Baoni State
Baoni State was a princely state in India during the British Raj. It was a small sanad state, the only Muslim-ruled one in Bundelkhand Agency. Its ruler was granted the right to an 11-gun salute. The Baoni royal family claim to be descendants of the Asaf Jahi dynasty of Hyderabad, tracing its origins to Abu Bakr, the first Islamic caliph. Baoni was located in the Betwa-Yamuna "doab", Uttar Pradesh, with Kadaura as its seat of government. The state was bounded on the north by the district of Cawnpore, in the west by the district of  Jalaun and to the south and east by the district of Hamirpur of the United Provinces —as well as a little part in the south-east by Beri State. The word 'Baoni' originated in the Hindustani language word "Baon", meaning 52 (fifty-two), and referring to the number of villages that were included in the original "sanad" at the time when it was granted. Baoni had a population of 19,780 inhabitants in 1901, of whom 87% were Hindu and 12% Muslim. History. Baoni State was founded in 1784 by Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III also known as "Imad -ul-Mulk" from a branch of the Asaf Jahi dynasty related to the Nizam, and Wazir of the Mughal Empire. At that time he made a deal with the Maratha Peshwa and received a "jagir" of 52 villages near Kalpi. The state became a British protectorate in 1806, following the defeat of the Maratha Confederacy. The capital was moved from Kalpi to Kadaura after 1815. The last ruler, Muhammad al-Hasan Mushtaq, signed the instrument of accession to the Indian Union on 15 August 1947 and continued to rule the state that joined the Union of States of Vindhya Pradesh  on 2 April 1948, remaining as head of state until 31 December 1949. Rulers. All rulers of Baoni State bore the title of "Nawab".