The Princely State of Khandia, also known as Jankhan, was one of the well known native states of India that was managed and supervised by a native prince under the guidance of the British authorities. The princely state was under the indirect control of the British Empire in India. The state was scattered over a total area of 5 sq mile and comprised of a total population of 590 in the year 1931. The taluka of Khandia was situated in the Bhoika Thana and the territory consisted of only a single village. The village was located towards the southeast of the town of Chuda. The territory was bounded by a remote block of territory that belonged to the princely state of Limbdi in the north and northwest; by the state of Chachana in the east; by Kantharia in the south; and by the territory of Chalala in the southwest.
Bhoika Thana was a corridor of minor estates which detached the princely state of Limbdi to the east from the princely states of Chuda and Wadhwan to the west. The area was bordered by the British district of Ahmedabad in the south. Almost all of the 18 estates in the region, excluding only one estate, were offshoots of Limbdi state. In 1935, the region was merged with the District Thana of Wadhwan in order to form the new territory of Wadhwan Bhoika Thana, for convenience purposes. The new territory included around 35 estates, which covered a total area of 347 sq miles and comprising a total population of 38,719 in the year 1931.
The Princely State of Khandia was an essential part of the former Baroda Agency, which in turn was a under the administrative control of the Western India States Agency. Eventually the territory was incorporated as a part of the Indian state of Gujarat. The state was also a part of the Eastern Kathiawar Agency and the territory of Bhoika Thana.
History of Princely State of Khandia
The princely state of Khandia was claimed by more than one native prince, who were formally addressed as shareholders. There are 2 such shareholders, including bhagdars and talukdars, in the state. The Jhala Rajputs, bhayats of Limbdi, were the shareholders the territory. Khandia state was a non- jurisdictionary native state. The estateholders of the region were mainly individuals of substance, well educated and were much aware of the political conditions prevailing in the country, unlike the shareholders in other Kathiawar Thanas. The Princely State of Khandia paid annual tribute to the princely state of Junagadh. The territory was attached to the princely state of Limbdi under the Attachment Scheme of 1943. It was amongst of the 29 units that were attached in the first stage of the scheme which followed the lead of Ghodasar and Bhadwa in declining to recognize the power and authority of the attaching of princely states.
The erstwhile princely state of Khandia was acceded to the newly formed and independent Dominion of India, which was also known as Union of India, after the withdrawal of the British administration from political supremacy and the partition of India in the year 1947.