Native States

British

plural noun

Also called: Indian States and Agencies. the former 562 semi-independent states of India, ruled by Indians but subject to varying degrees of British authority: merged with provinces by 1948; largest states were Hyderabad, Gwalior, Baroda, Mysore, Cochin, Jammu and Kashmir, Travancore, Sikkim, and Indore

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There was, of course, no voting in the Native States ruled by India's bejeweled potentates.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Native States lie all round and about it, and portions of the district are ten miles off, Native State-locked on every side.

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Kipling, Rudyard

The Native States cannot, however, live wholly in water-tight compartments.

From India, Old and New by Chirol, Valentine, Sir

Anna Kuāri finds votaries not only among the Oraons, but especially among the big zamīndārs and Rājas of the Native States.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India - Volume IV of IV Kumhar-Yemkala by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)

The conception is in itself by no means novel and appeals to many upon whom the picturesqueness and conservative stability of the Native States exercise a strong attraction.

From India, Old and New by Chirol, Valentine, Sir

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023