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Thursday, August 20, 2026

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TopicPrincely states

Topic: Princely states

Travancore once challenged India’s unity. Savarkar supported it

Josy Joseph's 'Birth of a Nation: The Twenty-One Days That Made India' tells how hard-won the sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic of India is, and how fragile and precious that idea is.

‘Gaddi’ vs private property: The royal inheritance conundrum & how SC settled it with Kapurthala ruling

From Dholpur & Rampur to Kapurthala, courts have grappled with matters of princely properties. Top court’s latest order in 50-year-old property dispute offers the clearest resolution yet.

Hyderabad’s Nizams are a pale shadow of their past. Unlike Scindia & Karan Singh

Had the Nizams been part of the state’s politics, I doubt Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM would have emerged as a Muslim-led party.

Yeshwant Rao Holkar II spent $4 million on his palace. It was a fairy tale for the West

'The Last Maharaja of Indore' by Geraldine Lenain is a biography of Yeshwant Rao Holkar II, a prince torn between India and the West.

Indore Maharaja’s Art Deco palace broke many royal rules. Delhi exhibition shows how

Manik Bagh, an avant-garde masterpiece by Yeshwant Rao Holkar II and architect Eckart Muthesius, fused Art Deco with Indian tradition. Now, a KNMA exhibition is revisiting it.

How Bhavnagar’s Maharani Nandkuvarba started a Gujarati war weekly, won awards & accolades

The weekly ‘British Ane Hindi Vikram’ was the only Gujarati, if not Indian, publication dedicated solely to the World War I effort and ran regularly for more than four years.

SC ends 30-yr feud over Rs 20,000 cr royal properties, Faridkot princesses to get lion’s share

SC upheld Punjab & Haryana HC's verdict that the will of Maharaja Harinder Singh Brar, the last ruler of Faridkot, was 'forged, fictitious and shrouded in suspicious circumstances'.

Once a hunting lodge, part of iconic 1878 Secunderabad Club lost in ashes

While no casualties were reported, the ‘Colonnade Bar’, billiards room, a ballroom, main reception and a staircase of the 144-year-old British-era establishment were damaged.

A Maharajah in court — Why a Baroda king was tried for ‘poisoning’ a British officer

In ‘False Allies’, Manu Pillai writes about the Maharajas of India and the problems their newly appointed East India Company Residents brought into their lives.

When Hope Cooke, the American socialite wife of Sikkim king, asked for return of Darjeeling

In ‘Sikkim’, former diplomat Preet Mohan Singh Malik writes about the Namgyal dynasty that ruled the Himalayan kingdom until it became India’s 22nd state.

On Camera

Why Asim Munir may be softening on Imran Khan

Asim Munir's biggest gripe since the conflict with India in 2025 is that while he has made geo-political gains, there is no comfort for the general at home.

NITI Aayog wants India to reimagine skilling, pitches ‘skills not degree’, training from Class 6

Federal think tank in its latest report maps India’s workforce and learners across five segments, reveals that fewer than one in 12 secondary schools currently offer vocational subjects.

India, Japan look at joint naval shipbuilding, technology transfer with pact to deepen defence ties

Maritime security agreement opens avenues for joint development of naval ships and design, greater use of Indian shipbuilding and repair facilities by Japan.

Gen Vaidya won 2 Maha Vir Chakras, fell to assassins’ bullets 40 yrs ago. India forgot a great soldier

Forty years ago this week, ‘Khalistan Commando Force’ assassins were closing in on Gen Vaidya. So callous was the security of the just-retired Army chief that he was given a solitary police gunman