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Treaty of 1818 between Bikaner and the East India Company(1818)

The 1818 treaty between Bikaner and the East India Company ended the state's independence, exchanging external sovereignty for protection. Sources give the date as 9 March, 21 March or 9 May 1818.

TO

What you need to know

Concluded between Bikaner under Surat Singh and the East India Company in 1818
  • Negotiated with Charles Metcalfe as the Governor-General's special representative
  • Signed for the British by Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquess of Hastings
  • Kashinath Ojha acted as Bikaner's representative in the negotiations
  • The friends and enemies of one party became the friends and enemies of both
  • Bikaner surrendered the conduct of external relations and retained internal sovereignty
  • Bikaner became a princely state with a hereditary salute of seventeen guns
  • British troops restored order in the state after the treaty
  • The immediate trigger was the thakur revolt of 1815
  • Three different dates for the treaty appear across the sources

    • Participants

    • MS

      Signatory ruler

      Maharaja Surat Singh of Bikaner

      52 yrs at this event

      Signatory ruler

      52 yrs at event

      Maharaja Surat Singh of Bikaner

      Seventeenth ruler of Bikaner, 1787–1828. Took the throne through the disputed deaths of 1787, recaptured Bhatner as Hanumangarh, provoked a general thakur revolt, and concluded the 1818 treaty bringing Bikaner under British protection.

    Theatres

    • B

      SEAT_OF_POWER

      Bikaner

      SEAT_OF_POWER

      Bikaner

      Walled desert city founded in 1488 by Rao Bika; capital of Bikaner State until 1947.

    Powers

    • B(

      Bikaner (Rathor Kingdom)

      Bikaner (Rathor Kingdom)

      Rathor Rajput kingdom of the Thar desert. Watan-jagir vassal of the Mughals from 1570 under Rai Singh.

    • EI

      East India Company in India

      East India Company in India

      The Honourable East India Company as a political power in the subcontinent, from its Bengal diwani (1757/1765) until the Government of India Act 1858 transferred its territories and paramountcy to the British Crown. Signed subsidiary alliances with most Rajput princely states from 1818 onward.

    • Key Points
    • Participants
    • Theatres
    • Powers
    Facts at a glance
    Start
    1818
    End
    1818
    Tags
    Bikaner, East India Company, treaty, 1818, Metcalfe, paramountcy, princely state, Rajputana

    Significance · NATIONAL

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    Start
    1818
    End
    1818
    Tags
    Bikaner, East India Company, treaty, 1818, Metcalfe, paramountcy, princely state, Rajputana

    Significance · NATIONAL

    Report an error