Author: Ian Copland
Publisher: Cambridge University press
Year: 1999
Language: English
Pages: 302
ISBN/UPC (if available): 81-7596-064-7
Description
Ian Copland’s comprehensive and meticulously researched study of the role played by the Indian princes, the maharajas and nawabs of south Asia, in the devolution of British colonial power is long overdue. By rehabilitating the princes as subjects so serious historical study, the author demonstrates that, far from being puppets under the control of the British, they were infact significant actors on the Indian political stage in the inter-war period.
He goes on to explain how and why an order so deep-rooted, and outwardly so strong, collapsed so quickly under the successor congress government in New Delhi. The book will add a new dimension to the political history of late colonial, India, and will also impact upon the wider history of the twentieth-century British empire.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
THE MAJOR PLAYERS
INTRODUCTION
The making of Indian India
The shackles of paramountcy
A vision splendid
The princes and the Diehards
On the edge of the abyss
Indian summer
Fin de siecle
Conclusion
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX