SLIVERS OF A NATION

In the creative fiction 565, Mallika Ravikumar unravels the gripping, lesser-known stories of integration of India's princely states—where idealism, intrigue, betrayal, and courage shaped the nation's transition from scattered monarchy to modern republic

- SANJEEV CHOPRA

The Statue of Unity - the world's tallest statue at 182 meters (600 feet) - at Kevadia on the banks of the Sardar Sarovar Dam is now the venue for Aarambh, a weeklong programme for all the young entrants to the civil services of India to pay their homage to the man who united India - both literally and metaphorically. There, in the museum, are on display the letters of accession of many of the 565-odd princely states, which bear the signature of the ruler of the state, followed by their acceptance by Governor General Mountbatten.

The rulers who signed the instrument of accession were a divergent lot - these included the rulers of twenty-one gun salute states such as Hyderabad, Mysore, Baroda, Gwalior and J&K - states with fabled riches, for whom Kipling said Providence created the maharajas to offer mankind a spectacle - to Vijanones in Kathiawar: states whose territory was less than one square mile, in which just two hundred souls resided, and whose annual income was less than Rs 500.

While each of these accessions to India is a story waiting to be told - for it marked one of the most successful transitions from a feudal order to a democratic polity - Mallika Ravikumar, in her creative non-fiction book for young adults, has captured thirteen unique slivers of our history: Travancore, which felt that it was better off as an independent country; Bhopal, which wanted to create a Princestan; Gwalior, which was in two minds about supporting Bhopal or joining the Dominion of India; Indore's vacillation; Bikaner's procrastination till Ferozepur was finally allotted to India by Radcliffe; Jinnah's blank cheque to Jodhpur; and the firm commitment of UP's Muslim riyasat of Rampur to India, which resisted all efforts by Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, who had come to cajole the Nawab into joining Pakistan. But Rampur was one of the first to accede to India.