Foundations of Indian federalism

The present work on The Foundations of Indian Federalism attempts an enquiry into the historical background of the growth of federalism in India as an essential basis for a proper understanding of the peculiar form of federal polity estab lished in our country. The study is not designed merely as a narrative of the development of federal institutions in India or a textual analysis of the Indian constitution and earlier constitu tional acts with a view to bringing out their federal features. This has been done in a number of recent doctoral dissertations and general publications. The author's main effort has been to go behind the growth of federal institutions in India and to analyse the major social and political factors (the Hindu-Muslim question, the problem of princely states, the linguistic factor and British policy) which have, by their interaction not only prompted and conditioned the development of federalism in India but have made the Indian federal pattern sui generis.