# Silk Road Books & Photos

## Hyderabad Deccan (Page 1 of 1)

According to the rules of British partition in 1947 the principality of Hyderabad could decide to either join India or Pakistan. Hyderabad decided to join Pakistan and was invaded and continues to be occupied by India which has annexed the state. The Nazim of Hyderabad who funded a squadron of spitfires for Britain in her time of desperate need in 1940, but the Nazim’s assistance was not reciprocated by Mountbatten who failed to stand by the Nazim in his hour of need when Hyderabad came under aggressive attack from Jawaharlal Nehru’s army. The Indians also annexed the Princely state of Junagadh, which according to Ian Stephens author of he excellent book “Horned Moon” could definitely have survived as part of Pakistan since it was a coastal state and could have developed sea links to Pakistan. However, Stephens met Mountbatten in 1947-48 and states that Mountbatten had palced pressure on the Nizam to opt for accession to India, the failure of the Nizam to do so resulted in the occupation of Hyderabad in 1948. Hyderabad, designated a ‘faithful ally’ by the Britain and also the surviving inheritor of Moghul tradition was swallowed whole in a five day operation by India with British Military advisers (pages 195-196 Ian Stephens Pakistan 1963) Stephens found Mountbatten to be hostile to Pakistan and openly pro-Hindu, possibly because he surmised that Jinnah had refused to allow Mountbatten to become Governor General of Pakistan. Moreover, Mrs Mountbatten of course was even more open to the charms of Jawaharlal Nehru both of whom were enjoying an affair, which did not seem to bother Mountbatten, as long as he could play at being Governor General of India. Mountbatten later in life was able to honestly appraise his performance in partitioning the sub continent and remarked that he had “F_cked it up”( See Stanley Wolpert “Shameful Flight”). The consequence was Pakistan had been deprived of great parts of the Indo Islamic territory such as Lucknow and Delhi. Therefore as Jinnah remarked he was given a moth eaten Pakistan, which was due to the underhand behaviour of Mountbatten and his interference with the Radcliffe Boundary Commission demarcating the border between India and Pakistan, which meant Ferozepore and Gurdaspur did not go to Pakistan as originally intended but to India. Ferozepore had a weapons arsenal which could be used to defend Pakistan and without Gurdaspur, India would have lost Kashmir since it would not have had a land link to Kashmir.
Princely States and India and Pakistan
“The two countries still remained at odds about the principalities whose possession was originally disputed. These were Kashmir, Hyderabad and Junagadh. But if India was right in occupying the first –which seemed much the most questionable- how could she be right in occupying the other two? Her declared reasons, cultural, administrative or legal, had differed radically in each case. She overran or subverted Junagadh, whose Muslim Prince had legally acceded to Pakistan, primarily for cultural reasons. It was a Hindu-majority area, she emphasized. That in itself seemed fair enough. In the case of the much bigger principality of Hyderabad also a Hindu-majority area, its Muslim Prince wanted to remain independent, which legally he was entitled to do. This territory she overran, so far as militarily she could, because its Hindu Prince had acceded to her- as Junagadh’s did to Pakistan

No word spinning could morally substantiate her simultaneous occupation of all three. It outraged logic and commonsense (See Ian Stephens Horned Moon pages 60-61).”

Suggested Reading:

#### 1 | #### Khan Nasrullah | #### Zara at the Court of Oude
Account of love affair between Zara and the British Resident Officer to the Court of Oude. An interesting comparison can be drawn between this tale and the love affair detailed in the White Mughals. £20
#### 2 | #### Stephens Ian | #### Horned Mooon
First Edition hardback in dust wrapper.1953 Chatto and Windus publishers. £25
#### 3 | #### Stephens Ian | #### Pakistan
1963 Benn Publishers First Edition Hardback with dust wrapper, ex library, 288 pages. £20
#### 4 | #### William Dalrymple | #### White Mughals
Hardback first UKedition SIGNED BY William Dalrymple.Fine condition in protected dust wrapper. £35 Buy a cheaper paperback: New or Used Paperback:
#### 5 | #### William Dalrymple | #### White Mughals
Paperback UK edition USED in very good condition. £4
#### 6 | #### Wolpert | #### Shameful Flight
Historical account of partition. First edition in dust wrapper. £18 THE SUNDAY TIME TRAVEL SECTION