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Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: The Man Who Unified India
As prime minister of Britain, Winston Churchill had ordered the preparation of an imperial strategy with the intention of Balkanizing India and tightening Britain's post-war hold over her. The strategy envisaged two Pakistans, one in the west and the other in the east, both large in size at India's expense; the west to include the non-Muslim east Punjab; the east, the whole of Bengal (despite Hindus comprising almost half the population), and the predominantly Hindu Assam. Within her borders, India was to be Balkanized with the creation of independent confederations of princely states. Attlee's policy statement of 20 February 1947 was to implement the same, and Mountbatten was given the mandate to transfer power and quit India by June 1948, a date that was advanced to August 1947. However, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel foiled Churchill's strategy. This book examines Patel's extraordinary contribution, from his unflinching support to Gandhi's satyagrahas and the Indian freedom struggle, to his farsighted and courageous approach in building a strong, integrated India.
362 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 30, 2018
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March 15, 2021
Book: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: The Man Who Unified India
Author: Balraj Krishna
Publisher: HarperCollins India; 1st edition (30 December 2018)
Language: English
Paperback: 340 pages
Dimensions: 20 x 14 x 4 cm
Country of Origin: India
Price: 295/-
What was Vallabhbhai?” asked Rajagopalachari, and he himself answered: “What inspiration, courage, confidence and force incarnate Vallabhbhai was . . . We will not see the likes of him again.”
Nehru called him “the Builder and Consolidator of New India . . . a Great Captain of our forces in the struggle for freedom . . . a tower of strength which revived wavering hearts.”
Gandhi found in him a colleague “most trustworthy, staunch and brave”.
Vinoba Bhave called him “the accurate bowman of Gandhi’s struggle, his disciple and his GOC. He knew no retreat”.
Patel’s international acclaim was uniformly expressive. The London Times wrote of him on his demise: “Little known outside his own country, ‘Sardarji’ neither sought nor won the international reputation achieved by Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Nehru. Yet, he made up with them the triumvirate that gave shape to the India of today.”
The Manchester Guardian’s accolade was more specific: “Without Patel, Gandhi’s ideas would have had less practical influence, and Nehru’s idealism less scope.
Patel was not only the organiser of the fight for freedom, but also the architect of the new State when the fight was over. The same man is seldom successful both as rebel and statesman. Patel was the exception.” – [Chapter 1, Early Years]
This book would be amongst the top three biographies written on India’s Bismarck.
Patel, along with Gandhi and Nehru, was a primary member of the triumvirate which conducted the last phase of India’s freedom struggle. He was the “saviour” and the “builder”.
This book tells you, how Patel non-violently, demolished the princely order Lord Wellesley had created; and in January 1946, he had almost buried Pakistan in Karachi.
Post-independence, Patel was the creator of New India just as Surendranath Banerjea was the father of political consciousness to the newly educated class of Indians in the 19th century.
The author has divided his book into three primary sections:
1) Direct Role
2) Supportive Role
3) Appendices
As far as his direct and accommodating roles were concerned, his machinations have been divided by the author into two groups: I) As Saviour and II) As Builder
I) As Saviour:
Patel saved India from the machinations of the ruling British, and thereby did not allow large Hindu majority areas to fall into the hands of Jinnah. In 1946, in an undivided India, the Cabinet Mission was giving away to Jinnah a Pakistan comprising the whole of Punjab and Bengal, besides Hindu Assam, as fully autonomous parts of Groups B and C. Gandhi favoured the plan since it preserved India’s unity.
In his “paternal pride” as Congress president, Azad seemed totally committed, confident of securing Congress acceptance.
He thought that it would not only keep India united, but also safeguard Muslim interests. Nehru, however, voiced his opposition to grouping, as it related to the NWFP and Assam.
He even suggested that there was “a big probability” that “there will be no grouping”.
Patel was more direct than others in telling Wavell that the mission’s “proposed solution was ‘worse than Pakistan’, and he could not recommend it to Congress”.
India’s partition, as conceived by Churchill in 1945 as Britain’s prime minister, was implied in Attlee’s policy statement of 20 February 1947. It clearly meant the creation of Pakistan in one form or other, but in a divided India. Under it, too, Jinnah was to get the whole of Punjab, Bengal, and Assam.
Patel right away countered it with a policy statement on behalf of the Congress, demanding a division of Punjab—and of Bengal by implication—thereby saving Assam for India. Assam was predominantly Hindu, whereas in Bengal the Hindus were 49% as against 51% Muslims.
II) As Builder:
Attlee’s statement of 20 February categorically stated transference of power to the princely states, simultaneously with India and Pakistan, thus making the princes completely independent on 15 August. This would have led to the creation of a “Third Dominion”, comprising confederations of princely states, and thereby throwing open possibilities of some of the states going over to Pakistan, in “association”, if not “accession”.
This book discusses some of the conspiracies hatched in that direction, which Patel scotched with rare boldness, backed by his towering personality that exuded unquestioning friendliness towards the princes.
The states involved were major ones like Travancore, Hyderabad, Junagadh, Jamnagar, and Jodhpur, and some Central Indian states.
Through his diplomatic manoeuvres, Patel secured “accession” of all states prior to 15 August, before they could be made independent on par with India and Pakistan, thereby gaining equal status.
The exceptions were those of Junagadh and Hyderabad—Kashmir too, but it was under Nehru’s charge.
On the ashes of a non-operational empire, Patel created a New India—strong, united, put in a steel-frame. That frame was the Indian Administrative Service, which kept a subcontinent bound together as a single unit despite disparities of politics and economy.
As saviour and builder, Patel played decisive roles that took India to new pinnacles of success and glory after centuries.
Yet, the saviour and builder of New India was accused of liability for the partition of India; and the assassination of Gandhi.
Patel never asked for India’s partition. He and other Congress leaders were opposed to it. It was thrust upon them by the British through Attlee’s policy statement of 20 February.
Patel merely served India’s interests by making partition conditional upon division of Punjab and Bengal. He could not have left the Punjabi and Bengali Hindus, as well as the Sikhs, to the cruel mercies of the Muslim League after the genocide of August 1946 in Kolkata. He also looked beyond, in gaining a free hand in the integration of over 560 States.
The 340 pages summed up, tell the reader of the following major achievements of Sardar:
1. Patel was the backbone of Gandhi’s satyagrahas. During the Dandi March in 1930, he played the role of John the Baptist to Gandhi as a forerunner who “baptised” people en route. In a speech as Wasna, on his way to Dandi, Gandhi admitted: “I could succeed in Kheda [in 1918] on account of Vallabhbhai, and it is on account of him that I am here today.”
2. In the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928, Patel played the role of a Lenin. The British-owned and edited Times of India wrote that Patel had “instituted there a Bolshevik regime in which he plays the role of Lenin”.
3. As chairman of the Congress Parliamentary Board, Patel played the role of a strict boss in the conduct of the provincial elections in 1937. In that capacity he declared: “When the Congress roller is in action, all pebbles and stones will be levelled.” He did not spare senior leaders like K. F. Nariman and N. B. Khare; not even the indomitable Subhash Chandra Bose. He was an adamant disciplinarian. That was a major donation to the party’s unity and strength.
4. Without Patel’s support, Lord Wavell could not have formed the interim government in August 1946, nor could Lord Mountbatten, in 1947, have implemented transfer of power smoothly and within the time-frame. In return, Patel got for India half of Punjab and half of Bengal and the whole of Assam. Patel also got termination of paramountcy, which enabled him to achieve integration of over 560 princely states. That was his master-stroke, which demolished Churchill’s imperial plan. .
What was that strategy? An account is given in the chapter ‘A Churchillian Plan: Partition of India’.
5. Briefly discussed is what would have been India’s position in Kashmir, Tibet and Nepal had Patel’s proposals been implemented. Kashmir had been taken away from Patel’s charge by Nehru under Sheikh Abdullah’s pressure, while Tibet and Nepal were foreign territories straightforwardly under Nehru’s charge.
6. Philip Mason (ICS) has written in the Dictionary of National Biography: “Patel has been compared to Bismarck but the parallel cannot be carried far. Patel was courageous, honest and realistic, but far from cynical.”
7. On his demise on 15 December 1950, the Manchester Guardian (now Guardian) wrote: “Without Patel, Gandhi’s ideas would have had less sensible influence and Nehru’s idealism less scope.”
A must-read for every student of Indian history!!
Author: Balraj Krishna
Publisher: HarperCollins India; 1st edition (30 December 2018)
Language: English
Paperback: 340 pages
Dimensions: 20 x 14 x 4 cm
Country of Origin: India
Price: 295/-
What was Vallabhbhai?” asked Rajagopalachari, and he himself answered: “What inspiration, courage, confidence and force incarnate Vallabhbhai was . . . We will not see the likes of him again.”
Nehru called him “the Builder and Consolidator of New India . . . a Great Captain of our forces in the struggle for freedom . . . a tower of strength which revived wavering hearts.”
Gandhi found in him a colleague “most trustworthy, staunch and brave”.
Vinoba Bhave called him “the accurate bowman of Gandhi’s struggle, his disciple and his GOC. He knew no retreat”.
Patel’s international acclaim was uniformly expressive. The London Times wrote of him on his demise: “Little known outside his own country, ‘Sardarji’ neither sought nor won the international reputation achieved by Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Nehru. Yet, he made up with them the triumvirate that gave shape to the India of today.”
The Manchester Guardian’s accolade was more specific: “Without Patel, Gandhi’s ideas would have had less practical influence, and Nehru’s idealism less scope.
Patel was not only the organiser of the fight for freedom, but also the architect of the new State when the fight was over. The same man is seldom successful both as rebel and statesman. Patel was the exception.” – [Chapter 1, Early Years]
This book would be amongst the top three biographies written on India’s Bismarck.
Patel, along with Gandhi and Nehru, was a primary member of the triumvirate which conducted the last phase of India’s freedom struggle. He was the “saviour” and the “builder”.
This book tells you, how Patel non-violently, demolished the princely order Lord Wellesley had created; and in January 1946, he had almost buried Pakistan in Karachi.
Post-independence, Patel was the creator of New India just as Surendranath Banerjea was the father of political consciousness to the newly educated class of Indians in the 19th century.
The author has divided his book into three primary sections:
1) Direct Role
2) Supportive Role
3) Appendices
As far as his direct and accommodating roles were concerned, his machinations have been divided by the author into two groups: I) As Saviour and II) As Builder
I) As Saviour:
Patel saved India from the machinations of the ruling British, and thereby did not allow large Hindu majority areas to fall into the hands of Jinnah. In 1946, in an undivided India, the Cabinet Mission was giving away to Jinnah a Pakistan comprising the whole of Punjab and Bengal, besides Hindu Assam, as fully autonomous parts of Groups B and C. Gandhi favoured the plan since it preserved India’s unity.
In his “paternal pride” as Congress president, Azad seemed totally committed, confident of securing Congress acceptance.
He thought that it would not only keep India united, but also safeguard Muslim interests. Nehru, however, voiced his opposition to grouping, as it related to the NWFP and Assam.
He even suggested that there was “a big probability” that “there will be no grouping”.
Patel was more direct than others in telling Wavell that the mission’s “proposed solution was ‘worse than Pakistan’, and he could not recommend it to Congress”.
India’s partition, as conceived by Churchill in 1945 as Britain’s prime minister, was implied in Attlee’s policy statement of 20 February 1947. It clearly meant the creation of Pakistan in one form or other, but in a divided India. Under it, too, Jinnah was to get the whole of Punjab, Bengal, and Assam.
Patel right away countered it with a policy statement on behalf of the Congress, demanding a division of Punjab—and of Bengal by implication—thereby saving Assam for India. Assam was predominantly Hindu, whereas in Bengal the Hindus were 49% as against 51% Muslims.
II) As Builder:
Attlee’s statement of 20 February categorically stated transference of power to the princely states, simultaneously with India and Pakistan, thus making the princes completely independent on 15 August. This would have led to the creation of a “Third Dominion”, comprising confederations of princely states, and thereby throwing open possibilities of some of the states going over to Pakistan, in “association”, if not “accession”.
This book discusses some of the conspiracies hatched in that direction, which Patel scotched with rare boldness, backed by his towering personality that exuded unquestioning friendliness towards the princes.
The states involved were major ones like Travancore, Hyderabad, Junagadh, Jamnagar, and Jodhpur, and some Central Indian states.
Through his diplomatic manoeuvres, Patel secured “accession” of all states prior to 15 August, before they could be made independent on par with India and Pakistan, thereby gaining equal status.
The exceptions were those of Junagadh and Hyderabad—Kashmir too, but it was under Nehru’s charge.
On the ashes of a non-operational empire, Patel created a New India—strong, united, put in a steel-frame. That frame was the Indian Administrative Service, which kept a subcontinent bound together as a single unit despite disparities of politics and economy.
As saviour and builder, Patel played decisive roles that took India to new pinnacles of success and glory after centuries.
Yet, the saviour and builder of New India was accused of liability for the partition of India; and the assassination of Gandhi.
Patel never asked for India’s partition. He and other Congress leaders were opposed to it. It was thrust upon them by the British through Attlee’s policy statement of 20 February.
Patel merely served India’s interests by making partition conditional upon division of Punjab and Bengal. He could not have left the Punjabi and Bengali Hindus, as well as the Sikhs, to the cruel mercies of the Muslim League after the genocide of August 1946 in Kolkata. He also looked beyond, in gaining a free hand in the integration of over 560 States.
The 340 pages summed up, tell the reader of the following major achievements of Sardar:
1. Patel was the backbone of Gandhi’s satyagrahas. During the Dandi March in 1930, he played the role of John the Baptist to Gandhi as a forerunner who “baptised” people en route. In a speech as Wasna, on his way to Dandi, Gandhi admitted: “I could succeed in Kheda [in 1918] on account of Vallabhbhai, and it is on account of him that I am here today.”
2. In the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928, Patel played the role of a Lenin. The British-owned and edited Times of India wrote that Patel had “instituted there a Bolshevik regime in which he plays the role of Lenin”.
3. As chairman of the Congress Parliamentary Board, Patel played the role of a strict boss in the conduct of the provincial elections in 1937. In that capacity he declared: “When the Congress roller is in action, all pebbles and stones will be levelled.” He did not spare senior leaders like K. F. Nariman and N. B. Khare; not even the indomitable Subhash Chandra Bose. He was an adamant disciplinarian. That was a major donation to the party’s unity and strength.
4. Without Patel’s support, Lord Wavell could not have formed the interim government in August 1946, nor could Lord Mountbatten, in 1947, have implemented transfer of power smoothly and within the time-frame. In return, Patel got for India half of Punjab and half of Bengal and the whole of Assam. Patel also got termination of paramountcy, which enabled him to achieve integration of over 560 princely states. That was his master-stroke, which demolished Churchill’s imperial plan. .
What was that strategy? An account is given in the chapter ‘A Churchillian Plan: Partition of India’.
5. Briefly discussed is what would have been India’s position in Kashmir, Tibet and Nepal had Patel’s proposals been implemented. Kashmir had been taken away from Patel’s charge by Nehru under Sheikh Abdullah’s pressure, while Tibet and Nepal were foreign territories straightforwardly under Nehru’s charge.
6. Philip Mason (ICS) has written in the Dictionary of National Biography: “Patel has been compared to Bismarck but the parallel cannot be carried far. Patel was courageous, honest and realistic, but far from cynical.”
7. On his demise on 15 December 1950, the Manchester Guardian (now Guardian) wrote: “Without Patel, Gandhi’s ideas would have had less sensible influence and Nehru’s idealism less scope.”
A must-read for every student of Indian history!!
September 29, 2019
A splendidly written book about one of the key architects of modern India - unarguably the most instrumental architect (for the shape and form) of the Indian sub continent. The author has done a tremendous job of researching the journey of Sardar Patel ji's life and presenting the awe-inspiring journey of the man brilliantly. The book provides glimpses of his early years, his role in the various Satyagrahas' in the early 20th century, his pragmatism in the partition of India, the respect he commanded from various sections across India, Pakistan and the British representatives, his foresightedness in setting up the IAS and his use of multiple methodologies in unifying the various princely states into the country we know as India today :) .
Through the book one learns of his approach of listening towards various view points, then making decisions and sticking to them. His was an approach that had both gentleness and firm-handedness. These qualities, alongwith his steadfast love towards our Motherland helped him always do what he considered is right for India and helped us not only gain independence from foreign rule but also get our Country in her current form.
Through the book one learns of his approach of listening towards various view points, then making decisions and sticking to them. His was an approach that had both gentleness and firm-handedness. These qualities, alongwith his steadfast love towards our Motherland helped him always do what he considered is right for India and helped us not only gain independence from foreign rule but also get our Country in her current form.
August 1, 2020
No one can match the stature of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The more you read about him, more you realise that how great he was. The iron man of India single handedly assimilated more than 560 Princely States into the Indian union. A must-read book
For more information about this book you can visit my website - https://dontbignorant.in/sardar-valla...
For more information about this book you can visit my website - https://dontbignorant.in/sardar-valla...
January 22, 2020
About Book:
The author in this book gives various account of one of the most important political figure of India during its independence. He was very vital during final negotiations of partition, accession of princely states to India, creation of unified administrative service aka IAS and freedom struggle of India.
Spoilers:
Called as Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel single handedly brought about the unification of India, which was balkanised by British on its completion of Indian occupation. He through his sense of realism and decisiveness was able to integrate Hyderabad and Kashmir to India at crucial time.
Had it been destined and if Sardar Vallabhbhai would have been the Prime Minister of India, Had it been not for his early demise after indenpendence, India today would have been hopefully in much better shape today.
The author in this book gives various account of one of the most important political figure of India during its independence. He was very vital during final negotiations of partition, accession of princely states to India, creation of unified administrative service aka IAS and freedom struggle of India.
Spoilers:
Called as Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel single handedly brought about the unification of India, which was balkanised by British on its completion of Indian occupation. He through his sense of realism and decisiveness was able to integrate Hyderabad and Kashmir to India at crucial time.
Had it been destined and if Sardar Vallabhbhai would have been the Prime Minister of India, Had it been not for his early demise after indenpendence, India today would have been hopefully in much better shape today.
August 22, 2021
Wonderful book, just that such books don't get enough promotion. It's unfortunate that Our Great Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel could not be India's first Prime Minister, but I am sure that he played bigger role being India's first Home Minister than any other leader or Prime Minister could have ever played. He not only saved the nation and the people but also saved India's image and maintained integrity.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews