Dethroned

The dramatic true story of the betrayal of hundreds of Indian princely states by both the departing British and the new Congress government. In July 1947, Indias last Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, stood before New Delhis Chamber of Princes to deliver the most important speech of his career. He had just three weeks to convince over 550 sovereign princely statessome tiny, some the size of Britainto become part of a free India. Once Britains most faithful allies, the princes could choose between joining India or Pakistan, or declaring independence. This is a saga of intrigue, brinkmanship and broken promises, wrought by Mountbatten and two of independent Indias founding fathers: the countrys most senior civil servant, V.P. Menon, and Congress strongman Vallabhbhai Patel. What Indias architects described as a bloodless revolution was anything but, as violence engulfed Kashmir and Indian troops crushed Hyderabads dreams of independence. Most princes accepted the inevitable, exchanging their power for guarantees of privileges and titles in perpetuity. But these dynasties were still led to extinctionnot by the sword, but by political expediencyleaving them with little more than fading memories of a glorified past.