The Emergence of Provincial Politics

This book examines an important period of transition in the political structure of South India. The first three-quarters of a century of British rule down to the 1870s had effectively torn apart and fragmented the political institutions of the South and had left a highly parochial political society in which loyalties seldom extended beyond face-to-face relationships and power was extremely localized. This lack of significant supra-local political connections contributed to the Madras Presidency''s reputation as the most ''benighted'' of all Indian provinces.