The Maharaja and The Princely States of India

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The Coveted Jacob Diamond-all of 62 carats and used as a paperweight: the mind-boggling beauty of the diamond necklace of Maharaja Pratapsingh Gaekwad of Baroda in which sparkled the famous Star of the Dresden; the crystal collection at Shiv Niwas Place in Bikaner the largest in the world; the 27 Rolls Royces owned by the Maharaja of Patiala; the dog kennels in Harasar which were fitted with electricity and telephones; the car collection in Udaipur which was used for ceremonial processions and collection and collection of garbage the Jauhar committed by 40000 women in Jaisalmer and Chittor an unparalled landmark in the annals of history.

The mirage becomes a reality when the reader recreates the awesome magic and scintillating wonder of a world gone by the stuff that fairy tales are made of tales of secret liaisions the dark intrigues of the Zenana the opulence and sheer beauty of princely treasures the world Maharajas a world immortalized by poets painters and musicians a life away from common lives that was so near its subjects and yet so far.

That world is no more. But its romance lives on indelible and dreamlike nostalgic memoirs of the passions idiosyncracies visions and lifestyle of the princely order still fascinate and enthral.

The Maharaja & the Princely States of India captures the lives and times of the privileged few those who were born into greatness. Even though they no longer wield the royal scepter and have merged their heritage into the wellspring of democracy today they remain living legends of the exoticism of the India was. This book is perhaps the last visual record of princely India. A cross-section of old and rare photographs Juxtaposed with contemporary cameos make it a collector's pride.

Sharada Dwivedi was Educated at Queen Mary high school and Sydenham collage in Mumbai. A writer whose canvas covers a variety of subjects such as history architecture, heritage conservation interiors art and cuisine her publications include Lives of the Indian Princes-a treatise in the same genre as this book. Actively involved in conserving the heritage of Mumbai she was co-opted as a Member of the Mumbai Municipal Collissioner's committee in December 1988. She lives in Mumbai with her husband and daughter.