A Princely State (also called Native State or Indian State) was a nominally sovereign entity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.

There were officially 565 princely states when India became independent in 1947, but the great majority had contracted with the Viceroy to provide public services and tax collection. Only 21 had actual state governments, and only three were large (Hyderabad State, Mysore and Kashmir). They were absorbed into the two new independent nations in 1947–49. The absorption process was peaceful except in the case of Jammu & Kashmir (which became bitterly divided between India and Pakistan) and Hyderabad. All the princes were eventually pensioned off.

India under the British Raj (the "Indian Empire") consisted of two types of territory: British India and the Native States or Princely states. In its Interpretation Act 1889, the British Parliament adopted the following definitions: