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127-644: The Working Committee has had different levels of power in the party at different times. In the period prior to Indian independence in 1947, the Working Committee was the centre of power, and the Working President was frequently more active than the Congress President. In the period after 1967, when the Congress Party split for the first time (between factions loyal to Indira Gandhi and those led by

254-552: A mother goddess , who stood variously for Bengal, India, and the Hindu goddess Kali . The unrest spread from Calcutta to the surrounding regions of Bengal when Calcutta's English-educated students returned home to their villages and towns. The religious stirrings of the slogan and the political outrage over the partition were combined as young men, in such groups as Jugantar , took to bombing public buildings, staging armed robberies, and assassinating British officials. Since Calcutta

381-691: A Muslim India and a non-Muslim India". Lala believed in partition in response to the riots against Hindus in Kohat, North-West Frontier Province which diminished his faith in Hindu-Muslim unity. Hindu Mahasabha leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 's Hindutva ideology had embryonic form of a two-nation theory since 1920s. Savarkar in 1937 during the 19th session of the Hindu Mahasabha in Ahmedabad supported two-nation theory where he said "there are two nations in

508-531: A boycott of British goods. Sporadically, but flagrantly, the protesters also took to political violence , which involved attacks on civilians. The violence was ineffective, as most planned attacks were either prevented by the British or failed. The rallying cry for both types of protest was the slogan Bande Mataram ( Bengali , lit: 'Hail to the Mother'), the title of a song by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee , which invoked

635-462: A change implemented in the 1880s during the short tenure of Prime Minister Salar Jung II . The Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was established during his reign to connect Hyderabad State to the rest of British India . It was headquartered at Secunderabad Railway Station . The railway marked the beginning of industry in Hyderabad, and factories were built in Hyderabad city. During his rule,

762-534: A de jure Pakistan, which may make the League more responsible. Freedom is coming. We have 75 to 80 percent of India, which we can make strong with our genius. The League can develop the rest of the country. Following Gandhi's denial and Congress' approval of the plan, Patel, Rajendra Prasad, C. Rajagopalachari represented Congress on the Partition Council, with Jinnah, Liaqat Ali Khan and Abdur Rab Nishtar representing

889-602: A distinctive style. The earliest surviving buildings are purely European, examples being the neoclassical British Residency (1798) and Falaknuma Palace (1893). In the early 20th century, the Osmania General Hospital City College , High Court , and Kacheguda Railway station were designed in the Indo-Saracenic style by Vincent Esch . The Moazzam Jahi Market was also built in a similar style. Various major industries emerged in various parts of

1016-593: A divided India or a destroyed India." On that morning, armed Muslim gangs gathered at the Ochterlony Monument in Calcutta to hear Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy , the League's Chief Minister of Bengal, who, in the words of historian Yasmin Khan, "if he did not explicitly incite violence certainly gave the crowd the impression that they could act with impunity, that neither the police nor the military would be called out and that

1143-582: A group of "Young Party" Muslims from the United Provinces (UP), most prominently, the brothers Mohammad and Shaukat Ali , who had embraced the Pan-Islamic cause. It gained the support of a young lawyer from Bombay, Muhammad Ali Jinnah , who later rose to leadership roles in the League and the Indian independence movement. In later years, as the full ramifications of the pact unfolded, it was seen as benefiting

1270-587: A large share of political spoils for the Indian Muslims with the withdrawal of British rule, others believed the main political objective was the preservation of the cultural entity of Muslim India. The two-nation theory was a founding principle of the Pakistan Movement (i.e., the ideology of Pakistan as a Muslim nation-state in South Asia), and the partition of India in 1947. Theodore Beck , who played

1397-549: A major role in founding of the All-India Muslim League in 1906, was supportive of two-nation theory. Another British official supportive of the theory includes Theodore Morison . Both Beck and Morison believed that parliamentary system of majority rule would be disadvantageous for the Muslims. Arya Samaj leader Lala Lajpat Rai laid out his own version of two-nation theory in 1924 to form "a clear partition of India into

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1524-594: A mass nationalist movement of millions. In August 1942, Congress launched the Quit India Resolution , asking for drastic constitutional changes which the British saw as the most serious threat to their rule since the Indian rebellion of 1857 . With their resources and attention already spread thin by a global war, the nervous British immediately jailed the Congress leaders and kept them in jail until August 1945, whereas

1651-584: A new province with a Muslim majority would directly benefit Muslims aspiring to political power. World War I would prove to be a watershed in the imperial relationship between Britain and India. 1.4 million Indian and British soldiers of the British Indian Army would take part in the war, and their participation would have a wider cultural fallout: news of Indian soldiers fighting and dying with British soldiers, as well as soldiers from dominions like Canada and Australia, would travel to distant corners of

1778-558: A plan". He said that if the Muslims were not granted a separate Pakistan then they would launch "direct action". When asked to be specific, Jinnah retorted: "Go to the Congress and ask them their plans. When they take you into their confidence I will take you into mine. Why do you expect me alone to sit with folded hands? I also am going to make trouble." The next day, Jinnah announced 16 August 1946 would be " Direct Action Day " and warned Congress, "We do not want war. If you want war we accept your offer unhesitatingly. We will either have

1905-508: A powerful army that allowed Hyderabad to become one of the preeminent states in southern India. After his death, the military was crippled by the succession wars of his sons. It was restored under Asaf Jah II (r. 1762–1803) who modernised the army. Notable units during his reign included British -trained battalions, the French-trained Corps Français de Raymond which was led by Michel Joachim Marie Raymond and fought under

2032-411: A quicker transfer of power. When Lord Mountbatten formally proposed the plan on 3 June 1947, Patel gave his approval and lobbied Nehru and other Congress leaders to accept the proposal. Knowing Gandhi's deep anguish regarding proposals of partition, Patel engaged him in private meetings discussions over the perceived practical unworkability of any Congress-League coalition , the rising violence, and

2159-518: A resolution calling for responsible government. Soon afterwards, it split along the moderate–extremist lines. The Andhra Mahasabha's move towards politics also inspired similar movements in Marathwada and Karnataka in 1937, giving rise to the Maharashtra Parishad and Karnataka Parishad respectively. Hyderabad's first ruler, Asaf Jah I (r. 1724–1748) was a talented commander and assembled

2286-416: A separate country were thus conceded. The Congress 's position on unity was also taken into account while making Pakistan as small as possible. Mountbatten's formula was to divide India and, at the same time, retain maximum possible unity. Abul Kalam Azad expressed concern over the likelihood of violent riots, to which Mountbatten replied: Hyderabad State Hyderabad State ( pronunciation )

2413-721: A separate homeland. Tensions heightened while the Muslim League was unable to form ministries outside the two provinces of Sind and Bengal, with the Congress forming a ministry in the NWFP and the key Punjab province coming under a coalition ministry of the Congress, Sikhs and Unionists. The British, while not approving of a separate Muslim homeland, appreciated the simplicity of a single voice to speak on behalf of India's Muslims. Britain had wanted India and its army to remain united to keep India in its system of 'imperial defense'. With India's two political parties unable to agree, Britain devised

2540-455: A transfer of populations (i.e., the total removal of Hindus from Muslim-majority areas and the total removal of Muslims from Hindu-majority areas) was a desirable step towards a complete separation of two incompatible nations that "cannot coexist in a harmonious relationship." Opposition to the theory has come from two sources. The first is the concept of a single Indian nation , of which Hindus and Muslims are two intertwined communities. This

2667-459: A two-hour speech in English, in which were laid out the arguments of the two-nation theory , stating, in the words of historians Talbot and Singh, that "Muslims and Hindus...were irreconcilably opposed monolithic religious communities and as such, no settlement could be imposed that did not satisfy the aspirations of the former." On the last day of its session, the League passed what came to be known as

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2794-434: Is a founding principle of the modern, officially- secular Republic of India . Even after the formation of Pakistan, debates on whether Muslims and Hindus are distinct nationalities or not continued in that country as well. The second source of opposition is the concept that while Indians are not one nation, neither are the Muslims or Hindus of the subcontinent, and it is instead the relatively homogeneous provincial units of

2921-763: Is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security". On 4 September the Prime Minister of Hyderabad Mir Laiq Ali announced to the Hyderabad Assembly that a delegation was about to leave for Lake Success , headed by Moin Nawaz Jung . The Nizam also appealed, without success, to the British Labour Government and to the King for assistance, to fulfil their obligations and promises to Hyderabad by "immediate intervention". Hyderabad only had

3048-733: Is today the Republic of India and Dominion of Pakistan, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh . The partition involved the division of two provinces, Bengal and the Punjab , based on district-wise Hindu or Muslim majorities. It also involved the division of the British Indian Army , the Royal Indian Navy , the Indian Civil Service , the railways , and

3175-499: The 1857 Rebellion and the Second Anglo-Afghan War . In the three decades since the 1871 census, Muslim leaders across North India had intermittently experienced public animosity from some of the new Hindu political and social groups. The Arya Samaj , for example, had not only supported the cow protection movement in their agitation, but also—distraught at the census' Muslim numbers—organized "reconversion" events for

3302-494: The 1952 Legislative Assembly election , Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected Chief Minister of Hyderabad State. During this time there were violent agitations by some Telanganites to send back bureaucrats from Madras state, and to strictly implement 'Mulki-rules' (local jobs for locals only), which was part of Hyderabad state law since 1919. In 1956 during the reorganisation of the Indian States based along linguistic lines,

3429-804: The Bengal Presidency —the largest administrative subdivision in British India—into the Muslim-majority province of Eastern Bengal and Assam and the Hindu-majority province of Bengal (present-day Indian states of West Bengal , Bihar , Jharkhand , and Odisha ). Curzon's act, the partition of Bengal —which had been contemplated by various colonial administrations since the time of Lord William Bentinck , though never acted upon—was to transform nationalist politics as nothing else before it. The Hindu elite of Bengal, many of whom owned land that

3556-468: The Cabinet Mission Plan . Through this mission, Britain hoped to preserve the united India which they and the Congress desired, while concurrently securing the essence of Jinnah's demand for a Pakistan through 'groupings.' The Cabinet mission scheme encapsulated a federal arrangement consisting of three groups of provinces. Two of these groupings would consist of predominantly Muslim provinces, while

3683-654: The French Tricolour , and the Victorious Battalion, an elite infantry unit entirely composed of women. The coat of arms features the full titles of the Nizam at the bottom, and a dastar Under the leadership of Asaf Jah V the state changed its traditional heraldic flag. The Asafia flag of Hyderabad. The script along the top reads Al Azmatulillah meaning "All greatness is for God". The bottom script reads Ya Uthman which translates to "Oh Osman ". The writing in

3810-463: The Great Musi Flood of 1908 struck the city of Hyderabad, which killed an estimated 50,000 people. The Nizam opened all his palaces for public asylum. He also abolished Sati where women used to jump into their husband's burning pyre, by issuing a royal firman . The last Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan ruled the state from 1911 until 1948. He was given the title "Faithful Ally of

3937-533: The House of Commons , with an offer of dominion status to India at the end of the war in return for the Congress's support for the war effort. Not wishing to lose the support of the allies they had already secured—the Muslim League, Unionists of Punjab, and the princes—Cripps's offer included a clause stating that no part of the British Indian Empire would be forced to join the post-war dominion. The League rejected

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4064-503: The Lahore Resolution , sometimes also "Pakistan Resolution," demanding that "the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in the majority as in the north-western and eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign." Though it had been founded more than three decades earlier, the League would gather support among South Asian Muslims only during

4191-545: The Minto-Morley Reforms , and more recently of the Congress-Muslim League Lucknow Pact, was reaffirmed, with seats being reserved for Muslims , Sikhs , Indian Christians , Anglo-Indians , and domiciled Europeans, in both provincial and imperial legislative councils. The Montagu-Chelmsford reforms offered Indians the most significant opportunity yet for exercising legislative power, especially at

4318-575: The Partition of India , Hyderabad signed a standstill agreement with the new dominion of India , continuing all previous arrangements except for the stationing of Indian troops in the state. Hyderabad's location in the middle of the Indian Union, as well as its diverse cultural heritage led to India's annexation of the state in 1948. Subsequently, Mir Osman Ali Khan , the seventh Nizam, signed an instrument of accession , joining India. Hyderabad State

4445-616: The United Provinces (where Hindus attacked Muslims), and on to Rawalpindi in March 1947 in which Hindus and Sikhs were attacked or driven out by Muslims. In London, the president of the India League , V. K. Krishna Menon , nominated Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma as the only suitable viceregal candidate in clandestine meetings with Sir Stafford Cripps and Clement Attlee. Prime Minister Attlee subsequently appointed Lord Louis Mountbatten as India's last viceroy , giving him

4572-495: The secession of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971, nor the earlier separations of Burma (now Myanmar ) and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ) from the administration of British India. The term also does not cover the political integration of princely states into the two new dominions, nor the disputes of annexation or division arising in the princely states of Hyderabad , Junagadh , and Jammu and Kashmir , though violence along religious lines did break out in some princely states at

4699-452: The "Great Calcutta Killing of August 1946". The next day, Hindus struck back, and the violence continued for three days in which approximately 4,000 people died (according to official accounts), both Hindus and Muslims. Although India had outbreaks of religious violence between Hindus and Muslims before, the Calcutta killings were the first to display elements of " ethnic cleansing ". Violence

4826-584: The "official majority" in unfavourable votes. Although departments like defence, foreign affairs, criminal law, communications, and income-tax were retained by the viceroy and the central government in New Delhi, other departments like public health, education, land-revenue, local self-government were transferred to the provinces. The provinces themselves were now to be administered under a new dyarchical system, whereby some areas like education, agriculture, infrastructure development, and local self-government became

4953-489: The 1920s, being surrounded by Labour statesmen who were affiliated with Krishna Menon and the India League , and for years had supported it. He now took charge of the government position and gave the issue the highest priority. A Cabinet Mission was sent to India led by the Secretary of State for India, Lord Pethick Lawrence , which also included Sir Stafford Cripps , who had visited India four years before. The objective of

5080-533: The 1941 Hyderabad State Census, 2,187,005 people spoke Urdu , 7,529,229 people spoke Telugu , 3,947,089 people spoke Marathi , 1,724,180 people spoke Kanarese ( Kannada ) as native languages. The Hyderabadi Muslim population, including the ruling Asaf Jahi dynasty numbered around 2,097,475 people, while Hindus numbered around 9,171,318 people. The architecture of Hyderabad State is very cosmopolitan, and heavily influenced by European and Islamic styles. The Nizam's palaces and several public buildings were built in

5207-655: The 64 reserved Muslim seats. In the Muslim-majority regions of the Punjab and Bengal regional parties outperformed the League. In Punjab, the Unionist Party of Sikandar Hayat Khan , won the elections and formed a government, with the support of the Indian National Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal , which lasted five years. In Bengal, the League had to share power in a coalition headed by A. K. Fazlul Huq ,

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5334-613: The British Empire". The Nizam also established Hyderabad State Bank . Hyderabad was the only independent state in Indian subcontinent that had its currency, the Hyderabadi rupee . The Begumpet Airport was established in the 1930s with formation of Hyderabad Aero Club by the Nizam. Initially, it was used as a domestic and international airport for Nizam's Deccan Airways , the earliest airline in British India. The terminal building

5461-528: The British and their allies were now in conflict with the Ottoman Empire, doubts began to increase among some Indian Muslims about the "religious neutrality" of the British, doubts that had already surfaced as a result of the reunification of Bengal in 1911, a decision that was seen as ill-disposed to Muslims. In the Lucknow Pact, the League joined the Congress in the proposal for greater self-government that

5588-738: The British government decided to end British Raj in India, and in early 1947 Britain announced its intention of transferring power no later than June 1948. Attlee wrote later in a memoir that he moved quickly to restart the self-rule process because he expected colonial rule in Asia to meet renewed opposition after the war from both nationalist movements and the United States, while his exchequer feared that post-war Britain could no longer afford to garrison an expansive empire. Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee had been deeply interested in Indian independence since

5715-399: The British were ceded to the British to meet the cost of maintaining the British soldiers. In 1798, Nizam ʿĀlī Khan (Asaf Jah II ) was forced to enter into an agreement that put Hyderabad under British protection. He was the first Indian prince to sign such an agreement. (Consequently, the ruler of Hyderabad rated a 23-gun salute during the period of British India .) The Crown retained

5842-488: The CWC, saying "they cannot be trusted anymore." In 2020 a paper by Observer Research Foundation calls a large number of CWC members "unprincipled, opportunists and self-serving individuals for whom self-interest is paramount." Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan . The Union of India

5969-677: The Center weak. On 10 July 1946, Nehru gave a "provocative speech," rejected the idea of grouping the provinces and "effectively torpedoed" both the Cabinet mission plan and the prospect of a United India. After the Cabinet Mission broke down, in July 1946, Jinnah held a press conference at his home in Bombay. He proclaimed that the Muslim League was "preparing to launch a struggle" and that they "have chalked out

6096-498: The Congress itself rallied around the symbolism of Kali. It was not lost on many Muslims, for example, that the bande mataram rallying cry had first appeared in the novel Anandmath in which Hindus had battled their Muslim oppressors. Lastly, the Muslim elite, including Nawab of Dacca , Khwaja Salimullah , who hosted the League's first meeting in his mansion in Shahbag , were aware that

6223-506: The Judicial, Revenue, Police, and Miscellaneous Departments. Later on, Asaf Jah VI succeeded the position. Asaf Jah VI Mir Mahbub Ali Khan became the Nizam at the age of three years. His regents were Salar Jung I and Shams-ul-Umra III and later on Asman Jah and Viqar-ul-Umra . He assumed full rule at the age of 17 and ruled until he died in 1911. His reign saw the official language of Hyderabad State shift from Persian to Urdu,

6350-684: The Mughals, and had founded the Asaf Jahi dynasty . Following the decline of the Mughal power, the region of Deccan saw the rise of the Maratha Empire . The Nizam himself saw many invasions by the Marathas in the 1720s, which resulted in the Nizam paying a regular Chauth (tax) to the Marathas. The major battles fought between the Marathas and the Nizam include Palkhed , Rakshasbhuvan , and Kharda . Following

6477-424: The Muslim League was now free for the next three years to spread its message. Consequently, the Muslim League's ranks surged during the war, with Jinnah himself admitting, "The war which nobody welcomed proved to be a blessing in disguise." Although there were other important national Muslim politicians such as Congress leader Abul Kalam Azad , and influential regional Muslim politicians such as A. K. Fazlul Huq of

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6604-476: The Muslim League, which functioned under state patronage, organized "Deliverance Day" celebrations (from Congress dominance) and supported Britain in the war effort. When Linlithgow met with nationalist leaders, he gave the same status to Jinnah as he did to Gandhi , and, a month later, described the Congress as a "Hindu organization." In March 1940, in the League's annual three-day session in Lahore , Jinnah gave

6731-548: The Muslim League. Late in 1946, the Labour government in Britain , its exchequer exhausted by the recently concluded World War II, decided to end British rule of India, with power being transferred no later than June 1948. With the British army unprepared for the potential for increased violence, the new viceroy, Louis Mountbatten , advanced the date, allowing less than six months for a mutually agreed plan for independence. In June 1947,

6858-426: The Muslim masses of future Hindu domination. The view that Muslims would be unfairly treated in an independent India dominated by the Congress was now a part of the public discourse of Muslims. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Lord Linlithgow , Viceroy of India , declared war on India's behalf without consulting Indian leaders, leading the Congress provincial ministries to resign in protest. By contrast

6985-429: The Muslim minority elites of provinces like UP and Bihar more than the Muslim majorities of Punjab and Bengal. At the time, the "Lucknow Pact" was an important milestone in nationalistic agitation and was seen so by the British. Secretary of State for India Montagu and Viceroy Lord Chelmsford presented a report in July 1918 after a long fact-finding trip through India the previous winter. After more discussion by

7112-429: The Nizam, remarked that his stake in the English state sums up to 36% of the total amount. For claiming the total share of £35 million, Nizam's great-grandson, Himayat Ali Mirza, reached the London High Court. Up to 1920, there was no political organisation of any kind in Hyderabad. In that year, following British pressure, the Nizam issued a firman appointing a special officer to investigate constitutional reforms. It

7239-403: The Second World War. In August 1940, Lord Linlithgow proposed that India be granted dominion status after the war. Having not taken the Pakistan idea seriously, Linlithgow supposed that what Jinnah wanted was a non-federal arrangement without Hindu domination. To allay Muslim fears of Hindu domination, the "August Offer" was accompanied by the promise that a future constitution would consider

7366-550: The Sultanate in Turkey and Gandhi's suspension of the Non-co-operation movement in British India ended this period of cooperation. An organisation called Andhra Jana Sangham (later renamed Andhra Mahasabha ) was formed in November 1921 and focused on educating the masses of Telangana in political awareness. With leading members such as Madapati Hanumantha Rao , Burgula Ramakrishna Rao and M. Narsing Rao, its activities included urging merchants to resist offering freebies to government officials and encouraging labourers to resist

7493-482: The Syndicate of regional leaders including Kamaraj , Prafulla Chandra Sen , Ajoy Mukherjee , and Morarji Desai ), the power of the Working Committee declined; but Indira Gandhi's triumph in 1971 led to a re-centralisation of power away from the states and the All-India Congress Committee and caused the Working Committee in Delhi to once again be the paramount decision-making body of the party. The centralised nature of Congress decision making has since caused observers in

7620-473: The central and provincial legislatures. The Muslim League favoured this "communal award" as it had the potential to weaken the Hindu caste leadership. Mahatma Gandhi , who was seen as a leading advocate for Dalit rights, went on a fast to persuade the British to repeal these separate electorates. Ambedkar had to back down when it seemed Gandhi's life was threatened. Two years later, the Government of India Act 1935 introduced provincial autonomy, increasing

7747-434: The central treasury, between the two new dominions. The partition was set forth in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and resulted in the dissolution of the British Raj , or Crown rule in India . The two self-governing countries of India and Pakistan legally came into existence at midnight on 14–15 August 1947. The partition displaced between 10–12 million people along religious lines, creating overwhelming refugee crises in

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7874-432: The conquest of Deccan by Bajirao I and the imposition of Chauth by him, Nizam remained a tributary of the Marathas for all intent and purposes. In 1763, the Nizam shifted the capital to the city of Hyderabad . From 1778, a British resident and soldiers were installed in his dominions. In 1795, the Nizam lost some of his territories to the Marathas . The territorial gains of the Nizam from Mysore as an ally of

8001-421: The disemboweling of pregnant women, the slamming of babies' heads against brick walls, the cutting off of the victim's limbs and genitalia, and the displaying of heads and corpses. While previous communal riots had been deadly, the scale and level of brutality during the Partition massacres were unprecedented. Although some scholars question the use of the term ' genocide ' concerning the partition massacres, much of

8128-428: The displacement of any of its inhabitants, whether they were Sikhs or Hindus. The theory is also a source of inspiration to several Hindu nationalist organizations, with causes as varied as the redefinition of Indian Muslims as non-Indian foreigners and second-class citizens in India, the expulsion of all Muslims from India , the establishment of a legally Hindu state in India, prohibition of conversions to Islam , and

8255-417: The first princely state to come under British paramountcy signing a subsidiary alliance agreement. During the British rule in 1901, the state had a revenue of ₹ 4,17,00,000. The native inhabitants of Hyderabad State, regardless of ethnic origin, are called "Mulki" (countryman), a term still used today. The dynasty declared itself an independent monarchy during the final years of the British Raj . After

8382-557: The form of the 1946 elections with the Congress winning 91 percent of the vote among non-Muslim constituencies, thereby gaining a majority in the Central Legislature and forming governments in eight provinces, and becoming the legitimate successor to the British government for most Hindus. If the British intended to stay in India the acquiescence of politically active Indians to British rule would have been in doubt after these election results, although many rural Indians may still have acquiesced to British rule at this time. The Muslim League won

8509-420: The government and parliament in Britain, and another tour by the Franchise and Functions Committee to identify who among the Indian population could vote in future elections, the Government of India Act of 1919 (also known as the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms ) was passed in December 1919. The new Act enlarged both the provincial and Imperial legislative councils and repealed the Government of India's recourse to

8636-473: The infamous trial of three senior officers − Shah Nawaz Khan , Prem Sahgal , and Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon − of Subhas Chandra Bose 's defeated Indian National Army (INA) who stood accused of treason . Now as the trials began, the Congress leadership, although having never supported the INA, chose to defend the accused officers and successfully rescued the INA members. British rule had lost its legitimacy for most Hindus, and conclusive proof of this came in

8763-411: The leader of the Krishak Praja Party . The Congress, on the other hand, with 716 wins in the total of 1585 provincial assemblies seats, was able to form governments in 7 out of the 11 provinces of British India . In its manifesto, Congress maintained that religious issues were of lesser importance to the masses than economic and social issues. The election revealed that it had contested just 58 out of

8890-464: The leaders of the Indian National Congress , it would lead to calls for greater self-government for Indians. The 1916 Lucknow Session of the Congress was also the venue of an unanticipated mutual effort by the Congress and the Muslim League, the occasion for which was provided by the wartime partnership between Germany and Turkey. Since the Ottoman Sultan, also held guardianship of the Islamic holy sites of Mecca , Medina , and Jerusalem , and, since

9017-469: The leftist Krishak Praja Party in Bengal, Sikander Hyat Khan of the landlord-dominated Punjab Unionist Party , and Abd al-Ghaffar Khan of the pro-Congress Khudai Khidmatgar (popularly, "red shirts") in the North West Frontier Province , the British were to increasingly see the League as the main representative of Muslim India. The Muslim League's demand for Pakistan pitted it against the British and Congress. The 1945 United Kingdom general election

9144-552: The local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one or the other or to remain independent. On 11 June 1947, the Nizam issued a declaration to the effect that he had decided not to participate in the Constituent Assembly of either Pakistan or India. However, the Nizams were Muslim ruling over a predominantly Hindu population. India insisted that the great majority of residents wanted to join India. The Nizam

9271-449: The main: the Hindus and the Muslims, in India". Muhammad Ali Jinnah undertook the ideology that religion is the determining factor in defining the nationality of Indian Muslims in 1940. He termed it as the awakening of Muslims for the creation of Pakistan. However, Jinnah opposed Partition of Punjab and Bengal, and advocated for the integration of all Punjab and Bengal into Pakistan without

9398-461: The majority of the Muslim vote as well as most reserved Muslim seats in the provincial assemblies, and it also secured all the Muslim seats in the Central Assembly. Recovering from its performance in the 1937 elections, the Muslim League was finally able to make good on the claim that it and Jinnah alone represented India's Muslims and Jinnah quickly interpreted this vote as a popular demand for

9525-640: The members of the Nizam's Executive Council. Hindus and Muslims united in protesting against the practice which robbed the locals of government employment. The movement, however, fizzled out after the Hindu members raised the issue of 'responsible government', which was of no interest to the Muslim members and led to their resignation. Various properties and wealth owned by the Nizam as part of Hyderabad State are now succeeded by his descendants, including his grandsons Prince Mukarram Jah, Prince Mufakkam Jah & Prince Shahmat Jah and his great-grandson Himayat Ali Mirza among others. Himayat Ali Mirza, great-grandson of

9652-708: The middle reads "Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah" The stamps of the Hyderabad State featured the Golconda Fort , Ajanta Caves , and the Charminar . Mulkis or Mulkhis , are the native inhabitants of the erstwhile Hyderabad State, regardless of ethnic differences. The term was popularly used during the 1952 Mulkhi Agitation (Telangana) , which saw protests demanding job reservations for Mulki people, and demanding non-Mulkis to leave. Languages in Hyderabad State As per

9779-415: The ministry would turn a blind eye to any action they unleashed in the city." That very evening, in Calcutta, Hindus were attacked by returning Muslim celebrants, who carried pamphlets distributed earlier which showed a clear connection between violence and the demand for Pakistan, and directly implicated the celebration of Direct Action Day with the outbreak of the cycle of violence that would later be called

9906-460: The mission was to arrange for an orderly transfer to independence. In February 1946, mutinies broke out in the armed services, starting with RAF servicemen frustrated with their slow repatriation to Britain. These mutinies failed to turn into revolutions as the mutineers surrendered after the Congress and the Muslim League convinced the mutineers that they won't get victimised. In early 1946, new elections were held in India. This coincided with

10033-592: The national level, they constituted only 10% of the total adult male population, many of whom were still illiterate. In the provincial legislatures, the British continued to exercise some control by setting aside seats for special interests they considered cooperative or useful. In particular, rural candidates, generally sympathetic to British rule and less confrontational, were assigned more seats than their urban counterparts. Seats were also reserved for non- Brahmins , landowners, businessmen, and college graduates. The principle of "communal representation," an integral part of

10160-482: The nationalist leaders, including Nehru , Valllabh Bhai Patel and J B Kripalini on behalf of the Congress, Jinnah, Liaqat Ali Khan, and Abdul Rab Nishtar representing the Muslim League, and Master Tara Singh representing the Sikhs , agreed to a partition of the country in stark opposition to Gandhi's opposition to partition. The predominantly Hindu and Sikh areas were assigned to the new India and predominantly Muslim areas to

10287-525: The new nation of Pakistan; the plan included a partition of the Muslim-majority provinces of Punjab and Bengal. The communal violence that accompanied the publication of the Radcliffe Line , the line of partition, was even more horrific. Describing the violence that accompanied the partition of India, historians Ian Talbot and Gurharpal Singh wrote: There are numerous eyewitness accounts of the maiming and mutilation of victims. The catalogue of horrors includes

10414-417: The newly constituted dominions; there was large-scale violence, with estimates of loss of life accompanying or preceding the partition disputed and varying between several hundred thousand and two million. The violent nature of the partition created an atmosphere of hostility and suspicion between India and Pakistan that plagues their relationship to the present. The term partition of India does not cover

10541-485: The number of voters in India to 35 million. More significantly, law and order issues were for the first time devolved from British authority to provincial governments headed by Indians. This increased Muslim anxieties about eventual Hindu domination. In the 1937 Indian provincial elections , the Muslim League turned out its best performance in Muslim-minority provinces such as the United Provinces , where it won 29 of

10668-419: The offer, seeing this clause as insufficient in meeting the principle of Pakistan. As a result of that proviso, the proposals were also rejected by the Congress, which, since its founding as a polite group of lawyers in 1885, saw itself as the representative of all Indians of all faiths. After the arrival in 1920 of Gandhi, the pre-eminent strategist of Indian nationalism, the Congress had been transformed into

10795-534: The office of prime minister . Mountbatten remained in New Delhi for 10 months, serving as the first governor-general of an independent India until June 1948. Gandhi remained in Bengal to work with the new refugees from the partitioned subcontinent. At a press conference on 3 June 1947, Lord Mountbatten announced the date of independence – 14 August 1947 – and also outlined the actual division of British India between

10922-438: The preserve of Indian ministers and legislatures, and ultimately the Indian electorates, while others like irrigation, land-revenue, police, prisons, and control of media remained within the purview of the British governor and his executive council. The new Act also made it easier for Indians to be admitted into the civil service and the army officer corps. A greater number of Indians were now enfranchised, although, for voting at

11049-704: The promotion of conversions or reconversions of Indian Muslims to Hinduism. There are varying interpretations of the two-nation theory, based on whether the two postulated nationalities can coexist in one territory or not, with radically different implications. One interpretation argued for sovereign autonomy, including the right to secede, for Muslim-majority areas of the Indian subcontinent, but without any transfer of populations (i.e., Hindus and Muslims would continue to live together). A different interpretation contends that Hindus and Muslims constitute "two distinct and frequently antagonistic ways of life and that therefore they cannot coexist in one nation." In this version,

11176-640: The provincial level, though restricted by the still limited number of eligible voters, by the small budgets available to provincial legislatures, and by the presence of rural and special interest seats that were seen as instruments of British control. The two-nation theory is the assertion, based on the former Indian Muslim ruling class' sense of being culturally and historically distinct, that Indian Hindus and Muslims are two distinct nations . It argued that religion resulted in cultural and social differences between Muslims and Hindus. While some professional Muslim Indian politicians used it to secure or safeguard

11303-460: The purpose of welcoming Muslims back to the Hindu fold. In the United Provinces , Muslims became anxious in the late-19th century as Hindu political representation increased, and Hindus were politically mobilized in the Hindi–Urdu controversy and the anti-cow-killing riots of 1893. In 1905, Muslim fears grew when Tilak and Lajpat Rai attempted to rise to leadership positions in the Congress, and

11430-460: The right to intervene in case of misrule. Hyderabad under Asaf Jah II was a British ally in the second and third Maratha Wars (1803–05, 1817–19), Anglo-Mysore wars , and would remain loyal to the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (1857–58). His son, Asaf Jah III Mir Akbar Ali Khan (known as Sikandar Jah ) ruled from 1803 to 1829. During his rule, a British cantonment

11557-580: The state of Hyderabad into the Union of India and ended the rule of the Nizams. After the incorporation of Hyderabad State into India, M. K. Vellodi was appointed as Chief Minister of the state and Mir Osman Ali Khan became the Rajpramukh on 26 January 1950. He was a Senior Civil servant in the Government of India. He administered the state with the help of bureaucrats from Madras state and Bombay state . In

11684-492: The state of Hyderabad was split up among Andhra Pradesh and Bombay state (later Maharashtra ) and Karnataka . On 2 June 2014, the state of Telangana was formed splitting from the rest of Andhra Pradesh state and formed the 29th state of India, with Hyderabad as its capital. Wilfred Cantwell Smith states that Hyderabad was an area where the political and social structure from medieval Muslim rule had been preserved more or less intact into modern times. The last Nizam

11811-534: The state. The lower-level government employees were also predominantly Muslim. Effectively, the Muslims of Hyderabad represented an 'upper caste' of the social structure. All power was vested in the Nizam. He ruled with the help of an Executive Council or Cabinet, established in 1893, whose members he was free to appoint and dismiss. The government of the Nizam recruited heavily from the North Indian Hindu Kayastha caste for administrative posts. There

11938-651: The states to informally describe instructions from Delhi as coming from the High Command . Sources: President Members The Congress has not held internal elections for CWC for nearly 20 years and the last elections were held in 1998. In 2017 Election Commission ordered it to hold internal elections but as of 2020 no elections were held. When Congress was trying to forge an alliance with ideologically opposite Shiv Sena in Maharashtra in 2019, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam publicly urged Sonia Gandhi to dissolve

12065-572: The subcontinent which are true nations and deserving of sovereignty ; the Baloch have presented this view, Sindhi , and Pashtun sub-nationalities of Pakistan and the Assamese and Punjabi sub-nationalities of India. In 1933, Choudhry Rahmat Ali had produced a pamphlet, entitled Now or Never , in which the term Pakistan , 'land of the pure,' comprising the Punjab , North West Frontier Province (Afghania) , Kashmir , Sindh , and Balochistan ,

12192-734: The support of Winston Churchill and the British Conservatives . At 4 a.m. on 13 September 1948, India's Hyderabad Campaign, code-named " Operation Polo " by the Indian Army , began. Indian troops invaded Hyderabad from all points of the compass. On 13 September 1948, the Secretary-General of the Hyderabad Department of External Affairs in a cablegram informed the United Nations Security Council that Hyderabad

12319-547: The supposed merits of the Cabinet Mission Plan. Except for a few honourable exceptions, Muslim officials from the top down to the chaprasis ( peons or servants) are working for the League. The communal veto given to the League in the Mission Plan would have blocked India's progress at every stage. Whether we like it or not, de facto Pakistan already exists in the Punjab and Bengal. Under the circumstances, I would prefer

12446-441: The system of begar (free labour requested at the behest of state). Alarmed by its activities, the Nizam passed a powerful gagging order in 1929, requiring all public meetings to obtain prior permission. But the organisation persisted by mobilising on social issues such as the protection of ryots , women's rights, abolition of the devadasi system and purdah , uplifting of Dalits etc. It turned to politics again in 1937, passing

12573-461: The task to oversee British India's independence by 30 June 1948, with the instruction to avoid partition and preserve a united India, but with adaptable authority to ensure a British withdrawal with minimal setbacks. Mountbatten hoped to revive the Cabinet Mission scheme for a federal arrangement for India. But despite his initial keenness for preserving the centre, the tense communal situation caused him to conclude that partition had become necessary for

12700-418: The third grouping would be made up of the predominantly Hindu regions. The provinces would be autonomous, but the centre would retain control over the defence, foreign affairs, and communications. Though the proposals did not offer independent Pakistan, the Muslim League accepted the proposals. Even though the unity of India would have been preserved, the Congress leaders, especially Nehru, believed it would leave

12827-694: The threat of civil war. At the All India Congress Committee meeting called to vote on the proposal, Patel said: I fully appreciate the fears of our brothers from [the Muslim-majority areas]. Nobody likes the division of India, and my heart is heavy. But the choice is between one division and many divisions. We must face facts. We cannot give way to emotionalism and sentimentality. The Working Committee has not acted out of fear. But I am afraid of one thing, that all our toil and hard work of these many years might go waste or prove unfruitful. My nine months in office have completely disillusioned me regarding

12954-502: The time of the partition. It does not cover the incorporation of the enclaves of French India into India during the period 1947–1954, nor the annexation of Goa and other districts of Portuguese India by India in 1961. Other contemporaneous political entities in the region in 1947, Sikkim , Bhutan , Nepal , and the Maldives were unaffected by the partition. In 1905, during his second term as viceroy of India , Lord Curzon divided

13081-407: The total 482 Muslim seats, and of these, it won in only 26. In UP, where the Congress won, it offered to share power with the League on condition that the League stops functioning as a representative only of Muslims, which the League refused. This proved to be a mistake as it alienated Congress further from the Muslim masses. Besides, the new UP provincial administration promulgated cow protection and

13208-526: The total population, reflecting both their status as former rulers and their record of cooperating with the British. This would result in the founding of the All-India Muslim League in Dacca in December 1906. Although Curzon by now had returned to England following his resignation over a dispute with his military chief, Lord Kitchener , the League was in favor of his partition plan. The Muslim elite's position, which

13335-401: The two countries had expressly provided that nothing in it should give India the right to send in troops to assist in the maintenance of internal order. At 5 p.m. on 17 September, the Nizam's army surrendered. The Government of Hyderabad resigned, and military governors and chief ministers were appointed by the Nizam at India's direction. On 26 January 1950, India formally incorporated

13462-489: The two new dominions in what became known as the "Mountbatten Plan" or the "3 June Plan". The plan's main points were: The Indian political leaders had accepted the Plan on 2 June. It could not deal with the question of the princely states , which were not British possessions, but on 3 June Mountbatten advised them against remaining independent and urged them to join one of the two new Dominions. The Muslim League 's demands for

13589-506: The use of Hindi. The Muslim elite in UP was further alienated, when they saw chaotic scenes of the new Congress Raj, in which rural people who sometimes turned up in large numbers in government buildings, were indistinguishable from the administrators and the law enforcement personnel. The Muslim League conducted its investigation into the conditions of Muslims under Congress-governed provinces. The findings of such investigations increased fear among

13716-717: The views of minorities. Neither the Congress nor the Muslim League were satisfied with the offer, and both rejected it in September. The Congress once again started a program of civil disobedience . In March 1942, with the Japanese fast moving up the Malayan Peninsula after the Fall of Singapore , and with the Americans supporting independence for India, Winston Churchill , then Britain's prime minister, sent Sir Stafford Cripps , leader of

13843-672: The violence was manifested with genocidal tendencies. It was designed to cleanse an existing generation and prevent its future reproduction." Mountbatten administered the independence oath to Jinnah on the 14th, before leaving for India where the oath was scheduled on the midnight of the 15th. On 14 August 1947, the new Dominion of Pakistan came into being, with Muhammad Ali Jinnah sworn in as its first Governor-General in Karachi . The following day, 15 August 1947, India, now Dominion of India , became an independent country, with official ceremonies taking place in New Delhi , Jawaharlal Nehru assuming

13970-533: The world both in newsprint and by the new medium of the radio. India's international profile would thereby rise and would continue to rise during the 1920s. It was to lead, among other things, to India, under its name, becoming a founding member of the League of Nations in 1920 and participating, under the name, "Les Indes Anglaises" (British India), in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp . Back in India, especially among

14097-636: Was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad . It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana , the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka , and the Marathwada region of Maharashtra in India. The state was ruled from 1724 to 1948 by the Nizam , who was initially a viceroy of the Mughal empire in the Deccan . Hyderabad gradually became

14224-511: Was also an Assembly, whose role was mostly advisory. More than half of its members were appointed by the Nizam and the rest were elected from a carefully limited franchise. There were representatives of Hindus, Parsis , Christians and Depressed Classes in the Assembly. Their influence was however limited due to their small numbers. The state government also had a large number of outsiders (called non-mulkhis ) – 46,800 of them in 1933, including all

14351-638: Was being invaded by Indian forces and that hostilities had broken out. The Security Council took notice of it on 16 September in Paris. The representative of Hyderabad called for immediate action by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The Hyderabad representative responded to India's excuse for the intervention by pointing out that the Stand-still Agreement between

14478-452: Was built in Hyderabad and the area was named in his honour, Secunderabad . The British Residency at Koti was also built during his reign by the then British Resident James Achilles Kirkpatrick . Sikander Jah was succeeded by Asaf Jah IV , who ruled from 1829 to 1857 and was succeeded by his son Asaf Jah V . Asaf Jah V 's reign from 1857 to 1869 was marked by reforms by his Prime Minister Salar Jung I . Before this time, there

14605-503: Was campaigned for by Tilak and his supporters; in return, the Congress accepted separate electorates for Muslims in the provincial legislatures as well as the Imperial Legislative Council. In 1916, the Muslim League had anywhere between 500 and 800 members and did not yet have its wider following among Indian Muslims of later years; in the League itself, the pact did not have unanimous backing, having largely been negotiated by

14732-476: Was coined for the first time. It did not attract political attention and, a little later, a Muslim delegation to the Parliamentary Committee on Indian Constitutional Reforms gave short shrift to the idea of Pakistan, calling it "chimerical and impracticable." In 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald accepted Ambedkar 's demand for the " Depressed Classes " to have separate representation in

14859-475: Was created in 1937. To prevent another great flood , the Nizam also constructed two lakes, namely the Osman Sagar and Himayath Sagar . The Osmania General Hospital , Jubilee Hall , State Library (then known as Asifia Kutubkhana ) and Public Gardens (then known as Bagh e Aam ) were constructed during this period. In 1947 India gained independence and Pakistan came into existence. The British left

14986-527: Was founded by Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan who was the governor of Deccan under the Mughals from 1713 to 1721. In 1724, he resumed rule from the Mughal provincial capital of Aurangabad, under the title of Asaf Jah (granted by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah ). His other title, Nizam ul-Mulk (Order of the Realm), became the title of his position "Nizam of Hyderabad". By the end of his rule, the Nizam had become independent from

15113-532: Was in a weak position as his army numbered only 24,000 men, of whom only some 6,000 were fully trained and equipped. On 21 August 1948, the Secretary-General of the Hyderabad Department of External Affairs requested the President of the United Nations Security Council, under Article 35(2) of the United Nations Charter , to consider the "grave dispute, which, unless settled by international law and justice,

15240-600: Was leased out to Muslim peasants in East Bengal, protested strongly. The large Bengali-Hindu middle-class (the Bhadralok ), upset at the prospect of Bengalis being outnumbered in the new Bengal province by Biharis and Oriyas , felt that Curzon's act was punishment for their political assertiveness . The pervasive protests against Curzon's decision predominantly took the form of the Swadeshi ('buy Indian') campaign, involving

15367-614: Was no regular or systematic form of administration, and the duties were in the hands of the Diwan (Prime Minister), and corruption was thus widespread. In 1867, the State was divided into five divisions and seventeen districts, and subedars (governors) were appointed for the five Divisions and talukdars and tehsildars for the districts. The judicial, public works, medical, educational, municipal, and police departments were re-organised. In 1868, sadr-i-mahrams (Assistant Ministers) were appointed for

15494-483: Was not confined to the public sphere, but homes were entered and destroyed, and women and children were attacked. Although the Government of India and the Congress were both shaken by the course of events, in September, a Congress-led interim government was installed, with Jawaharlal Nehru as united India's prime minister. The communal violence spread to Bihar (where Hindus attacked Muslims), to Noakhali in Bengal (where Muslims targeted Hindus), to Garhmukteshwar in

15621-409: Was reflected in the League's position, had crystallized gradually over the previous three decades, beginning with the 1871 Census of British India , which had first estimated the populations in regions of Muslim majority. For his part, Curzon's desire to court the Muslims of East Bengal had arisen from British anxieties ever since the 1871 census, and in light of the history of Muslims fighting them in

15748-496: Was reputed to be the wealthiest man in the world. He was supported by an aristocracy of 1,100 feudal lords who owned a further 30% of the state's land, with some 4 million tenant farmers. The state also owned 50% or more of the capital in all the major enterprises, allowing the Nizam to earn further profits and control their affairs. Next in the social structure were the administrative and official classes, comprising about 1,500 officials. A number of them were recruited from outside

15875-423: Was the imperial capital, both the outrage and the slogan soon became known nationally. The overwhelming, predominantly-Hindu protest against the partition of Bengal, along with the fear of reforms favouring the Hindu majority, led the Muslim elite of India in 1906 to the new viceroy Lord Minto , asking for separate electorates for Muslims. In conjunction, they demanded representation in proportion to their share of

16002-647: Was welcomed enthusiastically by a section of the populace, who formed the Hyderabad State Reforms Association. However, the Nizam and the Special Officer ignored all their demands for consultation. Meanwhile, the Nizam banned the Khilafat movement in the State as well as all political meetings and the entry of "political outsiders". Nevertheless, some political activity did take place and witnessed cooperation between Hindus and Muslims. The abolition of

16129-603: Was won by the Labour Party . A government headed by Clement Attlee , with Stafford Cripps and Lord Pethick-Lawrence in the Cabinet, was sworn in. Many in the new government, including Attlee, had a long history of supporting the decolonization of India. The government's exchequer had been exhausted by the Second World War and the British public did not appear to be enthusiastic about costly distant involvements. Late in 1945,

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