People's Movements in the Princely States forms an important aspect in the history of modern India with 45 per cent of the land and 24 percent of the people, the Princely States played second fiddle to the imperial dictates. From the nineteenth-century, till they joined Indian Union in 1947-8, mostly they lived under the umbrella of the British. They never took serious measures or introduced steps for radical transformation of the states. there was no coherent place for the princes in the British Imperial ideology. When the princes were using different strategies to retain centralized power, the people fought against the princes to demand for responsible government and later to force them to join Indian Union. This was an absorbing encounter and an incredible story. In fact not many books are there to cover as many states discussing the situation in the Princely States. In fact the growth of nationalism in those autocratic Princely States was difficult, slow and painstaking. The present book tries to answer some of these issues. This book broadly covers number of Princely States, including Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore, Jammu and Kashmir, Gwalior and small states like Milgiri in Orissa, Banaganapalle in Andhra Pradesh. Simultaneously along with anti-colonial struggle, the people's movements in Princely states symbolizes their struggle against the feudal and autocratic princes, which helped in the ushering of Indian Union once Indian got Independence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Y. Vaikuntham
Yallampalli Vaikuntham is a Professor of History and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Osmania University, Hyderabad. He was a former Vice-Chancellor of Kakatiya University, Warangal. He has specialized in socio-economic and political History of Modern India with special reference to Andhra Pradesh, and south India. He has published 10 books which include Education and Social Change in South India: Andhra 1880-1920, (New Era Publications, Madras, 1982) and State, Economy and Social Transformation, Hyderabad State (1724-1948), (Manohar, 2002), People Movement in the Princely States, Manohar, New Delhi, 2004, Studies in Socio-Cultural and Political History: Modern Andhra (2004), Studies in Socio-Economic and Political History: Hyderabad State (2004). He is presently working on “History of Natural Resource Management in Hyderabad States: Telangana: 1724-1948â€. His research papers have been published in reputed journals like Journal of Indian History, Osmania Journal of Social Sciences, Osmania Journal off Historical Research, Proceedings of Indian History Congress, South Indian History Congress and Andhra Pradesh History Congress. His papers have been published in the Proceedings International Conferences on Historical and Cultural Relations between France and India XVII-XX Centuries, The French Revolution and the Colonial South India, in the volume on Bicentenary of French Revolution, both from University De La Re Union, France. He was a General Secretary (1986-89, 1994-98) and President of South Indian History Congress (1998). He visited foreign countries like England, America, Re-union, France, Germany, Malta, Japan, Singapore, Mauritius and Nepal. He served as a member UGC Subjects Committee; Member, Indian Council of Historical Research; Member UGC visiting teams of VII, VIII and IX Plans. He was on the Board of several universities of India.
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