Timotheos said:Three indian country descriptions for you all to look at:
PAK; Delhi
The syndicalist revolution in Britain precipitated the collapse of the British Empire. In India a combination of princes, rajahs, nationalists and syndicalists started breaking up the sub-continent. Realising the irretrevable nature of the disaster Governer-General Isaacs, now left only with north-west India, chose to create a free nation himself and by doing so ensured that it would remain friendly to royalist interests. The move recieved harsh criticism form some - India was after all the Jewel of the Empire - but the royalist government realised and accepted the necesssity of the move in the short-term. The new state of Delhi has thus remained in a close partnership with Canada and its allies. Muhammed Shuja Al-Mulk was placed on the throne as Prince of Delhi, and has been advised by a mised group of Indians and British advisors. In the decade since its formation Delhi has struggled to consolidate its position in India, clearing out several of the smaller regimes that had sprung up and maintaining a strong front against the syndicalist forces in Bengal. However unrest is growing in its lands as syndicalist spies and sympathisers use anti-colonial propaganda to stir up the peasantry. At the same time rumours have begun to spread about a possible resurrection of the Mughal Empire, which dominated India in the 16th and 17th centuries. Indeed some rumours suggest that an heir of the Mughal royal family itself survives and if these are true he may prove to be a focus for rebellion in the future.
IND; Princely Federation
With the revolution of 1925 going on in Britain India became a power vacuum which various factions raced to fill. The creation of a federal state in the south was more an attempt by the local rulers to protect their lands and riches from the chaos. Nevertheless it proved able to become a stable nation, one in which each of the local princes and rajahs had a say in government. Unsurprisingly tensions have arisen amongst the lowers classes of society about their exculsion from political life in the Federation. A few of the rajahs believe that Bengalese synidcalist influences are behind the unrest, although there is no evidence for that view. The Princely Federation by 1936 controls the entire southern part of the subcontinent but further expansion is limited by their two big neighbours - Bengal and Delhi. This suits the ruling princes just fine as their neighbours also prevent aggression from other nations and at the moment strong isolationist factions dominate the ruling elite. Perhaps the one exception concerns the island of Ceylon, which is currently in German hands. Many of the rajahs feel that the island could all too easily act as a base for new waves of colonial aggression into India, this time from Germany. Unfortunately Germany has already refused two offers to buy the island from them and concern is thus growing. In 1936 then the Princely Federation is for the most part inward looking and focused on stability rather than expansion but potential for conflict exists just across the seas.
PRK; Bengal
In the complete collapse of British control of India that came in 1936 it was the growing syndicalist movement in India that was first to act. On October 19th 1925 the People's Republic of Bengal was proclaimed in Calcutta. Of course in reality it was not as easy as that. While the British garrisons were by then being withdrawn many other groups opposed the new state and it was not untill 1927 that Bengal was at peace, by which time two other large Indian states were in place blocking further syndicalist expansion. Thus the government of Bengal chose tu look inwards temporarily, rooting out 'imperialist sympathisers' and trying to repair the damage caused to infrastructure and industry by the chaos, while also avoiding the attentions of Germany who was not sympathetic to the syndicalist state. In the early 30's Bengal began to look outwards once more. Unwilling to risk a large scale war immediately Bengali foreign policy instead aimed at supporting syndicalist movements in its neighbours in the hopes of causing political collapse, which would allow a military invasion to take place. By 1936 there was evidence that this strategem was beginning to bear fruit in Indo-china and in Delhi.
You may note that there are some more ideas in the descriptions for potential events too.
Cool - many thanks! Just realised that Delhi is going to have a very very strong Sikh lobby - they'd be likely to dominate the military and have extensive political rights and privileges. Could make for some interesting events....
Possibly add something about the Princely Federation promoting a distinctive form of 'Hindu-Conservative' social organisation. Although I'm not 100% sure about the ratio of Hindu to Muslim Princes in the area, it would seem to be the obvious route for them to go down to maintain some sort of popular support, and a distinctive identity.
And maybe give Bengal the official title of 'Ryot Republic of Bengal' - 'People's' might be a bit too OTL Communist, and this would bring out the nativist-peasant principles!