The British raj and the princely states

It begins with such style, "The map was red and yellow. The red was for British India; the yellow for the India of the princes: the Rajas and the Maharajas, the Ranis and Maharanis, the Nawabs, the Rawals and the Jams." For a South Asian history buff and an incorrigible romantic this is an irresistible lure and Malgonkar does not disappoint. He writes, "The characters in this novel are intended to personify the thoughts and ideas of a somewhat tightly-knit social group: the one-time ruling princes of India. Over six hundred Princely States were integrated into the Indian Union within a matter of months……….."

The story of the struggle for Independence and the birth of three sovereign nation states on the sub-continent, is the most important theme in the history of the twentieth century in South Asia but it has become fashionable to ignore and disregard one part of it, which is the story of the Princely States. The Indian rulers of the states which survived after the breakup of the Mughal Empire, because they were only loosely a part of the Mughal confederacy, and those which had never come under direct Mughal rule, were nevertheless soon to be brought under the sway of the Raj either directly or as puppets controlled by the Sahebs. These princes and rulers of India were treated treacherously and very shabbily by the British and later totally betrayed by the new government of India.

"The British in India" is not a particularly edifying tale but then, I suppose, all stories of colonisation and subjugation are the same. From the fifteenth century onwards the British kept arriving in India as explorers, adventurers and traders eventually becoming rulers with India as the principal Jewel in their crown of Empire. Like all the other invaders who periodically forayed into India the British also came to make money, not by plunder but by commerce -- they were merchants not soldiers -- at least to begin with. They stayed in order to make enough money to leave.

It was only when they came up against the French who had also arrived to establish their control over this rich trading area that they began to colonise and rule. In 1765 the British defeated the French and the independent ruler of Bengal and seized control of the "Diwani" the administrative power of the Bengal treasury. This was the turning point in their relationship because from then on control and rule of the territory became vital to the London stockholders of John Company, so the idea of empire took root and began to grow.

Thus began an era of plunder which is summed up best in the words of Edmund Burke the great Tory leader speaking to the House of Commons in 1783, who said, "It is our government that destroys India. Animated with all the avarice of the age with appetites continually renewing they roll in one after another. Every rupee of profit made by an Englishman is lost forever to India".

The richest plunder of all was to be found in the Princely States where the old style rulers kept sumptuous courts and owned fabulous treasures - enough to put a gleam into the eyes of every aspiring "nabob" as the rich John Company men came to be called. No wonder then that they turned their avaricious eyes to these courts and palaces and the rest, as they say, is history.

The princes and other rulers on their part, helped the Raj to encroach upon and later abduct their power because they did little to protect themselves. Although there were definitely some who were enlightened, caring and humane the bulk of the states could boast of no such quality among their rulers. As Malgonkar wrote elsewhere, "The winds of change did not penetrate their realms and power without responsibility bred indolence and fattened egos to grotesque proportions. The present held no challenge; the future no threat so they tended to hover close to their time of creation.

Many of them had laid claims to divinity or celestial descent from one of the deities of the Hindu pantheon. The Maharaja of Alwar, who could present an authenticated genealogy to establish that he was descended from the god Rama, had objected to shaking hands with George V on the grounds that to touch the hand of an infidel would damage the purity of his line. It was only by threats of dire consequences that he did finally shake George V's hand at the Delhi Durbar.

Processions, military parades, durbars and other forms of pageantry left little time or money for hospitals or road building and the industrial revolution was kept at bay as something alien, an imposition from the west. The elephant trainer and court jester ranked higher than the state engineer and the keeper of the harem far more important than the prime minister. A good citizen was one who accepted unquestioningly not only his master's absolute right to be his master, but also that divinity was involved somewhere.

There were as many as 562 of these princely states scattered all over India, ruled by Rajas and Maharajas, a Nizam, a Jam, a Maharawal, a Mehtar, an Ackond, a Wali and scores of Raos and Ranas. If it was British policy to isolate the princes and thus discourage them from joining forces, it also prevented them from squabbling amongst themselves. Centuries old feuds and jealousies manifested themselves in triviality: the number of race horses kept, or mistresses or Rolls Royces; in the lavishness of entertainment, in the measurements of tigers shot and, above all, of the titles and honours accorded by the British."

Today all these seem to be archaic anomalies for us in South Asia because the Raj and its creation, the princely states, have both long vanished from the scene. It is only in fiction that we catch glimpses of their world and in reading make then come to life again.

Yasmeen Murshed is a full-time bookworn and a part-time educationist. She is also the founder of Scholastica School.