Esztergom county was one of the two counties in which the leadership consisted of common nobles and not religious and political leaders (the other one being Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun county). They were not granted the rank of lord-lieutenant unlike the leaders of other counties; they could only acquire vice-ispán and other lower ranks. The two counties were first merged in 1786 by Joseph II, with the new center being Tata. The merged county was separated after his death in 1790, and both Esztergom and Komárom were granted the rank of county center. The noble leadership was replaced by county commissions in both counties in May 1848. The county commission of Komárom county functioned until the end of the war of independence of 1848-1849, but the commission of Esztergom county was disrupted by the occupation of imperial troops on 15 January 1849. After the war the leadership of the counties was headed by Imperial–royal commissioners. In 1851 the parts of the counties that lay on the souther bank of the Danube were reorganized as Esztergom county with Esztergom as its center, and the parts on the northern bank were reorganized as Komárom county with Komárom as its center. These reformed counties only existed until 1860. After that the county commissions elected in 1848 restored them to their previous state. Towards the end of the 19th century, two towns in Komárom county — Lábatlan and Piszke — were added to Esztergom county, during the reorganization of counties in 1876.