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DeScriPtion
M.A. Sreenivasan (1897-1998) lived through almost the entire 20th century,
and was among the very few people who witnessed at close quarters the
enormous changes that took place in India during this period. Born in Madras,
he belonged to a family that traced its origins to a disciple and associate of
the great sage Ramanuja. Subsequent generations were Pradhans (ministers)
of successive kings of Mysore for 150 years. Sreenivasan himself joined the
Mysore Civil Service in 1918 and, after a varied career both with the Mysore
Government and the Government of British India, became a Pradhan of
the Maharaja of Mysore in 1943. In 1947 he was invited by the Maharaja of
Gwalior to become the Dewan of that State. During that momentous year he
was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and in regular touch with
many of the leading figures (including Mountbatten) involved in the transfer
of power from British to Indian hands.
Much more than an autobiography, Of the Raj, Maharajas and Me is also a rare
portrait of India during and immediately after the British Raj. The former
princely States of India have been neglected by scholars, many of whom have
tended to be unfairly critical. There is much in this book on the effectiveness
of administration in two major princely States, which redresses the balance
and makes the book a valuable document on the subject. Further, Sreenivasan
provides sharp insights on the negotiations that led to the end of the Raj, and
on the new polity that emerged after Independence. This absorbing book will
be of particular interest to students and scholars of modern Indian history
