Durbar is a Persian-derived term referring to the noble court of a king or ruler or a formal meeting where the king held all discussions regarding the state. It was used in South Asia for a ruler's court or feudal levy. A durbar may be either a feudal state council for administering the affairs of a princely state, or a purely ceremonial gathering, as was increasingly the case during British rule in India.

Baroda State was kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy and later princely state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India in 1949. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its capital, during the British Raj its relations with the British were managed by the Baroda Residency. The revenue of the state in 1901 was Rs. 13,661,000. Baroda formally acceded to the Dominion of India, on 1 May 1949, before which an interim government was formed in the state.