A Princely Affair ─ The Accession and Integration of the Princely States of Pakistan, 1947-1955

On August 15, 1947, West Pakistan was less than half its present size. Nearly a year of negotiations, arguments, threats, and even chance, brought nine princely states into the Pakistani fold. Thereafter followed a long and staggered process of integration.

Using hitherto inaccessible primary sources, this path-breaking book completes the story of the creation of Pakistan. In charting the accession and integration of the princely states, this book shows, for the first time in detail, the complicated and often botched processes of the early consolidation of Pakistan. The problems emanating from this early period, haphazard constitutional integration, weak local political forces, the insurgency in Balochistan since 1948, and a weak sense of national identity and citizenship remain with Pakistan today.

Yaqoob Khan Bangash was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan. After finishing his initial schooling at Salamat Academy and Lahore College of Arts and Sciences (LACAS), he went to the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA, earning a BA in History in 2004. He worked at the Asia Society and East-West Institute during 2004a5, and then joined the University of Oxford in 2006 to research for a DPhil in Modern History which he completed in 2011. Presently, he is teaching history at Forman Christian College and Information Technology University, Lahore.