The midnight of August 15, 1947, is perhaps noted as the most significant in the pages of Indian history. In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, India awoke to life and freedom.
But if freedom is the hard-earned dream come true for the nationalist leaders of India, then stitching together the hundreds of territorial pieces into a distinct whole was an aspiration much harder to realise and lay yet unfulfilled.
Dealing with princely states, Patel’s role
The departure of the British from Indian territory was accompanied by the question of how to bring together the 500-odd chiefdoms and states they had left behind.
The princely states, both pampered and exploited by the British, maintained a position of semi-autonomy under the colonisers and were the toughest challenge facing free India. Once the withdrawal of the British was announced, the issue of the princely states had to be settled for the new government that would be in power. By the late 1930s itself, the Congress had made clear their intention of integrating the states into the Indian Union.
In the 1938 Haripura session of the Congress, the objective was made clear in the following words: “The Congress stands for the same political, social and economic freedom in the States as in the rest of India and considers the States as integral parts of India which cannot be separated.”
To aid in the process, a new States Department was set up with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as its head and VP Menon as the secretary. Together they, under the guidance of Lord Mountbatten, were given the responsibility to coax, cajole and convince the princes to accede to the Indian Union.
Bikaner, Baroda and a few other states from Rajasthan were the first ones to join the union. Alternatively, there were several other states that were adamant about not shaking hands with India. Some of them thought this to be the best moment to acquire independent statehood, while there were others who wanted to become a part of Pakistan. While the cases of Kashmir and Hyderabad are well-known, here are a few others that held out to Independence Day.
1. Travancore
The southern Indian maritime state was one of the first princely states to refuse accession to the Indian Union and question the Congress’ leadership of the nation. The state was strategically placed for maritime trade and was rich in both human and mineral resources.
Sir CP Ramamswamy Aiyar, the dewan of Travancore and a distinguished lawyer by profession, had by 1946 declared his intention of forming an independent state of Travancore that would be open to the idea of signing a treaty with the Indian Union.
Historian Ramachandra Guha notes that Travancore’s bid for independence was in fact propelled by Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Sir CPR Aiyar is also said to have had secret ties with the UK government, who were in support of an independent Travancore in the hope that it 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.
While the Dewan 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. On July 30, 1947, Travancore joined India.
2. Jodhpur
The Rajput princely state of Jodhpur was a strange case of tilting towards Pakistan despite having a Hindu king and a large Hindu population. While the prince, Maharaja Hanvant Singh, was strong in his willingness to join India, he somehow got the idea that it might be more beneficial for him to join Pakistan on account of the fact that his state shared a border with the soon-to-be-born country.
Further, he was lured into joining Pakistan by Jinnah, who offered him full port facilities in Karachi along with military and agrarian support. However, when Vallabhbhai Patel was made aware of the possibility of Jodhpur going to Pakistan, he immediately contacted the prince and offered him sufficient benefits and explained to him the problems of joining a Muslim state. Eventually the Jodhpur prince was won back.
Guha, in India after Gandhi, notes that on being presented with the Instrument of Accession, the Jodhpur prince dramatically took out a revolver and held it on the secretary’s head, saying, “I will not accept your dictation”. However, a few minutes later he calmed down and signed the document.
3. Bhopal
Another state that wished to declare independence was Bhopal, which had a Muslim Nawab, Hamidullah Khan, ruling over a majority Hindu population. A close friend of the Muslim League, the Nawab was staunchly opposed to Congress rule. He had made clear his decision to attain independence to Mountbatten.
Nawab Hamidulla Khan (Wikimedia Commons)
However, the latter wrote back to him stating that “no ruler could run away from the dominion closest to him”. By July 1947, the prince became aware of the large number of princes who had acceded to India and decided to follow suit.
4. Junagadh
Apart from Hyderabad, there was one more state that had not acceded to the Indian Union by August 15, 1947. Junagadh was the most important among the Kathiawar states. Here too, the Nawab, Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III, ruled over a large Hindu population.
However, when on July 25, 1947, Lord Mountbatten addressed the princes, the Dewan of Junagadh had made very clear his decision to advise the Nawab on joining the Indian Union.
In early 1947, the Dewan of Junagadh, Nabi Baksh, invited Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto of the Muslim League to join the state council of ministers. In the absence of the existing Dewan, Bhutto took over the office and pressed the Nawab to accede to Pakistan. When Pakistan accepted Junagadh’s request for accession, the Indian leaders were enraged.
The disturbed situation in Junagadh led to a complete breakdown of the economy, and consequently the Nawab fled to Karachi. Vallabhbhai Patel requested Pakistan to allow a plebiscite in Junagadh and eventually sent in troops to force annexation of three of its principalities. In the face of acute shortage of funds and forces, the Dewan was forced to accede to the Indian government. Eventually, on February 20, 1948, a plebiscite was held in the state wherein 91% of the voters chose to join India.
The Hon'ble Sardar Patel was received by the Maharaja of Jaipur at Jaipur in December, 1947. (Wikimedia Commons) 
Nawab Hamidulla Khan (Wikimedia Commons)
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