India achieved independence on 15 August 1947, but the new nation faced enormous challenges. The task of nation building involved creating a unified and stable country out of a vast and diverse subcontinent, which had been partitioned into India and Pakistan amid great violence. The leaders of the new nation, under the guidance of Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and others, had to deal with three great challenges: the integration of the princely states, the problems of Partition, and the task of establishing a democratic and unified political system.
Nation building is the process by which a country builds a sense of national identity and a stable political order. In 1947, India had to decide what kind of nation it would be: a democracy with universal adult franchise, a secular state with equal rights for all religions, and a republic that would unite its diverse regions, languages and cultures. This chapter examines the process of Partition and its consequences, the integration of the princely states, the challenge of linguistic reorganisation, and the creation of a new political order in independent India.
India's independence came with the Partition of the subcontinent into two nations, India and Pakistan. The partition was based on the two-nation theory, which argued that Hindus and Muslims were two distinct nations and could not live together. However, the drawing of the boundaries, carried out by the British lawyer Sir Cyril Radcliffe, was done hastily and created enormous confusion. The boundaries cut through communities, villages and even families.
The Partition was accompanied by the largest and most terrible migration in human history. Millions of Hindus and Sikhs moved from what became Pakistan to India, and millions of Muslims moved from India to Pakistan. The migration was marked by horrific violence, killing, abduction and the destruction of property. Estimates suggest that up to a million people lost their lives. The trauma of Partition left deep scars on the societies of both India and Pakistan and shaped their mutual relations for decades.
India had to absorb millions of refugees from Pakistan. The task of providing them shelter, food, employment and rehabilitation was enormous. The government set up refugee camps, allocated land and resources, and tried to settle the refugees. The refugee problem was one of the first great tests of the new Indian state. The government under Nehru and Patel handled the rehabilitation with remarkable energy, though the task was far from easy.
At independence, British India consisted of two kinds of territories: the provinces directly administered by the British, and the princely states ruled by native princes under British paramountcy. There were over 500 princely states, covering nearly half of the territory of India. With the withdrawal of British power, these states became formally independent, and the question arose whether they would join India, join Pakistan or remain independent.
The integration of the princely states was one of the greatest achievements of the new nation. The task was entrusted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, with the assistance of V.P. Menon. Patel pursued a policy of persuasion, pressure and, where necessary, the use of force. He appealed to the patriotism of the princes, offered them generous terms such as privy purses, and made it clear that the Indian state would not tolerate a balkanised India. Most princely states joined India willingly.
A few princely states resisted. Junagadh, a state on the western coast, declared its accession to Pakistan despite being surrounded by Indian territory and having a Hindu-majority population. After the ruler fled, the state was integrated into India through a plebiscite. Hyderabad, the largest princely state, whose ruler the Nizam wanted independence, was integrated through a police action in September 1948, when Indian forces moved in and the Nizam surrendered. Kashmir was a special case. Its Hindu ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, wanted to remain independent, but when tribal raiders and Pakistani forces invaded Kashmir in October 1947, he signed the Instrument of Accession to India. This led to the first India-Pakistan war and the division of the state, with India controlling Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan controlling part of it.
In 1947, many feared that India would fragment into several countries. The princely states, if they had remained independent, could have broken the unity of India. Regional, linguistic and communal differences threatened to pull the country apart. The task of nation building was therefore also the task of creating a sense of Indian unity, a common citizenship and a shared identity, while respecting the diversity of the country.
The Constituent Assembly, which began its work in December 1946, framed the Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950. The Constitution established India as a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. It guaranteed fundamental rights to all citizens, abolished untouchability, and provided for universal adult franchise. The Constitution was a remarkable document because it created a common citizenship for a hugely diverse country, giving equal rights to all citizens regardless of religion, caste, gender or region. It also established a federal system in which the states had considerable autonomy, but the union had overriding powers.
The Preamble of the Constitution expresses the ideals of the Indian nation: justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. These ideals were meant to create a nation that would be democratic and inclusive. The Constitution also addressed the specific problems of nation building: it provided safeguards for minority communities, reserved seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and laid down the framework for the linguistic reorganisation of states.
India is a country of extraordinary linguistic diversity, with hundreds of languages and dialects. Soon after independence, there were demands for the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines. The most powerful demand came from the Telugu-speaking people of the Madras presidency, who demanded a separate state of Andhra. In October 1952, Potti Sriramulu began a fast unto death for the creation of Andhra state. His death in December 1952 led to intense pressure on the government, and Andhra was created in 1953. The State Reorganisation Commission was then set up in 1953, and it submitted its report in 1955.
On the basis of the Commission's report, the States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956. It reorganised the states of India on a largely linguistic basis, creating fourteen states and six union territories. The states of the Indian Union were thus reorganised, with most state boundaries following language. This was a major step in nation building because it gave the linguistic communities of India a sense of belonging and political expression within the Indian Union.
The linguistic reorganisation of states was important for several reasons. It recognised the diversity of India and gave each major linguistic community a state in which its language was the official language. This reduced the sense of marginalisation and strengthened the unity of the country. At the same time, the reorganisation was done within the framework of a strong union, and the Constitution provided that Hindi and English would be the official languages of the union. The creation of linguistic states thus combined diversity with unity.
One of the boldest decisions of the new nation was the adoption of universal adult franchise, giving every adult citizen, regardless of caste, class, gender or literacy, the right to vote. This was a revolutionary step, especially in a society marked by deep inequalities. It made India the largest democracy in the world and gave political voice to the poorest and most marginalised sections of society.
The new Indian state was a parliamentary democracy with a federal structure. It was a welfare state, committed to social and economic justice. The Constitution and the political system created by it provided a framework within which the diverse forces of Indian society could compete and cooperate peacefully. The first general elections of 1952, in which millions of Indians, most of them voting for the first time, participated peacefully, was a remarkable achievement and a test of the new democratic order.
By the end of the 1950s, India had achieved a great deal. The princely states had been integrated, the Constitution had been framed, states had been reorganised, and democracy had been established. Yet the challenges of nation building continued. Poverty, inequality, communalism and regional disparities remained. The task of nation building was not a one-time event but an ongoing process, in which the Indian people and the Indian state have to constantly renew their commitment to the ideals of the Constitution.
| Challenge | Nature | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Partition | Division of country, refugees, violence | Rehabilitation, refugee policy |
| Integration of princely states | Over 500 states, some resisting | Sardar Patel's persuasion, pressure, force |
| Unity and democracy | Regional, linguistic, communal diversity | Constitution, federalism, universal franchise |
| State | Ruler | Method of Integration |
|---|---|---|
| Junagadh | Nawab (fled) | Plebiscite, integration into India |
| Hyderabad | Nizam (wanted independence) | Police action, September 1948 |
| Kashmir | Maharaja Hari Singh | Instrument of Accession, October 1947 |
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 15 August 1947 | Independence and Partition |
| 26 January 1950 | Constitution came into force |
| 1952 | First general elections |
| 1953 | State Reorganisation Commission |
| 1956 | States Reorganisation Act |
The challenges of nation building that India faced in 1947 were among the most difficult that any new nation has confronted. The Partition of the subcontinent brought independence at the cost of the largest migration and terrible violence in history, leaving the new state with the enormous task of rehabilitating millions of refugees. The integration of over five hundred princely states, accomplished under the leadership of Sardar Patel, prevented the fragmentation of the country. The framing of the Constitution, which came into force in 1950, created a democratic, secular and federal republic with universal adult franchise, giving voice to all sections of a hugely diverse society. The linguistic reorganisation of states in 1956 gave expression to India's diversity within a strong union. By the end of the 1950s, India had laid the foundations of a stable political order. Nation building, however, was not a one-time task; it remains an ongoing process in which the ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity must be constantly renewed.