Operation Polo 1948: India's Annexation of Hyderabad State

Operation Polo was the Indian military operation of 13–18 September 1948 that brought the princely state of Hyderabad into the Indian Union. Hyderabad, ruled by the Nizam, had refused to join India after independence. Indian troops overcame its forces in five days, but the swift victory was followed by communal violence in which tens of thousands of people were killed.

Background

When Britain left the subcontinent in 1947, more than 500 princely states, ruled by local monarchs under British protection, were expected to join either India or Pakistan. Almost all did so within weeks, but Hyderabad, Junagadh and Kashmir did not.

Hyderabad was the largest and richest of these states, with a population of about 16 million, roughly 85 percent of them Hindu. Its ruler, the Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, was a Muslim and one of the wealthiest men in the world. Its government, army and nobility were dominated by Muslims. Surrounded by Indian territory, the Nizam hoped to keep Hyderabad independent, possibly with ties to Pakistan.

In November 1947 India and Hyderabad signed a one-year Standstill Agreement preserving existing arrangements while talks continued. Tensions rose instead. The Razakars, a militia of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen led by Qasim Razvi, grew to tens of thousands of members and attacked Hindu villages and political opponents. At the same time, a communist-led peasant rebellion in the Telangana region challenged landlords and the state.

The decision to act

India’s deputy prime minister and states minister, Vallabhbhai Patel, insisted that an independent Hyderabad in the heart of India was unacceptable. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was more hesitant, wary of international opinion and the risk of communal reprisals. In August 1948 the Nizam’s government appealed to the UN Security Council.

As violence and border incidents continued, the Indian cabinet approved military action. Operation Polo began on 13 September 1948, two days after the death of Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

The operation

Indian forces under the overall command of Lieutenant-General Rajendrasinhji, with Major-General J. N. Chaudhuri leading the main thrust from Sholapur in the west, advanced from several directions. Armoured columns moved rapidly along the main roads towards the capital.

Hyderabad’s army, commanded by Major-General Syed Ahmed El Edroos, was small and lightly equipped, and the Razakars were no match for regular troops. Resistance was strongest in the first two days and quickly collapsed. On 17 September the Nizam announced a ceasefire on the radio, and on 18 September El Edroos formally surrendered to Chaudhuri.

Indian official figures put Indian losses at 32 killed and 97 wounded. The same figures recorded about 800 Hyderabad soldiers and about 1,370 Razakars killed.

Aftermath and violence

The fall of the Nizam’s government was followed by a wave of killings, looting and rape, largely directed against Muslims, in parts of the state, particularly the Marathwada districts. Some attacks were acts of revenge for Razakar atrocities.

Nehru sent a goodwill mission led by Pandit Sundarlal to investigate. Its report, which was kept confidential for decades and only made public in 2013, estimated that 27,000 to 40,000 people had died. Some later writers have suggested higher figures, and the scale of the violence remains debated.

Chaudhuri served as military governor until December 1949. Qasim Razvi was imprisoned and later allowed to leave for Pakistan. Hyderabad’s complaint at the UN lapsed. The Nizam became Rajpramukh, the constitutional head of Hyderabad State, in 1950.

The end of the Nizam’s government did not immediately end the Telangana peasant rebellion. Indian troops and police now fought the communist-led guerrillas, who had seized and redistributed land in many villages, and the armed struggle was formally called off only in October 1951. A civilian government took office in Hyderabad in 1950, and the state held its first elections in 1952, as part of India’s first general election.

Legacy

Hyderabad State was broken up in the reorganisation of Indian states on linguistic lines in 1956. Its Telugu-speaking areas joined Andhra Pradesh, which was itself divided in 2014 to create Telangana, while Marathi and Kannada areas went to Bombay State and Mysore.

The meaning of 17 September is still disputed. Some celebrate it as the day Hyderabad was liberated or united with India, while others recall the violence that followed. Operation Polo, along with the conflicts over Junagadh and the First Kashmir War, shows how difficult the integration of the princely states was after Indian independence.

Timeline

• 1947, 15 August: India becomes independent; Hyderabad does not accede.
• 1947, 29 November: India and Hyderabad sign the Standstill Agreement.
• 1948, August: Hyderabad appeals to the UN Security Council.
• 1948, 13 September: Indian forces enter Hyderabad.
• 1948, 17 September: The Nizam announces a ceasefire.
• 1948, 18 September: The Hyderabad army surrenders to Major-General Chaudhuri.
• 1950, 26 January: The Nizam becomes Rajpramukh of Hyderabad State.
• 1956, 1 November: Hyderabad State is dissolved in the reorganisation of states.

Why it matters

Operation Polo completed the integration of the largest princely state and secured the territorial unity of independent India. Yet the communal killings that followed, long hidden from public view, are a reminder that the end of princely rule came at a heavy human cost.