CENTRAL INDIA, a collection of Indian states forming a separate agency, which must not be confounded with the Central Provinces. The Central India agency was formed in 1854 and consists of two large detached tracts of country which, with Jhansi as a pivot, spread outwards east and west into the penin sula, reaching southward to the valley of the Nerbudda and the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The total area, since Gwalior was removed from the agency, is 51,531 square miles.
Central India (including for the moment Gwalior) maybe divided into three great natural divisions; the highlands of the Malwa plateau, with a mean elevation of some 1,500 ft. above sea-level; the low-lying country some 600 ft. above sea-level, comprising the greater part of the eastern section of the agency; and the hilly tracts which lie mostly to the south. The Malwa plateau consists of great undulating plains, separated by flat-topped hills, whose sides are boldly terraced, with here and there a scarp rising above the general level. Its foundation is a bed of sandstone and shales belonging to the Vindhyan series, which underlies the whole of the agency except the northern part of Bundelkhand. On the plateau itself the sandstone is generally overlaid by the Deccan trap, a blackish-coloured basaltic rock of volcanic origin, the high level tableland having been formed by a succession of lava flows, the valleys of Central India being merely "denudation hollows" carved out by the action of rain and rivers. It is apparently the northern limit of what was once a vast basaltic plain stretch ing from Goona to Belgaum, "one of the most gigantic outpourings of volcanic matter in the world." The sandstone bed on which it rests is visible at a point just north of Goona, and in a small area round Bhilsa and Bhopal. The low-lying land includes roughly that part of the agency which lies to the east of the plateau and comprises the greater part of the political divisions of Bundel khand and Baghelkhand and the country round Gwalior. The formation is sandstone of the Vindhyan series, except in the north of Bundelkhand where the prevailing rock is gneiss and quartz. The quartz takes the shape of long serrated ridges, trap appearing here and there in intrusive dykes. The hilly tracts lie chiefly to the south of the agency, where the Vindhya, Satpura and Kaimur ranges are met with. The country is rough forest and jungle land little used for cultivation. The greater part of Central India is covered with the well-known "black cotton soil," produced by the disintegration of the trap rock. It is a very rich loamy earth, possessing great fertility and an unusual power of retaining moisture, which makes artificial irrigation little needed. The ordi nary "red soil" covers a large part of northern Bundelkhand, and as it requires much irrigation, tanks are a special feature in this country.
The Central India agency is divided for administrative purposes into the residency of Indore, and the agencies of Baghelkhand, Bhopal, Bhopawar, Bundel khand, Indore and Malwa. Gwalior was removed from the agency in 1921 and put directly under the Governor-General. Besides Indore there are 13 states of importance, viz., Rewa, Bhopal, Dhar, Barwani, Datia, Orchha, Charkhari, Chhattarpur, Panna, Dewas (senior branch), Dewas (junior branch), Jaora and Ratlam. At the close of the Pindari War in 1818 the whole of this country was in great confusion and disorder, having suffered heavily from the extortions of the Mahratta armies and from predatory bands. It had been the policy of the great Mahratta chiefs, Holkar and Sindhia, to trample down into complete subjection all the petty Rajput princes. Many of these minor chiefs had taken refuge in the hills and forests, and retaliated upon the Mahratta usurpers by wasting the lands which they had lost, until the Mahrattas compounded for peace by payment of blackmail. In this state of affairs all parties agreed to accept the interposition of the British government for the restoration of order, and under Lord Hastings the work of pacification was effected. The policy pursued was to declare the permanency of the rights existing at the time of the British interposition, conditionally upon the maintenance of order; to adjust and guarantee the relations of subordinate and tributary chiefs to their superiors so as to prevent all further disputes or encroachments; and to settle the claims of the ousted landholders, who had resorted to pillage or blackmail, by fixing grants of land or settling money allowances. The resultant states have no general ethnological affinity, such as exists in Rajputana. Their territories are in many cases neither compact nor continuous, consisting of a number of villages here and there, with a nucleus of more or less importance round the chief town. Their relations to the govern ment of India and to each other present many variations. Ten of them are under direct treaty with the government of India ; others are held under sanads and deeds of fealty and obedience ; while a third class, known as the mediatized states, are held under agreements mediated by the British government between them and their superior chiefs.
The total population of the Central India agency in 1931 was 6,632,790, Hindus largely predominating; but a few Mohammedan groups still exist, either traces of the days when the Mogul emperors extended their sway from the Punjab to the Deccan, or else the descendants of those northern adventurers who hired out their services to the great Mahratta generals. Of the first Bhopal is the only example, while Jaora is the only notable instance of the other. Roughly there are four great sections of the population ; the Mahratta section, who belong to the ruling circles; the Rajputs; the trading classes, consisting chiefly of Marwaris and Gujaratis; and lastly, the jungle tribes. The Mahrattas are foreigners, and, though rulers of the greater part of Central India, have no true connection with the soil and are little met with out side cities, the vicinity of courts, and administrative centres. The Rajputs with all their endless ramifications form a large portion of the population. On the Malwa plateau they are pure-blooded aristocrats : on the low country they have got their blood more mixed, and the plateau families as a rule will not intermarry with them. The Marwaris hold practically all the trade of Central India, with the exception of the Bora class of Mohammedans.
They are either Vaishnavite Hindus or else Jains. Their advent into Central India dates, except in the case of one or two families, from the time of the Mahratta invasion only. The Jain portion of this community is very wealthy. The last section, that of the jungle tribes, is semi-civilized and shy, little affected as yet by the Hinduism of the conquerors.
The British agent to the governor-general resides at Indore, and there are British cantonments at Mhow, Neemuch and Nowgong.
