List of Indian princely states

Before the Partition of India in 1947, 562Princely States, also called Native States, existed in India, which were not fully and formally part of British India, the parts of the Indian subcontinent which had not been conquered or annexed by the British but under inderect rule, subject to subsidiary alliances.

Things moved quickly after the partition of British India in 1947. By the end of 1949, all of the states except Sikkim had chosen to accede to one of the newly independent states of India or Pakistan or else had been conquered and annexed.

In principle, the princely states had internal autonomy, while by treaty the British Crown had suzerainty and was responsible for the states' external affairs. In practice, while the states were indeed ruled by potentates with a variety of titles, such as Chhatrapati, Maharaja, Raja, Raje, Deshmukh, Nawab, Baig, Khan, Nizam, Mirza or specially Jam for Jadeja/Samma. the British had considerable influence.

By the time of the departure of the British in 1947, only four of the largest of the states still had their own British Resident, a diplomatic title for advisors present in the states' capitals, while most of the others were grouped together into Agencies, such as the Central India Agency, the Deccan States Agency, and the Rajputana Agency.

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