Ajmer Merwara Province
The Ajmer Merwara Province was one of the erstwhile provinces of British India in the region of Ajmer. The Province was scattered over a total area of 7,000 sq km. The town of Ajmer is located on the center of a plateau which is regarded as highest point in the plains of North India On June 25, 1818, the area was ceded by a treaty to the British East India Company by Daulat Rao Scindia. After the Indian independence and the Partition of India in the year 1947, the territory of Ajmer Merwara was maintained as a province under the newly formed Union of India, also known as the Dominion of India. Later in the year 1950, the former province became the Indian state of Ajmer. The region was incorporated as part of the state of Rajasthan on 1st November 1956.
History of Ajmer Merwara Province
Before the advent of the British East India Company, the Rajputs, the Rawat Rajputs, Cheetas, the Kathats and the Jats ruled over the region and operated as cultivators. The native rulers of the Rajputs and Rawat Rajputs held the title of Thakur. The Thakur of Kharwa and the Thakur of Masuda were the most outstanding Rajput Thikanas of the Mertia dynasty. Where as, the Merat Rajputs held the title of Khan, like the Khan of Athun, a prominent Thikana of the Kathat dynasty. The Jat rulers used the title of Chaudhury, who acted as village chieftains.
A portion of the region under the province was ceded by Daulat Rao Scindia to the British administration as part of a treaty in 1818. Since then the Ajmer Merwara Province was managed directly by the British East India Company. After the great revolt of 1857, the authority and powers of the Company was reassigned to the Governor General of India and the British Crown. The province comprised of the Ajmer and Merwara districts that were geographically separated by the various princely states of Rajputana Agency, from the rest of British India. But unlike these princely states of India, which were administered by the native rulers or Indian Princes who accepted the suzerainty of the British Government of India, the Ajmer Merwara Province was governed directly by the British authorities.
It was ruled by the British East India Company until 1858 and after the year 1858, the province was administered by a Chief Commissioner who was a subordinate of the Resident of British India (Political Agent) to the Governor General of India for the Rajputana Agency. After independence in 1947, the province came under the Union of India and later in the year 1956, it was merged with Rajasthan.
Chief Commissioners of Ajmer Merwara Province
Richard Harte Keatinge (1871- 1873)
Sir Lewis Pelly (1873- 1878)
Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford (1878- 1887)
Charles Kenneth Mackenzie Walter (1887- 1890)
George Herbert Trevor (1890- 1895)
Robert Joseph Crosthwaite (1895- 1898)
Arthur Henry Temple Martindale (1898-1905)
Elliot Graham Colvin (1905- 1918)
John Manners Smith (1918- 1919)
Robert Erskine Holland (1919- 1925)
Stewart Blakeley Agnew Patterson (1925- 1927)
Leonard William Reynolds (1927- 1932)
George Drummond Ogilvie (1932- 1937)
Arthur Cunningham Lothian (1937- 1944)
Hiranand Rupchand Shivdasani (1944- 1947)
