When a dynasty ended with a sigh and a whimper

By T.V.Sivanandan

GULBARGA, SEPT. 16. Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, the founder of the Mughal empire, Would not have dreamt that the last vestige of the Empire would be snuffed out in such a meek manner and the seventh ruler of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty, Mir. Osman Ali Khan, would be "begging" to know from the Indian authorities whether he would be permitted to cart away the billions-worth of gold, diamonds and other precious stones amassed by him during his rule as the Nizam-e-mulk of Hyderabad.

The desire of the last Nizam to make India accept a "second partition," after the birth of Pakistan, and convert Hyderabad into the third dominion in the Indian sub-continent, and his avowed dream of building an Islamic nation alongside Pakistan, remained a dream. His ill-timed revolt against the Indian Government crumbled like a pack of cards.

The seventh Nizam was a dreamer. At one stage, he even negotiated with the then rulers of Portugal to purchase Goa from them, so that he could open a naval front there, and sent his Commander-in-Chief of the Army, El-Edroos, to Czechoslovakia to purchase arms to fight the Indian Army. All his "dreams" remained so, and his feeble resistance ended in five days after the Indian Army marched into the Nizam-held areas in September 1948.

The faltering vision of the Nizam also saw the end of the reign of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty although he even tried to get assistance from Pakistan to raise a revolt against the Indian Union. All hopes of Pakistan's material help evaporated after Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared that he would not "endanger Pakistan for a handful of effete nobility." Despite this, the Nizam and his cohorts hoped that Pakistan would be forced to come to the aid of the Nizam if the Indian Government waged a war against Hyderabad. But even this did not happen.

The end of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty also signalled the end of the last resistance by the princely states against merger with the Indian Union as per the Mountbatten Plan for transferring power to the two dominions of India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947.

When the Mountbatten Plan was announced on June 3, 1947, the Nizam made known his intention with a "firman" that was issued on June 11, 1947 that Hyderbad was entitled to assume the status of an independent sovereign state on August 15. When the Indian Independence Bill was introduced in the British Parliament on July 9, the Nizam took serious exception to it and sent a protest to Lord Mountbatten accusing the British of "forsaking" their old ally.

As the day of India's Independence approached, the voice of the Nizam grew more shrill. At one stage, he decided to associate himself directly with the United Kingdom rather than being forced to join either India or Pakistan. He made a futile attempt to send a delegation to U.K. and U.S. to conclude a defence alliance with them. In the farewell banquet given to the British Resident on August 14, 1947, the Nizam declared: "It is still my desire and the desire of Hyderbad to remain within the family of nations known as the British Commonwealth." The Nizam further declared: "When the British go from India, I shall become an independent sovereign."

The violence and attacks on pro-Indian forces in Hyderabad on August 15, 1947 in which people celebrating the Independence Day were lathicharged and fired upon, forced the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to express his indignation in the Constituent Assembly on August 29. Although the Nizam denied any disrespect to the National Flag in the violent incidents on August 15, through another "firman" issued on August 27, he declared that on August 15 that he had assumed the status of an "independent soveriegn."

Perturbed by the Nizam's moves the astute Home Minister, Vallabhai Patel, ordered the Indian Army to launch "Police Action" on September 13, 1948. Exactly four days and 13 hours thereafter the Nizam announced a ceasefire on September 17, even before the Indian Army led by Major General J N Choudhury entered Hyderabad city.

This signalled the end of the turbulent 16 months after the Mountbatten Plan was announced, and the revolt of the Nizam against accession to Indian Union. It was also end of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty which began its reign in the Deccan in 1713 after Chin Qilich Khan (who was also known as Asaf Jah) was appointed the Subedar of the Deccan in 1713 with the title "Nizam-ul-Mulk."

Though the official celebration of Liberation Day on September 17 in Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, and Koppal districts has kicked off a row between two sections, one of which claims that it is September 18, the fact that the region was liberated and merged with the Indian Union is a day to cherish and rejoice.

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