Princely India and the British ─ Political Development and the Operation of Empire

1947 is often given as the watershed year in the historical relationship between Britain and India. In this new book, independent historian Caroline Keen points out that before that time, the British colonial government controlled relationships with the princes of 600 Indian states; how those relationships worked in the second half of the 19th century is also a vital part of the colonial history of Britain and India. Keen makes extensive use of primary sources to focus on these relationships by looking at the lives of the princes themselves. She works to refute the argument that this era was a golden age for India's princes, and argues instead that the system created a significant loss of princely power. She looks at the responses of various princes and their families to the forces at work to reshape native rule and aristocratic life in India: displaying rulership and power vs. saving the Empire's money, the roles of women, the nature of education, tensions between British and Indian officials, tensions between British advisors and their superiors in the Imperial administration, and culture clash. Along with the princes themselves, she looks carefully at the roles and actions of women in princely families, and the issue of British education for their children who were expected to inherit rule. The book is divided into five chapters: Succession, Education, Marriage and Royal Women, Ruler of the State, and Servant of the Empire. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)