Government’s approach

The interim government that took charge after Independence was clear and firm on one point: India would not be allowed to break up into a patchwork of tiny principalities of varying sizes. The Mountbatten Plan had given the princely states the choice to join either India or Pakistan, but the government was determined to prevent a chaotic fragmentation.

The man who steered this effort was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. Patel’s role was historic. He negotiated with the rulers of the princely states using a combination of firmness and diplomacy, and succeeded in bringing most of them into the Indian Union. It is easy to look back and assume this was straightforward, but the task was extraordinarily complicated. It required skilful persuasion. For example, the region that is today Odisha had 26 small states. The Saurashtra region of Gujarat contained 14 big states, 119 small states, and numerous other administrative units. Bringing all of these into a single union was a monumental challenge.

The government’s approach was guided by three key considerations.

First, the people of most princely states clearly wanted to join India. The government took this popular sentiment seriously. Second, the government was prepared to be flexible. It was willing to grant autonomy to some regions in order to accommodate diversity and adopt a flexible approach to regional demands. Third, the backdrop of Partition had made the question of territory extremely sensitive. The contest over where borders would be drawn was fresh in everyone’s mind. Therefore, the integration and consolidation of India’s territorial boundaries had become a matter of supreme importance.

By 15 August 1947, peaceful negotiations had already brought almost all states whose territories were contiguous to India’s new borders into the Union. The rulers of most states signed a document called the Instrument of Accession, by which their state agreed to become part of the Union of India.

However, the accession of four princely states proved far more difficult than the rest: Junagadh, Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Manipur.

• Junagadh’s issue was resolved after a plebiscite confirmed that the people wanted to join India. …