Princely States #4: Hyderabad

Last up Hyderabad. In March, 1948, it was the only princely state that hadn’t gone to India or Pakistan. Surrounded by India, in the backdrop of Partition, its attempt to stay independent was viewed through a religious lens by India, explains Sam Dalrymple in Shattered Lands.

 

The Indian Army, which had commandeered Hyderabad’s military equipment for World War II, now refused to return those arms – why arm a secessionist state? The Nizam tried hard to get weapons smuggled in, but there was no easy way to do that in enough bulk.

 

By this time, more and more groups were entering Hyderabad, some pro-Hindi, others pro-Muslim. Law and order fell apart with the presence of these armed groups, who also went about slaughtering people of the other religion. In response, the Nizam fell upon on a local militant group called the Razakars. Their anti-Hindu rhetoric evoked fear in the Hindus in Hyderabad and 4 lakh would leave the state. At the same time, 7.5 lakh people would enter the state (religious fear ran high. Each community tried to move to pockets where they were the majority). As with any militant group, soon it was unclear how much power the Nizam wielded anymore? Or had the Razakars taken over?

 

Mountbatten tried to work out a solution, but with Britain’s last vestiges due to leave the country soon, neither the Nizam nor India considered them seriously. The stances of both VP Menon and Patel had hardened a lot by now based on both real events and fake news.

 

It was no longer clear who was in control in Hyderabad – the Nizam? The Razakars? Other armed groups? For Nehru, an additional worry now kicked in – parts of Hyderabad were now under communist militia control. VP Menon used this rising communist threat as a way to get American tacit approval for India’s military to enter and take over Hyderabad. At this critical point, Jinnah had fallen seriously ill (on his deathbed, as it would turn out) and so nobody in Pakistan was sure how/whether to respond to the increasing prospect of the Indian Army marching into Hyderabad. The day after Jinnah died, with Pakistan headless, the Indian Army and air force took over Hyderabad.

 

And with that, the last princely state in India ceased to be a princely state. Leading Nikita Kruschchev to wonder how Indian had managed “to liquidate the princely states… without liquidating the princes”.

 

On a side note, with the dissolution of the numerous princely states, the patronage of various artists died down. Possibly then:

“The sheer number of dispossessed musicians and dancers moving into the film and radio industry in the 1950s may account for the prevalence of song and dance in South Asian cinema.”

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