ABSTRACT
To any schoolboy the Indian subcontinent appeared to form a natural unity. But, even under the glittering panoply of the viceroy, that unity was never really achieved. India remained a patchwork; some regions came under direct British rule while more than 360 princely states, a few – such as Hyderabad – large and others small, were allowed a substantial measure of internal selfgovernment. The princes occupied a special place.
