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FREEDOM MOVEMENT
Eternal India
encyclopedia
INTEGRATION OF PRINCELY STATES
Princes must move with times
only hope in doing will of
the people
National Herald, 1, Jan, 1946.
When the rule of the English East India
Company ended in 1858, the British Crown
took over the control of the English empire in
India. Britain's Indian empire comprised
British India, directly under the Crown, and
about 600 Indian states, covering about one-
third of the Indian sub-continent and about
one -fifth of its population, ruled by Indian
Princes. In return for their allegiance to the
British Crown, the British guaranteed the
continued existence of the princely states,
though the real power in these states was
exercised by the British residents and political
agents posted there.
Most of these states were ruled by corrupt
and incompetent individuals, commonly called
maharajas.
They led a life of power, privileges
and pleasure, while their subjects were kept
backward and illiterate, deprived of all civil
liberties and victims of exploitation including
forced labour. These maharajas treated the
states as their personal properties. The British
made use of the maharajas as a divisive force
to frustrate the nationalist movement.
In 1921, the British established the
Chamber of Princes which upheld the princely
privileges. The Chamber of Princes consisted
of 120 princes in all. Normally, the chamber of
princes met once a year and was presided over
by the Viceroy. It elected its own Chancellor
who would preside over its meetings in the
absence of the Viceroy. The people of these
states were drawn into the freedom struggle
and from 1920 onwards they started forming
their own organisations to agitate for
responsible governments and rule of law in the
states.
In Dec. 1927, the representatives of the
states’ people met in Bombay to demand that
Indian states should be regarded as integral
parts of a common Indian nation. They formed
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel 1875-1950
STATES PEOPLE S
DEMAND
REPRESENTATION
IN ASSEMBLY
National Herald, 28 Jan, 1947.
the All-India States People's Conference which
declared that the people of the states had the
right to determine the form and character of
their governments. The AISPC played a vital
role in creating a country-wide awareness of
the princes' misrule. The movements inside
the states, carried on by the Praja Mandals and
other organisations, were brutally suppressed
by these princes.
In 1928, at its Calcutta session, the
Congress assured the states people of its
sympathy and support in their legitimate
struggle for responsible governments in the
states. In 1938, at Haripura, the Congress
declared that its objective of Puma Swaraj was
for the whole of India inclusive of the states;
but said that the states people's struggle must
be carried on by the people of the states.
During 1938-39, there were outbursts of
mass struggle in Kashmir, Hyderabad, Mysore,
Travancore, Jaipur and many other states, in
which Congressmen participated in large
numbers, and there was an increasing
identification of the nationalist movement for
freedom with the struggles of the states people.
In February 1939, Jawaharlal Nehru presided
over the AISPC session at Ludhiana, and in
March 1939 Gandhiji went on a fast when the
MOST STATES
TO JOIN BY
Aug -15
National Herald, 17, July, 1947.
ruler of Rajkot went back on an agreement he
had reached with Vallabhbhai Patel regarding
the demands of the people of Rajkot.
The credit for the integration of the states
with India goes to Sardar Patel, Lord
Mountbatten and V.P. Menon.
On the suggestion of Sardar Patel the
states ministry was set up and he himself
became its head. An instrument of accession
was drawn up which was acceptable to the
princes. They were required to hand over to
the Indian Union only the subjects of defence,
foreign relations and communications. By
15th Aug. 1947, with the exception of
Junagadh, Hyderabad and Kashmir all the
states had acceded to either India or Pakistan.
Junagadh was a princely state in west
Gujarat bounded by the Arabian Sea on its
west. It had no geographical contiguity with
Pakistan. More than 80% of the people were
Hindus. The Nawab of the state lived a life of
luxury and his chief pre-occupation in life was
dogs of which he had hundred.
Hyderabad was the biggest state in India
with a Muslim ruler, the Nizam, ruling a
population which was 85% Hindu. It had its
own coinage, paper currency and stamps. The
Nizam declared his intention not to join either
India or Pakistan but to become a completely
independent sovereign ruler. He wanted
Dominion status for Hyderabad.
Several rounds of negotiations took place
from January 1948 between Hyderabad and
the Government of India but all proved
unsuccessful.
During the final phase of the negotiations
a draft agreement was drawn up which Lord
Mountbatten, three days before his departure
from India, appealed to the Nizam to accept.
But to no avail.