The native states of India, also known as feudatory or princely states, were typically vassals under a local or regional ruler who owed allegiance to the British Raj. There were about 675 native states in all but many were not parts of British India proper because they never become possessions of the British Crown. Rather, they were tied to it in a system of subsidiary alliances. A total of 40 different states issued stamps prior to 1947. Barwani was a Princely state in the Malwa agency (present day Madhya Pradesh) in the center of India on the left bank of the Narmada River. Ruler Maharana Sir Ranjit Singhji II Bahadur (1894-1930) issued the first stamps, perhaps as late as 1921.The stamps were type set in blocks of 4 in booklets containing 32 examples of one value. They were issued without gum, on wove paper perforated 7, on 2 or 3 or 4 sides or imperforate on laid paper. Todays stamp is from 1922 showing the portrait of Rana Rangit Singh. It has a face value of ½ Anna and a CV of approx.. 25 $.