Federation is a common term in Indian political discourses today. However, little is known about the history of federalism before 1947 and the ways in which this colonial past impinges on what we understand to be federalism today. Was federalism always a contested idea, and if so, contested between who? When did the idea of federalism become mainstream, and why did it appeal to many sections of Indians before independence? And, who were the Indian federalists? This talk engages with these questions and offers a new account of the ideological origins of Indian federalism. It brings to light hitherto unknown global influences in the history of Indian federation. In particular, we will focus on how federalists in interwar India, especially sections of Indian princely states and Muslims, imagined an Indian federation in the image of Imperial Germany. In so doing, this talk recovers a colonial and global history of Indian federalism in which non-nationalist groups like the Indian princely states, liberal-conservatives, and sections of Muslims, rather than the Indian anticolonial nationalists, were the main proponents of Indian federalism.