Ben Ormand, age 15, of Columbus, Ohio, for his question:

WHAT WERE THE NATIVE STATES OF INDIA?

The Native States of India were more than 550 former semiautonomous Indian states that were part of the British Empire. They ranged in size from several acres to the 82,313 square mile state of Hyderabad, that is now divided among the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Unlike the provinces of British India, which were under direct British administration, each of the native states was ruled by an Indian prince. Each prince had absolute power within his own state, but the British government at Calcutta (after 1912, New Delhi) controlled their interstate and international relations.

The princes were bound by treaty to support Great Britain in time of war.

When India was granted independence in 1947, the native states were released from their treaties to Great Britain and by 1949 all except Jammu and Kashmir had been incorporated into either India or Pakistan.