Article Details

Title	Maharaja: the Splendour of India's Royal Courts
Author	Mrs Anna Jackson Deputy Keeper of the Asian Department The V&A Museum
Journal	Asian Affairs, Volume 40 Number 3
Date	November 2009
Introduction	A curtain-raiser for the current 'Maharaja' Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum, which explains the evolution of Indian concepts of kingship from the early18th to the mid-twentieth centuries. The article describes how pageantry and symbolism formed part of the essentials of kingship, together with martial prowess and patronage of the arts. The British Raj thus took over a valid existing pattern of behaviour, which however became increasingly difficult to sustain and justify as independence loomed.
Countries	India Myanmar Pakistan
Article Link	This article can be downloaded from the Taylor & Francis' Informaworld website: View on informaworld Online access to articles published within the past ten years is free to RSAA Members as part of their Membership. Members may also consult the bound copies of the Journal held in the Society Library in London.

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