Historical Background Of Princely States

When there was British rulership in India, India was divided and controlled by two administrative

power: British India which had control of over 60% of India, and the Princely States were

comprising the remaining 40% of India. Before the partition of Pakistan and Bangladesh from

India, there were some states in India that were not annexed by the Britishers such as Rajputs

and Non-Rajputs princely provisions, these states were combined together and called the

princely states. The princely states were autonomous and practiced their own rules and

regulations. In this article, you’ll read about what exactly are princely states, what was the reason for their formation, and how some of the princely states integrated with India later. 

What Are Princely States?

During the British reign, there were numerous small princely states spread across India. They were more than 500 in number. All these 500 + states got freedom from British rulership after the enactment of the Indian Independence Act of 1947. 

The princely states were given choices to make because after the demolition of Britishers in India, British India had divided into Pakistan and India. 

These princely states had to choose to go with one country either India or with Pakistan. Sardar Vallabhai Patel and V.P Menon took the responsibility of integrating all these princely states together. Their intentions were to build a monarch rulership. 

Then, a treaty of Instrument of Accession was signed between the authorities of Pakistan and India, to serve the best interests of common citizens. 

According to the Instrument of Accession treaty, India can only practice control over the defense, communications, and foreign interactions. Out of all 500+ states, Gwalior, Baroda, Patiala, and Bikaner were the four states that chose to combine with India. 

Other states did not show any interest in India. They were wary and distrustful of the Indian government’s democracy and radical approach to management.

Travancore was the first state to split out because its leader was premeditated to become an independent state. Similarly, Hyderabad chose the same option. Bhopal took out its proposal because they didn’t like the concept of the Constituent Assembly. 

Numbers Of Princely States

Travancore 

Travancore questioned the leadership capabilities of Congress in India. In 1946, C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar showed that they are an independent nation and they ought to sign a peace and separation treaty with the Indian Congress government. 

C.P Ramaswamy also had some secret ties with the British government, the British government helped him in the process of separating Travancore from India and establishing itself as a separate independent state. Travancore was a great place for minerals and marine trade. 

The Britishers thought to gain extra exclusive access to all the precious minerals and take advantage away from India. 

Jodhpur 

Jodhpur was a city near Pakistan, and it has been said that it always had some special inclination towards Pakistan even though 60% of the population of Jodhpur were Hindus. Their leader Hanvant Singh, chose to not destroy the contagious relation of their citizens to win the hearts of people. 

Pakistan supreme offered him Karachi airport for manufacturing armors and weapons for military assistance. When Sardar Patel got to know about this ill-act of Hanvant Singh, he proposed to offer him more benefits. 

On 11th August, the king of Jodhpur, Havant Singh agreed on the proposal and that’s how Jodhpur became a part of India.

Bhopal 

Bhopal was a city that has the majority of the Hindu population, but their leader Hamidullah Khan was a Muslim nawab. He was in a very cordial relationship with Muslim League and is a great anti-supporter of the Congress Party. 

He even told Mountbatten already that even if India would ask him to join them, he will choose Muslim League.In July 1947, he saw the defeat he could face if Bhopal won’t combine with a strong identity, so he joined India. 

Hyderabad

Hyderabad was a city on the Deccan plateau and also the richest of all other princely states. Nizam Mir Usman Ali was the Muslim leader in this princely state of Hyderabad where majority of the population was of Hindus.

Nizam Ali was connected to Jinnah, because he was supporting to import armors and weapons from Europe. Some armed people revolted against Hyderabadi’s hindus, the Indian National Congress took the lead after the armed conflict which lasted for four days. 

India got Hyderabad back.

Junagadh 

Junagadh is a city located in the southwestern part of Gujrat. Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III was the leader of this tribe and he refused to join Indian troops in 1947. He chose to merge Junagadh with Pakistan by claiming that Junagadh is connected to Pakistan by a sea route. 

Sardar Patel understood that if they allow Junagadh to join Pakistan, the tension in the nearby region around Junagadh is going to rise up and cause more trouble. India cut down the supply of electricity and fuel to Junagadh. 

After the large number of battles fought by the Indian government, Junagadh became a part of India on 1st November 1956.

Kashmir 

Maharaja Hari Singh was the ruler of Kashmir. He had a very unorthodox approach because he didn’t wish to join either India nor did he want to join Pakistan. Pakistan attacked northern Kashmir. 

Maharaja Hari Singh requested help from the Indian government, by which he was able to save Kashmir but he had to join India.

Conclusion

The majority of the princely states were non-democratic monopolies that were not giving their citizens democratic rights. Out of 500 princely states available at that time, 448 princely states were located within the boundaries of India. Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Junagarh were not interested to join India. Because of all these proposals, many people thought that India will still go into further divisions into many more little states separating themselves out from the country.