Since the 19th century the princely states and the tributary states of Orissa and Chhota Nagpur were not part of Bengal, but British relations with them were managed by its government through the Bengal Presidency.

This agency dealt with 42 princely states in eastern India, located in the present-day Indian states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura.

[3] Cooch Behar and Tripura were transferred from Bengal Province to the Eastern States Agency on 1 November 1936.

[citation needed] On 1 December 1944, the status of this agency was raised to that of a first-class residency.

[4] Later they were integrated into the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa.