Junagadh State





Junagadh was a princely state ruled by Muslim rulers in British India till its integration in to India in 1948.

Mohammad Bahadur Khanji I, who owed allegiance to the Sultan of Ahmedabad, founded the state of Junagadh by expelling the Mughal governor and declaring independence in 1748. Mohammad Bahadur Khanji I, who assumed the name "Zaid Khan" when he came to power in Junagadh, was the founder of the Babi dynasty. His descendants, the Babi Nawabs of Junagadh, conquered large territories in southern Saurashtra and ruled over the state for the next two centuries, first as tributaries of Baroda, and later under the suzerainty of the British. Nawabs of Babi dynasty:


 * 1735 - 1758 : Mohammad Bahadur Khanji I
 * 1758 - 1775 : Mohammad Mahabat Khanji I
 * 1775 - 1811 : Mohammad Hamid Khanji I
 * 1811 - 1840 : Mohammad Bahadur Khanji II
 * 1840 - 1851 : Mohammad Hamid Khanji II
 * 1851 - 1882 : Mohammad Mahabat Khanji II
 * 1882 - 1892 : Mohammad Bahadur Khanji III
 * 1892 - 1911 : Mohammad Rasul Khanji
 * 1911 - 1948 : Mohammad Mahabat Khanji III

In 1807 the Junagadh State became a British protectorate and The East India Company took control of the state by 1818 and the Saurashtra area with other princely states of Kathiawar were separately administrated under Kathiawar Agency by British India.

In 1947 upon independence of India, the last Babi dynasty ruler of state Mohammad Mahabat Khanji III decided to merge its state in to newly formed Pakistan but the Hindu pupils of its State, who formed majority of population revolted, leading to several events and also a plebiscite, which lead to integration of Junagadh in to India.