September 17 marks one of the darkest days in South Asian history. On this day in 1948, India forcefully annexed the independent state of Hyderabad through military action, ending its sovereignty in a brutal manner.
Hyderabad had been an autonomous state since 1724, ruled by the Nizam, or Administrator of the Realm. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, Hyderabad became the first princely state to come under British suzerainty through a subsidiary alliance, though it maintained significant control over its internal affairs.
By 1901, Hyderabad was one of the richest states in South Asia, with a revenue surpassing even Bengal’s. When India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the British left the princely states with the choice to join either nation or remain independent. On June 11, 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad declared his intention to remain independent and not join the Constituent Assembly of either India or Pakistan.
India then played the “minority card,” leveraging the fact that a large portion of Hyderabad’s population was Hindu, even though it was ruled by a Muslim Nizam. The Nizam’s military was small and poorly equipped, leaving him in a vulnerable position. He sought help from the United Nations and Britain.
However, India’s influence prevailed. Lord Mountbatten, initially supportive of Hyderabad’s independence, later opposed it in favor of his close friend, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The Nizam’s plea to the UN went unanswered. Pakistan, which supported Hyderabad, was in mourning over the recent death of its leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on September 11, and could not offer immediate assistance. Nehru took advantage of the situation, and the Indian military invaded Hyderabad, in an operation called ‘Operation Polo’, killing thousands of Muslims in the process.
According to the Sunderlal Committee report, which was commissioned by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru but never officially published, between 27,000 and 40,000 people were killed, with many instances of arson, looting, and mass murder, particularly targeting Muslims.
Hyderabad appealed to the UN under international law, but the scheduled meeting was postponed from September 16 to September 20, allowing India to seize the state by September 17, 1948. The sovereign Muslim state of Hyderabad was thus lost.
The Indian government, supported by the dictator Sheikh Hasina, had perhaps, similar intentions for Bangladesh, but student-led movements thwarted these efforts, securing the nation’s independence by the grace of Allah.
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