Annexation of Junagadh

Annexation of Junagadh
DateFebruary 1948
Location
Junagadh State
Result Indian victory
Belligerents
India Union of India State of Junagadh
Commanders and leaders
India Jawaharlal Nehru Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III

In February 1948, the princely state of Junagadh, located in what is now the Indian state of Gujarat, was annexed to the Union of India after a dispute with the Dominion of Pakistan, regarding its accession, and a plebiscite. Junagadh had been a princely state under the suzerainty of the British Crown, until independence and partition of British India in 1947.

It had the choice of joining one of the two newly independent dominions: the Union of India or Pakistan. It was ruled by Nawab Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III, a Muslim whose ancestors had ruled Junagadh and small principalities for some two hundred years.

The Nawab decided that Junagadh should become part of Pakistan, much to the displeasure of many of the people of the state, an overwhelming majority of whom were Hindus, about 80%. The Nawab acceded to the Dominion of Pakistan on 15 August 1947, against the advice of Lord Mountbatten, the Governor-General of India, arguing that Junagadh joined Pakistan by sea.[citation needed] The principality of Babariawad and Sheikh of Mangrol reacted by claiming independence from Junagadh and accession to India,[1] although the Sheikh of Mangrol withdrew his accession to India the very next day.[2] Muhammad Ali Jinnah waited for a month to accept the Instrument of Accession. When Pakistan accepted the Nawab's Instrument of Accession on 16 September, the Government of India was outraged that Jinnah could accept the accession of Junagadh despite his argument that Hindus and Muslims could not live as one nation as per his two nation theory.[citation needed] Nehru laid out India's position which was that India did not accept Junagadh's accession to Pakistan.[3] Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel believed that if Junagadh was permitted to go to Pakistan, it would exacerbate the communal tension already simmering in Gujarat.[4]

The princely state was surrounded on all of its land borders by India, with an outlet onto the Arabian Sea. The unsettled conditions in Junagadh had led to a cessation of all trade with India and the food position became precarious. With the region in crisis, the Nawab, fearing for his life, felt compelled to flee to Karachi with his family and followers where he established a provisional government.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel offered Pakistan time to reverse its acceptance of the accession and to hold a plebiscite in Junagadh. Meanwhile, tensions were simmering in the regional areas and in major cities such as Bombay against the Nawab's decision. 25,000 - 30,000 people belonging to Saurashtra and Junagadh gathered in Bombay, proclaiming to "liberate" Junagadh from the Nawab's regime. Samaldas Gandhi formed a government-in-exile, the Aarzi Hukumat (lit. Provisional Government) of the people of Junagadh. Eventually, Patel ordered the forcible annexation of Junagadh's three principalities. Junagadh's state government, facing financial collapse and lacking forces with which to resist Indian force, invited the Government of India to take control. A plebiscite was conducted in December, in which approximately 99.95% of the people chose India over Pakistan.[5]

Scholars have observed that India annexed Junagadh through force[6][7][8][9] with scholars viewing the annexation as part of a wider programme by the Indian state of forcing or bullying the rulers of princely states to accede.[10][11]

  1. ^ Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India 2010, pp. 35, 38.
  2. ^ Bangash, A Princely Affair (2015, p. 113); Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India (2010, p. 38); Ankit, The accession of Junagadh (2016, p. 377)
  3. ^ Ankit, The accession of Junagadh 2016, p. 383.
  4. ^ "History". Junagadh Municipal Corporation. 28 January 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  5. ^ Gandhi, Rajmohan (1991). Patel: A Life. India: Navajivan. p. 438. ASIN B0006EYQ0A.
  6. ^ Sumit Ganguly; Larry Diamond; Marc F. Plattner (13 August 2007). The State of India's Democracy. JHU Press. pp. 52–. ISBN 978-0-8018-8791-8.
  7. ^ Lorne J. Kavic (1967). India's Quest for Security: Defence Policies, 1947–1965. University of California Press. pp. 32–. GGKEY:FN05HYT73UF.
  8. ^ Stephen P. Cohen (28 May 2013). Shooting for a Century: The India-Pakistan Conundrum. Brookings Institution Press. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-0-8157-2187-1.
  9. ^ Francis Pike (28 February 2011). Empires at War: A Short History of Modern Asia Since World War II. I. B. Tauris. pp. 347–. ISBN 978-0-85773-029-9.
  10. ^ Ankit, The accession of Junagadh (2016)
  11. ^ Ian Talbot (28 January 2016). A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas. Yale University Press. pp. 136–. ISBN 978-0-300-21659-2. Accession was made more difficult in cases like Hyderabad, Junagadh ... Patel and V. P. Menon bullied rulers to accede