In a cultural history that considers the transformation of southern Indian institutions under British colonial rule, Price focuses on the two former "little kingdoms" of Ramnad and Sivaganga, which came under colonial governance as revenue estates. She demonstrates how rivalries among the royal families and the disintegration of indigenous institutions contributed to the development of nationalism. The author also shows how religious symbols and practices going back to the seventeenth century were reformulated and acquired a new significance in the colonial context.