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A Case of Attempted Segmental Modernization: Rampur State, 1930–1939
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 June 2009
Extract
The last major bastions of dynastic rule exist among the Muslim states of the Middle East. In the last thirty years, as they have emerged from under the “protective” umbrella of European domination, the rulers of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States have attempted to maintain their personal control while coping with problems, on the one hand of unstable external conditions, and on the other of the pursuit of economic and administrative modernization. Their successes and, more recently, their failures, have held the attention of the world. In some ways their predicament represents a more acute aspect of the problem confronting some of the Indian princes in the 1930s when, as British dominance in the subcontinent was increasingly challenged by the Indian National Congress, they attempted to lead their states on the first halting steps towards modernity.
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References
An earlier version of this article was presented at a conference on “Modernization in South Asia” convened by the University of Rajasthan in 1978. I would like to express my appreciation to my colleagues at Jaipur, and also to Riaz Hassan and Robin Jeffrey for their criticism and assistance.
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