Holkar of Indore and the Maharana of Udaipur. The Nizam, Maharajas, Princes, etc. were all deeply keen on protocol and ensured that it was practised as a matter of faith. Any departure from it was not taken kindly by them. Salute of guns was one such protocol that was strictly followed. Classifications and sub-classifications of salute states At the time of Indian independence and partition in 1947, 118 (113 in India, 4 in Pakistan, plus Sikkim) of the roughly 565 princely states were classified as "salute states." The rulers of the five premier states - Hyderabad State, Mysore, Baroda, Jammu & Kashmir, and Gwalior - received 21-gun salutes. The rulers of six others - Bhopal, Indore, Udaipur, Kolhapur, Travancore, and Kalat - received 19-gun salutes, with Bhopal, Indore and Udaipur entitled to a local 21-gun salute. 77 were entitled to gun salutes ranging from 17 to 11 guns, with additional gun-salutes granted on a local or personal basis. The remaining 30 received a salute of nine guns. 88 rulers with gun salutes of 11 guns or above, whether the salute was hereditary or local only, were entitled to the style of Highness. In 1918, the Nizam of Hyderabad was granted the unique style of Exalted Highness, in recognition of the state's contributions to the Allied war effort during the First World War. In 1948, all rulers of nine-gun salute states were also granted the style of Highness. The salute states were broadly divided into two categories: the five premier states with a permanent 21-gun salute and with an individual resident, or envoy, stationed in each, and the remaining 113 states incorporated within political agencies (groups of states) under a political agent. The salutes were themselves organised in a strict hierarchy. Each ruling house of a salute state was entitled to a permanent hereditary salute. In some instances, one of three sub-categories consisting of an increase of 2 gun salutes could be awarded as follows: Personal and local: Hereditary to an individual state's ruler only within its borders, and personally to the ruler outside his state, but honouring his person and not the state when he was outside it. An award of a personal salute was only for the lifetime of the ruler, and was typically made for distinguished wartime or civic service. Personal: Only for the ruler personally, and not to distinguish his state as a whole. Local: Hereditary to