RAJASTHAN - Excerpt from the Story of the Integration of the Indian States by Menon April 19, 2014 at 12:53am RAJASTHAN THE Rajputs have contributed a glorious and memorable chapter to the early history of India.Before the Muslim invasion, the whole of northern and central India was parceled among various Rajput clans. Against the Muslim invaders the Rajputs put up a heroic resistance. Akbar Period. Their race has become synonymous in the Indian mind with chivalry.Akbar led a series of campaigns against the Rajput rulers. He was able ultimately to subdue most of them, Udaipur (or Mewar) being the only kingdom which resisted Moghul domination.Akbar realized however that without the co-operation of the Hindus, especially the Rajputs, he could not build up an enduring empire in India. By a policy of religious toleration and respect for their pride and sentiment he won over the Rajputs. During his time and that of his two successors the Rajputs in fact played a big part in the consolidation of the Moghul Empire. Aurangzeb Period. Akbars wise policy was not followed by Aurangzeb — which was one of the reasons for the final dis-integration of the Moghul Empire. Mahrattas Period In the wake of the decline of the Moghul Empire, the Mahrattas appeared on the scene. The Rajput rulers were compelled to become tributary either to the Scindia or to the Holkar. By the end of the eighteenth century, ravaged by the Mahrattas, the Pindaris and the Pathans, the Rajput States were reduced to abject helplessness. British Period The Mahrattas failed to utilize the Rajputs in consolidation of their empire; but Lord Hastings realized the immense strategic and political advantages which would accrue from their alliance. After the defeat of the Mahrattas in the Third Mahratta War, the British Government freed the Rajput States from the suzerainty of the Scindia and the Holkar and took them under their protection. Colonel Tod was appointed to settle the problems of Rajasthan.Tod has a great place in British Indian history. If Sir John Malcolm was responsible for the settlement of Central India, Tod did an equally fine job in Rajasthan. Incidentally, Tod has left behind a history of Rajasthan which will ever remain a classic.The Rajputana States (the present Rajasthan) comprised 19 salute States and 3 non-salute States. Except for the tiny island of British Indian territory, Ajmer Merwara, the States formed one solid block of territory. The integration of these States was done in five stages. The first was the formation of the Matsya Union, which embraced the four States of Alwar, Bharatpur,Dholpur and Karauli. The second was the formation of the first Rajasthan Union with Banswara, Bundi, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Kishengarh, Kotah, Partabgarh, Shahpura and Tonk. The third was the inclusion of Udaipur in the first Rajasthan Union. The fourth was the creation of Greater Rajasthan by the inclusion of the remaining Rajput States of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer; and the fifth stage was the incorporation of the Matsya Union with Greater Rajasthan. We will deal first with the Matsya Union, which embraced the four States of Alwar, Bharatpur,Dholpur and Karauli.Alwar was founded by Rao Pratap Singh of Macheri, a descendant of Raja Udai Karan, who ruled Jaipur in the fourteenth century. The ruling family comes from Kachwaha Rajputs of the Naruka sub-clan. In 1803 the Maharao Raja accepted the protection of the British Government,with whom he concluded a treaty of offensive and defensive alliance. In 1937 Maharajah Sir Jeysinhji was asked by the Viceroy to stay out of the State; he died in Paris later in the year, leaving no issue. The present Maharajah Sir Tej Sinhji Bahadur was adopted in 1937. The rulers of Bharatpur claim originally to have been Yadav Rajputs, the descendants of SriKrishna. Sue, a Yadav Rajput, is said to have migrated from Bayana to the Dig jungles and to have founded the village of Sinsini, named after Sinsina the tutelary deity. The story is that Balchand, a descendant of Sue, having no issue by his wife took unto himself a Jat woman and by her had sons who, not being recognized by the Rajputs as Rajputs, took the name of Sinsinwar from their paternal village; and that from them sprang the famous Sinsinwar Jats.The first Jat of this stock of any historical importance was Brij, a noted freebooter during the latter half of the seventeenth century. Rajaram, a nephew of Brij, was the first to establish himself at Jatoli Thun where he made himself master of forty villages. Subsequently Chauraman, the son of Brij, carved out a State for himself which was the beginning of the Bharatpur State. It was in the reign of Maharajah Surajmal ( 1755-63) that Bharatpur reached the zenith of its glory. Surajmal left behind a prosperous State and a formidable army.Bharatpur is noted for its famous fort which once withstood a siege by General Lake. The British first fought Bharatpur in 1805, but it was only in 1826 that the State finally came under their control. The present Maharajah Brijendra Singh succeeded to the gaddi in March 1929 at the age of eleven and was invested with ruling powers in October 1939.The ruling family of Dholpur belongs to the Deswali tribe of Jats who in the eleventh century acquired lands south of Alwar. They rose to honour under the Tonwar dynasty of Delhi and settled at Bamrali, from which place they took their family name. After an occupation of nearly two hundred years, they were driven from Bamrali by the Subedar of Agra. They migrated first to Gwalior and then to Gohad, which was assigned to them in 1449 by Raja Man Singh of Gwalior. The head of the house, Surjan Deo, then assumed the title of Rana. In 1805,after various vicissitudes, the Rana was finally rescued by the British Government, who assigned to him the parganas of Dholpur, Bari and Rajakhera which constituted the State of Dholpur. The Maharajah at the time of integration was Sir Udai Bhan Sinjhi who had ascended the gaddi in 1911. He belonged to the old school and was a staunch advocate of the divine right of kings. He died in 1954 leaving no successor.Karauli was a very small State, the ruling family of which belonged to the Jadon Rajput clan. It is said to have been established in 995. It had the usual ups and downs which had been the fate of every State in this area. In 1817 Karauli entered into subsidiary alliance with the British.The aftermath of the partition and the subsequent communal holocaust had their reactions in both Alwar and Bharatpur. A troublesome Muslim sect, the Meos, had been a source of perpetual worry to the Government of Alwar. Shortly before the transfer of power the Meos became particularly active and there were communal disturbances which spread to the State of Bharatpur. The Premier of Alwar at the time was Dr N. B. Khare, at one time Congress Premier of the Central Provinces, subsequently a member of the Viceroys Executive Council and later President of the Hindu Mahasabha. Exaggerated accounts of his activities were reported to us.It was alleged that the Meos were being hounded out of the State, their mosques were being demolished and that Muslim burial grounds were being desecrated. A section of the press played up these allegations.The communal situation in some of the Border States was also causing anxiety. In October 1947 Sardar called a meeting of the representatives of the provincial and the State government sconcerned. The Maharajahs of Alwar and Bharatpur and Dr Khare were also invited. At the meeting Sardar emphasized the paramount need for maintaining communal peace. Those who fanned the flames of communal-ism, he said, were the greatest enemies of the country. There repsentatives of the provinces and the States assured Sardar of their full support and cooperation. Dr. Khares attitude at the meeting, however, bore an air of resentment at the interference of the Government of India in the internal administration of Alwar.The complaints against Alwar, as well as Bharatpur, subsequently increased. Some English friends of mine, who visited these two States, told me that the Muslims were not safe and that they would be either exterminated or driven out of the States if the Government of India did not take immediate measures to protect them. I visited Alwar without the knowledge of the State authorities. Some of the reports given to me were certainly exaggerated; nevertheless,the communal situation in Alwar had very ugly possibilities and whatever action the State Government might take was likely to be misunderstood and misinterpreted. My personal view was that, in order to stabilize the position, Dr Khare should be replaced by a Premier of our own choice. I reported my impressions to Sardar.The assassination of Gandhiji about this time led to a panic, in the midst of which any rumour was good enough to implicate anybody. It was alleged that Alwar had been an important training and propaganda centre for the R.S.S. 1 and that some of the conspirators responsible for the murder had been sheltered in the State. In view of Dr Khares pronounced pro-Hindubias, the allegations gained some credence. Sardar and I discussed the Alwar situation once more. In view of the communal tension in Alwar and of the allegations of complicity of the Alwar Government in Gandhijis assassination, it was decided that the administration of the State should be taken over forthwith and that both the Maharajah and Dr Khare should be asked to stay in Delhi until an inquiry into the allegations was completed.On 7 February 1948, I served the order on the Maharajah of Alwar. He was completely taken aback by the allegations and agreed to dispense with the services of Dr Khare. The latter was also ordered to remain in Delhi.Mention has already been made about the alleged ill-treatment of Muslims in Bharatpur. There were also a few instances of looting of trains in the State territory. While we were considering what action should be taken, the Maharajah of Bharatpur accompanied by the Maharajah of Gwalior (who has been his friend since childhood) came to see me. The latter told me that the Maharajah of Bharatpur was completely at a loss to know what to do in the conditions prevailing in his State and wanted my advice. I suggested that, in the general state of panic, it was impossible for the Maharajah of Bharatpur—or for that matter anybody situated as he was,however much he might try—to keep his head above water. I advised that the best thing he could do was to hand over the administration of the State to the Government of India. The Maharajah of Bharatpur agreed and accordingly the administration of the State was taken over by the Government of India.The result of the inquiry into the allegations against the Maharajah of Alwar and Dr Khare was that both were exonerated. An inquiry into similar allegations against the Maharajah of Bharatpur produced the same result; the Maharajah was completely exonerated. It may appear in retrospect that the action taken by the Government of India was unduly drastic; but it is certainly the case that our taking over the administration of Alwar and Bharatpur had a very steadying effect on the communal situation.As regards the future, Sardar and I both felt that since Dholpur and Karauli were contiguous and had natural, racial and economic affinities with Alwar and Bharatpur, the four States should be integrated into a Union. I invited the four rulers to Delhi on 27 February 1948 and put the proposal before them. They agreed. I made it clear in the course of the discussion that it might be necessary later on forthis Union to join either Rajasthan or the United Provinces, as the Union by itself would not befinancially self-supporting.When I told K. M. Munshi of the prospect of forming a Union of these four States, he suggestedthat it should be called the Matsya Union, as this was the old name of this region to be found inthe ancient books and in the Mahabharata. The rulers accepted this suggestion.From the point of view of the relative importance of these States, the Maharajah of Alwar, orfailing him the Maharajah of Bharatpur, should have been Rajpramukh. But because an enquirywas pending against the Maharajah of Alwar as well as the Maharajah of Bharatpur, I requestedthem both to stand down in favour of the Maharajah of Dholpur who was in any case the oldestof the four rulers. The Maharajah of Bharatpur readily agreed; but the Maharajah of Alwaracquiesced only after a good deal of argument and reluctance.There was nothing special in the covenant of this Union; it followed generally the Saurashtramodel. It was signed by the rulers on 28 February 1948. The Union was inaugurated on 18 Marchby N. V. Gadgil, then Minister for Works, Mines and Power. The new Union had an area of 7,589square miles, a population of 18,37,994 and a revenue of Rs 183 lakh.Even at the time of the formation of the Matsya Union, informal talks were going on with someof the rulers of the smaller States in Rajputana with regard to their future. The Statesconcerned were Banswara, Bundi, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Kishengarh, Kotah, Partabgarh,Shahpura and Tonk.The ruling families of Kotah and Bundi belong to the Hara clan of Rajputs and these two States,together with Jhalawar, constitute the tract called Haraoti. Kotah is an offshoot of Bundi andits divergence from the parent stem dates back to the early part of the seventeenth centurywhen Madho Singh, second son of the then ruler of Bundi, acquired it by a direct andindependent grant from Emperor Jehangir.Jhalawar was created in 1838 out of a portion of the territories then belonging to Kotah.The rulers of Dungarpur are Sisodia Rajputs and are an elder branch of the ruling family ofUdaipur. One of the noted rulers of this family was Maharawal Dungar Singh, who founded thetown of Dungarpur and made it his capital.The rulers of Banswara belong to the Dungarpur family. In 1528 on the death of the ruler, histwo sons broke apart, the elder succeeding to Dungarpur and the younger to Banswara.The rulers of Partabgarh are also descended from the Udaipur ruling family. The town ofPartabgarh was founded by Maharawal Partab Singh at the beginning of the eighteenth century.In 1629, Emperor Shah Jahan granted the pargana of Phulia from the crown lands of Ajmer toSujan Singh, a cadet of the Udaipur ruling family. This was the beginning of Shahpura State.Tonk, the only Muslim State, was formed about the beginning of the nineteenth century by thefamous Pathan predatory leader Amir Khan, the companion-in-arms of Jaswant Rao Holkar, whoplayed so conspicuous a part in all the distractions which preceded the British settlement ofMalwa. Amir Khan came into alliance with the British Government in 1817, when all his estateswithin the territories of the Holkar were permanently guaranteed to him by the Government. The initiative for the formation of a Union of these States came from the rulers of Kotah,Dungarpur and Jhalawar. In fact, as early as 1946, after the Cabinet Mission plan had beenannounced, the Maharao of Kotah had convened a conference of ministers of some of theneighbouring States with a view to exploring the possibility of a Union. The conference ofministers came to the conclusion that their States were vulnerable at many points, that theyhad no kind of future and that only by pooling their sovereignties could they survive. TheMaharao of Kotah espoused this scheme energetically and it was by no means his fault thatsome of the other rulers did not at the time fall into line.Equally progressive was the Maharaj Rana of Jhalawar. Realizing that his small State of 813square miles had no future at all, he was anxious to hand it over to the Government of Indiaand seek a career for himself. After handing over his State he joined the Indian ForeignService.The views of these two rulers were shared by the Maharajah of Dungarpur.The three rulers met me at Delhi on 3 March and we had a preliminary discussion. They wereanxious that their States should be integrated to form a Union and welcomed my suggestionthat Udaipur should also be invited to join.The alternatives were either to unite these States with the States in Central India and Malwaand so to form a big Union, or to unite them with the south-east Rajputana States and to forma United State of Rajasthan. On both these alternatives the rulers as well as therepresentatives of the Congress organizations in these States were consulted. They stressedthat the natural affinity of the States was more with Rajputana than with Malwa. With theexception of Banswara, Dungarpur and Partabgarh, where the populations were predominantlyBhil and the language of the majority of the people was Bhili, the language in the rest wasgenerally Rajasthani, Malvi or Western Hindi. The rulers were all Rajputs and as such werestrongly disinclined to merge their States with Malwa, where the Mahratta element waspreponderant.If Udaipur could be induced to join this Union, it would be a very satisfactory solution. Idiscussed the idea with S. V. Ramamurthy, then Dewan of Udaipur. Ramamurthy promptlysuggested that all the States should merge in Udaipur. This suggestion was obviouslyunacceptable to the rulers as well as to the States Ministry. We could not countenance the ideaof any single State swallowing up its smaller neighbours. It was decided therefore to go aheadwith the proposal to form a Union of the States concerned and to leave Udaipur to come inlater if it wished to do so. Even without Udaipur, these States had an area of 17,000 squaremiles, a population of nearly 24 lakh and a total revenue of approximately Rs 2 crore.On 4 March I again met the rulers of Bundi, Dungarpur, Jhalawar and Kotah and took up thedraft covenant for discussion. The States to be included in the proposed Union did not ofthemselves form one compact bloc. Two of them, Kishengarh and Shahpura, were sandwichedbetween portions of Ajmer Merwara. My proposal was that these two States should be mergedwith that province. But the rulers and the local Congress representatives were so stronglyopposed to the idea and so much in favour of joining the Union that I agreed to this. Tonk wasanother State that was cut up into two or three bits, one of which was in Malwa. It was agreedthat while Tonk would join the new Union, the outlying areas of that State in Malwa shouldbecome part of the Madhya Bharat Union when that was formed.It was decided that the Constituent Assembly of the new Union should have 24 electedrepresentatives on the basis of one seat for every lakh of the population. It was argued thatspecial interests, such as Jagirdars, should have representation in this Assembly. I agreed that the Rajpramukh should be allowed to nominate four persons to represent such interests. It was also decided that the rulers of Kotah, Bundi and Dungarpur should be deemed to havebeen elected by the Council of Rulers as the first Rajpramukh, Senior Uprajpramukh and JuniorUprajpramukh respectively and this decision was incorporated in the covenant.The rulers present then signed the covenant; the other rulers did so in due course. I visitedKotah on 10 March and again on the 14th. After discussions with the Maharao of Kotah, it wasdecided that the Union should be inaugurated on 25 March and that the rulers of thecovenanting States should make over their administration to the Rajpramukh before 15 April.On 23 March I was informed that the Maharana of Udaipur was willing to come into the Unionand I was requested to have the inauguration of the proposed Rajasthan Union postponed,pending the settlement of the terms regarding Udaipurs entry. I immediately got into touchwith the Maharao of Kotah, who told me that all the arrangements for the inaugurationceremony on 25 March were complete, and that it would be extremely awkward if the functionwere postponed. It was therefore decided to go ahead with the inauguration of the Union,which was performed by N. V. Gadgil on 25 March 1948.Three days after the inauguration ceremony I received official intimation that the Maharana ofUdaipur had decided to join the Union.The Udaipur ruling family is first in rank and dignity among the Rajput princes of India.According to tradition, the line was founded by Kanaka Sen, one of the descendants of SriRama, the hero of the Ramayana. No State in India put up a more heroic or prolongedresistance against the Muslims than Udaipur and it is the boast of the family that it never gavea daughter in marriage to any of the Muslim emperors. The family belongs to the Sisodia sect ofthe great Gehlot clan. The foundation of the Gehlot dynasty in Rajputana was laid by BapaRawal (ancestor of the present Maharana) who, being driven out of Idar by the Bhils and afterwandering for some years over the wild country to the north of Udaipur, eventually establishedhimself in Chittor and Mewar in 734. Since that time, with brief interruptions occasioned by thefortunes of war, Mewar continued in the possession of the present house.Chitor was besieged and captured by the Muslims after great slaughter on no less than threeoccasions, by Ala-ud-din Khalji in 1303, by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat in 1534 and by Akbar in1567; but each time the Udaipur house succeeded in regaining possession.In the reign of Rana Udai Singh, when Chitor was sacked for the third time, the Maharanaretired to the valley of the Girwa in the Aravali Hills, where he founded the city of Udaipur.Udai Singh survived the loss of Chittor by only four years. He was succeeded in 1572 by hisfamous son, Pratap, who disdained to submit to the conqueror. After repeated defeats, Pratapwas about to fly into the desert towards Sind when fortune suddenly turned in his favour. Withfinancial aid supplied by his minister, he was able to collect his adherents, and he surprisedand annihilated the imperial Moghul forces at Dawair. He followed up his success with suchenergy and speed that, after a short campaign, he recovered nearly all Mewar, of which heremained in undisputed possession until his death. The State enjoyed tranquility for some yearsthereafter; but in 1806 Udaipur again sustained severe reverses and was laid waste by thearmies of the Scindia, the Holkar and Amir Khan and by many hordes of Pindari plunderers. Tosuch distress was the Maharana reduced that he was dependent for his maintenance on thebounty of Zalim Singh, the famous Regent of Kotah, who gave him an allowance of Rs 1,000 amonth. It was in this abject state that Maharana Bhim Singh was found in 1818, when theBritish Government rescued and rehabilitated him and extended their protection to the State.The administration and finances of the State were subsequently reorganized by the British. Thepresent ruler, 1 Maharajadhiraja Maharana Sir Bhupal Singhji Bahadur, succeeded to the gaddion 24 May 1930. The Maharana has no issue and has adopted a son. On 28 March I began discussions with S. V. Ramamurthy regarding the entry of Udaipur into theRajasthan Union. Ramamurthy desired that the Maharana should be the permanent hereditaryRajpramukh. I pointed out that I could not agree to the proposal but that I would consent to hisbeing Rajpramukh for life. Ramamurthy then raised the question of the Privy Purse and askedthat the Maharana should continue to receive the Rs 20 lakh which he was taking at the time. Ireplied that I could not agree to fix the Privy Purse at a figure higher than Rs 10 lakh butobserved that a separate provision could be made with regard to the expenditure which theMaharana was in the habit of incurring for traditional, charitable and religious purposes. Hisallowances as Rajpramukh could also be fixed at a suitable figure.Ramamurthy suggested that the name of the Union should be reminiscent of Mewar. Iexpressed my willingness to agree to any name that was acceptable to all the rulers.Ramamurthy also wanted the capital of the Union to be at Udaipur. I pointed out that the finaldecision must rest with the Constituent Assembly of the new Union. In the meanwhile, it waspossible to arrive at an interim arrangement which would satisfy both Udaipur and Kotah, thetwo big States in the Union.The discussions with Ramamurthy were continued next day when the rulers of Kotah,Dungarpur and Jhalawar were also present. It was agreed that the Rajasthan Union should bereconstituted by the inclusion of Udaipur and that the existing covenant should be supersededby a fresh one. It was also decided that the rulers should elect the Maharana of Udaipur asRajpramukh for life but that this privilege would not be extended to his successors.In view of the sacrifice the Maharao of Kotah had made in relinquishing his position asRajpramukh, the rulers agreed to elect him as the Senior Uprajpramukh. The rulers of Bundiand Dungarpur were to continue as Junior Uprajpramukhs of the reconstituted Union.There was considerable discussion with regard to the location of the capital. The Maharao ofKotah stressed that if Udaipur was selected as the capital, Kotah should not be relegated to anunimportant position. I felt the force of the argument. Kotah was the next biggest town toUdaipur and whatever the quality of their internal administration, the States invariably kepttheir capitals equipped with all modern amenities. The States Ministry were anxious that theseamenities should be improved, rather than lessened. If by choosing Udaipur as the capital theimportance of Kotah was affected, it would naturally cause heart-burning among the people.Finally we came to an arrangement whereby the capital of the new Government would be atUdaipur, but the legislature would hold at least one session every year at Kotah. The units ofthe Kotah State Forces would continue to remain in Kotah. The Forest School, the PoliceTraining College and the Aeronautical College, as well as any other institutions which couldconveniently be at Kotah, should be located there. It was also decided that in drawing up theadministrative divisions of the new Union, one Commissioners division should have itsheadquarters at Kotah.The Privy Purse of the Maharana of Udaipur was fixed at Rs 10 lakh. In addition, he wouldreceive a sum of Rs 5 lakh as his consolidated annual allowance as Rajpramukh, as well as afurther sum of Rs 5 lakh per annum for traditional, charitable and religious purposes.S. V. Ramamurthy went back to Udaipur and acquainted the Maharana with the results of thediscussions held at Delhi. On 1 April Sardar received the following letter from the Maharana:My Prime Minister has reported to me the results of the discussions held inDelhi on the 28th and the 29th of March with Mr. V. P. Menon, Secretary ofthe States Ministry and the rulers of some of the States of Rajasthan. I agreeto participate in the formation of the Rajasthan State on the lines reachedduring the discussions in Delhi. I have been prepared to take a lead in the unification of Rajputana. I am glad that with your support this is to beachieved in considerable measure.After the Maharana of Udaipur had officially communicated his consent to join the Union, Iinvited all the other rulers concerned to Delhi on 10 April for a discussion of the draftcovenant. The rulers of Kotah, Bundi, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Partabgarh and Tonk were present.S. V. Ramamurthy represented Udaipur and Gokul Lal Asawa, the Premier of the existingRajasthan Union, was also present. The draft covenant was discussed for two days. Thiscovenant differed from the covenants of Saurashtra, Matsya and Vindhya Pradesh Unions in oneimportant respect. In the Unions hitherto formed, the Rajpramukhs were asked as a measure ofextra caution to execute a fresh Instrument acceding on the three subjects of defence,external affairs and communications. I thought that I would take the opportunity of including inthe covenant of Rajasthan a permissive provision enabling the Rajpramukh to surrender othersubjects from the federal and concurrent legislative lists for legislation by the DominionLegislature. The rulers agreed to this provision. I may add that later, in the covenant ofMadhya Bharat, a provision was included which made it obligatory on the Rajpramukh to acceptall the subjects in both the federal and concurrent lists for legislation by the DominionLegislature, excluding the entries relating to taxation and duties.The covenant was finally approved on 11 April and signed by all the rulers present. In view ofits political importance, the Union was inaugurated by Nehru on 18 April 1948. The Union hadan area of 29,977 square miles, a population of 42,60,918 and an annual revenue of Rs 316lakh.With the formation of the second Rajasthan Union only four Rajput States remainedunintegrated, namely, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, and Jaisalmer. The Maharajah of Jaipur wasthe head of the Kachwaha clan of Rajputs who claimed descent from Kush, a son of Sri Rama.The family flourished for eight hundred and fifty years at Narwar near Gwalior, but early in thetwelfth century one Tej Karan carved out a small State near the present Jaipur and moved hiscapital thither. The State remained comparatively unimportant until the time of Mirza Raja JaiSingh, who was a famous general under the Moghuls. The present capital was founded byMaharajah Sawai Jai Singh in 1728 and is named after him. Jaipur suffered much from theMahrattas, but further molestation ceased on the conclusion of a treaty with the BritishGovernment in 1818. The present Maharajah Sir Sawai Man Singhji Bahadur ascended the gaddiby adoption in 1922 at the early age of eleven years.Jodhpur (or Marwar) is one of the three principal States of Rajputana. The Maharajah is thehead of the Rathor clan of Rajputs. Offshoots of Jodhpur are the States of Bikaner andKishengarh in Rajputana, Idar (now merged with Bombay) and Ratlam, Jhabua, Sitamau andSailana now forming part of Madhya Bharat. Jodhpur State may be said to have been founded in1459 when the seat of the government was transferred to the present capital; but a footholdwas acquired in the thirteenth century when Mallani and the neighbouring tract was conqueredby Siahji, a grandson of Jai Chand the last king of Kanauj, who planted the standard of theRathors amidst the sand-hills of the Luni in 1212. Like other Rajput States, Jodhpur enteredinto subsidiary alliance with the British in 1818. At the time of the merger the Maharajah wasSir Hanwant Sinhji. He died in a plane accident in 1952.The rulers of Bikaner are Rathor Rajputs. The State was founded in 1465 by Rao Bikaji, a son ofRao Jodhaji of Marwar, the founder of Jodhpur. On 9 March 1818 a treaty was concluded withthe British Government. The State owes much of its prosperity to Maharajah Sir Ganga Singhji,who during his long reign of fifty-six years initiated and carried out many developmentprojects. The Maharajah at the time of the merger was Sir Sadul Singhji, who had succeeded tothe gaddi in 1942. He died in 1950 and was succeeded by his son Maharajah Karni Singh. The ruling family of Jaisalmer are Jadon Bhati Rajputs and claim descent from the Yadav kings.The founder of the Jaisalmer family was one Deoraj, who was born about the middle of thetenth century and was the first Rawal. Jaisalmer, the present capital, was built in 1156 byRawal Jaisal. The British Government concluded a subsidiary alliance with Jaisalmer in 1818.The territories of these four States were compact blocks. Except for Jaisalmer, all of themwere viable units according to the standards laid down by the Government of India. The rulersof Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner were keen to preserve the identity of their States; but biggerStates than theirs had been either merged with provinces or formed into Unions and it wasdifficult to leave them alone. We delayed taking action because we could not quite decidewhether to merge these States with Rajasthan, or to integrate the border States of Jodhpur,Bikaner and Jaisalmer into a centrally administered area under a Chief Commissioner. TheseStates had an extensive frontier with Pakistan and the boundary was, in sections, bothunnatural and arbitrary. Considerable expense would be required to guard it and if these Stateswere merged with Rajasthan, it would be a great strain on the latters resources. Large areas ofthese three States were under-developed, and the communications were poor. Therefore it wasobvious that the Government of India would have to help the States in their developmentprojects. Both from the point of view of frontier security, and for the efficient tackling of theeconomic problems of the area, there was a strong case for the constitution of these Statesinto a Chief Commissioners province. We could then include Kutch in this province and thuspractically the whole frontier with Pakistan would be under the direct control of theGovernment of India. This scheme however had more enemies than friends and ultimately, notwithout great regret, I had to give up the idea.The alternative then was to integrate these four States into the Rajasthan Union. This waswhat Sardar favoured. He was expecting to visit Udaipur on 14 January 1949 and he wanted totake that opportunity of announcing the formation of the Greater Rajasthan Union. He askedme to get into touch with the rulers. On 11 January I went to Jaipur and discussed the questionwith the Maharajah and Sir V. T. Krishnamachari, the Dewan. The Maharajah said in the courseof discussion that he was quite agreeable to the formation of the Union, provided it could beguaranteed that Jaipur would be the capital of the Union and that he would be the permanenthereditary Rajpramukh. I replied that these matters could be discussed when we came todetails. My immediate purpose was to reach agreement with the rulers on the principle ofintegration of their States with Rajasthan. This would enable Sardar to make theannouncement. I prepared a draft which was accepted by both the Maharajah and Sir V. T.Krishnamachari and the text was thereafter wired to the Maharajahs of Bikaner and Jodhpur.That same evening, the Maharajah of Jodhpur informed me of his acceptance of theannouncement. I also received a telegram from the Maharajah of Bikaner agreeing in substancewith the draft. On 12 January I left for Udaipur and had a discussion with the Maharana whoalso agreed in principle to the proposal.On 14 January Sardar announced at a public meeting in Udaipur that the rulers of the fourStates of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer had agreed in principle to integrate theirStates with the Rajasthan Union. Thus, he said, Greater Rajasthan would soon be a reality,though the details had still to be worked out. This announcement was well received throughoutthe country.We now started working on the details of the proposed Union and the provisions to be includedin the covenant. Three sets of parties were concerned: the first being the Maharajahs ofJaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer and their respective advisers; the second, the rulers ofthe existing Rajasthan Union; and the third, the popular leaders of Rajasthan particularly,Hiralal Sastri, Jai Narayan Vyas, Maniklal Varma and Gokulbhai Bhat. I had discussions with allof them, separately and jointly. The first question raised was, who should be the head of the new Union? The popular leadersendorsed the selection of the Maharajah of Jaipur as Rajpramukh. The city of Jaipur was theobvious choice for the capital.The Maharana of Udaipur was the seniormost ruler in the whole of Rajasthan and his position,vis-à-vis the other rulers in Rajasthan, was outstanding. The Maharana had pressed his claim tobe selected as the Rajpramukh of the new Union, but he was not in good health and was unableto move about freely. On sentimental grounds, the rulers and the popular leaders suggestedthat he should be given a distinctive position which should not, however, prejudice the generaladministrative set-up of the Union. At first, it was suggested that he should be given the titleof Maharajah Siromani, but the Maharana did not consider this suitable and preferred that heshould be called the Maharajpramukh. We saw no objection to this title. It was accordinglydecided that he should be the Maharajpramukh for life but that this position and theallowances would cease with him. The Maharana was also assured that he would be included inthe category of rulers entitled to a salute of 21 guns and that, on all ceremonial occasions; theMaharajah of Jaipur would voluntarily agree to yield precedence to him.It was agreed that the rulers of Jodhpur and Kotah should be the Senior Uprajpramukhs andthat the rulers of Bundi and Dungarpur should be the Junior Uprajpramukhs in the new Union;but they would hold office only for five years, whereas the Maharajah of Jaipur would be theRajpramukh for life.With regard to the Privy Purses of the rulers, it was suggested by the popular leaders that asthe major States of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner were more or less on a par with Indore, whoseMaharajah had been given a Privy Purse of Rs 15 lakh plus an allowance of Rs 2Î lakh asUprajpramukh, they should be fixed at Rs 17Î lakh per annum. It was further suggested that anallowance of Rs 5Î lakh should be given to the Maharajah of Jaipur as Rajpramukh. Ultimately,the Privy Purse for Bikaner was fixed at Rs 17 lakh, that of Jodhpur at Rs 17Î lakh and that ofJaipur at Rs 18 lakh. The Rajpramukh was to receive an allowance of Rs 5Î lakh per annum.Having settled the position and the Privy Purses of the Maharajahs, we turned our attention tothe question of control by the Government of India over the Governments of the variousUnions. As these Unions were being formed on the initiative of the Government of India, thelatter felt naturally responsible for their good government. At the same time, the Governmentof India had no legal status to interfere if things went wrong in any of these Unions. Whatevercontrol had been exercised hitherto was through the Congress party machine and thepersonality of Sardar; but this was obviously not a very satisfactory arrangement.The task that confronted us in the Unions was stupendous. The type of administration in manyof the erstwhile States had been both personal and primitive and the administrative personnelinherited from them was not equipped to undertake the responsibilities that now faced theUnions. The political organizations were in a formative state; there were not enough leaders ofexperience and ability. Sectarian considerations and local loyalties could not be wiped outovernight. With inexperienced politicians and with the public far from politically conscious, itwould be dangerous to leave the administration without some expert guidance. The CentralGovernment had moreover to ensure that the process of integration and democratization wascompleted with the utmost speed and efficiency. In these circumstances, control by theGovernment of India over the administration of the Unions, at any rate for some time, wasinescapable.Accordingly, I suggested that a provision should be included in the Rajasthan covenant that,until the constitution framed by the local Constituent Assembly came into operation, theRajpramukh and the Council of Ministers should be under the general control of, and complywith such particular directions as might from time to time be given by, the Government of India. The rulers readily accepted the proposal. The popular leaders resisted it but in the end,after a good deal of argument, they also agreed. The same provision was subsequentlyincorporated in the covenants of other Unions.The Rajasthan covenant also included a mandatory provision, as in the case of Madhya Bharat,whereby the Rajpramukh had to execute a fresh Instrument of Accession, accepting all thesubjects in both the federal and concurrent lists for legislation by the Dominion Legislature,except the entries relating to taxation and duties.In the covenant of the second Rajasthan Union, the rulers of the convenanting States had beengiven one vote each in the election of the Rajpramukh and Uprajpramukhs. It seemed only fairthat the bigger States of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner who were joining the Union should havesome weightage. It was therefore decided that each member of the Council of Rulers shouldhave a number of votes equal to the number of lakh of population in their States.In the midst of the Rajasthan States, there is a tiny island— Ajmer Merwara—which, forstrategic reasons, had been kept by the British Government as a Chief Commissioners province.Once we had formed a Union of all the Rajasthan States there seemed to be no reason why thisprovince should continue as a separate unit. I tried, though in vain, to include it in the newUnion. But in case this should become possible later on, I inserted a provision in the covenantthat the Government of Rajasthan could take over the administration of the whole or any partof any area included in the provinces of India on such terms and conditions as might be agreedupon by the Government of Rajasthan and the Government of India. On the basis of thesediscussions and decisions the covenant was finalized and signed by the rulers.It was decided that the Union should be inaugurated by Sardar on 30 March 1949. I flew toJaipur in the afternoon of the 29th to supervise the arrangements for his reception. Sardar wasto follow me in another plane in an hours time. His plane failed to arrive at the scheduledtime. We waited for another hour; still there was no sign of it. Growing anxious, we rang upthe Delhi aerodrome. They were unable to trace the plane. It was getting dark and our fearsmounted.It was in a moment of mental agony that I remembered a plane accident which had occurredwhen the negotiations for the integration of the four States with Rajasthan were going on.There had been a meeting of the Maharajahs of Bikaner, Jaipur and Jodhpur and myself atBikaner. It lasted for a whole day; and it was decided that we should have another conferenceat Delhi. The Maharajahs of Jaipur and Jodhpur then left for their respective capitals. TheMaharajah of Bikaner asked me to stay back in order to discuss various points with him and alsoto meet the leading Jagirdars and popular leaders of his State. My arrangement with theMaharajah of Jaipur was that I should pick him up the next morning on my way to Delhi. Over ahundred and fifty leaders had assembled at Bikaner and they asked for the elucidation of manypoints regarding the integration of the State. When the meeting with the leaders was over, Ihad a further interview with the Maharajah of Bikaner, which took a considerable time.Consequently, I left for Jaipur much later than I had anticipated. When my plane was over theJaipur aerodrome, I noticed another plane in flames near the airfield and on landing I learnedto my horror that the Maharajah of Jaipur was involved in the accident. I rushed to the spot intime to see him being removed to the hospital. It appeared that the Maharajah had beenwaiting for me, when a representative from some firm went to him and tried to sell him aplane. At first the Maharajah waved him away, but since my plane was late he consented to atrial flight. The accident may have been due to some stunt flying. The Maharajah was in aserious condition. I wonder if there is any man, at any rate in India, who has been involved inmore accidents than the Maharajah of Jaipur. He recovered from his injuries, but it was manydays before he could take further part in our discussions. In that hour of suspense while waiting for Sardars plane, I was weak enough to imagine thatthere was some fatality dogging the new Union. I rang up Nehru who told me to return to Delhiimmediately. When I reached Delhi, Nehru told me that Sardar had already reached Jaipur. Iwanted to return at once to Jaipur, but Nehru told me not to risk a night flight. Sardars planehad developed engine trouble and had force-landed on the bed of a river a few miles fromJaipur. Only the presence of mind and skill of the pilot had averted what might have been agreat tragedy. Early next morning I flew to Jaipur and when I met Sardar, he asked me: Whydid you fly to Delhi? Dont you know that nothing will happen to me? He then embraced me. Icould not have been more overcome with emotion.Sardar inaugurated the Greater Rajasthan Union on 30 March 1949 by swearing in theRajpramukh and the Premier. There was rough weather ahead in the forming of a ministry; for Ifound that the local Congress was a house divided against itself.I have mentioned earlier how, at the time of the formation of the Matsya Union, I told therulers that in the event of the formation of the Rajasthan Union, the Matsya Union would haveto be merged with it. In fact, at the time of the negotiations for the formation of theRajasthan Union, we were also considering the future of the Matsya Union. Matsya at that timehad a popular ministry. I invited the rulers of Dholpur, Bharatpur, Alwar and Karauli to Delhiand we had discussions on 13 February. Later during the day I also met the ministers of theMatsya Union. These discussions revealed that in the territories of the former Alwar and KarauliStates opinion was unanimous that they should be merged with Rajasthan. In the two States ofBharatpur and Dholpur, however, there was no such unanimity. While some favouredintegration with the Rajasthan Union, others, for reasons of affinity of language, wished to bemerged with the United Provinces.I had still further discussions with the rulers on 23 March. The ruler of Bharatpur said that themajority of his people were in favour of integration with the Rajasthan Union. The Maharajahof Dholpur favoured the same course for his State with the proviso that it should subsequentlybe merged with the United Provinces if it was found that the majority of the people so desired.The matter was put before Sardar who decided that a committee should be appointed toascertain whether public opinion in the two States was in favour of merger with the UnitedProvinces or integration with Rajasthan. A Committee consisting of Shanker Rao Deo, R. K.Sidhwa and Prabhu Dayal Himmat Singka—members of Parliament —was appointed on 4 April1949 with instructions to report before the end of the month. The Committee toured the twoStates and heard as many shades of opinion as time allowed. In its report, the Committeeexpressed the view that the present majority opinion such as it is in both the States,ascertained by the methods we had to adopt, is for integration with Rajasthan rather than formerger with the United Provinces. But they suggested that, after a lapse of time, the peopleshould be given an opportunity to express their views by means of a regular plebiscite or somesimilar procedure. The Government of India accepted the recommendations of the Committeefor the merger of these States with Rajasthan and a press communiqué to that effect wasissued on 1 May 1949.On 10 May a further conference of the four rulers was held at Delhi to which the Rajpramukhand the Premier of Rajasthan were also invited. The draft covenant for the integration of theMatsya Union with Rajasthan was discussed and finalized. By this covenant the four rulersabrogated the earlier covenant entered into by them and agreed that the Matsya Union shouldbe integrated with and become part of Rajasthan. The Maharajah of Bharatpur enquiredwhether, in the event of Bharatpur and Dholpur choosing to opt out at a later stage, the rulerswould be treated differently from those of the other covenanting States. I replied in thenegative and assured them that all rulers, irrespective of whether their States were mergedwith provinces or formed into Unions, would have the same rights and privileges. The four rulers signed the agreement, as did the Rajpramukh of Rajasthan on behalf of the RajasthanUnion.A provision was included in this covenant that when the Government of India were satisfiedthat conditions favourable to the expression of a considered opinion by the general public wereestablished in Bharatpur and Dholpur, suitable steps would be taken to ascertain whetherpublic opinion was in favour of continuing with Rajasthan or of merging with the UnitedProvinces.The administration of the Matsya Union was transferred to Rajasthan on 15 May 1949.There was one other State the future of which remained to be settled. This was Sirohi, theruling family of which claimed descent from Prithviraj, the Chauhan King of Delhi. The capital,Sirohi, was built in 1425. About that time the Rana of Chittor is said to have taken refuge atMount Abu from the army of Kutb-ud-din of Gujarat and, when the force retired, refused toleave the place, having learnt how strong it was. He was, however, driven out by the Sirohirulers son. No other ruling prince was allowed on the hill till 1836, when the prohibition waswithdrawn. Sirohi concluded a treaty of subsidiary alliance with the British in 1823 and in 1845the ruler made over to the British Government, under certain conditions, lands on Mount Abufor the establishment of a sanatorium. These lands, together with the surrounding portionamounting to about six square miles, were made over to the British Government in October1917 on permanent lease.Towards the end of November 1947, a suggestion was made to Sardar that some of the Statesunder the Rajputana Agency should be transferred to the Western India and Gujarat StatesAgency, because the majority of the population in those States was said to be Gujaratispeaking.The States concerned were Sirohi, Palanpur, Danta, Idar, Vijaynagar, Dungarpur,Banswara, and Jhabua. This question was discussed with the local leaders as well as with ourRegional Commissioner for Rajputana. It was decided that Palanpur, Danta, Idar and Vijaynagarshould be transferred to the Western India and Gujarat States Agency. The transfer waseffected on 1 February 1948. Jhabua, Banswara and Dungarpur were parts of Mewar and wereoffshoots of Udaipur State. They were therefore allowed to continue in the Rajputana StatesAgency. Subsequently Sirohi was also transferred to the Western India and Gujarat StatesAgency.On 19 March 1948 the rulers of the Gujarat States agreed to merge their States with theprovince of Bombay. At that time we had excluded Sirohi from our discussions. Our reasons fordoing so were that the ruler was a minor and that the administration was carried on by aRegency Council with the Dowager Maharani as its President; more important still, there was adispute about the succession But, once all the other States in the Western India and GujaratStates Agency were merged with Bombay we could not leave Sirohi alone. The choice waseither to merge the State with Bombay or in the Rajasthan Union. I discussed the issue withGokulbhai Bhatt, who was not only the adviser to the Dowager Maharani but also the Presidentof the Rajasthan Provincial Congress Committee. He felt that a decision one way or the otherwas inopportune and suggested that Sirohi should be taken over as a centrally administeredarea for the time being. This was done under an agreement signed by the Maharani Regent on 8November 1948. Two months later, on 5 January 1949, the State was handed over to theGovernment of Bombay for administration on behalf of the Government of India.As mentioned above, there was a dispute over the succession to the Sirohi gaddi. The lastMaharao Saropa Ram Singh died on 23 January 1946, leaving no son. His first Maharani was thedaughter of the late Maharao of Kutch and his eldest daughter is the present Maharani ofNawanagar. He had however, contracted three other marriages. There had been two claimantsto the gaddi; one was Tej Singh who belonged to the senior sub-branch of the Mandar branch of the ruling family; the other was Abhai Singhji, grandson of the direct brother of Maharao UmedSingh who ruled the State till 1876. In May 1946, the Crown Representative recognized TejSingh as Maharao of Sirohi, in succession to the deceased Maharao. There had also been a thirdclaimant, one Lakhpat Ram Singh who claimed to be a son of Maharao Saropa Ram Singh by aRajput lady whom the ruler was said to have married by a kanda (sword) marriage in 1916. InDecember 1939, the latter submitted a memorial to the Crown Representative praying for adeclaration that he was the legitimate heir-apparent to the Sirohi gaddi; his prayer wasrejected in April 1945. Soon after the States Ministry was set up, both Abhai Singhji andLakhpat Ram Singh asked for a reversal of the decision about succession and their request wassupported by a strong body of public opinion in Sirohi.On 10 March 1949, the Government of India appointed a Committee consisting of Sir H. V.Divatia, Chief Justice of Saurashtra, and the Maharajahs of Jaipur and Kotah to enquire intoand report on the rights of the two claimants, Abhai Singhji and Lakhpat Ram Singh, to theSirohi gaddi and the validity of the succession of the present Maharao. After hearing detailedarguments from the counsel of all three parties and considering the oral and documentaryevidence tendered by them, the Committee came to the conclusion that Abhai Singhji belongedto the ruling family and was the rightful heir to the Sirohi gaddi after Maharao Saropa RamSinghs death. The Government of India accepted the recommendations of the DivatiaCommittee and recognized Abhai Singhji as the Maharao.There was a difference of opinion as to the future of the State. The Gujaratis demanded thatthe entire State should be merged with Bombay, while the leaders of Rajasthan were anxiousthat it should be merged with Rajasthan. There was some agitation in the press upon this issuewhich had its repercussions in Parliament. Sardar asked me to go to Sirohi and study thesituation on the spot. The Gujaratis case was that Mount Abu had been traditionally andhistorically associated with Gujarati culture. The well-known Jain temples of Dilawara withtheir beautiful carvings are situated in Mount Abu and are visited every year by the Jainpopulation of Gujarat and Kathiawar. The ruling family also had connections with Kathiawarand Kutch. The State was more closely connected with Gujarat than with Rajasthan. TheRajasthan case was that the State had been part of Rajputana for very many years; that themajority of the population of the State was certainly not Gujarati-speaking, and that a numberof Rajput rulers had their summer residences in Mount Abu. Moreover, Rajasthan was without asingle hill station.In this controversy, neither the leaders of Gujarat nor those of Rajasthan bothered to considerthe wishes of the people of the State. The popular leaders of Sirohi were themselves divided inopinion. A closer study of the situation on the spot convinced me that it would not be right tomerge the whole of Sirohi with Bombay.I returned to Delhi and discussed the matter with Sardar, who thought that a division of theState was probably the only solution in the circumstances and he asked me to get in touch withthe leaders of Sirohi. I invited Gokulbhai Bhatt and other leaders of Sirohi to Delhi. Iacquainted them with our tentative conclusions. The leaders were not enthusiastic about thedivision of the State; but they accepted it as inevitable. I also discussed the demarcation of theboundaries with them. It was decided that the Abu Road and Dilawara tehsils of Sirohi shouldbe merged with Bombay and the rest of the State with Rajasthan. The decision was giveneffect to by an order under Section 290-A of the Government of India Act of 1935.I was personally not very happy with the solution, for I felt that a division of the State wouldcreate administrative and economic difficulties. On the other hand, till 15 August 1947 MountAbu had been administered by the Political Department separately from the State; and if thosetwo authorities could work harmoniously together, there was surely no reason why the popularCongress Governments of Bombay and Rajasthan could not do so. Neither in the discussions in the Constituent Assembly in November 1949, nor subsequentlywhen this order was issued, nor yet for some period thereafter, was there any agitation againstthe division of the State. Today, it is a matter of regret that it should be the bone ofcontention between Rajasthan and Bombay.Of all the Unions formed Rajasthan is the biggest. It has an area of 1,28,424 square miles, apopulation of nearly 153 lakh and an annual revenue of over Rs 18 crore.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 02:42:39 +0000
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