The Maharajas of India were undoubtedly one of the great anachronisms of the twentieth century. Among them were enlightened rulers and profligate princes, saints and scoundrels, heroes and cowards, sadists and boors, charmers and eccentrics. Yet whatever they were, in the eyes of the people they ruled they had the divine right to do so. This power, coupled with their enormous wealth and fabulous jewellery, gave the Maharajas a status that made them larger than life. They were seldom nonentities and left the stamp of an unmistakable aura of majesty they so effortlessly carried on each picture that you will see in this book. A comprehensive collection of historical photographs from princely India, private collections and the finest photo libraries in the world, this is also the largest selection of royal pictures in any one book. Many years of research and documentation were put in to verify their details. The result is a book that conveys the romance that the Maharajas represented to the world and a historical record of an age we will never again see. Among the photographs here are some that have never been printed before, such as the photograph of two English princes dressed as Sikhs, a relaxed Maharaja Bhupindar Singh with his glasses perched on his head and the famous black buck carriage from Bikaner.
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