Everything about Political Integration Of India totally explained
At the time of
Indian independence,
India was divided into two sets of territories, the first being the territories under the control of the
British Empire, and the second being the territories over which
the Crown had
suzerainty, but which were under the control of their hereditary rulers. In addition, there were several colonial enclaves controlled by
France and
Portugal. The
political integration of these territories into
India was a declared objective of the
Indian National Congress, which the
Government of India pursued over the next decade. Through a combination of factors,
Vallabhbhai Patel and
V.P. Menon convinced the rulers of the various
princely states to accede to India. Having secured their accession, they then proceeded to, in a step-by-step process, secure and extend the central government's authority over these states and transform their
administration until, by 1956, there was little difference between the territories that had formerly been part of
British India and those that had been part of princely states. Simultaneously, the Government of India through a combination of
diplomatic and
military means acquired
de facto and
de jure control over the remaining colonial enclaves, which too were integrated into India.
Although this process successfully integrated the vast majority of princely states into India, it wasn't as successful in relation to a few states, notably the former princely states of
Kashmir,
Tripura and
Manipur, where active secessionist movements exist.
Princely States in British India
The early history of British expansion in India was characterised by the co-existence of two approaches towards the existing princely states. The first was a policy of annexation, where the British sought to forcibly absorb the Indian princely states into the provinces which constituted their
Empire in India. The second was a policy of indirect rule, where the British assumed
suzerainty and
paramountcy over princely states, but conceded some degree of sovereignty to them. During the early part of the nineteenth century, the policy of the British tended towards annexation, but the
Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced a change in this approach, by demonstrating both the difficulty of absorbing and subduing annexed states, and the usefulness of princely states as a source of support. In 1858, the policy of annexation was formally renounced, and British relations with the princely states thereafter were based on
indirect rule, whereby the British exercised paramountcy over all princely states with the
British crown as ultimate
suzerain, but at the same time respected and protected them as allies. The exact relations between the British and each princely state were regulated by individual treaties, and varied widely, with some states having significant autonomy, some being subject to significant control in internal affairs, and some being in effect the owners of a few acres of land with little autonomy.
During the 20th century, the British made several attempts to integrate the princely states more closely with British India, creating the
Chamber of Princes in 1921 as a consultative and advisory body, transferring the responsibility for supervision of smaller states from the provinces to the centre in 1936, and creating direct relations between the
Government of India and the larger princely states superseding political agents. The most ambitious was a scheme of federation in the
Government of India Act, 1935, which envisaged the princely states and British India being united under a federal government. This scheme came close to success, but was abandoned in 1939 as a result of the outbreak of the
Second World War. As a result, in the 1940s, the relationship between the princely states and the crown remained regulated by the principle of paramountcy and the various treaties between the British crown and the states.
Neither paramountcy nor these arrangements could continue after
Indian independence. The British took the view that because they'd been established directly between the British crown and the princely states, they couldn't be transferred to independent India. At the same time, they imposed obligations on Britain that it wasn't prepared to continue to carry out, such as the obligation to maintain troops in India for the
defence of the princely states. The British government therefore decided that paramountcy, together with all treaties between them and the princely states, would come to an end upon the transfer of power.
Reasons for integration
The termination of paramountcy would have in principle have meant that all rights that flowed from the states' relationship with the British crown would return to them, leaving them free to negotiate relationships with the new states of India and Pakistan "on a basis of complete freedom." Early British plans for the transfer of power, such as the offer produced by the
Cripps Mission, recognised the possibility that some princely states might choose to stand out of independent India. This was unacceptable to the
Congress, which regarded the independence of princely states as a denial of the course of Indian history, and consequently regarded this scheme as a "
Balkanisation" of India. The Congress had traditionally been less active in the princely states because of their limited resources which restricted their ability to organise there and their focus on the goal of independence from the British, and because Congress leaders, in particular
Gandhi, were sympathetic to the more progressive princes as examples of the capacity of Indians to rule themselves. This changed in the 1930s as a result of the federation scheme contained in the
Government of India Act, 1935 and the rise of socialist Congress leaders such as
Jayaprakash Narayan, and the Congress began to actively engage with popular political and labour activity in the princely states. By 1939, the Congress' official stance was that the states must enter independent India, on the same terms and with the same autonomy as the provinces of British India, and with their people granted responsible government. As a result, it insisted on the incorporation of the princely states into India in its negotiations with Mountbatten.
A few British leaders, particularly
Lord Mountbatten, the last British viceroy in India, were also uncomfortable with breaking links between independent India and the princely states. The development of trade, commerce and communications during the 19th and 20th centuries had bound the princely states to British India through a complex network of interests. Agreements relating to railways, customs, irrigation, the use of ports, and other similar agreements would disappear, posing a serious threat to the economic life of the subcontinent. Mountbatten was also persuaded by the argument of Indian leaders such as
V.P. Menon that the integration of the princely states into independent India would to some extent assuage the wounds of
partition. The result was that Mountbatten personally favoured and worked towards the
accession of princely states to India following the transfer of power, as proposed by the Congress.
Accepting integration
The princes' position
The rulers of the princely states were not uniformly enthusiastic about integrating their domains into independent India. Some, such as the kings of Bikaner and Jawhar, were motivated to join India out of ideological and patriotic considerations, but others insisted that they'd the right to join either India or Pakistan, to remain independent, or form a union of their own.
Bhopal,
Travancore and
Hyderabad announced that they didn't intend to join either dominion. Hyderabad went as far as to appoint trade representatives in European countries and commencing negotiations with the
Portuguese to lease or buy
Goa to give it access to the sea, and Travancore pointed to the strategic importance to western countries of its
thorium reserves while asking for recognition. Some states proposed a subcontinent-wide confederation of princely states, as a third entity in addition to India and Pakistan. Bhopal attempted to build an alliance between the princely states and the
Muslim League to counter the pressure being put on rulers by the Congress.
A number of factors contributed to the collapse of this initial resistance and to nearly all princely states agreeing to accede to India. An important factor was the lack of unity amongst the princes. The smaller states didn't trust the larger states to protect their interests, and many
Hindu rulers didn't trust
Muslim princes, in particular
Hamidullah Khan, the
Nawab of Bhopal and a leading proponent of independence, who they viewed as an agent for
Pakistan. Others, believing integration inevitable, sought to build bridges with the Congress, hoping thereby to gain a say in shaping the final settlement. The resultant inability to present a united front or agree on a common position significantly reduced their bargaining power in negotiations with the Congress. The decision by the Muslim League to stay out of the
Constituent Assembly was also fatal to the princes' plan to build an alliance with it to counter the Congress, and attempts to boycott the Constituent Assembly altogether failed on
28 April 1947, when the states of
Baroda,
Bikaner,
Cochin,
Gwalior,
Jaipur,
Jodhpur,
Patiala and
Rewa took their seats in the Assembly.
Many princes were also pressured by popular sentiment favouring integration with India, which meant their plans for independence had little support from their subjects. The king of Travancore, for example, definitively abandoned his plans for independence after the attempted assassination of his dewan, Sir
C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar. In a few states, the chief ministers or
dewans played a significant role in convincing the princes to accede to India. The key factors that led the states to accept integration into India were, however, the efforts of Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British India, and
Vallabhbhai Patel and
V.P. Menon, who were respectively the political and administrative heads of the Indian Government's
States Department, which was in charge of relations with the princely states.
Mountbatten's role
Mountbatten believed that securing the states' accession to India was crucial to reaching a negotiated settlement with the Congress for the transfer of power. As a relative of the British Emperor, he was trusted by most of the princes and was a personal friend of many, especially the Nawab of Bhopal,
Hamidullah Khan. The princes also believed that he'd be in a position to ensure the independent India adhered to any terms that might be agreed upon, because
Jawaharlal Nehru and Patel had asked him to become the first
Governor General of the
Dominion of India.
Mountbatten used his influence with the princes to push them towards accession. He declared that the British Government wouldn't grant dominion status to any of the princely states, nor would it accept them into the
British Commonwealth, which meant that the states would sever all connections with the British crown unless they joined either India or Pakistan. He pointed out that the
Indian subcontinent was one economic entity, and that the states would suffer most if the link were broken. He also pointed to the difficulties that princes would face maintaining order in the face of threats such as the rise of
communal violence and
communist movements.
At the time, several princes complained that they were being betrayed by Britain, who they regarded as an ally, and Sir
Conrad Corfield resigned his position as head of the Political Department in protest at Mountbatten's policies.
Winston Churchill compared the language used by the Indian government with that used by
Adolf Hitler before the
invasion of Austria. Modern historians such as Lumby and Moore, however, take the view that Mountbatten played a crucial role in ensuring that the princely states agreed to accede to India.
Pressure and diplomacy
By far the most significant factor that led to the princes' decision to accede to India was the policy of the Congress and, in particular, of the two key figures in the States Department,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and
V.P. Menon. The Congress' stated position was that the princely states were not sovereign entities, and as such couldn't opt to be independent notwithstanding the end of paramountcy. The princely states, it declared, must therefore accede to either India or Pakistan. In July 1946, Nehru pointedly observed that no princely state could prevail militarily against the army of independent India. and in May 1947, he declared that any princely state which refused to join the Constituent Assembly would be treated as an enemy state.
Patel and Menon, who were charged with the actual job of negotiating with the princes, took a more conciliatory approach than Nehru. The official policy statement of the Government of India made by Patel on
5 July 1947 made no threats. Instead, it emphasised the unity of India and the common interests of the princes and independent India, reassured them about the Congress' intentions, and invited them to join independent India "to make laws sitting together as friends than to make treaties as aliens." He reiterated that the States Department wouldn't attempt to establish a relationship of domination over the princely states. Unlike the Political Department of the British Government, it wouldn't be an instrument of paramountcy, but a medium whereby business could be conducted between the states and India as equals.
Instruments of Accession
Patel and Menon backed up their diplomatic efforts by producing treaties that were designed to be attractive to rulers of princely states. Two key documents were produced. The first was the Standstill Agreement, which confirmed that the agreements and administrative practices that existed as between the princely state in question and the British would be continued by India. The second was the
Instrument of Accession, by which the ruler of the princely state in question agreed to the accession of his kingdom to independent India, and to granting India control over specified subject matters.
The Instruments of Accession implemented a number of other safeguards. Clause 7 provided that the princes wouldn't be bound to the
Indian constitution as and when it was drafted. Clause 8 guaranteed their autonomy in all areas in which authority wasn't expressly ceded to the Government of India. This was supplemented by a number of promises. Rulers who agreed to accede would receive guarantees that their
extra-territorial rights, such as
immunity from prosecution in Indian courts and exemption from
customs duty, would be protected, that they'd be allowed to democratise slowly, that none of the eighteen major states would be forced to merge, and that they'd remain eligible for
British honours and decorations. In discussions, Lord Mountbatten reinforced the statements of Patel and Menon by emphasising that the documents gave the princes all the "practical independence" they needed. Mountbatten, Patel and Menon also sought to give princes the impression that if they didn't accept the terms put to them then, they'd subsequently have to accede on substantially less favourable terms. The Standstill Agreement was also used as a negotiating tool, as the States Department categorically ruled out signing a Standstill Agreement with princely states that didn't sign an Instrument of Accession.
The accession process
The limited scope of the Instruments of Accession and the promise of a wide-ranging autonomy and the other guarantees they offered, gave sufficient comfort to many rulers, who saw this as the best deal they could strike given the lack of support from the British, and popular internal pressures. Between May 1947 and the transfer of power on
15 August 1947, the vast majority of states signed Instruments of Accession. A few, however, held out. Some simply delayed signing the Instrument of Accession.
Piploda, a small state in central India, didn't accede until March 1948. The biggest problems, however, arose with a few border states, such as
Jodhpur, which tried to negotiate better deals with Pakistan, with
Junagadh, which actually did accede to Pakistan, and with
Hyderabad and
Kashmir, which declared that they intended to remain independent.
Border states
The ruler of
Jodhpur,
Hanwant Singh, was antipathetic to the Congress, and didn't see much future in India for him or the lifestyle he wished to lead, and entered into negotiations with
Jinnah, who was the designated head of state for
Pakistan, along with the ruler of
Jaisalmer. Jinnah was keen to attract some of the larger border states, hoping thereby to attract other
Rajput states to Pakistan and compensate for the loss of half of
Bengal and
Punjab. He offered to permit Jodhpur and Jaisalmer to accede to Pakistan on any terms they chose, giving their rulers blank sheets of paper and asking them to write down their terms, which he'd sign. Jaisalmer refused, arguing that it would be difficult for him to side with
Muslims against
Hindus in the event of communal problems. Hanwant Singh came close to signing. However, the atmosphere in Jodhpur was in general hostile to accession to Pakistan. Mountbatten also pointed out that the accession of a predominantly Hindu state to Pakistan would violate the principle of the
two-nation theory on which
Partition was based, and was likely to cause communal violence in the State. Hanwant Singh was persuaded by these arguments, and somewhat reluctantly agreed to accede to India.
Junagadh
Although the states were in theory free to choose whether they wished to accede to India or Pakistan, Mountbatten had pointed out that "geographic compulsions" meant that most of them must choose India. In effect, he took the position that only the states that shared a border with Pakistan could choose to accede to it.
India believed that if Junagadh was permitted to go to Pakistan, the communal tension already simmering in Gujarat would worsen, and refused to accept the accession. The government pointed out that the state was 80% Hindu, and called for a plebiscite to decide the question of accession. Simultaneously, they
cut off supplies of fuel and coal to Junagadh, severed air and postal links, sent troops to the frontier, and reoccupied the
principalities of Mangrol and Babariawad that had acceded to India. Pakistan agreed to discuss a plebiscite, subject to the withdrawal of Indian troops, a condition India rejected. On
26 October, the Nawab and his family fled to Pakistan following clashes with Indian troops. On
7 November, Junagadh's court, facing collapse, invited the Government of India to take over the State's administration. The Government of India agreed. A
plebiscite was conducted in February 1948, which went almost unanimously in favour of accession to India.
Kashmir
At the time of the transfer of power, Kashmir was ruled by
Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu, although the state itself had a Muslim majority. Hari Singh was equally hesitant about acceding to either India or Pakistan, as either would have provoked adverse reactions in parts of his kingdom. He signed a Standstill Agreement with Pakistan and proposed one with India as well, but announced that Kashmir intended to remain independent. The invaders made rapid progress towards
Srinagar. The Maharaja of Kashmir wrote to India, asking for military assistance, offering an
Instrument of Accession, and setting up an
interim government headed by Sheikh Abdullah. The accession was accepted, but Nehru declared that it would have to be confirmed by a
plebiscite although there was no legal requirement to seek such confirmation.
Indian troops secured
Jammu, Srinagar and the valley itself during the
First Kashmir War, but the intense fighting flagged with the onset of winter, which made much of the state impassable. Prime Minister Nehru, recognising the degree of international attention brought to bear on the dispute, declared a ceasefire and sought
U.N. arbitration, arguing that India would otherwise have to invade Pakistan itself, in view of its failure to stop the tribal incursions. The plebiscite was never held, and on
26 January 1957, the
Constitution of India came into force in Kashmir, but with special provisions made for it in the Constitution's
Article 370. India did not, however, secure administrative control over all of Kashmir. The northern and western portions of Kashmir came under Pakistan's control in 1947, and are today
Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In 1962,
China occupied
Aksai Chin, the north-eastern region bordering
Ladakh, which it continues to control and administer.
Hyderabad
Hyderabad was a landlocked state that stretched over 82,000
square miles (over 212,000
square kilometres) in south-eastern India. Whilst 87% of its 17 million people were Hindus, its ruler
Nizam Osman Ali Khan was a Muslim, and its politics were dominated by a Muslim elite. The Muslim nobility and the
Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, a powerful pro-Nizam Muslim party, insisted that Hyderabad must remain an independent state and stand on an equal footing to India and Pakistan. Accordingly, the Nizam in June 1947 issued a
firman announcing that on the transfer of power, his state would be resuming independence. The Government of India rejected the firman, terming it a "
legalistic claim of doubtful validity." It argued that the strategic location of Hyderabad, which lay astride the main lines of
communication between northern and southern India, meant it could easily be used by "foreign interests" to threaten India, and that in consequence, the issue involved India's
peace and
security. It also pointed out that the state's people, history and location made it unquestionably Indian, and that its own "common interests" therefore mandated its integration into India.
The Nizam was prepared to enter into a limited
treaty with India, which gave Hyderabad safeguards not provided for in the standard Instrument of Accession, such as a provision guaranteeing Hyderabad's
neutrality in the event of a conflict between India and Pakistan. India rejected this proposal, arguing that other states would demand similar
concessions. A temporary Standstill Agreement was signed as a stopgap measure, even though Hyderabad hadn't yet agreed to accede to India. By December 1947, however, India was accusing Hyderabad of repeatedly violating the Agreement, while the Nizam alleged that India was
blockading his state, a charge India denied.
The situation deteriorated further in 1948. The
Razakars ("volunteers"), a militia affiliated to the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen and set up under the influence of Muslim radical
Qasim Razvi, assumed the role of supporting the Muslim ruling class against upsurges by the Hindu populace, and began intensifying its activities and was accused of attempting to intimidate
villages. The Hyderabad State Congress Party, affiliated to the
Indian National Congress, launched a political agitation. Matters were made worse by
Communist groups, which had originally supported the Congress but now switched sides and began attacking Congress groups. Patel now insisted that if Hyderabad was allowed to continue its independence, the prestige of the Government would be tarnished and then neither Hindus nor Muslims would feel secure in its realm. On
13 September, the
Indian Army was sent into Hyderabad in
Operation Polo on the ground that the law and order situation there threatened the peace of
South India. The troops met little resistance and between 13 and 18 September took complete control of the state. The Nizam was retained as the
head of state in the same manner as the other princes who acceded to India. He thereupon disavowed the complaints that had been made to the UN and, despite vehement protests from Pakistan and strong criticism from other countries, the Security Council didn't deal further with the question, and Hyderabad was absorbed into India.
Completing integration
federation, with significant differences in administration and
governance across the various states. Full political integration, in contrast, would require a process whereby the political actors in the various states were "persuaded to shift their
loyalties, expectations, and political activities towards a new center," namely, the
Republic of India. This wasn't an easy task. Whilst some princely states such as
Mysore had legislative systems of governance that were based on a broad
franchise and not significantly different from those of British India, in others, political decision-making took place in small, limited
aristocratic circles and governance was, as a result, at best
paternalistic and at worst the result of courtly
intrigue. Having secured the accession of the princely states, the Government of India between 1948 and 1950 turned to the task of welding the states and the former British provinces into one polity under a
single republican constitution.
Fast-track integration
The first step in this process, carried out between 1947 and 1949, was to merge the smaller states that were not seen by the Government of India to be viable administrative units either into neighbouring provinces, or with other princely states to create a "princely union." This policy was contentious, since it involved the dissolution of the very states whose existence India had only recently guaranteed in the Instruments of Accession. Patel and Menon emphasised that without integration, the economies of states would collapse, and anarchy would arise if the princes were unable to provide democracy and govern properly. They pointed out that many of the smaller states were very small and lacked resources to sustain their economies and support their growing populations. Many also imposed tax rules and other restrictions that impeded free trade, and which had to be dismantled in a united India. Given that merger involved the breach of guarantees personally given by Mountbatten, Patel and Nehru initially intended to wait until after his term as
Governor-General. An
adivasi uprising in
Orissa in late 1947, however, forced their hand. Later that year, sixty-six states in
Gujarat and the
Deccan were merged into
Bombay, including the large states of
Kolhapur and
Baroda. Other small states were merged into
Madras,
East Punjab,
West Bengal, the
United Provinces and
Assam. Not all states that signed Merger Agreements were integrated into provinces, however. Thirty states of the former
Punjab Hill States Agency which lay near the international border and had signed Merger Agreements were integrated into
Himachal Pradesh, a distinct entity which was administered directly by the centre as a
Chief Commissioner's Province, for reasons of security.
The Merger Agreements required rulers to cede "full and exclusive jurisdiction and powers for and in relation to governance" of their state to the
Dominion of India. In return for their agreement to entirely cede their states, it gave princes a large number of guarantees. Princes would receive an annual payment from the Indian government in the form of a
privy purse as compensation for the surrender of their powers and the dissolution of their states. Whilst state property would be taken over, their
private property would be protected, as would all personal privileges, dignities and titles. Succession was also guaranteed according to custom. In addition, the provincial administration was obliged to take on the staff of the princely states with guarantees of equal pay and treatment.
Although the Merger Agreements were principally intended for smaller, non-viable states, they were also applied to a few larger states.
Kutch in western India, and
Tripura and
Manipur in
North-East India, all of which lay along international borders, were also asked to sign Merger Agreements, despite being larger states, following which they became
Chief Commissioners' Provinces.
Bhopal, whose ruler was proud of the efficiency of his administration and feared that it would lose its identity if merged with the
Maratha states that were its neighbours, also became a directly-administered
Chief Commissioner's Province, as did
Bilaspur, much of which was likely to be flooded on completion of the
Bhakra dam.
Through this process, Patel obtained the unification of 222 states in the
Kathiawar peninsula of his native
Gujarat into the princely union of
Saurashtra in January 1948, with six more states joining the union the following year.
Madhya Bharat emerged on
28 May 1948 from a union of
Gwalior,
Indore and eighteen smaller states. In Punjab, the
Patiala and East Punjab States Union was formed on
15 July 1948 from
Patiala,
Kapurthala,
Jind,
Nabha,
Faridkot,
Malerkotla,
Nalargarh, and
Kalsia. The
United State of Rajasthan was formed as the result of a series of mergers, the last of which was completed on
15 May 1949.
Travancore and
Cochin were merged in the middle of 1949 to form the princely union of
Travancore-Cochin. The only princely states which signed neither Covenants of Merger nor Merger Agreements were
Kashmir,
Mysore and
Hyderabad.
Democratisation
Merging the administrative machineries of each state and integrating them into one political and administrative entity wasn't easy, particularly as many of the merged states had a history of
rivalry. In the former
Central India Agency, whose princely states had initially been merged into a princely union called
Vindhya Pradesh, the rivalry between two groups of states became so bad that the Government of India persuaded the rulers to sign a Merger Agreement abrogating the old Covenants of Merger, and took direct control of the state as a Chief Commissioner's State. As such, the mergers didn't meet the expectations of the Government of India or the States Department. In December 1947, Menon suggested requiring the rulers of states to take "practical steps towards the establishment of popular government." The States Department accepted his suggestion, and implemented it through a special covenant signed by the rajpramukhs of the merged princely unions, binding them to act as constitutional monarchs. This meant that their powers were de facto no different from those of the
Governors of the former British provinces, thus giving the people of their territories the same measure of responsible government as the people of the rest of India. Whilst this contradicted the British statement that paramountcy would lapse on the transfer of power, the Congress position had always been that independent India would inherit the position of being the paramount power. The only exception was Kashmir, whose relationship with India continued to be governed by the original Instrument of Accession, and the constitution produced by the state's
Constituent Assembly.
The Constitution of India classified the constituent units of India into three classes, which it termed Part A, B, and C states. The former British provinces, together with the princely states that had been merged into them, were the Part A states. The princely unions, plus Mysore and Hyderabad, were the Part B states. The former Chief Commissioners' Provinces and other centrally administered areas, except the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, were the Part C states. The only practical difference between the Part A states and the Part B states was that the constitutional heads of the Part B states were the Rajpramukhs appointed under the terms of the Covenants of Merger, rather than Governors appointed by the central government. In addition, Constitution gave the central government a significant range of powers over the former princely states, providing amongst other things that their governance shall be under the general control of, and comply with such particular directions, if any, as may from time to time be given by, the President." Apart from that, the form of government in both was identical. In both legal and practical terms, the territories that formerly were part of the princely states were now fully integrated into India and didn't differ in any way from those that were formerly part of British India. The personal privileges of the princes - the privy purse, the exemption from customs duty, and customary dignities - survived slightly longer, but were abolished in 1971.
Post-integration issues
The princes
Whilst the progressive integration of the princely states into India was largely peaceful, not all princes were happy with the outcome. Many had expected the Instruments of Accession to be permanent, and were unhappy about losing the
autonomy and the guaranteed continued existence of their states they'd expected to gain. Some felt uneasy about the disappearance of states that generations of their
family had controlled, whilst others were unhappy about the disappearance of administrative structures they'd worked hard to build up and which they believed to be efficient. Several took advantage of their eligibility to hold public offices under the central government. The Maharaja of Bhavnagar, for example, became the Governor of
Madras State, while several others were appointed to
diplomatic posts overseas. An agreement between France and India in 1948 provided for an election in France's remaining Indian possessions to choose their political future. A plebiscite held in Chandernagore on
19 June 1949 resulted in a vote of 7,463 to 114 in favour of being integrated with India. It was ceded to India on a
de facto basis on
14 August 1949 and
de jure on
2 May 1950. In the other enclaves, however, the pro-French camp, led by
Edouard Goubert, used the administrative machinery to suppress the pro-merger groups. Popular discontent rose, and in 1954
demonstrations in Yanam and
Mahe resulted in pro-merger groups assuming power. A referendum in
Pondicherry and
Karaikal in October 1954 resulted in a vote in favour of merger, and on
1 November 1954, de facto control over all four enclaves was transferred to the Republic of India. A treaty of cession was signed in May 1956, and following ratification by the
French National Assembly in May 1962, de jure control of the enclaves was also transferred.
Portugal, in contrast, resisted diplomatic solutions. It viewed its continued possession of its Indian enclaves as a matter of national pride and, in 1951, it amended its
constitution to convert its possessions in India into Portuguese provinces. In July 1954, an uprising in Dadra and Nagar Haveli threw off Portuguese rule. In 1961, the Constitution of India was amended to incorporate Dadra and Nagar Haveli into India as a Union Territory.
Goa, Daman and Diu remained an outstanding issue. On
15 August 1955, five thousand non-violent demonstrators marched against the Portuguese at the border, and were met with gunfire, killing 22. Although Nehru continued to favour a negotiated solution, the Portuguese suppression of a revolt in
Angola in 1961 radicalised Indian public opinion, and increased the pressure on the Government of India to take military action. African leaders, too, put pressure on Nehru to take action in Goa, which they argued would save Africa from further horrors. On
18 December 1961, following the collapse of an American attempt to find a negotiated solution, the Indian Army entered Goa, Daman and Diu. The Portuguese took the matter to the
Security Council but a resolution calling on India to withdraw its troops immediately was defeated by the
USSR's
veto. Portugal surrendered on
19 December.
Historically,
Sikkim was a British
dependency, with a status similar to that of the other princely states, and was therefore considered to be within the frontiers of India in the colonial period. On independence, however, the
Chogyal of Sikkim resisted full integration into India. Given the region's strategic importance to India, the Government of India signed first a Standstill Agreement and then in 1950 a full treaty with the
Chogyal of Sikkim which in effect made it a protectorate which was no longer part of India. India had responsibility for defence, external affairs and communications, and ultimate responsibility for law and order, but Sikkim was otherwise given full internal autonomy. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Chogyal, supported by the minority
Bhutia and
Lepcha upper classes, attempted to negotiate greater powers, particularly over external affairs, in order to give Sikkim more of an international personality. These policies were opposed by
Kazi Lhendup Dorji and the
Sikkim State Congress, who represented the ethnic
Nepali middle classes and took a more pro-Indian view. In April 1973, an anti-Chogyal agitation broke out. The agitators demanded the conduct of popular elections. The Sikkim
police were unable to control the demonstrations, and Dorji asked India to exercise its responsibility for law and order and intervene. India facilitated negotiations between the Chogyal and Dorji, and produced an agreement which envisaged the reduction of the Chogyal to the role of a
constitutional monarch and the holding of
elections based on a new ethnic power-sharing formula. The Chogyal's opponents won an overwhelming victory, and a new Constitution was drafted providing for Sikkim to be associated with the Republic of India. On
10 April 1975, the Sikkim Assembly passed a
resolution calling for the state to be fully integrated into India. This resolution was endorsed by 97% of the vote in a
referendum held on
14 April 1975, following which the Indian Government amended the constitution to admit Sikkim into India as its 22nd state.
Secessionism and sub-nationalism
Whilst the majority of princely states absorbed into India have been fully integrated, a few outstanding issues remain. The most prominent of these is in relation to Kashmir, where a
violent secessionist insurgency has been raging since the late 1980s.
Some academics suggest that the insurgency in Kashmir is at least partly a result of the manner in which it was integrated into India. Kashmir, uniquely amongst princely states, wasn't required to sign either a Merger Agreement or a revised Instrument of Accession giving India control over a larger number of issues than the three originally provided for. Instead, the power to make laws relating to Kashmir was granted to the Government of India by Article 5 of the
Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and was, under Article 370 of the Constitution of India, somewhat more restricted than in relation to other states. Widmalm argues that during the 1980s, a number of Kashmiri youth began to feel that the Indian government was increasingly interfering in the
politics of Jammu and Kashmir. The elections of 1987 caused them to lose faith in the political process and begin the violent insurgency which is still ongoing. As a result, the growing dissatisfaction with the status quo felt by an increasingly politically aware youth was expressed through non-political channels which Pakistan, seeking to weaken India's hold over Kashmir, transformed into an active insurgency.
Separatist movements also exist in two other former princely states located in
North-East India,
Tripura and
Manipur. These separatist movements are generally treated by scholars as being part of the broader problem of
insurgencies in North-east India, rather being a result of specific problems in integrating the princely states into India, as the Kashmir problem is and, in particular, to reflect the failure of the Government of India to adequately address the aspirations of tribal groups in the Northeast, or to tackle the tensions arising from the immigration of people from other parts of India to the north-eastern areas.
The integration of former princely states with other provinces to form new states has also given rise to some issues. The
Telengana region, comprising the
Telugu-speaking districts of the former
Hyderabad State, were in many ways different from the Telugu-speaking areas of British India with which they were merged. In recognition of these differences, the
States Reorganisation Commission originally recommended that Telengana be created as a separate state, rather than as part of a broader Telugu-speaking entity. This recommendation was rejected by the Government of India, and Telengana was merged into
Andhra Pradesh. The result was the emergence in the 1960s of a movement demanding a separate Telengana state, which continues to be strong in the region. A similar movement, although less strong, exists in the
Vidarbha region of
Maharashtra, which consists of the former
Nagpur state and the
Berar region of the former Hyderabad state.
Critical perspectives on the process of integration
As this article has discussed, the integration process repeatedly brought Indian and Pakistani leaders into conflict. During negotiations,
Jinnah, representing the
Muslim League, strongly supported the right of the princely states to remain independent, joining neither India nor Pakistan, an attitude which was diametrically opposed to the stance taken by Nehru and the Congress and which was reflected in Pakistan's support of Hyderabad's bit to stay independent. Post-partition, the
Government of Pakistan accused India of hypocrisy on the ground that there was little difference between the accession of the ruler of Junagadh to Pakistan — which India refused to recognise — and the accession of the Maharajah of Kashmir to India, and for several years refused to recognise the legality of India's incorporation of Junagadh, treating it as de jure Pakistani territory. In his book
Patel: A Life, Gandhi asserts that Jinnah sought to engage the questions of Junagadh and Hyderabad in the same battle. It is suggested that he wanted India to ask for a
plebiscite in Junagadh and Hyderabad, knowing thus that the principle then would have to be applied to Kashmir, where the Muslim-majority would, he believed, vote for Pakistan. A speech by Patel at the Bahauddin College in
Junagadh following the latter's take-over, where he said that "we would agree to Kashmir if they agreed to Hyderabad" suggests that he may have been amenable to this idea. Whilst Patel's opinions were not India's policy, nor were they shared by Nehru, both leaders were angered at Jinnah's courting the princes of
Jodhpur,
Bhopal and
Indore, leading them to take a harder stance on a possible deal with Pakistan.
Modern historians have also re-examined the role of the States Department and Lord Mountbatten during the accession process. Ian Copland argues that the Congress leaders didn't intend the settlement contained in the Instruments of Accession to be permanent even when they were signed, and at all times privately contemplated a complete integration of the sort that ensued between 1948 and 1950. Menon in his memoirs stated that the changes to the initial terms of accession were in every instance freely consented to by the princes with no element of coercion. Copland disagrees, on the basis that foreign diplomats at the time believed that the princes had been given no choice but to sign, and that a few princes expressed their unhappiness with the arrangements. He also criticises Mountbatten's role, saying that whilst he stayed within the letter of the law, he was at least under a moral obligation to do something for the princes when it became apparent that the Government of India was going to alter the terms on which accession took place, and that he should never have lent his support to the bargain given that it couldn't be guaranteed after independence. Both Copland and Ramusack argue that, in the ultimate analysis, one of the reasons why the princes consented to the demise of their states was that they felt abandoned by the British, and saw themselves as having little other option. Older historians such as Lumby, in contrast, take the view that the princely states couldn't have survived as independent entities after the transfer of power, and that their demise was inevitable. They therefore view successful integration of all princely states into India was a triumph for the Government of India and Lord Mountbatten, and as a tribute to the sagacity of the majority of princes, who jointly achieved in a few months what the
Empire had attempted, unsuccessfully, to do for over a century — unite all of India under one rule.
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