Studies in Imperialism Conquering the Maharajas

Conquering the maharajas demonstrates that the political and military clashes between the Indian and Pakistani governments and the princely states, a legacy of the layered sovereignty of British indirect rule in India, was a product of the competing ideas of state sovereignty leading up to and following the transfer of power in 1947. Conquering the maharajas examines the overlooked but essential history of princely India through the tumultuous end of British Empire in South Asia and the early years of Indian and Pakistani independence. Within the British Raj, the princely states were autonomous with recognised sovereignty through treaties with the British Crown. As Indian and Pakistani authorities sought to assert the writ of the post-colonial state, the princes sought to preserve their sovereignty, setting the stage for political and military clashes based in competing conceptions of state sovereignty. The over 560 princely states dotting India’s political landscape comprised 40 percent of the British Raj’s territory and contained nearly one hundred million people. Yet, India’s princely states are a relatively under-studied aspect of British rule in India and the early years of Indian and Pakistani independence. Relying on extensive archival research, this book explains the events shaping the circumstances leading to Indian and Pakistani independence and illustrates how India’s princely states played an integral role in shaping events leading up to and following the transfer of power. It provides a unique insight into the lesser-known princely states at a time when the legacy of British colonialism is garnering more attention. The position of India’s princely states is a relatively under-studied aspect of the British withdrawal from India and the early years of Indian and Pakistani independence. Far from playing second fiddle to events in the British Indian provinces, the princely states played an integral role in the transfer of power in 1947. Under the British Raj, the princely states were politically autonomous, and the rulers of each state had to be cajoled and, in some cases, forced to accede to India or Pakistan. The princes’ commitment to preserving their sovereignty not only threatened the territorial integrity of both South Asian countries but brought them to the brink of war on multiple occasions. Conquering the maharajas tells the often overlooked history of Princely India through the tumultuous end of empire in South Asia and the early years of Indian and Pakistani independence.

Pages: 282, Paperback, Manchester University Press