Monday 20 July 2020

131 - The Disputed States III: Junagadh

At the time of independence, as I have mentioned in my previous two posts, the issue of accession of hundreds of princely states to India or Pakistan, was very important and gave considerable trouble to both countries. In the previous two posts, I discussed some aspects of Jammu & Kashmir and Hyderabad states. In this post, I shall write about Junagadh. Prior to the independence of India in 1947, Junagadh was a princely state in the Kathiawar region of the present day state of Gujarat, on the coast of the Arabian Sea. Its foundations were laid down in 1654 by Sher Khan Babi, and his descendants ruled this state for the next three centuries. It occupied an area of 8,643 Km2 and according to the census of 1941 had a population of 671,000 of which 128,000 were Muslims i.e. 19% of the total population.

In 1947 its ruler was Sir Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III Rasul Khanji, (1900 – 1959). He is famous for his love for animals particularly dogs. He also worked for the conservation of the wildlife and established Gir Forest protected sanctuary for the endangered Indian lions. 

    Junagadh and other Muslim princely states in Kathiawar. 

At the time of independence, the Nawab decided to accede to Pakistan and the government of Pakistan accepted his request for accession on the 13th of September, 1947. Now there were many problems in the way of full integration of the state into Pakistan. The biggest hurdle was obviously the majority Hindu population of the state, who were almost 81% of the total population and no amount of persuasion could have convinced them to join Pakistan. The second problem was its geography, as it lied almost 300 kilometers away from the Pakistani border, deep inside India. Though it was accessible by sea but definitely that was not enough in the given circumstances. 

Junagadh and other Muslim princely states in India.



As can be expected, the decision of the Nawab stirred unrest among the Hindu population of the state and many concerns in the Indian government. India being in a much stronger position than Pakistan, brushed aside the legal niceties and intervened with force and took the state under its control in late October 1948. A plebiscite was held on 20 February, 1948, with the following results:

Out of 201,457 registered voters, 190,870 exercised their franchise. Of this number only 91 voted for Pakistan. There was a separate but simultaneous poll in Manavadar, Mangrol, Babariawad and two other feudatories. Out of 31,434 votes cast in these areas, only 39 were for Pakistan.



Now the question is, is the issue still alive? I don't think so. I Never heard any statement in this regard. So we can say that it is a forgotten and dead issue. But interestingly there is one institute in Pakistan that is keeping this issue alive and that is Survey of Pakistan. They still publish maps showing Junagadh as a part of Pakistan. 

A map of Pakistan, published by Survey of Pakistan, showing the Junagadh as part of Pakistan. 

As I expressed earlier, I wish that like the division of Punjab and Bengal, both sides could have agreed to a clear formula about the accession of the princely states as well. I am sure that by a little effort all the subsequent conflicts, which are plaguing us even today, could have been avoided. 


Tariq Amir
Doha- Qatar
July 20, 2020.

Wednesday 8 July 2020

130 - The Disputed States II: Hyderabad State (Demographics 1941)

At the time of independence and partition of India, after Kashmir, the princely state which gave most trouble to India was the State of Hyderabad of His Exalted Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII. After Kashmir, Hyderabad, out of almost 565 sates, gave the most trouble to India. It was the largest and the wealthiest state with a population of about 16.34 million and an area of 215,339 Km2 and Nizam the ruler of the state did not accede to India and tried to remain fully independent. 

Muslims had penetrated the Deccan region during the reign of Alauddin Khilji (1296 - 1316), when his general Malik Kafur reached even the great city of Madurai in 1311, deep in southern Peninsular India. The Muslim rulers further consolidated their rule a few decades later when in 1347 Ala ud Din Bahman Shah established an independent kingdom with the capital first at Gulbarga and then at Bidar. This kingdom lasted for nearly two centuries and then disintegrated into five successor states, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, Berar, Bijapur and Golconda. These all states were conquered by Aurangzeb in late seventeenth century. The last to fall was the Qutb Shahi kingdom of Golconda which fell with its capital Hyderabad in 1687. 

The Mughal rule lasted in Hyderabad for three or four decades only. With the death of Aurangzeb in 1717, the Mughal Empire went into a rapid decline. Mir Qamr ud Din Siddiqi, the viceroy took advantage of the situation and established himself as the independent ruler of Deccan in 1724 and founded the Asaf Jahi dynasty, based in Hyderabad city, controlling vast areas in Deccan and south India. Militarily it was never a strong state and right from the beginning it depended on the support of first the French and then the Brish power in India. Ten rulers of this dynasty ruled this state until 1948. 

In 1947 Mir Osman Ali Khan was ruling this state. He was confident that with the size and resources of a state like that of Hyderabad, he could maintain it as an independent country and unlike other princely states could avoid joining the Republic of India. Perhaps he did not fully comprehend the geography and demographics of his state and above all the wind of changes blowing all over India. Indeed he succeeded for a while but finally on 13 September, 1948, India invaded the state militarily and occupied it within four days. Under the process of reorganization of Indian states, on the linguistic basis, the erstwhile state of Hyderabad was divided among three newly formed Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

In this post I have presented the details about the demographics of the state. That surely will help in understanding the nature of this state. 

No.

Districts

Pop.

Hindus

%

Muslims

%

Christians

%

1

Hyderabad

739,159

365,823

49.49

344,915

46.66

20,839

2.82

2

Atraf-i-Balada

612,493

512,401

83.66

79,011

12.90

5,476

0.89

3

Nizamabad

647,043

552,043

85.32

62,563

9.67

12,451

1.92

4

Medak

758,220

642,047

84.68

82,590

10.89

22,852

3.01

5

Baghat*

90,415

77,288

85.48

11,235

12.43

1,287

1.42

6

Mahbubnagar

1,088,209

930,585

85.52

99,342

9.13

5,185

0.48

7

Nalgonda

1,275,352

1,089,953

85.46

83,324

6.53

25,159

1.97

8

Warangal

1,321,838

984,333

74.47

100,708

7.62

50,196

3.80

9

Karimnagar

1,355,415

1,238,158

91.35

78,143

5.77

21,900

1.62

10

Adilabad

823,622

633,490

76.92

54,831

6.66

9,035

1.10

11

Aurangabad

1,071,950

844,421

78.77

172,211

16.07

16,716

1.56

12

Parbhani

911,886

756,388

82.95

119,623

13.12

476

0.05

13

Nander

803,115

681,830

84.90

99,472

12.39

247

0.03

14

Bir

713,630

629,403

88.20

71,601

10.03

628

1.00

15

Gulbarga

1,312,055

1,028,659

78.40

230,611

17.58

7,153

0.78

16

Raichur

1,041,959

888,803

85.30

127,765

12.26

10,184

0.03

17

Osmanabad

748,691

637,400

85.14

99,563

13.30

292

1.39

18

Bidar

1,023,482

816,624

79.79

179,967

17.58

10,388

1.01

Total

16,338,534

13,309,649

81.46

2,097,475

12.84

220,464

1.35


*Baghat was a new district and until 1931 was part of Atraf-i-Balada, when the following map was created. 
ddgr
Percentage of Hindu Population,  according to the census of 1941.

Percentage of Muslim Population,  according to the census of 1941.

The following table provides the demographic details of some selected cities in the state.

NO

City

Pop.

Hindus

%

Muslims

%

Christians

%

1

Hyderabad

739,159

370,823

50.17

344,915

46.66

29,839

4.04

2

Nizamabad

32,741

21,297

65.05

10,755

32.85

346

1.06

3

Bodhan

19,443

12,324

63.39

6,580

33.84

301

1.55

4

Medak

7,565

4,275

56.51

2,036

26.91

1,253

16.56

5

Siddipet

12,865

10,061

78.20

2,625

20.40

77

0.60

6

Narayanpet

19,396

10,409

53.67

5,933

30.59

14

0.07

7

Mahbubnagar

16,462

8,921

54.19

6,861

41.68

457

2.78

8

Nalgonda

12,674

5,708

45.04

6,269

49.46

240

1.89

9

Bhongir

12,170

8,731

71.74

6,861

56.38

49

0.40

10

Warangal

92,808

65,769

70.87

24,181

26.05

2,430

2.62

11

Khammam

18,982

12,401

65.33

5,391

28.40

634

3.34

12

Yellandu

15,907

11,615

73.02

1,942

12.21

634

3.99

13

Jagtial

16,294

10,911

66.96

5,179

31.78

254

1.56

14

Karimnagar

17,437

9,537

54.69

7,064

40.51

464

2.66

15

Peddapalli

10,731

7,865

73.29

2,566

23.91

258

2.40

16

Nirmal

14,499

10,046

69.29

4,387

30.26

32

0.22

17

Adilabad

11,128

7,680

69.02

3,399

30.54

-

0.00

18

Aurangabad

50,924

25,281

49.64

23,416

45.98

923

1.81

19

Jalna

38,096

23,190

60.87

14,239

37.38

1,342

3.52

20

Parbhani

21,683

10,340

47.69

11,060

51.01

24

0.11

21

Hingoli

14,601

9,140

62.60

5,021

34.39

20

0.14

22

Manwath

14,113

11,287

79.98

2,545

18.03

-

0.00

23

Basmath

13,796

7,809

56.60

5,891

42.70

-

0.00

24

Nander

36,689

17,687

48.21

17,765

48.42

147

0.40

25

Bir

15,222

9,012

59.20

5,975

39.25

43

0.28

26

Mominabad

16,250

10,020

61.66

5,271

32.44

13

0.08

27

Gulbarga

53,551

22,608

42.22

30,064

56.14

351

0.66

28

Shorapur

11,836

6,729

56.85

4,974

42.02

18

0.15

29

Yadgir

17,661

9,665

54.73

7,749

43.88

6

0.03

30

Kalyani

12,542

5,208

41.52

7,312

58.30

-

0.00

31

Aland

13,041

4,568

35.03

7,282

55.84

6

0.05

32

Shahabad

10,152

6,207

61.14

3,663

36.08

64

0.63

33

Raichur

34,972

21,398

61.19

13,016

37.22

327

0.94

34

Kopbal

13,970

7,894

56.51

5,853

41.90

26

0.19

35

Gadwal

14,716

10,822

73.54

3,781

25.69

99

0.67

36

Latur

24,985

15,478

61.95

8,980

35.94

16

0.06

37

Bidar

20,514

6,620

32.27

13,002

63.38

801

3.90

38

Udgir

11,238

6,101

54.29

4,725

42.04

41

0.36



In 1947 Mir Osman Ali Khan was ruling this stateHe was confident that with the size and resources of a state like that of Hyderabad, he could maintain it as an independent country and unlike other princely states could avoid joining the Republic of India. Perhaps he did not fully comprehend the geography and demographics of his state and above all the wind of changes blowing all over India. Indeed he succeeded for a while but finally on 13 September, 1948, India invaded the state militarily and occupied it within four days. Under the process of reorganization of Indian states, on the linguistic basis, the erstwhile state of Hyderabad was divided among three newly formed Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Linguistic map of Hyderabad State. 

Division of Hyderabad on the linguistic basis in 1956.

The Location of Hyderabad State in India.  

The Location of Hyderabad State in British India.

Ala Hazrat in retrospect - The Hyderabad History Project: - Medium
His Exalted Highness Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Siddiqi, Asaf Jah VII.
(6 April 1886 - 24 February 1967)

Flag. 

The currency note. 

After the fall of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar in 1857, the Nizam of Hyderabad was the most prominent symbol of Muslim influence and prestige in India. Reputed to be the richest person in the world the last Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan made all efforts to develop his state. Nearly all the major public buildings and institutions in Hyderabad city, such as Hyderabad High CourtJubilee HallNizamia Observatory, , Moazzam Jahi MarketKachiguda Railway Station, Asafiya Library, Town Hall, now known as the Assembly Hall, Hyderabad Museum is now known as the State Museumhospitals like Osmania General HospitalNizamia Hospital and many other monuments were built during his reign. He also built the Hyderabad House in Delhi, now it is used for diplomatic meetings by the Government of India.

I hope this post will be of considerable interest to people want to learn about the past of this state which lasted for more than two centuries, its legacies are still found in the region which it once controlled and effect on the culture of its people can still be seen. 

Tariq Amir
Doha - Qatar.
July 8, 2020.