This was because only a handful of the states were truly powerful and wealthy enough for their rulers to be considered 'great' monarchs the remaining were minor princely states, sometimes little more than towns or groups of villages. The word Maharaja may be understood simply to mean "ruler" or "king", in spite of its literal translation as "great king". The British directly ruled two-thirds of the Indian subcontinent the rest was under indirect rule by the above-mentioned princes under the considerable influence of British representatives, such as Residents, at their courts. On the eve of independence in 1947, India contained more than 600 princely states, each with its own native ruler, often styled Raja or Rana or Thakur (if the ruler were Hindu) or Nawab (if he were Muslim), with a host of less current titles as well. Indian subcontinent Maharaja as a ruler's title Since medieval times, the title was used by (Hindu) monarchs of lesser states claiming descent from ancient Maharajas. The Sanskrit title Maharaja was originally used only for rulers who ruled a considerably large region with minor tributary rulers under them. Due to Sanskrit's major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in Greater India and Southeast Asia, the term Maharaja is common to many modern Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages. It has the Latin cognates magnum "great" and rex "king". The word Maharaja originates in Sanskrit and is a compound karmadhāraya term from mahānt- "great" and rājan "ruler, king"). Maharaja Ranjit Singh, first Emperor of the Sikh Empire
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