Although the princes of India have been caricatured as oriental despots and British stooges, Barbara Ramusack's study argues that the British did not create the princes. On the contrary, many were consummate politicians who exercised considerable degrees of autonomy until the disintegration of the princely states after independence. Ramusack's synthesis has a broad temporal span, tracing the evolution of the Indian kings from their pre-colonial origins to their roles as clients in the British colonial system. The book breaks ground in its integration of political and economic developments in the major princely states with the shifting relationships between the princes and the British. It represents a major contribution, both to British imperial history in its analysis of the theory and practice of indirect rule, and to modern South Asian history, as a portrait of the princes as politicians and patrons of the arts.

A portrait of the princes of India from their pre-colonial origins to post-World War II. Barbara Ramusack's study reveals them to have been consummate political animals who were classified as stooges of the Raj but who in reality wielded considerable autonomy before independence in 1947.

This book on the picturesque lifestyle of the erstwhile Indian princes and maharajas is now available in a revised Indian edition. The princes may have become mere citizens but the enchantment remains

A fascinating study of the role played by the Indian princes in the devolution of British colonial power.

This is an invaluable work looking into new areas relating to India's princely states. Based on an abundance of rarely used archival material, the book sheds new light on diversities related to the princely states such as health policies and practices, gender issues, the states’ military contribution or the mechanisms for controlling or integrating the states. Contributions are from international, reputable scholars, and they present historiographic, analytical and methodological approaches, placing attention to concepts, theories and sources. Inter-disciplinary in nature, this book will appeal to scholars and researchers of South Asia, studies of transnational histories, cultural and racial studies, international politics and economic history and the social history of health and medicine.

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Descendents of some of the rulers of the former princely states of India; includes a brief ancestral lineage.