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Baroda State was a princely state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy from its formation in 1721 until 1949 when it acceded to the newly formed Union of India. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its capital, during the British Raj its relations with the British were managed by the Baroda Residency. At the time of Indian independence, only five rulers—the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Maharaja of Mysore, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir state, the Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda and the Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior—were entitled to a 21-gun salute. Baroda formally acceded to the Union of India, on 1 May 1949, prior to which an interim government was formed in the state. ==History== Baroda derives its native name ''Vadodara'' from the Sanskrit word ''vatodara'', meaning 'in the heart of Banyan (''Vata'') tree. It also has another name, ''Virakshetra'' or ''Virawati'' (land of warriors), mentioned alongside ''Vadodara'' by 17th century Gujarati poet Premanand Bhatt, native to the city. Its name has been mentioned as ''Brodera'' by early English travellers and merchants, from which its later name Baroda was derived.〔Gazetteer, p. 25〕 Geographically it comprised several disjoint tracts of land, measuring over 8000 square miles, spread across the present Gujarat state; this was subdivided into four ''prant'' (states), namely Kadi, Baroda, Navsari and Amreli, which included coastal portions of the state, in the Okhamadal region near Dwarka and Kodinar near Diu.〔Gazetteer, p. 26〕 The Marathas first attacked Gujarat in 1705. By 1712, a Maratha leader Khande Rao Dabhade grew powerful in the region and when he returned to Satara in 1716, he was made the ''senapati'' (commander in chief). Thereafter during the "Battle of Balapur" in 1721, one of his officers, Damaji Gaekwad was awarded the title ''Shamsher Bahadur'' or Distinguished Swordsman. Damaji died in 1721 and was succeeded by his nephew Pilajirao.〔Gazetteer, p. 31, 32〕 Thus the Baroda State was founded in 1721, when the Maratha general Pilaji Gaekwad conquered Songadh from the Mughals. Prior to this Pilajirao was appointed as general to collect revenues from Gujarat by the Peshwa, the effective ruler of the Maratha Empire, who had taken over the region north and south of Surat from the Mughals to established the ''Sarkar of Surat''. Songadh remained the headquarters of the "House of Gaekwad" until 1866.〔Gazetteer, 32〕 After the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), the East India Company wrested control of much of Gujarat from the Marathas. However the Gaekwads of Baroda (Vadodara), made a separate peace with the British, entering into a subsidiary alliance which acknowledged British suzerainty and control of the state's external affairs in return for retaining internal autonomy. Although the Gaekwads trace their origins to 1720, it was not until considerably later that Baroda can be truly thought of as an independent state. The first coins issued by the Gaekwads were issued by Manaji Rao (ruled 1789-93) and they followed the Maratha pattern of naming the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, distinguishing themselves only by the placement of an extra mark or letter to indicate the issuer. Manaji, for example, placed a Nagari letter ''ma'' on his coins. After 1857, since the Mughal emperor had been formally deposed, it no longer made any sense to issue coins in his name, so the designs were changed and coins were issued in the name of "the Commander of the Sovereign Band," a title of the Gaekwad. The legends on these coins were still in Persian and the coins themselves were still hand-struck. Finally, in stages during the 1870s, Nagari legends and different designs were introduced and also milled coins began to be issued, eventually featuring the portrait of the Gaekwad on them. Following the death of Sir Khanderao Gaekwad (1828–1870), the popular Maharaja of Baroda, in 1870, it was expected that his brother, Malharrao (1831–1882), would succeed him. However, Malharrao had already proven himself to be of the vilest character and had been imprisoned earlier for conspiring to assassinate Khanderao. As Khanderao's widow, Maharani Jamnabai (1853–1898) was already pregnant with a posthumous child, the succession was delayed until the gender of the child could be proven. The child proved to be a daughter, and so upon her birth on 5 July 1871, Malharrao ascended the throne. Malharrao spent money liberally, nearly emptying the Baroda coffers (he commissioned a pair of solid gold cannon and a carpet of pearls, among other expenses) and soon reports reached the Resident of Malharrao's gross tyranny and cruelty. Malharrao further attempted to cover up his deeds by poisoning the Resident, Colonel R. Phayre C.B. with a compound of arsenic. By order of the Secretary of State for India, Lord Salisbury, Malharrao was deposed on 10 April 1875 and exiled to Madras, where he died in obscurity in 1882.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=DEPOSITION OF THE GAEKWAR OF BARODA )〕 With the throne of Baroda now vacant, Maharani Jamnabai called on the heads of the extended branches of the dynasty to come to Baroda and present themselves and their sons in order to decide upon a successor. Kashirao and his three sons, Anandrao (1857–1917), Gopalrao (1863–1938) and Sampatrao (1865–1934) walked to Baroda from Kavlana-a distance of some 600 kilometers-to present themselves to Jamnabai. Eventually Gopalrao was selected by the British Government as successor and was accordingly adopted by Maharani Jamnabai, on 27 May 1875. He was also given a new name, ''Sayajirao''. He ascended the ''gaddi'' (throne) at Baroda, 16 June 1875 but being a minor reigned under a Council of Regency until he came of age and was invested with full ruling powers on 28 December 1881. The Maharajah of Baroda, Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad III, became one of most important rulers of the state, founding numerous institutions, including the Bank of Baroda on 20 July 1908. The bank, along with 13 other major commercial banks of India, was nationalised on 19 July 1969, by the Government of India; it is today the third largest bank of India.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Growth potential for Bank of Baroda is pretty high: Arihant )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Baroda State」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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