FALSE ALLIES : Indias Maharajahs in the Age of Ravi Varma Book Information:

ry. Bejewelled parasites, they cared more, we are told, for elephants and palaces than for schools and public works. The British cheerfully circulated the idea that brown royalty needed enlightened white hands to guide it, and by the twentieth century many Indians too bought into the stereotype, viewing princely India as packed with imperial stooges. Indeed, even today the princes are either remembered with frothy nostalgia or dismissed as greedy fools, with no role in the making of contemporary India. In this brilliantly researched book, Manu S. Pillai disputes this view. Tracking the travels of the iconic painter Ravi Varma through five princely states from the 1860s to the early 1900s he uncovers a picture far removed from the clichs in which the princes are trapped. The world we discover is not of dancing girls, but of sedition, legal battles, the defiance of imperial dictates, and resistance. We meet maharajahs obsessed with industrialization, and rulers who funded nationalists, these men anything but pushovers for the Raj to manipulate. Outward deference aside, the princes, Pillai shows, forever tested the Raj from denying white officials the right to wear shoes in durbars to trying to surpass British administrative standards. Good governance became a spectacularly subversive act, by which maharajahs and the native statesmen assisting them refuted claims that Indians could not rule themselves. For decades this made the princes heroes in the eyes of nationalists and anti-colonial thinkers a facet of history we have forgotten and ignored. By refocusing attention on princely India, False Allies takes us on an unforgettable journey and reminds us that the maharajahs were serious political actors essential to knowing modern India.

• Book Type/Genre :

The Genre may be either fiction or non-fiction

• Book Binding :

Hardcover

• Language :

ENGLISH

• Number of Pages :

Page count varies for each edition/reprint

• ISBN - 10 :

• FALSE ALLIES : Indias Maharajahs in the Age of Ravi Varma Published On :

24 September 2021

• Resource:

History, books Book is recommended for Students, Teachers, Graduates, Professionals, and all bibliophiles

Disclaimer:

• FALSE ALLIES : Indias Maharajahs in the Age of Ravi Varma Book is not for reading online or for free download in PDF or eBook format.
• Table of Contents, Index, Syllabus, summary and image of FALSE ALLIES : Indias Maharajahs in the Age of Ravi Varma book may be of a different edition or of the same title.
• The Price of this product may change due to the reprinting of the book or by the publisher. For imported books, the price may change frequently due to exchange rates.
• FALSE ALLIES : Indias Maharajahs in the Age of Ravi Varma by Pillai, Manu S. Book reviews and ratings are trustworthy and the product description given above is true to the best. The product description posted here by sellers would be updated based on the Customer's feedback, if the details are not accurate.
• The customers who have bought this product can write your best reviews and suggest the product if the item's price is low which would be helpful for the buyers interested to purchase. Read Best & Top Books related to this item
• The above Bibliographic information is specific to this book which is being listed for sale. Any Colophons printed at the end of the book is owned by book author and publisher
• Special offers, deals & discounts on this product are subject to the terms and conditions owned by the website