Administrative change
Integration of the princely states, 1947-1949
Over 500 princely states acceded to the Indian Union between 1947 and 1949, including the contested cases of Junagadh, Hyderabad, and Jammu and Kashmir.
What happened
Between 1947 and 1949, over 500 princely states, not directly governed by British rule and not automatically part of either new dominion, acceded to the Indian Union. Most did so through negotiated instruments of accession, but Junagadh and Hyderabad were annexed by India in 1948 after their rulers initially resisted accession — Junagadh following a plebiscite India organised after its ruler had acceded to Pakistan, and Hyderabad through military action known as Operation Polo.[1] The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, signed an Instrument of Accession to India on 26 October 1947, amid fighting between Indian and Pakistani-backed forces in the region.[2]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: Over 500 princely states acceded to the Indian Union between 1947 and 1949. Junagadh was annexed by India in 1948 following a plebiscite India organised after the ruler had acceded to Pakistan; Hyderabad was annexed by India in September 1948 through military action known as Operation Polo.
- Political integration of India (Wikipedia) link, article text. Source record Consulted via a general-reference encyclopedia article, not primary government or judicial records.
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2.
Claim: The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, signed an Instrument of Accession to India on 26 October 1947, amid the outbreak of fighting between Indian and Pakistani-backed forces in the region; the accession's validity and the broader status of Kashmir remain disputed between India and Pakistan.
- Instrument of Accession (Jammu and Kashmir) (Wikipedia) link, article text. Source record Consulted via a general-reference encyclopedia article, not the Instrument of Accession's original text or primary diplomatic records; this bundle does not adjudicate the ongoing Kashmir dispute.