The political life of India's princely states has often been described by their fly-in-amber quality. A closer look, however, reveals that behind the oriental' faade, tremendous changes took place in the twentieth century. This book follows up these changes in the princely state of Hyderabad during the time of its last ruler, Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan. After an investigation of the traditional rules for political action and of the political culture at the beginning of the century, the study concentrates on the changes brought about by enforced administrative reforms, by the transformation of the system of external relations in the wake of the round table conferences and by the political mobilization of large sections of the population. The concluding chapter depicts the collapse of the political system under the impact of the British retreat, the communist insurrection in Telengana and the coup by the Ittehad, the radical Muslim party. The book will be of interest not only to scholars of Islam, modern Indian history and sociology, but also to a more general public looking for information on the princely states.