The British Empire in the East, 1919, showing the princely states coloured green, British India coloured red

A Salute state was a princely state in India during the time of British rule which had been granted a gun salute by the British Crown (as paramount ruler); i.e., the protocollary privilege for its ruler to be greeted - originally by Royal Navy ships, later also on land - with a number of gun shots, as recognition of the state's relative status.

Salute states and equivalents

Overview

When the ruler of a princely state arrived at the Indian capital (originally at Calcutta (Kolkata), then at Delhi), he was greeted with a number of gun-firings. The number of these consecutive "gun salutes" changed from time to time, being increased or reduced depending on the degree of honour which the British chose to accord to a given ruler. The number of gun salutes accorded to a ruler was usually a reflection of the state of his relations with the British and/or his perceived degree of political power; a 21-gun salute was considered the highest. The King (or Queen) of the United Kingdom (who until 1948 was also the Emperor of India) was accorded a 101-gun salute, and 31 guns were used to salute the Viceroy of India.

The number of guns in a salute assumed particular importance at the time of holding of the Coronation Durbar in Delhi in the month of December, 1911. The Durbar was held to commemorate the Coronation of H.I.M. George V with the consequent firing of guns lasting almost all day and causing severe hearing disabilities to many attendees. H.E.H. The Nizam of Hyderabad was the highest with 23 gun salutes. At that time there were two Princely States that were given 21 gun salutes. These were: H.H. The Maharaja (Gaekwad) of Baroda State; H.H. The Maharaja of Mysore. Apart from these three, no other Princely State was given 21 gun salutes. There were, however, other Princely States, which enjoyed a salute of 21 gun within the limits of their own state and 19 guns in the rest of India. For example, H.H. the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir; H.H. The Maharaja (Scindhia) of Gwalior; H.H. The Maharaja (Holkar) of Indore; H.H. The Maharana of Udaipur (Mewar). The then Maharaja of Travancore also held a personal 21 gun salute.

In 1917, the Maharaja of Gwalior was upgraded to a permanent and hereditary 21-gun salute, and the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir was granted the same in 1921. Both were granted the increased ranks as a result of the meritorious services of their soldiers in the First World War.

The Nizam, Maharajas, Princes, etc. were all deeply keen on protocol and ensured that it was practiced as a matter of faith. Any departure from it was not taken kindly by them. Salute of guns was one such protocol that was strictly adhered to.

Salutes for the Indian Empire (royals, administrators and officers)

Sourced from a 1913 copy of the King's Regulations on salutes and ceremonial, with some updates. ^[1]

For British officers and administrators

• 101-guns (Imperial Salute) - The King-Emperor
• 31-guns - Members of the Royal Family; the Viceroy and Governor-General of India
• 19-guns - Ambassadors; Governors-General; Commander-in-Chief, India (holding the rank of Field Marshal); Admirals of the Fleet, Field Marshals and Marshals of the Royal Air Force
• 17-guns - Governors of the Bombay, Madras and Bengal Presidencies; Governors of Indian Provinces and Governors of Colonies; the President of the Council in India; Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary; Commander-in-Chief, India (holding the rank of General); Admirals, Generals and Air Chief Marshals
• 15-guns - Lieutenant-Governors of Indian Provinces; Lieutenant-Governors of Colonies; Members of Council; Plenipotentiaries and Envoys; Ministers Resident; Army Commanders with the rank of Lieutenant-General; Vice-Admirals, Lieutenant-Generals and Air Marshals
• 13-guns - Chief Commissioners of Indian Provinces and Commissioners; Agents to the Viceroy; Residents; Consuls-General; Divisional Commanders; Rear-Admirals , Major-Generals and Air Vice-Marshals
• 11-guns - Political Agents and Charges d'Affaires; Brigade Commanders; Commodores, Brigadiers and Air Commodores

British salutes for French and Portuguese administrators in India

• 17-guns - Governor of French India; Governor of Portuguese India
• 11-guns - Governor of Daman; Governor of Diu

Salute states that acceded to India in 1947

In 1948 The Hindu Rajput Maharana of Udaipur was raised to first place in the Order of Precedence, displacing the Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar due to his stubborn stance of not acceding to the union .^[2] The system of gun salutes continued in the Republic of India until 1971.

The gun salutes enjoyed by the states that acceded to the Union of India, then or later, were:

Although salutes with many more guns have been used for Western Monarchs (and dynastic and other associated occasions), the 21-gun salute has in modern times become customary for Sovereign Monarchs (hence also known as 'royal salute') and republic.

Some of the rulers not listed above were granted increased gun salutes after the independence, e.g. the Maharana of Mewar (at Udaipur, Maharajpramukh in Rajasthan) was raised to first place in the Order of Precedence, displacing the Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar, and all 9-gun states were permitted the use of the style of Highness. However, it has not been possible to obtain complete details for all the rulers.

This system continued till 1971, when privileges and Privy Purses of ex-rulers were abolished by the Government of India.

Salute states that acceded to Pakistan in 1947

Twelve Muslim princely states in western India acceded on 15 August 1947 to the Dominion (a republic since 1956) of Pakistan as devised by independence from British India. Over time, they were amalgamated into larger federations and provinces culminating in the establishment of two large provinces, East and West Pakistan. Most of the princely states in the western part of the country merged into the Province of West Pakistan (the present Pakistan, the only other province then was East Pakistan, present Bangladesh) at its creation on 14 October 1955. Although some frontier states continued to be administered as separate units, these were eliminated in 1971; all styles and titles enjoyed by the former ruling families ceased to be officially recognised by the Government of Pakistan in January 1972.

The order of precedence of the salute states that acceded to Pakistan in 1947 was as follows:

After several promotions and two further post-colonial awardings - which India didn't do as a republic - the gun salutes enjoyed by the states in Pakistan were as follows in 1966:

• Hereditary salute of 21-guns: H.H. the Amir of Bahawalpur
• Hereditary salute of 19-guns: H.H. the Khan of Kalat
• Hereditary salute of 17-guns: H.H. the Mir of Khairpur
• Hereditary salute of 15-guns: H.H. the Mir of Hunza (granted by President Ayub Khan in 1966, previously non-salute)
• Hereditary salute of 15-guns: H.H. the Wali of Swat (granted by President Ayub Khan in 1966, previously non-salute)
• Hereditary salute of 11-guns: H.H. the Mehtar of Chitral

Salute dynasties on the Indian subcontinent without states

Personal salute of 11-guns: only H.H. the Aga Khan (in fact a religious leader of the Nizari Ismaili branch of Islam), the only salute not attached to any territorial principality.

Furthermore salutes were awarded to certain Political pensioners, notably:

• 21 guns for Khudadad, i.e. Tippu Sultan's Muslim empire, starting from the usurped Mysore throne (also 21 guns), meant to replace Delhi's (Mughal) Padshah-i-Hind
• 19 guns (only personal and local) for the Nawab of Murshidabad, as heirs of greater Bengal (including present Bangladesh, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal)
• 15 guns (until 1899) for HH the Nawab (later restyled Prince) of Arcot, i.e. the Carnatic
• 13 guns salute for Raja of Vizianagram^[3]
• 9 guns for HH the Nawab of Banganapalle
• 4 guns for Manyam Zamindar of Yanam (French India)

Elsewhere

The information below (quite possibly incomplete) had to be puzzled from different sources, mainly one concerning the 1912 situation which seems to ignore the differences between hereditary, personal and local salutes.

• 31 guns - This unusual class was reserved for truly sovereign and independent Absolutist oriental monarchies, not under full British control:
  • HH the Muslim King (styled Badshah or Emir) of Afghanistan (Durranni dynasty)
  • HH the Buddhist King of Siam (the present Thailand)
• 21 guns:
  • HH the Sultan of Mascat [the Ibadi Imamate became a sovereign nation as Sultanate of (Muscat the core, named after the capital, of modern- and) Oman]
  • HM (since?) the King (a Maharajadhiraja) of Nepal (sovereign, Hindu kingdom in the Himalaya)
  • HM (since?) the Sultan/Hami of Zanzibar (an East African sultanate on the islands now part of Tanzania, set up by a branch of the Omani sultans)
  • HM the native (Indian tribal) King of Mosquito Coast (in present Nicaragua; styled His Majesty, most unusual as HM is normally reserved for the Paramount Ruler and its (independent) peers; under British protectorate since 1688, formalized in 1749 with appointment of a resident Superintendent; Britain relinquished control in 1783-87; Nicaraguan sovereignty was recognized in 1860 under the Treaty of Managua, hence the King considered a mere Chief, in 1894 militarily driven into exile to Jamaica)
• 19 guns: HH the Dalai lama of Tibet, a semi-sovereign theocratic Buddhist nation before annexation by the People s Republic of China
• 15 guns: HH the Druk Desi (since 1963 HM the Druk Gyalpo) & (since 1951) Maharaja of Bhutan [a sovereign Buddhist Himalayan nation]
• 9 guns: the Kabaka (native, tribal king) of Buganda (in [Western] Uganda, granted after (?) 1912, before 1939 permanent grant)
• 3 guns: all in peninsular Arabia: all in Trucial Oman, known as the Pirate Coast (- ?no agency? Persian Gulf residency?; now all among the 7 constitutive emirates of the sovereign nation UAE):
  • Ajman
  • Dubai
  • Ras al-Khaimah
  • Sharjah
  • Umm al-Qaiwain

References

General

• RoyalArk - here India
• Indian Princely States
• - Ed Haynes' list for circa 1911- various copies circulate, none propely annotated

Specific

fr: tats princiers des Indes par nombre de coups de canon no:Saluttstat ru: