.Princely states and their contribution to survival of traditions. Providing modernization also bringing second lease of life to many intellectuals are most underrated.
In the history of India the contribution of princely states were merely reduced as collaborators of British. In reality the Princely states had to undergo treaties as a way of survival and to buy the time for the betterment of their people.
Travancore state to which it’s Maharaja Marthanda Varma declared himself as Dasa the devotee and representative of the presiding deity Padmanabha Swamy of Thiruvananthapuram. Thus keeping the tradition of Dharma intact.
Mysore Kingdom was known for its support of Dharma since Vijayanagara era. Still during princely era they supported Swami Vivekananda’s vision of building a scientific Institute by giving land to IISc.While Maharaja of Mysore served as Chancellor for Benaras Hindu University. They gave land grant to Sir C V Raman also established oriental research institute from where the most famous text Arthashastra was translated. Thus connecting both past and future at the same time.
Maharaja of Baroda supported Nationalists and reformers also supported the temples along with the modernization.
Maharaja of Jaipur modernized the city and bought the technology also funded the kalki temple.
Maharana of Mewar the one who built lakes still supported Syamaji Kishanji Verma and Thakur Barhat Singh thus supporting nation and its people.
Scindias funded in development of special plough for the agriculture thus plough was named as Scindia Plough.
Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner was known to build railways and canal to support the population and built Sri Ganganagar city.
Maharajas were tech savvy that they built aerodromes and manufacturing units within their states also supported reforms within. Here i can’t speak for all Maharajas while reading about them one must apply the nuances of different Kingdoms and their contributions.
Pic Credit: Internet.
-Observation by Srikaanth Sridhar
Srikaanth Sridhar
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