On the Jayanti of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel will be taking a look at his life. This will be quite a long thread, as there is a whole lot to this man, who made modern Bharat. The Iron Man of Bharat to whom we owe a lot.
When one thinks of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, there is just so much to the man, that it is well impossible to explore his life in one singe article. But if I had to choose one part of his life, it would be the way he integrated, 500 odd princely states, into one nation.
Imagine having to deal with multiple mini states, each having their own set of issues, and welding them into one single nation. Add to it, a newly independent Bharat, dealing with the trauma of Partition, the Pakistan attack on Kashmir, and you had Hyderabad.
It would surely need a man of iron will to surmount these challenges, and it had to be Sardar Patel. It’s not without reason Mahatma Gandhi said -“The problem of states is so difficult, you alone can solve it”.
This man with the iron will was born on October 31, 1875 in the small town of Nadiad, Gujarat. Determination was something, that was in bred in Sardar Patel, since his childhood days.
There was this popular anecdote about him removing a boil on his body, that was causing him pain without wincing. When he just about managed to pass the matriculation exam, people around him felt he would settle in some ordinary job, not many really foresaw his greatness.
However Patel had other plans, he was determined to be a lawyer, travel to England for higher studies in law, become a barrister. With fierce determination, he graduated from Middle Temple, studying with books he borrowed from other lawyers.
He began to practice in Godhra, and later Valsad, Anand, becoming a succesful barrister. He was also an equally good bridge player. It was the way Mahatma Gandhi organized the Champaran agitation that caught Sardar’s attention, especially his call for action.
His first encounter with the freedom movement was when he led the struggle against the system of veth or forced labor in Gujarat. In 1917, peasants in Kheda area of Gujarat, protested against the taxation imposed by British, as they were suffering from famine and plague.
Gandhi was seeking some one who could lead the peasant’s struggle in Kheda, as he was tied down at Champaran, it was Sardar who took it up. Sardar later stated that his decision to lead the struggle in Kheda, came after contemplation as he would have to give up his career.
Kheda was where Sardar Patel would start his political career, as he went from door to door,mobilizing peasants not to pay taxes.When the British cracked down on the Kheda revolt, it was Sardar Patel, who helped the peasants hide themselves and their valuables.
Kheda made Sardar Patel a hero, to Gujaratis and all over Bharat too, winning the admiration of even pro British Indian politicians. He became the President of Gujarat Congress in 1920, he would continue in that post till 1945.
During non cooperation movement, he toured all over Gujarat, recruiting more than 3 lakh members,raising funds over 15 lakh. An ardent supporter of Gandhi, he switched to Khadi later on, supported him on his stance over Chauri Chaura.
As municipal president of Ahmedabad thrice, Sardar Patel, improved the drainage, sanitation systems, undertook school reforms. He also played a role in ensuring teachers in nationalist schools were recognized and paid for their services.
The Bardoli struggle in 1928, elevated his status further, as a leader, it was during this time, that he got the title of Sardar. It was the same as Kheda, taxes being imposed in spite of severe famine conditions, and at much higher rates.
After interacting with villagers, Sardar Patel, organized a complete boycott of taxes, and Bardoli was more intense than Kheda.Using his organizational skills, he once again created a network of camps, volunteers,information in affected areas.
And after a long struggle in Bardoli, he once again managed to negotiate a settlement repealing the tax hike. It was not just repealing tax hike, Sardar Patel also managed to get suspended village officers reinstated, return of seized property.
His arrest during the Salt Satyagraha, resulted in massive protests all across Gujarat, launching an anti tax rebellion. It was during their imprisonment in Yeravada, that Sardar Patel and Gandhi developed a closer bonding with each other.
In spite of the differences between them, he always respected Gandhi’s leadership, and was one of his staunchest supporters. He became the chief fund raiser for the Congress, and later Chairman of Central Parliamentary Board in 1934.
Nehru, Rajaji and Azad were not much in support of Gandhi’s call for total civil disobedience, it was Sardar Patel who backed him fully. He felt that only an all out rebellion would force the British to quit Bharat, and he threw himself into the 1942 movement.
On 7 Aug, 1942, Sardar Patel, gave one of the finest speeches ever to the vast crowd assembled at Gowalia Tank during Quit Indian movement, that motivated the nationalists, who till then were sceptical about it.
Once again his organizing skills came to the fore during the Quit India movement, which played a major role there. Arrested during Quit India, Sardar Patel spent 3 yrs in prison at Ahmednagar fort, where he read books,played bridge to keep himself busy.
When Bharat became independent in 1947, Sardar Patel moved into No 1, Aurangzeb Road, Delhi,and that would be his home till he passed away in 1950. He was one of the Congress leaders who accepted the inevitability of Partition first, something that did not go down too well
As he stated the choice was between one division and many divisions, the hard facts had to be given precedence over emotions. He felt that a Congress-Muslim League coalition would be practically unworkable, and did not agree with Gandhi on that.
Again when Delhi was faced with the massive refugee influx after Partition, Sardar Patel, established the Emergency Committee for order. His biggest achievement though would be the integration of the princely states and British provinces into one nation.
When Bharat became independent in 1947, there were two distinct entities, one that was directly under the British, and other the Princely states, under the British crown. Apart from these there were the colonial enclaves of French (Pondicherry) and the Portuguese (Goa).
This how the map of Bharat looked like during the British era, so one can just imagine the magnitude of the challenge, confronting Sardar Patel. And with differing positions on accession, a “one size fits all” strategy would have been counter productive.
The concerns of the Princely states, would have to be taken into account, and balanced with the need for Accession. What Sardar Patel, did was use the traditional saam, daan, bhed, dand tactics, of negotiating with the states, addressing their concerns.
The major issue he had to deal with was that of the Princely states, each of which had their own concerns and apprehensions to be dealt with. Bhopal, Hyderabad, Travancore, did not want to go along with Bharat or Pakistan, and sought independent status.
Both Hyderabad and Travancore reached out to Western nations for support, while Bhopal began to work upon an alliance with other princely states and the Muslim league in it’s favor.
However the lack of unity among the princely states, meant the resistance fell flat. Add to it, most of the smaller princely states, were apprehensive of being dominated by the larger states. And there was no love lost between the Hindu and Muslim rulers.
Another factor, that helped Patel’s cause was the Muslim League’s decision to stay out of the Constituent Assembly, that meant Bhopal’s plan did not work out. Also in most of the princely states, the ordinary people favored integration with Bharat, like in Travancore.
The three persons who played a key role in the integration were Patel himself, Mountbatten and Patel’s Man Friday V.P.Menon. Mountbatten being on friendly first terms with most princes, categorically told them, that they would not be granted any dominion status.
Patel and Menon came up with a policy to please the princely states, more conciliatory and seeking to negotiate, than force them. Patel promised a more federal structure, where the States would be treated as equals than subordinates under the Union.
Patel and Menon came up with a policy to please the princely states, more conciliatory and seeking to negotiate, than force them. Patel promised a more federal structure, where the States would be treated as equals than subordinates under the Union.
The other was Instrument of Accession by which the ruler agreed to accession to Bharat, while having control over subject matters. It again varied from state to state.
Only defense, external affairs, and communications were completely with the Centre, the rest were negotiable with the States. It guaranteed the States, a complete degree of autonomy over subjects they had jurisdiction over.
There were issues with border states like Jodhpur, whose ruler Hanwant Singh, was dead against Congress. Along with Jaisalmer, he began to negotiate with Jinnah, who saw this as a god given opportunity to gain control of strategic border areas.
However the overwhelming support among the subjects of these two states, made the rulers change their minds, and both acceeded to Bharat. Junagadh’s ruler wanted to accede to Pakistan, however the neighbouring princely states, vehemently opposed this idea.
Patel pointed out that Junagadh being 80% Hindu should be part of Bharat, and called for a plebiscite. Simultaneously all food supplies, communications, to Junagadh were cut off, forces were sent to it’s border. With the Nawab fleeing to Pakistan, it was taken over.
Now came the task of completing the integration process, again each state had it’s own legislature and administrative set up, that Patel had to consider. The first step was to merge the smaller princely states, with other larger states to create a union.
1948- 66 smaller states in Kathiawar, and some in the Deccan, were merged with Bombay Presidency. These included Kolhapur, Baroda to create Bombay state, that would later split into Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Other states were merged with Assam, United Provinces( now UP), Madras, East Punjab and West Bengal. 30 states of the erstwhile Punjab Hill States Agency were integrated into Himachal Pradesh, that was directly under the control of the Center, as it was a sensitive border state.
Some of the larger princely states like Kutch, Bhopal, Tripura, Manipur, were directly bought under Central control. All the smaller princely states in Kathiawar were merged with Saurashtra.
Madhya Bharat emerged in 1948, which consisted of Gwalior, Indore and smaller princely states. PEPSU( Patiala and East Punjab States Union) was formed by July 15, 1948 with merging of Patiala, Kapurthala, Jind, Faridkot.
By May 1949, most of the Rajput princely states, were integrated into the United State of Rajasthan. By mid 1949, Travancore and Cochin merged to form Travancore-Cochin, that would later be Kerala.
Madras Presidency was divided and neighboring princely states, were merged to form Karnataka( erstwhile Mysore State), Kerala( Travancore-Cochin), Andhra Pradesh( Ceded districts and Coastal area).
And of course there was Operation Polo to integrated Hyderabad, that would be a separate article by itself, you can check that out here.
Sardar Patel also played a key role in drafting the Constitution of Bharat, and backed the appointment of Dr.Ambedkar as Chairman. The Kaira District Milk Producers Cooperative was formed with Sardar Patel’s guidance, and it would be a predecessor to Amul.
Gandhi’s assasination upset Sardar Patel, who felt guilty that as Home Minister he could not prevent it, and offered to resign.Nehru, Rajaji and others defended Patel, in public, over the criticism to prevent Gandhi’s assassination.
He was also instrumental in creating the IAS and IPS, has also been regarded as father of Indian civil services. He backed the bureaucrats fully, gave them a free hand, listened to them, the reason why they respected him so much.
When Sardar Patel passed away in 1950, 1500 civil servants attended his funeral, to pledge complete loyalty to service of nation. Today he is no longer with us, but his legacy remains in the form of a united Bharat.
On Sardar Patel Jayanti take time to remember the Iron Man of Bharat, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and thanks for following this rather longish thread of mine patiently.
My article on Sardar Patel on his Jayanti do check out and share.
(This article has been compiled from the tweet thread originally tweeted by @SadaaShree on October 31, 2022)
