Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia

Priyasha Saksena

The History and Theory of International Law

• Places the princely states of colonial South Asia at the heart of debates over the boundaries of international law
• Examines debates over the legal status of the princely states to analyse the relationship between colonialism and international law in South Asia
• Draws on extensive archival research to present legal arguments made by international lawyers, British politicians, colonial officials, rulers and bureaucrats of princely states, and anticolonial nationalists in British India
• Explores the changing meaning of sovereignty in colonial South Asia.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Setting the Stage: The Legal Construction of British Paramountcy
3. Jousting Over Jurisdiction: Sovereignty Debates in the Aftermath of the 1857 Rebellion
4. The Controversy Over Divisible Sovereignty: The Princes and the Indian States Committee
5. Political Negotiations: The Princes in the Federation Debates
6. Building the Nation: The Princely States in the Age of Decolonization
7. Epilogue