Annexation of Hyderabad: Difference between revisions

*22,000 Hyderabad State Forces

'''Operation Polo''' was the code name of the Hyderabad "[[police action]]" in September 1948,<ref>{{cite web |newspaper=The Times of India |date=15 September 2019 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/hyderabad-had-tried-nrc-71-years-ago-and-failed/articleshow/71132138.cms|title=Hyderabad had tried 'NRC' 71 years ago, and failed}}</ref> by the then newly independent [[Dominion of India]] against [[Hyderabad State]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hyderabad Police Action |url=http://indianarmy.nic.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTempSimple.aspx?MnId=nmnz/S66ueKkrJc8PBO1kw==&ParentID=z2xdy5FtH8G+oZz4hw/CKg== |publisher=Indian Army |access-date=13 September 2014}}</ref> It was a military operation in which the [[Indian Armed Forces]] invaded the [[Nizam]]-ruled princely state, annexing it into the [[Dominion of India|Indian Union]].<ref>{{cite book|author=B. Cohen|title=Kingship and Colonialism in India's Deccan: 1850–1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZKHDAAAQBAJ |year=2007|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-230-60344-8|pages=159–161}}</ref>

At the time of [[Partition of India|Partition]] in 1947, the [[princely state]]s of India, who in principle had self-government within their own territories, were subject to [[subsidiary alliance]]s with the British, giving them control of their external relations. With the [[Indian Independence Act 1947]], the British abandoned all such alliances, leaving the states with the option of opting for full independence.<ref name=Mehotra>{{cite book |last1=Mehrotra |first1=S.R. |title=Towards Indias Freedom And Partition |date=1979 |publisher=Vikash Publishing House |location=Delhi |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100154/page/n259 247] |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100154 |access-date=17 August 2019}}</ref><ref>See Section 7 (1) (b): "the suzerainty of His Majesty over the Indian States lapses, and with it, all treaties and agreements in force at the date of the passing of this Act between His Majesty and the rulers of Indian States, all functions exercisable by His Majesty at that date with respect to Indian States, all obligations of His Majesty existing at that date towards Indian States or the rulers thereof, and all powers, rights, authority or jurisdiction exercisable by His Majesty at that date in or in relation to Indian States by treaty, grant, usage, sufferance or otherwise."</ref> However, by 1948 almost all had [[Instrument of Accession|acceded]] to either India or Pakistan. One major exception was that of the wealthiest and most powerful principality, Hyderabad, where the Nizam, ''[[Mir (title)|Mir]]'' [[Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII]], a Muslim ruler who presided over a largely Hindu population, chose independence and hoped to maintain this with an [[Hyderabad army|irregular army]].<ref name="MetcalfMetcalf2006">{{cite book|author1=Barbara D. Metcalf|author2=Thomas R. Metcalf|title=A Concise History of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jGCBNTDv7acC|year=2006|edition=2nd|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521682251}}</ref>{{rp|224}} The Nizam was also beset by the [[Telangana rebellion]], which he was unable to subjugate.<ref name="MetcalfMetcalf2006"/>{{rp|224}}

In November 1947, Hyderabad signed a [[Standstill agreement (India)|standstill agreement]] with the Dominion of India, continuing all previous arrangements except for the stationing of Indian troops in the state. Claiming that it feared the establishment of a Communist state in Hyderabad,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-09-15|title=Delhi felt Razakars, communists a threat to India|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/150918/delhi-felt-razakars-communists-a-threat-to-india.html|access-date=2021-02-04|website=Deccan Chronicle|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ernst|first1=Waltraud|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eKbW3ukh9oC&dq=azad+hyderabad&pg=PA212|title=India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism|last2=Pati|first2=Biswamoy|date=2007-10-18|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-11988-2|language=en}}</ref> India invaded the state in September 1948, following a crippling economic blockade, and multiple attempts at destabilizing the state through railway disruptions, the bombing of government buildings, and raids on border villages.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Purushotham |first=Sunil |title=Internal Violence: The &quot;Police Action&quot; in Hyderabad - CSSH |url=https://www.academia.edu/11599524}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=New book on Hyderabad's Invasion, 1948's Police Action|url=https://www.milligazette.com/news/13-books/15587-new-book-on-hyderabad-s-invasion-1948-s-police-action/|access-date=2021-02-04|website=The Milli Gazette — Indian Muslims Leading News Source|language=en}}</ref><ref name=ShermanLSE/> Subsequently, the Nizam signed an instrument of accession, joining India.{{sfn|Chandra|Mukherjee|Mukherjee|2008|p=96}}

The State of Hyderabad under the leadership of its 7th [[Nizam of Hyderabad|Nizam]], ''[[Mir (title)|Mir]]'' [[Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII|Sir Osman Ali Khan]], was the largest and most prosperous of all the princely states in India. With annual revenues of over Rs. 9 [[crore]],<ref name="scale">{{cite book|pages=33–37|title=The India Office and Burma Office List: 1945|publisher=Harrison & Sons, Ltd.|year=1945}}</ref> it covered {{convert|82698|sqmi|km2}} of fairly homogenous territory and comprised a population of roughly 16.34 million people (as per the 1941 census) of which a majority (85%) was Hindu. The state had its own army, airline, telecommunication system, railway network, postal system, currency and radio broadcasting service.<ref name=mohanGuruswamy/> Hyderabad was a multi-lingual state consisting of peoples speaking Telugu (48.2%), Marathi (26.4%), Kannada (12.3%) and Urdu (10.3%). In spite of the overwhelming Hindu majority, Hindus were severely under-represented in government, police and the military. Of 1765 officers in the State Army, 1268 were Muslims, 421 were Hindus, and 121 others were Christians, Parsis and Sikhs. Of the officials drawing a salary between Rs. 600 and 1200 per month, 59 were Muslims, 5 were Hindus and 38 were of other religions. The Nizam and his nobles, who were mostly Muslims, owned 40% of the total land in the state.{{sfn|Benichou, From Autocracy to Integration|2000|p=13}}<ref name=mohanGuruswamy>{{cite web|url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2008/585/585_mohan_guruswamy.htm |title=There once was a Hyderabad! |author=Guruswamy, Mohan|work=Seminar Magazine|date=May 2008|access-date=3 August 2010}}</ref>

When the British departed from the Indian subcontinent in 1947, they offered the various princely states in the sub-continent the option of acceding to either India or Pakistan, or staying on as an independent state.<ref name=Mehotra /> As stated by Sardar Patel at a press conference in January 1948, "As you are all aware, on the lapse of Paramountcy every Indian State became a separate independent entity."<ref>R. P. Bhargava, ''The Chamber of Princes'' (Northern Book Centre, 1991) [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BAQgNE1uSEgC&pg=PA313 p. 313]</ref> In India, a small number of states, including Hyderabad, [[Political integration of India#The accession process|declined to join]] the new dominion.<ref>{{cite news|title=Five states that refused to join India after Independence|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/research/five-states-that-refused-to-join-india-after-independence/|last=Roychowdhury|first=Adrija|newspaper=Indian Express|date=17 August 2017|access-date=17 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=C.P. and independent Travancore|url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2013/stories/20030704000807800.htm|last=Noorani|first=AG|newspaper=Frontline|volume=20|date=21 June 2003|access-date=17 January 2018}}</ref> In the case of Pakistan, accession happened far more slowly.<ref>Yaqoob Khan Bangash, ''A Princely Affair: The Accession and Integration of the Princely States of Pakistan, 1947–1955'' (Oxford University Press, 2015), pp. 7–12</ref> Hyderabad had been part of the calculations of all-India political parties since the 1930s.<ref>Copland, {{"'}}Communalism' in Princely India", Roosa, 'Quadary of the Qaum' cited in Sherman, "Integration of Princely States" (2007)</ref> The leaders of the new [[Dominion of India]] were wary of a [[Balkanization]] of India if Hyderabad was left independent.<ref name=MetcalfMetcalf2006/>{{rp|223}}{{failed verification|date=December 2017}}

Hyderabad state had been steadily becoming more theocratic since the beginning of the 20th century. In 1926, Mahmud Nawazkhan, a retired Hyderabad official, founded the [[Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen]] (also known as Ittehad or MIM). Its objectives were to unite the Muslims in the State in support of Nizam and to reduce the Hindu majority by large-scale conversion to Islam.<ref name="Kate, P. V. 1948, p.73">Kate, P. V., Marathwada Under the Nizams, 1724–1948, Delhi: Mittal Publications, 1987, p.73</ref> The MIM became a powerful communal organisation, with the principal focus to marginalise the political aspirations of the Hindus and moderate Muslims.<ref name="Kate, P. V. 1948, p.73"/>

At the time of the British withdrawal from India, the Nizam announced that he did not intend to join either new dominion,<ref>E. W. R. Lumby, ''The Transfer of Power in India, 1945–1947'' (1954), p. 232</ref> and proceeded to appoint trade representatives in European countries and to begin negotiations with the Portuguese, seeking to lease or buy [[Goa]] to provide his state with access to the sea.<ref>W. H. Morris-Jones, "Thirty-Six Years Later: The Mixed Legacies of Mountbatten's Transfer of Power", in ''International Affairs'', vol. 59 (1983), pp. 621–628</ref>

Nehru was reluctant to invade, fearing a military response by Pakistan. India was unaware that Pakistan had no plans to use arms in Hyderabad, unlike Kashmir where it had admitted its troops were present.<ref name=ShermanLSE /> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine pointed out that if India invaded Hyderabad, the Razakars would massacre Hindus, which would lead to retaliatory massacres of Muslims across India.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Lubar |first=Robert |date=30 August 1948 |title=Hyderabad: The Holdout |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799076-2,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930213901/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799076-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 September 2007 |magazine=Time |page=26 |quote=If the Indian army invaded Hyderabad, Razvi's Razakars would kill Hyderabad Hindus. Throughout India Hindus would retaliate against Moslems. |access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref><section end=prior />

The Nizam was in a weak position as his army numbered only 24,000 men, of whom only some 6,000 were fully trained and equipped.{{sfn|Benichou, From Autocracy to Integration|2000|p=229}} These included [[Arab]]s, [[Rohilla]]s, North Indian Muslims and [[Pathan]]s. The State Army consisted of three armoured regiments, a horse cavalry regiment, 11 infantry battalions and artillery. These were supplemented by irregular units with horse cavalry, four infantry battalions (termed as the Saraf-e-khas, paigah, Arab and Refugee) and a garrison battalion.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} This army was commanded by [[General El Edroos|Major General El Edroos]], an Arab.<ref name="bharat-rakshak.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE2-3/lns.html|title=Bharat Rakshak-MONITOR|publisher=Bharat-rakshak.com|access-date=12 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051127054521/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE2-3/lns.html|archive-date=27 November 2005|df=dmy-all}}</ref> 55 per cent of the Hyderabadi army was composed of Muslims, with 1,268 Muslims in a total of 1,765 officers as of 1941.<ref name=mohanGuruswamy/><ref name="indianofficer.com">[http://www.indianofficer.com/forums/history-wiki/899-operation-polo-liberation-hyderabad.html ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926163441/http://www.indianofficer.com/forums/history-wiki/899-operation-polo-liberation-hyderabad.html |date=26 September 2008 }}</ref>

In the East, forces led by Lt. Gen A.A. Rudra met with fierce resistance from two armoured car cavalry units of the Hyderabad State Forces. equipped with [[Humber armoured car]]s and [[T17E1 Staghound|Staghounds]], namely the 2nd and 4th Hyderabad Lancers,<ref name="Prasad1972">{{cite book|last=Prasad|first=Dr. S. N.|title=Operation Polo: The Police Action Against Hyderabad, 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlQdAAAAMAAJ|year=1972|publisher=Historical Section, Ministry of Defence, Government of India; distributors: Manager of Publications, Government of India, Delhi|page=75}}</ref> but managed to reach the town of [[Kodad|Kodar]] by 0830 hours. Pressing on, the force reached [[Munagala]] by the afternoon.

There were further incidents in [[Hospet]] – where the [[1st Mysore]] assaulted and secured a [[sugar factory]] from units of Razakars and [[Pashtun people|Pathans]] – and at [[Tungabhadra]] – where the [[5 Gorkha Rifles|5/5 Gurkha]] attacked and secured a vital bridge from the Hyderabadi army.

* [https://countercurrents.org/2017/09/police-action-in-hyderabad-1948-september-13-18-operation-polo/ Police Action in Hyderabad, 1948 September 13-18 :Should We Celebrate It?]