Northern Circars

Northern Circars
Division of British India
1823–1947
Flag of Northern Circars
Flag

The Northern Circars shortly after their occupation by the British
CapitalEluru
Area
 • Coordinates17°27′N 83°00′E / 17.45°N 83.00°E / 17.45; 83.00
 
• 
78,000 km2 (30,000 sq mi)
 • TypeBritish Colonial Government
Historical era20th century
• The British buy the rights over the Circars
1823
1947
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Mughal Empire
Republic of India
Today part of India

The Northern Circars (also spelt Sarkars) was a division of British India's Madras Presidency. It consisted of a narrow slip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal from 15° 40′ to 20° 17′ north latitude,[1] in the present-day Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The Subah of Deccan (Hyderabad/Golconda) consisted of 22 circars. These northern circars were five in number and the most prominent ones in the Subah.[2]

They became British in a protracted piecemeal process lasting from 1758 to 1823, involving diplomacy and financial settlements rather than military conquest. The annexation by the British of the Northern Circars deprived Hyderabad State, the Nizam's dominion, of the considerable coastline it formerly had, assuming the shape it is now remembered for that of a landlocked princely state with territories in Central Deccan, bounded on all sides by British India.[3]

  1. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Circar". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 380.
  2. ^ "Madras District Gazetteers, Volume 1". Superintendent, Government Press. 1915. p. 235.
  3. ^ P. N. Chopra, B.N. Puri & M.N. Das, A Comprehensive History of India, Volume 3. pg. 298