Azad Hind

This article is about the organisation formed during World War II in Singapore. For the Provisional Government formed by Raja Mahendra Pratap during World War I, see Provisional Government of India. For the military unit raised during World War II in Nazi Germany, see Indian Legion. For the body created in 1946, see Interim Government of India.

Provisional Government of Free India
ʻĀrẓī Ḥukūmat-e-Āzād Hind
1943–1945
Flag of Azad Hind Fauj
Flag
Seal of Azad Hind Fauj
Seal
Motto: Ittehad, Itmad aur Qurbani (Hindustani)
"Unity, Faith and Sacrifice"
Anthem: Shubh Sukh Chain (Hindustani)
"Auspicious Happiness"
Light green: Claimed territory Dark green: Controlled territory (with Imperial Japanese assistance)
Light green: Claimed territory
Dark green: Controlled territory (with Imperial Japanese assistance)
StatusPuppet state of the Empire of Japan[1][2]
CapitalNew Delhi (de jure)
Singapore (de facto)
Port Blair (provisional)
Demonym(s)Indian
GovernmentProvisional government
President 
• 1943–1945
Subhas Chandra Bose
Historical eraWorld War II
• Established
21 October 1943
• Disestablished
18 August 1945
Area
• Total
30,620 km2 (11,820 sq mi)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
British India
British India
Today part ofIndia

The Provisional Government of Free India or, more simply, Azad Hind,[3][4] was a short-lived Japanese-controlled provisional government in India.[5] It was established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II in October 1943 and has been considered a puppet state of the Empire of Japan.[6][7][8]

It was a part of the political movement originating in the 1940s outside India with the purpose of allying with the Axis powers to liberate India from British rule. It was established by Indian nationalists in exile during the latter part of the World War II in Singapore with monetary, military and political assistance from Imperial Japan.[8]

Founded on 21 October 1943, the government was inspired by the concepts of Subhas Chandra Bose who was also the leader of the government and Head of state. The government proclaimed authority over Indian civilian and military personnel in Southeast Asian British colonial territory and prospective authority over Indian territory to fall to the Japanese forces and the Indian National Army during the Japanese thrust towards India. The government of Azad Hind had its own currency, court and civil code, and in the eyes of some Indians, its existence gave a greater importance to the independence struggle against the British.[9][10][11] Japan also handed over nominal authority of the Japanese occupied Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1943, though the government continued to be dependent on Japanese support. Immediately after the formation of the provisional government, Free India declared war against the Allied forces on the Indo-Burma Front.[12] Its army, the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj), went into action against the British Indian Army and the allied forces as part of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Imphal-Kohima sector. The INA had its first major engagement at the Battle of Imphal where, under the command of the Japanese Fifteenth Army, it breached the British defences in Kohima, reaching the salient of Moirang before suffering a catastrophic defeat as the Allied forces held, and Allied air dominance and compromised supply lines forced both the Japanese and the INA to retreat.[13] The existence of Azad Hind was essentially coterminous with the existence of the Indian National Army. While the government itself continued until the civil administration of the Andaman Islands was returned to the jurisdiction of the British towards the end of the war, the limited power of Azad Hind was effectively ended with the surrender of the last major contingent of INA troops in Rangoon. The death of Bose is seen as the end of the entire Azad Hind Movement.[12][8]

The legacy of Azad Hind is, however, open to judgment. After the war, the Raj observed with alarm the transformation of the perception of Azad Hind from traitors and collaborators to liberators.[14][15] The British Empire, which was seriously threatened by the INA, charged 300 INA officers with treason in the INA trials, but eventually backtracked in the face of opposition by the Congress.[16][17][18][19]

  1. ^ Bayly, C. A. & T. Harper Forgotten Armies. The Fall of British Asia 1941–5. London 2004, p. 325.
  2. ^ Dasgupta. Red Sun over Black Water, pp. 67, 87, 91–95; Mathur Kala Pani, pp. 249–251
  3. ^ Rudolph, Lloyd I.; Hoeber Rudolph, Susanne (2008). Explaining Indian Democracy: The realm of institutions: state formation and institutional change. Oxford University Press; Original from: University of California Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-19-569365-2.
  4. ^ Ghose, Sankar (1975). Political ideas and movements in India. Allied Publishers; Original from: University of Michigan Press. p. 136.
  5. ^ Pant, H. V. (2020). The Routledge Handbook of Indian Defence Policy: Themes, Structures and Doctrines. Taylor & Francis. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-000-07435-2.
  6. ^ Cribb, R.; Li, N. (2020). Imperial Japan and National Identities in Asia, 1895–1945. Taylor & Francis. p. 242. ISBN 978-1-000-14401-7. Japanese postal authorities prepared stamps for use in the foreshadowed puppet state of Azad Hind
  7. ^ Dunphy, J. J. (2018). Unsung Heroes of the Dachau Trials: The Investigative Work of the U.S. Army 7708 War Crimes Group, 1945–1947. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-4766-3337-4. Imperial Japan in 1943 had established a puppet state known as the Provisional Government of Free India
  8. ^ a b c Toye, Hugh (1959). The Springing Tiger: A Study of the Indian National Army and of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Allied Publishers. p. 187. ISBN 978-8184243925.
  9. ^ Singh, Harkirat (2003). The INA trial and the Raj. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, pp. 102–103. ISBN 81-269-0316-3
  10. ^ Sarkar, S. (1983), Modern India: 1885–1947, Delhi: Macmillan India, p. 412, ISBN 978-0-333-90425-1
  11. ^ Bandyopādhyāẏa, Śekhara (2004). From Plassey to partition. Orient Blackswan, p. 428. ISBN 81-250-2596-0
  12. ^ a b Pandit, H. N. (1988) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi, p. 331.
  13. ^ Das, S. "Indian National Army in South East Asia". The Hindustan Times. Special Edition. "Hindustan Times – Archive News". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  14. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1964). The Last Years of British India, Cleveland, World Pub. Co., p. 93: "The Government of India had hoped, by prosecuting members of the INA, to reinforce the morale of the Indian army. It succeeded only in creating unease, in making the soldiers feel slightly ashamed that they themselves had supported the British. If Bose and his men had been on the right side – and all India now confirmed that they were – then Indians in the Indian army must have been on the wrong side. It slowly dawned upon the Government of India that the backbone of the British rule, the Indian army, might now no longer be trustworthy. The ghost of Subhas Bose, like Hamlet’s father, walked the battlements of the Red Fort (where the INA soldiers were being tried), and his suddenly amplified figure overawed the conference that was to lead to independence."
  15. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Indian National army. After returning to India the veterans of the INA posed a difficult problem for the British government. The British feared that a public trial for treason on the part of the INA members might embolden anti-British sentiment and erupt into widespread protest and violence. URL Accessed on 19 August 2006.
  16. ^ Moreman, Tim (2013). The Jungle, Japanese and the British Commonwealth Armies at War, 1941–45: Fighting Methods, Doctrine and Training for Jungle Warfare. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-76456-2.
  17. ^ Marston, Daniel (2014). The Indian Army and the End of the Raj. Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society, 23. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-89975-8.
  18. ^ Singh, H. (2003). The INA Trial and the Raj. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 98. ISBN 978-81-269-0316-0.
  19. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Indian National army.