Q.Discuss the life of the people in princely states?

Ans.

There were about 560 small and big princely states in India. These states were ruled by Indian -princes. Actually the British government wanted to weaken the democratic forces and freedom struggle that "was going on against the British Rule.The life of the people living in the Indian princely states was very miserable. It was worse than the life of the people living under British rule. They had no civil and political rights.The peasants were taxed heavily. The people could not organise meeting to solve their problems. Justice and educational facilities were limited. There was no freedom of press and civil liberties. Princes of these states enjoyed luxurious life. They did not care for welfare of the people. However, the rulers of some states' -like Jammu and Kashmir, Travancore, Baroda and Mysore took a few measures to impove the social, economic and political life of the people. They tried to stem the discrimination between different people on the basis of caste or creed.