The Habsburgs of North India

In the writing of modern history in South Asia, the contribution of subjects, ideas and data from the Princely States remains marginal at best. How did politics, economics, education, infrastructure and society evolve in the Princely States? We have no credible answers to these questions. Given that a substantial area and population in the colonial period was under the rule of the Princely States, this is a serious lacuna in the study of modern Indian history. While the book under review may be described as a post-facto quasi-official history of the Loharu State and its ruling family, it is a very welcome addition to the data available in public for enterprising researchers.