000			02478nam a22002177a 4500
005			20250917112358.0
008			250917b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9781805263098 (Paperback)
082			_a954.0359
100			_aZubrzycki, John
245			_aDethroned : _bthe downfall of India's princely states / _cBy Johan Zubrzycki
260			_aLondon _bC. Hurst & Co. _c2023
300			_axxiv, 341 pages _c22 cm.
365			_bRs. 1804.00
505			_aPrologue: the last durbar - The 'iron man' and the civil servant - The bonfire of vices - Allies and agitators - A basket-full of states - Dangerous liaisons - 'A dagger into the very heart of India' - Endgames of empire - A pawn in a chess game - The vale of tears - The killing fields - 'The beauty of dawn' - The wrath of shiva - Trouble on the frontier - Lost among the cobwebs Epilogue: 'no more boodle' - Notes - Select bibliography - Acknowledgements - Index.
520			_aThe dramatic true story of the betrayal of hundreds of Indian princely states by both the departing British and the new Congress government. In July 1947, India's last Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, stood before New Delhi's Chamber of Princes to deliver the most important speech of his career. He had just three weeks to convince over 550 sovereign princely states-some tiny, some the size of Britain-to become part of a free India. Once Britain's most faithful allies, the princes could choose between joining India or Pakistan, or declaring independence. This is a saga of intrigue, brinkmanship and broken promises, wrought by Mountbatten and two of independent India's founding fathers: the country's most senior civil servant, V.P. Menon, and Congress strongman Vallabhbhai Patel. What India's architects described as a 'bloodless revolution' was anything but, as violence engulfed Kashmir and Indian troops crushed Hyderabad's dreams of independence. Most princes accepted the inevitable, exchanging their power for guarantees of privileges and titles in perpetuity. But these dynasties were still led to extinction-not by the sword, but by political expediency-leaving them with little more than fading memories of a glorified past
650			_aIndia - Kings and rulers - History - 20th century
650			_aIndia - History - Partition, 1947 India - Politics and government - 1919-1947 India - Politics and government - 1947
650			_aIndia History Partition, 1947
942			_2ddc _cBK
999			_c213816 _d213816