Salute state

A Salute state was a princely state (i.e. reigned over by a native ruler of princely rank) which the British colonial paramount ruler had granted a gun salute; 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.

British India's salute states and equivalents

Salute states in present India

When the ruler of a princely state arrived at Delhi the capital of India, he was greeted with a number of gun-fires. This number of gun fires changed from time to time. It could be increased or reduced as deemed appropriate according to honors of princely rulers varying time to time in terms of relations with british or that based upon their political power. British rulers. Later in independent India the system continued until 1971. A 21-gun salute was considered the highest. The King Emperor of the British Empire (being the emperor of India) was given 101 gun salutes, and 31 were for the Viceroy of India.

The number of gun salutes 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 gunfiring taking almost all day and causing severe hearing disabilities to many attendants. At that time there were three Princely States that were given 21 gun salutes. These were: H.H. The Nizam of Hyderabad; 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. 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. The gun salutes enjoyed by the states that later acceded to the Union of India as on 14 August 1947, were:

Serial No.	Hereditary salute No. of guns	Personal or Local salute No. of guns	Title of Rais	Name of state	Clan of Rais	Present Location
1.	21	-	H.E.H. the Nizam of	Hyderabad and Berar	Siddiqui	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra
2.	21	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Mysore	Rajput	Karnataka
3.	21	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Jammu and Kashmir	Rajput Dogra	Jammu and Kashmir
4.	21	-	H.H. the Maharaja Gaekwar of	Baroda	Maratha	Gujarat
5.	21	-	H.H. the Maharaja Scindia of	Gwalior	Maratha	Madhya Pradesh
6.	19	21 (Local)	H.H. the Nawab of	Bhopal	Mirasi Khel Afghan	Madhya Pradesh
7.	19	21 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja Holkar of	Indore	Maratha Dhangar	Madhya Pradesh
8.	19	21 (Local)	H.H. the Maharana of	Udaipur (Mewar)	Rajput Sisodia	Rajasthan
9.	19	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Kolhapur	Maratha	Maharashtra
10.	19	21 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Travancore	Samanta Kshatriya	Kerala
11.	17	19 (Personal)	H.H. the Maharao of	Kotah	Rajput, Chauhan, Hada	Rajasthan
12.	17	19 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Bharatpur	Jat	Rajasthan
13.	17	19 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Bikaner	Rajput, Rathore	Rajasthan
14.	17	19 (Local)	H.H. the Mirza Maharao of	Cutch	Rajput, Jadeja	Gujarat
15.	17	19 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Pudukkottai	Tondiman	Tamilnadu
15.	17	19 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Jaipur	Rajput, Kachwaha	Rajasthan
16.	17	19 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Jodhpur	Rajput, Rathore	Rajasthan
17.	17	19 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Patiala	Sikh	Punjab
18.	17	-	H.H. the Maha Rao Raja of	Bundi	Rajput, Chauhan, Hada	Rajasthan
19.	17	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Kochi (India)	Kshatriya	Kerala
20.	17	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Karauli	Rajput Jadon	Rajasthan
21.	17	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Rewa	Rajput, Baghela	Madhya Pradesh
22.	17	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Tonk	Pathan	Rajasthan
23.	15	17 (Personal)	H.H. the Maharaj Rana of	Dholpur	Jat	Rajasthan
24.	15	17 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Alwar	Rajput, Kachwaha	Rajasthan
25.	15	-	H.H. the Maharawal of	Banswara	Rajput, Sisodia	Rajasthan
26.	15	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Datia	Rajput, Bundela	Madhya Pradesh
27.	15	-	H.H. the Raja of	Dewas Senior	Rajput Panwar	Madhya Pradesh
28.	15	-	H.H. the Raja of	Dewas Junior	Rajput Panwar	Madhya Pradesh
29.	15	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Dhar	Rajput Panwar	Madhya Pradesh
30.	15	-	H.H. the Maharawal of	Dungarpur	Rajput Sisodia	Rajasthan
31	15	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Idar	Rajput Rathore	Gujarat
32	15	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Jaisalmer	Rajput, Bhati	Rajasthan
33	15	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Kishangarh	Rajput, Rathore	Rajasthan
34	15	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Orchha	Rajput, Bundela	Madhya Pradesh
35	15	-	H.H. the Maharawat of	Pratapgarh	Rajput, Sisodia	Rajasthan
36	15	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Rampur	Pathan	Uttar Pradesh
37.	15	-	H.H. the Raja of	Sikkim	Tipihar	Sikkim
38	15	-	H.H. the Maharaol of	Sirohi	Rajput, Chauhan,Devda	Rajasthan
39	13	-	H.H. the Maharaja Raol Sahib of	Bhavnagar	Rajput, Gohil	Gujarat
40	13	15 (Personal and Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Jind	Sikh	Punjab
41	13	15 (Personal and Local)	H.H. the Nawab of	Junagadh	Babi (Muslim)	Gujarat
42	13	15 (Personal and Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Kapurthala	Sikh	Punjab
43	13	15 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Benares	Brahmin Goutam	Uttar Pradesh
44	13	15 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja Raol of	Bhavnagar	Rajput, Gohil	Gujarat
45	13	15 (Local)	H.H. the Raja of	Nabha	Sikh	Punjab
46	13	15 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja Jam Sahib of	Nawanagar	Rajput, Jadeja	Gujarat
47	13	15 (Local)	H.H. the Maharaja of	Ratlam	Rajput, Rathore	Madhya Pradesh
48	13	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Cooch Behar	Rajput, Rajvanshi	West Bengal
48	13	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Vizianagaram	Rajput, Pusapati	Andhra Pradesh
49	13	-	H.H. the Maharana Maharaja Shri Raj of	Dhrangadhra	Rajput, Jhala	Gujarat
50	13	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Jaora	Pathan	Madhya Pradesh
51	13	-	H.H. the Maharaj Rana of	Jhalawar	Rajput, Jhala	Rajasthan
52	13	-	H.H. the Deewan of	Palanpur	Afghan	Gujarat
53	13	-	H.H. the Maharaja Rana Sahib of	Porbandar	Rajput, Jethwa	Gujarat
54	13	-	H.H. the Maharana of	Rajpipla	Rajput, Gohil	Gujarat
55	13	-	H.H. the Raja of	Tipra	Rajput	Tripura
56	11	13 (Local)	H.H. the Nawab of	Janjira	Siddi (Muslim)	Maharashtra
57	11	-	H.H. the Sawai Maharaja of	Ajaigarh	Rajput, Bundela	Madhya Pradesh
58	11	-	H.H. the Maharana of	Ali Rajpur	Rajput, Sisodia	Madhya Pradesh
59	11	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Baoni	Pathan	Madhya Pradesh
60	11	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Barwani	Rajput, Sisodia	Madhya Pradesh
61	11	-	H.H. the Sawai Maharaja of	Bijawar	Rajput, Bundela	Madhya Pradesh
62	11	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Cambay (Khambhat)	Pathan	Gujarat
63	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Chamba	Rajput	Himachal Pradesh
64	11	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Charakhari	Rajput, Bundela	Madhya Pradesh
65	11	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Chhatarpur	Rajput, Parmar	Madhya Pradesh
66	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Faridkot	Shikh	Punjab
67	11	-	H.H. the Thakur of	Gondal	Rajput, Jadeja	Gujarat
68	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Bilaspur	Rajput	Himachal Pradesh
69	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Jhabua	Rajput Rathore	Madhya Pradesh
70	11	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Maler Kotla	Afghan	Punjab
71	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Mandi	Rajput Chandravanshi	Punjab
72	11	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Manipur	Rsjput	Manipur
73	11	-	H.H. the Thakur of	Morvi	Rajput Jadeja	Gujarat
74	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Narsinghgarh	Rajput Umat	Madhya Pradesh
75	11	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Panna	Rajput Bundela	Madhya Pradesh
77	11	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Radhanpur	Irani (Muslim)	Gujarat
78	11	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Rajgarh	Muslim	Madhya Pradesh
79	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Sailana	Rajput Rathore	Madhya Pradesh
80	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Samthar	Rajput Bargujar	Madhya Pradesh
81	11	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Sirmaur (Nahan)	Rajput, Bhati	Himachal Pradesh
82	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Sitamau	Rajput Rathore	Madhya Pradesh
83	11	-	H.H. the Raja of	Suket (SunderNagar)	Rajput Chandravanshi	Himachal Pradesh
84	11	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Tehri Garhwal	Rajput, Parmar	Uttarakhand
85	11	-	H.H. the Maharana Raj Sahib of	Wankaner	Rajput, Jhala	Gujarat
86	9	11 (Personal)	H.H. the Maharaol of	Baria	Rajput, Chauhan	Gujarat
87	9	11 (Personal)	H.H. the Raja of	Dharampur	Rajput, Sisodia	Gujarat
88	9	11 (Personal)	H.H. the Raja of	Sangli	Brahmin, (Patwardhan)	Maharashtra
89	9	11 (Local)	H.H. the Sar Desai of	Sawantwadi	Maratha	Maharashtra
90	9	-	H.H. the Thakore Sahib of	Badwan	Rajput Jhala	Gujarat
91	9	-	H.H. the Nawab Babi of	Balasinor	Irani (Muslim)	Gujarat
92	9	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Banganapalle	(Muslim Shia)	Tamil Nadu
93	9	-	H.H. the Maharawal of	Bansda	Rajput Solanki	Gujarat
94	9	-	H.H. the Raja of	Baraundha	Rajput Bargujar	Madhya Pradesh
95	9	-	H.H. the Raja of	Bhor	Brahmin	Maharashtra
96	9	-	H.H. the Raja of	Chota Udaipur	Rajput, Chauhan	Gujarat
97	9	-	H.H. the Maharana of	Danta	Rajput, Paramara	Gujarat
98	9	-	H.H. the Thakore Sahib of	Dhrol	Rajput, Jadeja	Gujarat
99	9	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Jawhar	Maratha (Mukne)	Maharashtra
100	9	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Kalahandi(Karod)	Rajput, (Gangavanshi)	Orissa
101	9	-	H.H. the Rao of	Khilchipur	Rajput, Chauhan,(Khinchi)	Madhya Pradesh
102	9	-	H.H. the Thakore Sahib of	Limbdi	Rajput, Jhala	Gujarat
103	9	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Loharu	(Muslim)	Haryana
104	9	-	H.H. the Maharana of	Lunawara	Rajput, Solanki	Gujarat
105	9	-	H.H. the Raja of	Maihar	Rajput, Kachwaha	Madhya Pradesh
106	9	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Mayurbhanj	Rajput, (Bhanj)	Orissa
107	9	-	H.H. the Raja of	Mudhol	Maratha Bhonsle	Karnataka
108	9	-	H.H. the Raja of	Nagod	Rajput, Parihar	Madhya Pradesh
109	9	-	H.H. the Thakore Sahib of	Palitana	Rajput, Gohil	Gujarat
110	9	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Patna	Rajput, Chauhan	Orissa
111	9	-	H.H. the Thakore Sahib of	Rajkot	Rajput, Jadeja	Gujarat
112	9	-	H.H. the Nawab of	Sachin (princely state)	Siddi (Muslim)	Gujarat
113	9	-	H.H. the Maharana of	Sant	Rajput, Parmara	Gujarat
114	9	-	H.H. the Rajadhiraj of	Shahpura	Rajput, Sisodia	Rajasthan
115	9	-	H.H. the Maharaja of	Sonepur	Rajput	Orissa
116	9	-	H.H. the Maharana of	Wadhwan	Rajput	Gujarat
117	-	9 (Personal)	The Raja of	Bashahr	Rajput	Himachal Pradesh

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 (Hindu; at Udaipur, Maharajpramukh in Rajasthan) was raised to first place in the Order of Precedence, displacing the Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar (Muslim), 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 privipurses of ex-rulers were abolished by the Government of India.

Salute states in present Pakistan

Twelve Muslim princely states in western India acceded on 14 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 is 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:

Serial No.	Hereditary salute No. of guns	Personal salute No. of guns	Title of Rais	Name of state	Clan of Rais	Present Location
1.	19	-	H.H. the Khan of	Kalat	Muslim	Balochistan
2.	17	-	H.H. the Nawab (later styled Rana or Rao) of	Bahawalpur	Muslim Daud Potra	Panjab
3.	15	-	H.H. the Mir (later mahajirz of India) of	Khairpur	Muslim Billochi	Sindh
4.	11	-	H.H. the Mehtar of	Chitral	Muslim Katur	NWFP

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
• 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