Junagadh State

Junagadh State
જુનાગઢ રિયાસત
Princely State of British India
←
1807–1948 →
Flag Coat of arms
History
 • Established 1807
 • Indian integration of Junagadh 1948
Area
 • 1921 8,643 km2 (3,337 sq mi)
Population
 • 1921 465,493 
Density 53.9 /km2  (139.5 /sq mi)
Today part of Gujarat, India
Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "article name needed". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Junagadh was a princely state in Gujarat ruled by a Muslim Babi Dynasty in British India, until its integration into the Indian Union in 1948.

History

Muhammad Sher Khan Babi was the founder of the Babi Dynasty of Junagadh State dynasty. His descendants, the Babi Nawabs of Junagadh, conquered large territories in southern Saurashtra. Mohammad Sher Khan Babi, a Babi Khel Pathan who owed allegiance to the Mughal governor of Gujarat subah, founded the state of Junagadh and declared independence in 1730 after the Maratha invasion. Junagadh remained a tributary to the Maratha Empire,[1] until it came under British suzerainty in 1807, following the Second Anglo-Maratha War.

In 1807, the Junagadh State became a British protectorate and The East India Company took control of the state. By 1818, the Saurashtra area, along with other princely states of Kathiawar, were separately administrated under Kathiawar Agency by British India.

In 1947, upon the independence and partition of India, the last Babi dynasty ruler of the state, Mohammad Mahabat Khanji III, decided to merge it into the newly formed Pakistan. However, the Hindu citizens, who formed the majority of the population, revolted, leading to several events and also a plebiscite, resulting in the integration of Junagadh in to India.[2]

Rulers

Main article: Nawab of Junagarh

The Nawabs of Junagadh belonged to Pathan Babi khel tribe. They were granted a 13 gun salute by the British authorities:[3]

Junagadh Nawabs and state officials, 19th century.
Mohammad Mahabat Khanji II, the Nawab of Junagarh, with young, Mohammad Bahadur Khanji III. 1870s.
Bahadur Khanji III (r. 1882-1892), Nawab of Junagadh, and state officials, 1880s.
Mohammad Rasul Khanji, Nawab of Junagadh, Bahaduddinbhai Hasainbhai, Wazier, Junagadh, 1890s.

One of the Junagadh family resides in Ahmedabad India—descendants of the family of Valid Ahad Shehzada Shri Sherzaman Khanji Rasul Khanji Babi Bahadur, who was the elder brother of last ruling Nawab Sahab Shri HH Nawab Sahab Shri Mahabat Khanji III Rasul khanji. The present head of the family, Darbar Sahab Shri Shamsher Ali Khanji Hayat Khanji Babi Sahab of Devgam, itself an offshoot of Junagadh state, is the great grand son of Valid Ahad Shehzada Sahab. His representative is his eldest nephew Sahibzada Muzammil Hayat Khanji Anis Mohammad Khanji Babi.

The actress Parveen Babi was from this Junagadh family.

How Junagadh became part of India

During the period spanning the independence and partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, the 565 princely states that existed under British rule were given a choice of acceding to either India or Pakistan. Although the states were theoretically free to choose, Mountbatten stated that "geographic compulsions" meant that most of them must choose India. In effect, Mountbatten took the position that only states that shared a common border with Pakistan could choose to accede to it.

On September 15, 1947, Nawab Mohammad Mahabat Khanji III of Junagadh, a princely state located on the south-western end of Gujarat and having no common border with Pakistan, chose to accede to Pakistan ignoring Mountbatten's views, arguing that Junagadh adjoined Pakistan by sea. The rulers of two states that were subject to the suzerainty of Junagadh — Mangrol and Babariawad — reacted by declaring their independence from Junagadh and acceding to India. In response, the nawab of Junagadh militarily occupied the two states. Rulers of the other neighbouring states reacted angrily, sending troops to the Junagadh frontier, and appealed to the Government of India for assistance. A group of Junagadhi people, led by Samaldas Gandhi, formed a government-in-exile, the Aarzi Hukumat ("temporary government").

India believed that if Junagadh was permitted to accede to Pakistan, communal tension already simmering in Gujarat would worsen, and refused to accept the Nawab's choice of accession. The government pointed out that the state was 80% Hindu, and called for a plebiscite to decide the question of accession. India cut off supplies of fuel and coal to Junagadh, severed air and postal links, sent troops to the frontier, and occupied the principaliites of Mangrol and Babariawad that had acceded to India.

Pakistan agreed to discuss a plebiscite, subject to the withdrawal of Indian troops, a condition India rejected. On 26 October, the Nawab and his family fled to Pakistan following clashes with Indian troops. Before leaving, the Nawab had emptied the state treasury of its cash and securities.

On 7 November, Junagadh's court, facing collapse, invited the Government of India to take over the State's administration. The Dewan of Junagadh, Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto, the father of the more famous Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and Grand Father of Benzir Bhutto, decided to invite the Government of India to intervene. Bhutto wrote a letter to Mr. Buch, the Regional Commissioner of Saurashtra in the Government of India inviting India to Intervene. The Government of Pakistan protested, saying that since the Nawab had chosen to accede to Pakistan, the Dewan had no authority to negotiate a settlement with India. Also, if India could acquire Kashmir (with an overwhelming Muslim majority) because its ruler had decided to accede to India, then Pakistan could claim Junagadh.

The government of India rejected the protests of Pakistan and accepted the invitation of the Dewan to intervene. A plebiscite was conducted in February 1948, which went almost unanimously in favour of accession to India. Junagadh became a part of the Indian state of Saurashtra until November 1, 1956, when Saurashtra became part of Bombay state. In 1960, Bombay state was split into the linguistic states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, in which Junagadh was located and since then Junagadh is part of Gujarat.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Georg Pfeffer and Deepak Kumar Behera, Contemporary Society: Concept of tribal society, p. 198
  2. ↑ Gandhi, Rajmohan (1991). Patel: A Life. India: Navajivan. p. 292.
  3. ↑ Junagadh Princely State (13 gun salute)
  4. ↑ Nawabs of Junagadh British Library.

External links

Coordinates: 21°31′N 70°28′E / 21.52°N 70.47°E / 21.52; 70.47


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