Editing Princely state (section)

===India===
{{Main|Political integration of India}}
At the time of [[Partition of India|Indian independence]] on 15 August 1947, India was divided into two sets of territories, the first being the territories of "[[British India]]", which were under the direct control of the [[India Office]] in London and the [[Governor-General of India|governor-general of India]], and the second being the "princely states", the territories over which [[the Crown]] had [[suzerainty]], but which were under the control of their hereditary rulers. In addition, there were several colonial enclaves controlled by France and Portugal. The integration of these territories into [[Dominion of India]], that had been created by the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British Parliament, was a declared objective of the [[Indian National Congress]], which the [[Government of India]] pursued over the years 1947 to 1949. Through a combination of tactics, [[Sardar]] [[Vallabhbhai Patel]] and [[V. P. Menon]] in the months immediately preceding and following the independence convinced the rulers of almost all of the hundreds of princely states to accede to India. In a speech in January 1948, Vallabhbhai Patel said:

{{blockquote|As you are all aware, on the lapse of Paramountcy every Indian State became a separate independent entity and our first task of consolidating about 550 States was on the basis of accession to the Indian Dominion on three subjects. Barring Hyderabad and Junagadh all the states which are contiguous to India acceded to Indian Dominion. Subsequently, Kashmir also came in... Some Rulers who were quick to read the writing on the wall, gave responsible government to their people; Cochin being the most illustrious example. In Travancore, there was a short struggle, but there, too, the Ruler soon recognised the aspiration of his people and agreed to introduce a constitution in which all powers would be transferred to the people and he would function as a constitutional Ruler.<ref>R. P. Bhargava (1992) ''The Chamber of Princes'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=BAQgNE1uSEgC&pg=PA313 p. 313]</ref>}}

Although this process successfully integrated the vast majority of princely states into India, it was not as successful in relation to a few states, notably the former princely state of [[Kashmir and Jammu (princely state)|Kashmir]], whose Maharaja delayed signing the instrument of accession into India until his territories were under the threat of invasion by Pakistan, and the state of [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]], whose ruler decided to remain independent and was subsequently defeated by the [[Operation Polo]] invasion.

Having secured their accession, Sardar Patel and V. P. Menon then proceeded, in a step-by-step process, to secure and extend the central government's authority over these states and to transform their administrations until, by 1956, there was little difference between the territories that had formerly been part of British India and those that had been princely states. Simultaneously, the Government of India, through a combination of diplomatic and economic pressure, acquired control over most of the remaining European colonial exclaves on the subcontinent. Fed up with the protracted and stubborn resistance of the Portuguese government; in 1961 the [[Indian Army]] [[Annexation of Goa|invaded and annexed]] [[Portuguese India]].<ref>Praval, Major K.C. (2009). Indian Army after Independence. New Delhi: Lancer. p. 214. {{ISBN|978-1-935501-10-7}}.</ref> These territories, like the princely states, were also integrated into the Republic of India.

As the final step, in 1971, the 26th amendment<ref>{{Citation|url=http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend26.htm|title=The Constitution (26 Amendment) Act, 1971|publisher=Government of India|work=indiacode.nic.in|year=1971|access-date=9 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206041333/http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend26.htm|archive-date=6 December 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> to the [[Constitution of India]] withdrew recognition of the princes as rulers, took away their remaining privileges, and abolished the remuneration granted to them by [[Privy Purse in India|privy purses]].

As per the terms of accession, the erstwhile Indian princes received [[Privy Purse in India|privy purses]] (government allowances), and initially retained their statuses, privileges, and autonomy in internal matters during a transitional period which lasted until 1956. During this time, the former princely states were merged into unions, each of which was headed by a former ruling prince with the title of ''Rajpramukh'' (ruling chief), equivalent to a state governor.<ref>Wilhelm von Pochhammer, ''India's road to nationhood: a political history of the subcontinent'' (1982) ch 57</ref> In 1956, the position of ''Rajpramukh'' was abolished and the federations dissolved, the former principalities becoming part of Indian states. The states which acceded to Pakistan retained their status until the promulgation of a new constitution in 1956, when most became part of the province of [[West Pakistan]]; a few of the former states retained their autonomy until 1969 when they were fully integrated into Pakistan. The Indian government abolished the privy purses in 1971, followed by the government of Pakistan in 1972.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

In July 1946, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] pointedly observed that no princely state could prevail militarily against the army of independent India.<ref name="books.google.co.in">{{Cite book|last1=Menon|first1=Shivshankar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eaWWDwAAQBAJ|title=India and Asian Geopolitics: The Past, Present|date=20 April 2021|isbn=978-0-670-09129-4|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|pages=34}}</ref> In January 1947, Nehru said that independent India would not accept the [[divine right of kings]].<ref>Lumby, E. W. R. 1954. ''The Transfer of Power in India, 1945–1947''. London: [[George Allen and Unwin|George Allen & Unwin]]. p. 228</ref> In May, 1947, he declared that any princely state which refused to join the [[Constituent Assembly of India|Constituent Assembly]] would be treated as an enemy state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=172053|title=Sardar Patel – Man who United India|date=30 October 2017|first=Aaditya|last=Tiwari|website=Press Information Bureau }}</ref> There were officially 565 princely states when India and Pakistan became independent in 1947, but the great majority had contracted with the British [[Governor-General of India|
viceroy]] to provide public services and tax collection. Only 21 had actual state governments, and only four were large ([[Hyderabad State]], [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore State]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir State]], and [[Baroda State]]). They [[Instrument of accession|acceded]] to one of the two new independent countries between 1947 and 1949. All the princes were eventually pensioned off.<ref>Wilhelm von Pochhammer, ''India's road to nationhood: a political history of the subcontinent'' (1981) ch 57</ref>