointed one of the princely states of India that was under the suzerainty of the British Empire in India. After the death of Raghoji III in 1853, the region of Nagpur was annexed by the British East India Company under the Doctrine of Lapse, as the native ruler had no heirs. The Nagpur Province, which consisted of the Nagpur division, Chhattisgarh and Chhindwara, was administered by a Commissioner under the Governor General of India, who followed orders of the Central Government till the creation of the Central Provinces in the year 1861. The Province of Nagpur also included the districts of Bilaspur, Raipur, Durg, Balaghat, Wardha, Chanda, Bhandara, Nagpur and Chhindwara. The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were merged with the British province of Nagpur in order to constitute the new Central Provinces in the year 1861. The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were constituted under the Governor General in 1820 and was later included in the newly formed North Western Provinces in the year 1835. The erstwhile districts of Balaghat, Wardha, Chada, Bhandara and Nagpur eventually formed the Nagpur Division of the new province; where as Bilaspur, Raipurand Durg formed the Division of Chhattisgarh. Later, Chhindwara district was included into the Nerbudda (Narmada) Division. |