Illustrated Encyclopaedia & Whos Who of Princely States in Indian Sub-Continent - Hardcover

Ever since Indian independence, the Indian Sates and Estates which numbered six hundred on August 15, 1947, were the symbols of incompetence, oppression and vice. The did not form part of the British Indian Empire, nor were they sovereign powers. In this, the author makes the case that in many ways they actually represented progressiveness and also the conservation of Indian social and cultural traditions.