Integration of Princely States [Autosaved].pptx

It talks about the integration of princely states after the independence of India

1. Integration of Princely States

2. At the time of Indian independence, all the princely states under British Crown authority were also supposed to gain independence with the end of British rule. There were around 562 states covered around 48% of India before independence. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was handed over the responsibility of accomplishing this task of integration of Indian states into the Indian union; V. P. Menon (secretary of the Ministry of the States) was supposed to assist him in this task. Sardar Patel adopted various measures to achieve his goal, looking at the seriousness of the situation at the time. The concept of “privy purses” was also introduced by Sardar Patel while trying to make the integration of princely states possible. The concept of “privy purses” referred to the payment made to the royal families if they agreed to the merger of their state with India.

3. Travancore : a princely state in southern part of Kerala. Travancore also known as the maritime state possessed abundant natural resources, due to which it thought of itself as a self-sufficient state and therefore did not want to merge with the Indian union. The Dewan of Travancore, Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar, had officially declared in 1946 that he was unwilling to let go of the independence of his state & refused to merge. It is also said to have had  secret ties with the UK government  who were in support of an independent Travancore in the hope that they would get exclusive access to a mineral called monazite that the area was rich in, and would give an edge to Britain in the nuclear arms race. He stuck to his position till as late as July 1947. He changed his mind soon after he survived an  assassination attempt by a member of the Kerala Socialist Party . Travancore joined the Indian union on 30th July 1947

4. Bhopal : The state of Bhopal was also one of the princely states that declined the integration of princely states. Here a  Muslim Nawab , Hamidullah Khan, was ruling over a  majority Hindu population. The Nawab of Bhopal was ordered a close aide of the Muslim League & thus strictly opposed the integration of princely states. The Nawab of Bhopal refused to join India claiming the protection of Muslim rights in a Hindu-dominated state. He had made clear his decision to attain independence to Mountbatten. However, the latter wrote back to him stating that  “no ruler could run away from the dominion closest to him” Soon it joined the Indian Union .

5. Jodhpur : The princely state of Jodhpur was a Rajput state with a Hindu population ruled by a Hindu king ( Hanvant Singh). It was more inclined towards merging with Pakistan. The deal he received from Jinnah was a blank signed paper where the Prince was asked to list his demands along with free access to the Karachi port. Seeing the risks in the  border state  acceding to Pakistan,  Patel immediately contacted the prince and offered him sufficient benefits; Jodhpur would be connected to Kathiawar by rail and that India would supply grain to it during famines. People also started revolting. On 11 th  August 1947, Maharaja Hanvant Singh, King of Jodhpur signed the  Instrument of Accession  and the State of Jodhpur was integrated into the Indian Dominion.

6. Junagarh : The princely state of Junagarh was situated in southwestern Gujarat. It comprised a large Hindu population and was ruled by a Muslim Nawab, Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III. The king of Junagarh had initially agreed to merge with Pakistan on 15th September 1947, two states, Mangrol and Babariawad, under the purview of Junagarh, announced their independence by acceding to the Indian union. The Nawab, in response, forcefully took control of these states by adopting military measures. India  cut off supplies of fuel and coal  to Junagadh, severed air and postal links, sent troops to the frontier, and occupied the principalities of Mangrol and Babariawad that had acceded to India. Nawab fled to Pakistan; t he Dewan of Junagadh, Shah Nawaz Bhutto, decided to invite the Government of India to intervene. The government of India accepted the invitation of the Dewan to intervene. A plebiscite was conducted in February 1948, which went almost unanimously in favour of accession to India.

7. Hyderabad It was the  largest and richest of all princely states,  covered a large portion of the Deccan plateau. Nizam Mir Usman Ali was the Muslim king ruling over the large Hindu population of Hyderabad; as very clear on his  demand for an independent state  and blatantly refused to join the Indian dominion. He drew support from Jinnah and the tussle over Hyderabad grew stronger over time. Things took a turn for the worse when armed fanatics  (called Razakars )  unleashed violence targeted at Hyderabad’s Hindu residents. On September 13, 1948 , Indian troops were sent to Hyderabad under  ‘Operation Polo’. In an  armed encounter  that lasted for about four days, the  and Hyderabad became the integral part of India. Later, in an attempt to reward the Nizam for his submission, he was made the governor of the state of Hyderabad.

8. Jammu & Kashmir It was a princely state with a  Hindu king ruling over a predominant Muslim population  which had remained reluctant to join either of the two dominions. The ruler of Kashmir  Maharaja Hari Singh had offered a proposal of standstill agreement to both India and Pakistan . Pakistan entered into the standstill agreement but it invaded the Kashmir  from north with an army of soldiers and tribesmen carrying weapons. In the early hours of 24 th  October, 1947, thousands of tribal P athan swept into Kashmir. The Maharaja appealed to India for help. On 26 th  October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh fled from Srinagar and arrived in Jammu where he signed an  'Instrument of Accession'  of J&K state. According to the terms of the document, the Indian jurisdiction would extend to  external affairs, communications and defense .