Maharaja: the Splendour of India's Royal Courts

Our perception of India's once bejewelled heads of state is largely coloured by the 89 years of British Raj - mainly in hues of emerald green, sapphire blue and ruby red - because of the many maharajas who made lucrative alliances with their colonial masters. However, such ostentation originally represented the divine religious power of the maharajas, not the excesses of a greedy few and their jolly hunting japes and polo matches. Seeing all the unseemly largesse of those who made hay under Imperial rule - the fancy Louis Vuitton tea case and personalised Cartier dressing table set - is like contemplating the Crown Prince of Mewar's Rolls-Royce Phantom as it gathered dust before being lovingly restored for this display: it was the great spend before the fall. (OW)