An Indian State has been officially defined as any State in India under the protection or political control of the British Crown or of which the Government has acknowledged its supremacy. Whereas no such state existed in India in 1774, by 1858 all the States of India had come to occupy the position defined above. The present work examines how this great transformation was brought about and outlines the essential features of British Policy towards the States which, owing to the circumstances of Indian historical growth remained at all times a complex one. While there are numerous books dealing with British relations with individual States, a connected study of British policy towards the States has not so far been attempted. Originally delivered as the prestigious Reader ship Lectures at the University of Calcutta in 1929, the present work which provides the clearest and most consequent exposition of that policy still remains an objectives reference work on the subject. This insightful study of an important aspect of the growth of British power in India is essential reading for all serious students of modern Indian history.
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