The princely states of Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان کی نوابی ریاستیں; Sindhi: پاڪستان جون نوابي رياستون) were princely states of the British Indian Empire which acceded to the new Dominion of Pakistan between 1947 and 1948, following the partition of British India and its independence. At the time of the withdrawal of British forces from the subcontinent on 15 August 1947, West Pakistan was less than half of its ultimate size. It took a year of negotiations and accidents to bring the princely states into Pakistan, and a long process of integration followed.