Question

Answer the following in 3-4 sentences.
Why were the princely states unhappy with the British?

Answer 1

In 1947, Britain left India with a huge mish-mash of states. The regions in yellow in the map below were directly ruled by a colonial administration and had some standardization. But, all the regions in pink were ruled by independent kings.

While these local monarchs surrendered their foreign policies to Britain & were tied by various treaties limiting their soverignity, they were often free to have their own armies, laws, courts, banks & economic systems.
When Britain was leaving India its treaties with these local kings also expired leaving these monarchs to declare their sovereignty. These monarchs often hated the Congress party as the party had plans for social development and wealth redistribution.

Look at the map above and see how a government in Delhi can reach Madras or Bombay without crossing a possibly hostile sovereign government. It would have made for endless wars in South Asia.