The Birth of Indian Liberalism

The first work of political theory published in modern India, Letters to an Indian Raja (1891) counseled Maharajas to foster liberal values and adopt constitutional government. Such reform would, it argued, make Indians freer and happier than they were under colonial rule, and thus allow the Native States to genuinely challenge the British. Accompanied by an extensive introductory essay by Rahul Sagar, a leading scholar of nineteenth century India, this carefully restored edition challenges the notion that Indian liberals merely borrowed their ideas from Britain and were eager to collaborate with the British Raj. On the contrary, it shows that India’s pioneering liberals sought to make the Native States less vulnerable to both domineering Britons and despotic Maharajas.