During the British rule India was divided into British Provinces and princely states. The former were under direct British rule. The Princely States were ruled by local kings. Even when the British authority was accepted by the local kings, they had the freedom to run the internal affairs of their principalities. One third of British India consisted of such Princely States. That means one out four Indians lived in a Princely State.

As per the declaration made by the British, their authority over the Princely States also would end with the granting of freedom to India. Therefore legally each Principality was also free. There were 565 Princely States in India.The Principalities were not ruled democratically. Indian Freedom aimed at unity, progress and democracy. But the condition of India was pitiable at the time of independence.

The British had told the local rulers of Principalities that they could either join India or Pakistan or remain independent, if they so wished. Thus the king’s had the power to decide what to do. This created a lot of headache during the time of integration. It grew into a situation where the unity of India was threatened.

When India was granted freedom, the King of Travan core and the Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to remain independent. Rulers like the Nawab of Bhopal were also not keen on joining the Constituent Assembly. That means there was a possibility of India being further subdivided into small kingdoms. There was no possibility of democracy in such small Principalities. But the Administration of Independent India was determined not to allow any further division of the country. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the Dy. Prime Minister and the Home Minister. Through clever diplomacy, he was able to integrate most of the Principalities into the Indian Union.

Three things influenced the administration for such integration.

• The people of most principalities wanted to join the Indian Union.
• The government was willing to give self government in some places.
• The greatest importance was given to the unity and perfectibility of the country.

Every before independence, the leaders moved with caution. Many Principalities automatically agreed to the Indian Union. The rulers signed the document called ‘Instrument of Accession’. But the integration of 4 places -Junagarh, Hyderabad, Kashmir and Manipur – proved difficult.

Through a plebiscite, it was found out that the people of Junagarh wanted to join the Indian Union. So it was integrated. Hyderabad was the biggest Principality. It was surrounded by centrally administered areas. The ruler of Hyderabad was ‘ known as Nizam. He wanted to remain independent. But the Communists, the Telangana farmers, . member of the Hyderabad Congress, and most women reacted against the plan of the Nizam. The women were generally repressed in Hyderabad.

The city of Hyderabad became the centre of protest against Nizam. Using his army, the Nizam tried to resist opposition. Many non Muslims were looted and killed. Soon the Central Government sent its army and the Nizam surrendered. Hyderabad became part of India.

Junagarh and Hyderabad became part of India because of the wishes of the peoples But things were different in Manipur. The government had assured King Bodha Chandra Singh that he would be given autonomy after independence. In June 1948, an election was conducted in Manipur. Following that, Manipur became a constitutional monarchy.

It was in Manipur that adult franchise was exercised for the first time in India. In the Manipur Assembly, there were different views about Manipur joining the Indian Union. Following the pressure from the Union Government, the King was forced to sign the Instrument of Accession. It was done with the approval of the Assembly. In short, one can say that the integration of the Principalities was actually a spread of democracy into, those places.