MA Sreenivasan’s Of the Raj, Maharajas and Me is a personal account of his life in Mysore during the twentieth century, both under British rule and after 1947. In the Foreword, Shashi Tharoor says that it is Sreenivasan’s memoir rather than an autobiography, and readers can gain insights into the history of Mysore through his personal narrative.
The author lived a long and eventful life, spanning 101 years from 1897 to 1998. The author’s ancestors were Brahmin Ministers (Pradhans) for the Maharajas of Mysore, who served the kingdom before Hyder Ali’s violent takeover. The author comes from a Tamil Brahmin family with Vaishnava roots. Sreenivasan’s autobiography propels readers with his compassionate and logical approach towards his career as an administrator in the Mysore Princely State starting in 1918. He continued to serve in various parts of India after Independence.