It was located primarily in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan with small portions in Madhya Pradesh.

In 1817, after the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Amir Khan submitted to the British East India Company; the British acknowledged Amir Khan as the hereditary ruler of Tonk on the condition that he disbanded his army, which consisted of 52 battalions of infantry, 15,000 Pashtun cavalry and 150 artillery.

[3] The state was formed of several enclaves located in an area covered by the alluvium of the Bands, and from this, a few rocky hills composed of schists of the Aravalli Range protrude, together with scattered outliers of the Alwar quartzites.

Nimbahera is for the most part covered by shales, limestone and sandstone belonging to the Lower Vindhyan group, while the Central India districts lie in the Deccan trap area, and present all the features common to that formation.

[citation needed] The founder of the state was Nawab Muhammad Amir Khan (1769–1834), an adventurer and military leader of Pashtun descent from Salarzai Sub-Clan of Yusufzai Tribe of District Buner.

While retaining internal autonomy and remaining outside British India, the state came under the supervision of the Rajputana Agency and consisted of six isolated districts.

[5] A former minister of Tonk state, Sahibzada Obeidullah Khan, was deputed on political duty to Peshawar during the Tirah campaign of 1897.

[citation needed] The last ruler before Indian independence, Nawab Muhammad Ismail Ali Khan, had no issue.