Download or read book The New Maharajahs written by Claudia Cragg and published by Claudia Cragg. This book was released on 1996 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until India gained its independence from Britain in 1947, one third of the country was ruled by a lazy, pampered group of 565 maharajahs, or princes. They led hedonistic lives with scores of wives and concubines, palaces and jewels, and spent much of their time playing polo and tiger hunting. The late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi taxed the maharajahs almost out of existence, and few physical traces of their former glory remain. However, a new breed of commercial princes has sprung up in their place.