Shattered Lands by Sam Dalrymple (My Notes)

Chapter 1: The Great Uprising

• 1928 opens in Aden, not mainland India

• Westernmost frontier of the Indian Empire; largest city in Arabian Peninsula

• Governed under Bombay Presidency; later capital of South Yemen

• Simon Commission arrives in Aden (29 Jan 1928)

• Arabs resent racial hierarchy of the Indian Empire

• Bank of India favoured Europeans & mainland Indians

• Indians seen as intermediaries of imperial discrimination

• In Bombay Harbour: mass protests — “Simon, go back”

• Commissioner’s companion: Clement Attlee

  • Nervous, hands shaking, flustered by press

  • Only prior India link: brief WWI hospital stay

  • Unnoticed then, he would grant India independence within 20 years

• Commission meets Motilal Nehru (mid-February)

  • Labelled Britain’s “most inveterate foe”

• Later meets boycott organiser: Muhammad Ali Jinnah

  • NYT: “best-dressed man in the Empire”

  • Whisky, pork, chain-smoking, open-top limousine

  • Once aspired to be a Shakespearean actor

• Sarojini Naidu: ambassador of Hindu–Muslim unity, though emotionally cold

• 29 Jan 1929: Commission reaches Rangoon

• Burma: richest, largest province; “Cinderella province”

• Rangoon: second only to New York as immigration port

• Burmese nationalist Mahatma Ottama

  • Congress member

  • Introduced Gandhian non-violence

  • Believed Burma integral to India

• British officials saw Burma as not really India

  • No rail links from Bengal/Assam

  • Many officials never visited

• Attlee: Burmans “cheery… but prone to murder”

• Anti-Separation League boycotts Commission

• Commission hears only pro-separation voices

• Never meets Gandhi

• Gandhi later visits Burma

  • Initially welcomed

  • Loses support arguing for separation

• Protests led by Ottama

• Leaves saying Burmese must decide

• 1929 shocks

  • Great Depression

  • Rice prices fall 40%

  • Farmers default to Chettiar moneylenders; land seizures

• Rangoon earthquake destroys sacred sites

• Same day news of Gandhi’s arrest → Indians celebrate

• Sexual violence sparks Rangoon’s first pogrom

• Simon Report

  • Rejects independence

  • Proposes provincial governments + strong viceroy

  • Separate electorates

• Round Table Conferences

• Declares Burma a historical accident, not India

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Chapter 2: The First Partitions of India

• New Delhi becomes capital (Feb 1931 backdrop)

• Gandhi released, suspends civil disobedience

• Negotiates with Lord Irwin as equal — unprecedented

• Gandhi welcomed again in Aden

• Arab resentment persists

• Indians seen as imperial enforcers

• Muslim leaders (Jinnah, Aga Khan) seek alliance

• Gandhi alienates them

  • Says he has no “paternal love” for Muslims

  • Will discuss cooperation only

• Ottama writes The Case Against Separation of Burma

• Decision already made

• 12 Jan 1932: Burma to separate on 1 April 1937

• Soon after:

  • Aden removed from Bombay

  • Arabia separated from Raj

• Irony: “Undivided India” created by dividing the Indian Empire

• Protests:

  • Bombay: Aden integral to India

  • Burma: anti-separatists win landslide

• Ottama allies with Hindu Mahasabha

  • Becomes its president — first Buddhist

• Rejected by Hindu audiences

  • Heckled in Rawalpindi

  • Criticised in Burma for speaking as Indian

• Chapter ends

  • Burma separated (1 April 1937)

  • Savarkar succeeds Ottama as Hindu Mahasabha leader

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Chapter 3: The Drums of War

• From 1938, U Saw organises ethnic cleansing of Indians in Burma

  • Muslims targeted; mass Indian flight begins

  • One refugee family includes Amartya Sen

• Jawaharlal Nehru’s radicalisation

  • 1919: hears Dyer boast after Jallianwala Bagh

  • Drawn closer to Gandhi

  • Rises rapidly within Congress

• Gandhi grows rigid

  • Rift with Ambedkar

  • Strained family relations

• After Kamala Nehru’s death, Jawaharlal devotes himself to politics

  • Possible platonic bond with Padmaja Naidu

• Jinnah, widowed, withdraws from politics

  • Nehru dismisses him as “finished” → provokes return

• 1937 Provincial Elections

  • Congress governs 7/11 provinces

  • Muslim League performs disastrously

  • Zero seats in Punjab

  • Jinnah: “I shall never come back to Punjab”

• Nehru refuses coalition; travels to Burma instead

  • Often seen as fatal error

• 1939

  • Princely federation nearly agreed

  • Hitler invades Poland

  • Britain declares war → India dragged in without consent

  • Federation shelved

  • India ends war with no constitutional link to princely states

• Nehru on Linlithgow: slow, rock-like, imperial system doomed

• India’s WWII sacrifice

  • ~90,000 soldiers killed or maimed

  • Empire, not Britain alone, fought the war

• Pakistan idea

  • Iqbal (1930), Rahmat Ali coins name

  • Jinnah dismisses it as fantasy

  • Used as bargaining strategy, not belief

• 1940: Tamil separatism stronger than Pakistan demand

• After Congress resignations

  • Linlithgow turns to Jinnah

  • Jinnah proposes Muslims as separate nation

  • League sole spokesman; supports war

• Lahore Session

  • Jinnah changes attire

  • Speaks in English

  • Never says “Pakistan”

  • Strategic ambiguity

• Chapter ends

  • Pearl Harbor

  • U Saw arrested

  • Mass flight of Burmese Indians

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Chapter 4: The Long March

• 1942: Japanese blitz across Southeast Asia

• Fall of Singapore shatters British invincibility

• Chaotic British withdrawal from Burma

  • Civilians abandoned; Indians left exposed

• Collapse unleashes anti-Indian violence

  • Mob killings, looting, intimidation

• Exodus

  • Largest mass migration pre-1947

  • Refugees walk for weeks through jungles & mountains

• Among refugees:

  • Helen Richardson → Helen, Bollywood star

  • Mirza Bedar Bakht, Mughal descendant; dies in poverty

• Cultural aftershocks

  • Burmese khao suey spreads

  • Burma Biscuits → Britannia

  • Chinese restaurants spread in South India

  • Rava idli invented at MTR

• War reaches India

  • Andamans occupied

  • Vizag bombed

• Racial evacuation hierarchy exposed

• Gandhi concludes moral basis of empire gone

• Quit India launched

  • British arrest Congress leaders

• Nehru writes Discovery of India

• Azad reflects on culture

• Gandhi imprisoned separately; Kasturba dies

• Reactions

  • Ambedkar condemns Quit India

  • Savarkar urges war support

• Biggest beneficiary: Jinnah

  • League rises while Congress jailed

  • Governs 5 provinces by 1943

• Jinnah cites Burma as precedent for partition

• Manto’s dissent

  • Carries Hindu & Muslim caps

  • Religion becomes performance

• Chapter ends

  • Japanese rupees introduced in Burma

  • Indian & Burmese currencies decoupled

  • Partition of India–Burma completed

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Chapter 5: War, Empire, and Collapse

• Japan becomes world’s largest empire (1942)

  • Rules ~20% of humanity

• INA

  • Bose takes leadership from Japan

  • Mostly POW recruits

  • Many joined to escape camps

  • Four times more died refusing

• Refugees flood India (1943)

• Allied troop presence strains resources

• Mohan Singh Oberoi

  • Acquires Grand Hotel

  • Builds hotel empire

• Bengal Famine (1943)

  • Caused by loss of Burmese rice, denial policies, inflation

  • Food prioritised for war

  • 2–3 million dead

• Colonial response

  • Linlithgow dismissive

  • Wavell acknowledges failure

  • Churchill blocks relief

• Savarkar urges Hindu-only aid

• Famine deepens communal divide

• Japanese “independence” of Burma (1943)

  • Ba Maw installed

  • Bose attends, honours Bahadur Shah Zafar

• Battle of Imphal (1944)

  • Japanese–INA defeat

  • Officers later lead India & Pakistan

• Aung San switches sides (1945)

  • Mountbatten backs him

• INA collapses

• Bose likely dies in plane crash

Chapter 6: Direct Action Day

Britain Victorious but Bankrupt

• India financed war via sterling balances

Political Context (Mid-1946)

• United India still viable

• 6 June 1946: Jinnah accepts Pakistan within federation

Breakdown

• Collapse triggered by Congress insistence on excluding NWFP

• Jinnah sees betrayal

Direct Action Day

• Calls Direct Action Day (16 August 1946)

• Hindu Mahasabha counters with Bengal partition demand

Chapter 7: Dividing an Empire

• Britain exhausted; electricity rationing

• Retreat from Greece & Palestine

• India exit announced (June 1948)

• Persian Gulf administered by India till 1947

• India relinquishes future oil wealth

• Second partition: Arabia detached

• Borders mostly decided by princes, not Radcliffe

• Savarkar praises Travancore independence

• Chapter ends with Aung San’s assassination

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Chapter 8: A Red Dawn

• Independence celebrated beyond India

• Tricolour in Aden

• Indian & Pakistani flags in Kuwait

• Hundreds of princely states celebrate independence

• Only 136 accede by 15 August

• 300+ new entities briefly exist

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Chapter 9: Into the Abyss

Accession Logic Breaks

• Dujana (near Delhi) offered accession to Pakistan

• Pakistan rejected it due to proximity to India’s capital

• Early proof that:

  • Geography overrode legal principle

  • Accession decisions were strategic, not constitutional

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Princely System Unravels

• 15 August 1947:

  • Only 136 princely states had signed accession

  • 300+ states technically became independent

• Delays led to:

  • Administrative paralysis

  • Collapse of authority

  • Rising insecurity

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Junagadh: The Test Case

• Muslim ruler, ~82% Hindu population

• Located in Gujarat; sacred Hindu geography (Somnath, Dwarka, Girnar)

• Close to Gandhi–Patel–Jinnah homelands

• Became template for later accessions (Kashmir, Hyderabad)

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The Nawab

• Mahabat Khan III

  • Eccentric reputation (dog obsession exaggerated but real)

  • Dynasty preserved Asiatic lions (hunting banned in Gir)

• Governance:

  • Multi-faith court, Free primary education, Cow-slaughter ban

• Initially inclined toward India

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Bhutto & Accession to Pakistan

• Shah Nawaz Bhutto (Diwan)

  • Father of Zulfikar, grandfather of Benazir

• With Jinnah’s assurance:

  • Persuaded Nawab to accede to Pakistan

• Pakistan accepted accession but could not defend or administer Junagadh

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Indian Response

• Sardar Patel imposed:

  • Economic blockade, Supply and fuel cuts, Kathiawar Defence Force

• Economy collapsed rapidly

• V. P. Menon found:

  • No functioning administration

  • Nawab absent; Crown Prince disengaged

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Collapse of Sovereignty

• Conflicting accessions:

  • Mangrol → India

  • Babariawad → seized by Junagadh troops

  • Manavadar → attempted Pakistan accession

• Legal authority disintegrated

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People’s Revolt

• Arzi Hukumat (Provisional Government)

• Led by Samaldas Gandhi

• Captured ~160 villages in 40 days

• Bombay Congress covertly funded movement

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Nawab Flees

• 24 Oct 1947:

  • Nawab fled to Karachi and Instructed Bhutto to avoid bloodshed

• Pakistan unwilling to intervene

• Jinnah warned Mountbatten but took no action

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Plebiscite & Aftermath

• 1948 plebiscite:

  • ~201,000 voters

  • Only 91 voted for Pakistan

• Junagadh = mirror image of Kashmir

• Patel announced Somnath Temple reconstruction

• Evacuee Property Laws:

  • Dispossessed Memons abroad (Burma, Aden)

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Human & Cultural Threads

• Dhirubhai Ambani raised funds as student

• Parveen Babi from Junagadh’s Babi dynasty

• Hanif Mohammad (Pakistani cricketer) born in Junagadh

• Aaliya Babi stayed in India; later paleontologist

• Qazi Junagadhi fled to Diu after signing accession

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Core Precedent Set

• Contiguity + demography > ruler’s choice

• Speed > legality

• Force before negotiation

Junagadh proved that accession would be decided on the ground — not on paper.

If Junagadh was absorbed quietly, the next case would not be...

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Next: Chapter 10 — The Fall of Hyderabad

Hyderabad’s Unique Position

• Largest princely state in India

• Population: ~85% Hindu, Muslim ruling elite (~10%)

• Ruled by Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan

  • World’s richest man in the 1930s

• Geographically:

  • Completely landlocked inside India 

  • Hyderabad’s claim to independence was legally arguable but strategically untenable.

The Nizam’s Strategy

• Sought independence, not accession to Pakistan

Standstill Agreement (Nov 1947)

• Hyderabad and India signed a Standstill Agreement intended as a cooling-off period

  • India would manage external affairs

  • Hyderabad retained internal autonomy

• In practice:

  • Hyderabad used it to import arms (debatable) and to Expanded irregular forces

This eroded trust in New Delhi.

The Razakars: Armed Extremism

• Razakars:

• Razvi openly threatened armed resistance against India and Violence against Hindus if India intervened

Razakars became Hyderabad’s greatest liability.

Hindu Extremist Mobilisation

• Hindu Mahasabha and local militant groups:

  • Used Razakar violence to mobilise Hindu fear

  • Retaliatory attacks on Muslims

  • Communal polarisation inside Hyderabad

Sardar Patel’s Position

• Privately argued Hyderabad was “India’s ulcer”

Operation Polo (September 1948)

• Indian military action euphemistically called a “police action”

• Duration: 5 days (13–17 September 1948)

• Minimal resistance from regular Hyderabad army

• Razakars collapsed rapidly and Nizam surrendered unconditionally.

Post-Operation Violence (Lesser-Known, Well-Documented)

• Mass communal violence followed

• Independent sources:

  • Pandit Sundarlal Committee and Nehru’s private correspondence

  • Large-scale killings of Muslims 

• Indian government suppressed the report and did not officially published at the time

This episode remains one of independent India’s darkest silences.

The Nizam After Accession

• Retained as Rajpramukh and Granted privy purse

• Became one of India’s largest donors:

  • Funded universities & Supported national institutions

• Hyderabad integrated administratively by 1956 (linguistic reorganisation)

Chapter 11 — Mother Tongues

(While the language debate ended up partitioning Pakistan, the same debate at the same time triggerred Nehru to create states on linguistic recognition which ended as a unifying link for India)

Bengal: The Final Partition Crisis (1950)

• 1950 Khulna crackdown: Pakistani state targets mostly Hindu communists in East Bengal. Triggers the last major refugee wave of Partition. Dalits in East Bengal Singled out despite having chosen Pakistan over India

• Nehru to Mountbatten: Calls Bengal more urgent than Kashmir. Warns of 12 million Hindus in East Bengal

• Sardar Patel and others push for war with Pakistan. 

• Nehru resists: War would endanger remaining minorities

Key trait: Nehru prioritises minority survival over territorial force

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The Nehru–Liaquat Pact (1950)

• Liaquat Ali Khan flies to Delhi (April 1950)

• Pact makes India and Pakistan legally responsible for minority protection. Later hailed as: “Magna Carta of Minority Rights”

• Refugee flows stabilise sharply

• First joint press conference in 3 years

  • Indian & Pakistani journalists reunite. Many break down emotionally. Discover atrocity stories were often exaggerated

• Nehru reflects: Peace requires people meeting each other, not just treaties

• New institutions emerge:

  • Nai Zindagi journal in Karachi (Sindhi–migrant reconciliation)

  • Marriage Bureaus in India for displaced persons

• Markets recover.

Cultural Aftershocks of Empire’s End

• Collapse of princely patronage forces artists into mass media

• Ravi Shankar:

  • Trained under princely systems (Maihar)

  • Forced into All India Radio

• Mehdi Hasan:

  • Abandons music post-1947

  • Works in Lahore bicycle shop

  • Revived by Radio Pakistan

• Structural shift:

  • Dispossessed artists flood radio & cinema

  • Explains dominance of song-and-dance in South Asian films

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Bollywood Goes Global

• Awaara (1951): First truly global Indian film. Chairman Mao’s favourite. Most globally successful film ever

Empire That Refused to End: Arabia

• Arabian Raj: From Aden to Kuwait still ruled by Britain

• Indian rupee still currency. British India Line still main transport. Gulf rulers still overseen by ex–Indian Political Service officers.

• Persian Gulf Residency (Bahrain): Entirely staffed by Goanese servants

• Qu’aiti State troops still wear Hyderabadi army uniforms

• 
  

• By early 1950s: Burma, Arabia, Pakistan separated from India. 562 princely states → India. 12 → Pakistan. 52 → Burma

• Only Himalayan + Arabian states remain intact
  
  

• Nehru and Post-Partition Separatism

• Nehru imprisons Sheikh Abdullah (1953) for advocating Kashmiri independence

• Most volatile frontier: Patkai Hills (India–Pakistan–Burma tri-junction)

• Region ignored by all three national elites

• Inhabitants legally classified as “tribals” Despite higher literacy than national average. Artificial costumes invented — still used at Republic Day

• Communist victory in China (1949): Nehru fears domino effect into India.

• Burma enters prolonged military dominance. From richest region of colonial India → poorest Asian state

Pakistan After Jinnah: 

• Liaquat Ali Khan: Actively integrates Bengalis into state services

• 1951 Rawalpindi Conspiracy: Faiz Ahmed Faiz included

• Plot involving senior army officers and left-wing civilians against Liaquat Ali Khan

Faiz Ahmed Faiz arrested and imprisoned; episode marks early criminalisation of the Pakistani left

• Liaquat assassinated (1951): Case unsolved. Pakistan loses civilian leadership

• No constitution yet; governance unresolved

East Bengal’s Structural Crisis

• Radcliffe Line flaw:

  • Jute grown in East Bengal. Mills in West Bengal

• 1954 Khulna famine: First post-colonial famine

• Bengali outrage: Central govt spends more on Karachi roads than Khulna relief

  • Infamous crossword: “Plentiful in East Pakistan” → “Lice”

• Suhrawardy: Publicly attacks central govt for nepotism and incompetence

Language Movement: Birth of Bangladeshi Nationalism

• Urdu imposed as sole state language

• 21 Feb 1952: Student protests in Dhaka. Police firing → deaths

• Emerges as: International Mother Language Day

• Irony: Suppression led by Bengali leaders themselves

• Urdu-speaking refugees labelled “Bihari

• India: Telugu agitation → Potti Sriramulu dies fasting
• Nehru concedes → linguistic reorganisation. Strengthens unity

• Pakistan: Resists linguistic federalism

• 1954: Muslim League routed in East Bengal. Bengali recognised as national language (too late)

Bengal Still Central to Pakistan

• Bengalis: Majority population. Produce 4 of first 8 prime ministers

• Jinnah’s tomb: Architect from Bombay. Gravestone in Urdu + Bengali

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  Pan-Arab Nationalism & Nasser

• Gamal Abdel Nasser: Overthrows King Farouk (1952)

Oil Transforms Arabia

• Post-Iran nationalisation: Gulf oil output explodes

• Aden: Second busiest port globally

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  Dhirubhai Ambani: Aden Years

• Migrates to Aden (1950s): No visa required

  • Works at A. Besse & Co.

• Suez Crisis (1956): Accelerates Arab nationalism. Indians increasingly unwelcome

• Birth of Mukesh Ambani (1957). Return to India. Leaves just before bombings target foreigners

Suez Crisis: Britain + France + Israel vs Nasser

• Consequences: Sterling crisis, Oil embargo, Loss of Arab trust

• South Asians: Lose political rights, Forced property sales, Mass deportations

• Partition of Arabia from India completes

Arabia’s Great Reversal (1950s–60s)

• Gulf sheikhdoms (once marginal, impoverished, politically insignificant) become extraordinarily wealthy

• Two New States from the Indian Empire’s Arabian Fringe

United Arab Emirates : Formed through federation of former Gulf princely states

South Yemen: Formed through revolution, not federation

Long-Term Consequences:

Gulf War geopolitics, Yemeni civil war, Rise of Dubai as a global city-state

Chapter 12: The last days of the Raj

Collapse of Britain’s Arabian System

• By 1971: even micro-states (Dubai, Bahrain) independent

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Kuwait (1961): Independence by Force

• First Arabian state granted independence

• Iraq claims Kuwait as “lost province”, denounces borders as British fabrication

• Britain deploys 6,000 troops immediately to defend newly independent state

• Precedent later used by Saddam Hussein to justify 1990 invasion

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The Failed Federal Solution

• Britain attempts to federate weak states to preserve influence

• 1962: South Arabian Federation formed; Aden forcibly merged

• Same day Aden merged → Nasserite revolution in Yemen

• British Counter-Insurgency: Brutality Without Control

• Operation Nutcracker: RAF firebombs villages, Crops poisoned to induce terror, Villages evacuated → bombed, Tens of thousands flee to Yemen, Refugees later join NLF

• Aden descends into civil war (1966)

Sultan Ghalib and the Princely Illusion

• Ghalib Al-Qu’aiti: Becomes Sultan at 18, Educated in Britain; heir to Indo-Arab princely culture

• Qu’aiti State: Culturally hybrid (Hyderabadi influence)

  • Nizam of Hyderabad warns: Britain will abandon Arabian princes as it did Hyderabad

Coronation Amid Disintegration (1966)

• Britain’s signals: First promises continued support from Bahrain, Then abruptly announces: End of treaty relations

Britain’s Exit Strategy: 1967: Humphrey Trevelyan appointed high commissioner

• Task: Exit quickly, Minimise British casualties

• Mirrors Mountbatten

1967 Crisis Cascade

• Six-Day War: Britain perceived as pro-Israel

• Suez Canal closure → economic collapse

• Trevelyan later accused of engineering NLF victory to ensure clean exit

End of the Arabian Raj & Its Aftershocks (1967–71)

• South Yemen becomes first Marxist Arab state

• Immediate structural crises:

  • Port economy already collapsed due to Suez Canal closure

  • 80,000 refugees flee Aden in first year

Aden’s Collapse → Dubai’s Rise

• Fall of Aden transforms Dubai into the primary Gulf entrepôt

• Dhirubhai Ambani: A Structural Beneficiary

• Forms Reliance Commercial Corporation after Aden collapse

• Absorbs displaced Adeni professionals

• UAE becomes:

  • One of the only surviving princely formations of the Indian Empire

Oman: Exception Through Reform

• British remove Sultan Said bin Taimur (1970)

• Install Sultan Qaboos via palace coup

• Arab nationalism fades after Nasser’s death (1970)

1971: The Quiet End

• Last British ships leave Gulf without ceremony

• Most peaceful imperial transfer Britain ever executed

Chapter 13: Proxy Wars

• Three ethnic fault-lines destabilise the region:

  • Nagas (India–Burma), Mizos (India), East Bengalis (Pakistan)

• Why the Nagas Mattered Early

• In early 1960s, Naga independence looked more viable than Bengali

• Angami Zapu Phizo: Former insurance salesman, partially paralysed

• Bitter over contrast: Nagaland absorbed into India while Bhutan & Sikkim survive via monarchies

• 1951 “opaque but symbolic plebiscite”: Claims 99.99% vote for independence

  • Nehru’s reaction: Dismisses it as an “absurd fairy tale”; Refuses negotiation on secession

• Phizo adopts Gandhian language (satyagraha) tactically, not ideologically

• 1953: Phizo arrested in Burma, India pressures Burma to extend detention

• Nehru + U Nu joint visit to Naga Hills: Total failure: audience walks out, mocks leaders

• Post-release: Phizo forms parallel government and Begins armed resistance

• 1954–56: Murders of Indian officials and rival Naga leaders

• 22 March 1956: Phizo declares independent Nagaland

• Moderate Naga leaders opposing violence found dead

Nehru’s Line: Restraint with Force

• Indian general requests aerial machine-gunning (British-style)

• Nehru refuses but Indian Army deployed

• First time Indian Army suppresses rebellion by formal citizens

• Sets precedent for Kashmir, Northeast, later internal wars

• 16 December 1957: Phizo smuggled toward East Pakistan

  • Hidden in a coffin with ₹100,000

• Symbolic shift: Naga struggle now entangled in India–Pakistan rivalry

• Meets Ayub Khan (ex-Assam Regiment; wartime Naga links)

• Instead of support: detained, interrogated, instrumentalised

• Pakistan attempts to: 

  • Claim Assam + Naga Hills as Pakistani territory

  • Use Phizo as leverage against India

Within one month, civilian rule collapses across:

• India (Northeast):

  • AFSPA imposed (11 Sept 1958)

  • Based on British Quit India regulations

  • Legalises lethal force + immunity

  • First suspension of democracy inside India

• Pakistan:

  • Ayub Khan coup → first military presidency

  • Constitution abrogated

• Burma:

  • Ne Win “caretaker” military government at U Nu’s request

Nehru: 

• Refuses aerial bombardment requests, but Authorises AFSPA + Army deployment

• Maintains democracy at centre, but suspends it at margins

• Edwina Mountbatten dies (1960) 

• Nehru visibly disengages during Naga crisis

• 1962: China war → humiliation

  • Burma expels 400,000 Indians → muted Indian response

• 1963: Kashmir relic crisis → massive communal population transfers

• 1964: Nehru dies days after Nagaland ceasefire

• Ayub Khan stabilises economy, courts US + India

• BUT Relations collapse after: India annexes Goa (1961)

• Ayub resumes contact with Phizo and also arms Mizo National Front 

Mizo Insurgency (1962–66)

• Trigger: famine ignored by Delhi. 5% of Mizos die

• MNF: Begins as relief organisation, Turns secessionist

• India responds under Indira Gandhi:

  • Air Force bombing (1966) – only time against own citizens

  • AFSPA extended

India–Pakistan Open War (1965)

• Bhutto (Foreign Minister): Pushes Kashmir strategy, Orchestrates escalation

• Pakistan: Rann of Kutch occupation → Indian passivity

  • Kashmir infiltration → full war

• War ends without gains, but:

• Long-term impact:

  • Enemy property laws

  • End of civilian contact

  • Proxy war resumes immediately

Rise of Mujib & Bengali Secession Logic

• Bengalis = 55% population

• Mujib’s Evolution

• Initially Wants autonomy / dominance within Pakistan

• 1962: Secretly seeks Indian support (Nehru Rejects secession and Wants Mujib as Pakistani Atatürk)

• 1967: Arrested in Agartala Conspiracy Case. Trial backfires → Mujib becomes Bangabandhu

• Report published in Pakistan: 22 families control economy

• Bhutto + Mujib both jailed → both gain legitimacy

• Ayub resigns → Yahya Khan takes over

• Britain covertly backs Mujib as future PM

• Mujib adds “Bangla Desh” as seventh demand

• India Funds Bengali rebels

• Yahya: Heavy drinker, erratic private life; reputation for indulgence

• Announces Pakistan’s first general elections (1970)

1970 Elections: Democratic Breakpoint

• Awami League wins 160/162 East Pakistan seats

• Mujib gains absolute parliamentary majority

• Bhutto dominates Punjab & Sindh

• Cyclone Bhola (Nov 1970): One of deadliest cyclones ever (~300,000 dead)

• Pakistani state response: slow, indifferent, militarised

• Yahya’s delayed visit symbolically disastrous

• Mujib accuses regime of “cold-blooded murder”

• Mass Bengali radicalisation; Six Points gain universal legitimacy

• Yahya initially accepts Mujib as PM

• Bhutto objects: No West Pakistani mandate for Mujib

• Air India hijacking (Jan 1971): Bhutto praises hijackers
• Mujib condemns → army sides with Bhutto

• India bans Pakistani overflights. East–West Pakistan effectively severed logistically

1 March 1971: Constitutional Coup

• Yahya postpones National Assembly

• Immediate mass uprising in East Pakistan

• Awami League establishes parallel authority

• Rising Bengali–non-Bengali violence

• Mujib’s 7 March speech - expected to announce Independence, but Calls for non-cooperation / “satyagraha”

• Last Negotiations (15–22 March) : Yahya flies to Dacca

• Negotiations conducted bizarrely (including in presidential bathroom)

• Formula reached: 

  • Near-confederation

  • Bangladesh effectively autonomous within Pakistan

• 23 March (“Resistance Day”): New Bangladesh flags everywhere and State symbols rejected

• Bhutto–Mujib coalition collapses

• Yahya authorises Operation Searchlight

• Mirrors earlier:  India–Burma partition logic (Nagas)

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Operation Searchlight Begins (25–26 March 1971)

Mujib identified as priority target, Soldiers arrive with rocket launchers, Wall breached; Mujib’s watchman killed, Mujib arrested alive: Army intent: avoid martyrdom

• Dacca University: Central Target

• Recorded footage: Unarmed students executed at point-blank range

• Bhutto Returns to Karachi and Announces: “Thank God, Pakistan has been saved.”

Major Zia-ur-Rahman broadcasts on radio and Declares People’s Republic of Bangladesh

• Speaks on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

• Calls Bengalis to armed resistance

• Ends with “Joy Bangla”

• Awami League leaders flee disguised as peasants (Tajuddin Ahmad and Syed Nazrul Islam reach India). Five East Bengal Regiment battalions mutiny. Zia kills West Pakistani CO, briefly controls Chittagong.

• US response:

• Silence

• Nixon backs Pakistan for Cold War reasons

• Kissinger dismisses Blood as weak-nerved

• Emergence of guerrilla force: Mukti Fauj / Mukti Bahini Led by Colonel M. A. G. Osmani (“Papa Tiger”)

• India Drawn In

  • Border porous; refugees pour in: 1.5 million by end of April

  • India begins: Training camps, Psychological warfare, Hosting Bangladeshi government-in-exile

• Formation of Bangladesh-in-Exile on 17 April:

  • • Tajuddin Ahmad becomes PM

    • Syed Nazrul Islam acting president

• Globalisation of the Conflict

• USSR condemns Pakistan

• China calls it an internal matter

• South Yemen offers arms assistance

• UN mobilises refugee aid

• Mother Teresa becomes humanitarian symbol

• Yahya Khan secures Shah’s public declaration:

  • Iran supports Pakistan “one hundred per cent”

• Afghan embassy officials note:

  • Yahya obtains foreign exchange to stabilise Pakistan’s economy

• Ravi Shankar persuades George Harrison for a Concert for Bangladesh. First major charity rock concert. Introduces “Bangladesh” into Western consciousness

• Disputed Start of the 1971 War

  • Indian official position:

    • War begins 3 December 1971 with Pakistani pre-emptive air strikes

  • Pakistani position:

    • War had already begun weeks earlier due to Indian incursions

  • New York Times (8 Nov):

    • Reports Indian troops firing on Pakistani forces inside East Pakistan

• Escalation Before Formal Declaration

• Late November:

  • Full-scale air battles between Indian and Pakistani air forces

  • India shoots down Pakistani Sabre jets

• Indian Army captures territory:

  • Chaugacha in Indian/Mukti Bahini hands by 29 November

• Indian forces controlling parts of East Pakistan before formal war

• 3 December 1971

  • Pakistan launches air strikes on Indian airfields

  • India frames this as start of the war

  • Indira Gandhi announces:

    • “The war in Bangla Desh has become a war on India.”

• Post-Facto Admissions

• Indian naval intelligence later admits:

• India planned to attack on 4 December

• Pakistan struck first by one day
  
  
  Chapter 15: The partition of Pakistan

Air War Phase (First 48–72 hours)

• War initially dominated by aerial combat

• Pakistani Air Force bombs Amritsar, Agra

• Taj Mahal camouflaged to prevent bombing

• Indian Air Force:

• Destroys East Pakistan airfields

• Establishes early air superiority

War Reaches West Pakistan

• Rawalpindi:

  • Civil panic, blackout accidents exceed bombing casualties

  • Civilians smear vehicles with mud for “camouflage”

• Karachi:

  • Sustained Indian air & naval strikes

  • Joint attack on oil installations (80% of Pakistan’s oil)

  • City burns for seven days

  • Smoke blocks daylight

  • Media censored; population learns to “read between the lines”

Military Balance Shifts Quickly

• Within 3 days:

  • India controls skies and seas

  • East Pakistan isolated

  • Chittagong & Chalna ports blockaded

• Pakistani pilots grounded due to destroyed runways

Western Front: Mixed Results

• Pakistan pushes tanks into Rajasthan

• Heavy artillery exchanges in Kashmir

• Manekshaw briefs Indira Gandhi daily:

  • East front: success

  • West front: setbacks

• Indira’s response: strategic patience (“You can’t win every day”)

Bangladesh Recognition

• 6 December 1971: India formally recognises Bangladesh

• Mukti Bahini integrated into Indian advance

Yahya’s Last Political Move

• Announces transfer of power mid-war

• Appoints Nurul Amin (Bengali) as Prime Minister

(Amin is Later buried beside Jinnah)

Global Escalation

• Nixon realises Pakistan losing

• US frames war as Cold War proxy:

  • India = Soviet side

  • Pakistan = US ally

• Kissinger proposes escalation:

  • Arms via Iran & Jordan

  • Chinese troop pressure on India

  • US naval threat

• USS Enterprise dispatched

• Nuclear-powered carrier

• Raises risk of superpower confrontation

Soviet nuclear submarine shadowed Enterprise

China:

• Zhou Enlai concluded East Pakistan was lost

• Cultural Revolution prevented intervention

Surrender

• 14 December:

  • Yahya vaguely hinted Gen A. A. K. Niazi to stop fighting

• 15 December:

  • Niazi signalled willingness to cease-fire (not surrender yer)

• Gen J. F. R. Jacob:

  • Flew to Dacca with Instrument of Surrender

  • Bluff-threatened bombing if Niazi refused

  • Admitted later Indian forces were outnumbered

• Mukti Bahini nearly killed Pakistani officers en route

• 16 December 1971:

• Public surrender at Dacca Race Course

• Niazi handed revolver and insignia to Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora

• Crowd hostile; Indian officers protected Niazi

• Bangladesh’s creation:

  • Pakistan halved in size

  • India emerged as South Asia’s sole major power

• Demographic irony:

  • Pakistan now had fewer Muslims than India or Bangladesh

• Indira Gandhi:

• Declared: “We have sunk Jinnah’s two-nation theory in the Bay of Bengal”

• 20 December 1971:

  • Yahya resigned

  • Power transferred to:

  • Zulfikar Ali Bhutto → President

  • Nurul Amin (Bengali) → Vice-President of truncated Pakistan

  
  

Independence Not Yet Complete

• Pakistani surrender was to India, not Bangladesh

• Lt-Gen Sagat Singh:

  • Appointed administrator of Bangladesh

• Bangladesh under Indian military occupation for ~2 weeks

• Administrative vacuum:

  • Isolated Pakistani units refused to disarm

• Hostage crisis:

• Rogue Pakistani soldiers kidnapped Mujib’s wife and children

• Resolved after negotiation

• Indian MEA document:

  • Large numbers of Naga and Mizo insurgents surrendered

• Exception:

• Laldenga and a small group of Mizos escaped into Burma

Lesser-Known Economic Episode (High Recall Value)

Mr Shamsuddoha: Manager, State Bank of Pakistan (Dacca)

Sympathetic to Liberation movement

Pakistani Army:

Forced him to open vault to burn currency. He diverted them to a dummy vault with demonetised notes. Saved Bangladesh’s cash reserves.

IRONY: After surrender: Mukti Bahini abducted him. Forced him to open real vault. Money looted. Several perpetrators later became elite figures in Dacca

Zia-ur-Rahman:

• Broadcaster of Bangladesh’s declaration of independence

• Publicly humiliated:

  • Denied seat on stage beside Indian major-general

• Memory shaped later presidency

• Indo-Bangladesh relations deteriorated under his rule

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman:

• Released by Bhutto

• Flown to London

• Then returned to Dacca on RAF aircraft

• Smoked Erinmore tobacco in his pipe throughout journey

12 March 1972: Indian troops finally began withdrawing from Dacca, nearly three months after Pakistan’s surrender

Prisoners of War and retaliatory discrimination

• Pakistan’s surrender resulted in 93,000 Pakistani PoWs held by India

• Included over 13,000 civilians

• Largest capture of PoWs since World War II

Simla Summit – June 1972

• Held in Simla, former summer capital of the Raj

• Participants:

• Indira Gandhi

• Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, accompanied by Benazir Bhutto

• Territorial decisions

• Kashmir dispute made strictly bilateral

  • Removed UN oversight

  • Excluded Kashmiri self-determination

• India returned 13,000+ sq km of captured land

• Exceptions included places like Turtuk (Baltistan)

• 
  

Pakistan’s refusal to recognise Bangladesh

• Continued through late 1972

• Opposed Bangladesh’s entry into the United Nations

India refused release of the 93000 PoWs without:

• Bangladesh’s approval, Pakistan’s recognition of Bangladesh, and Agreement on war crimes trials

• Bangladesh demanded trials for specific Pakistani officers

The New Delhi Agreement (28 August 1973)

• Signed by India and Pakistan

• Triggered the largest planned repatriation in history

• Provisions:

  • All Pakistani PoWs returned to Pakistan (except 195 accused of war crimes)

  • All Bengalis in Pakistan repatriated to Bangladesh

  • All West Pakistanis in Bangladesh repatriated to Pakistan

• Implemented with UNHCR and Red Cross oversight

• Nearly 90,000 PoWs transported by train to Wagah

Pakistan formally recognised Bangladesh on 22 February 1974

Last PoW repatriated was Lt-General A. A. K. Niazi On 30 April 1974

• No live TV coverage; tightly controlled optics

15 August 1975: Mujib and his family assassinated

Zia-ur-Rahman emerged within two years

• Former officer who had declared independence in Mujib’s name

• Shifted constitution: From secular to Islamic. Relations with India deteriorated

India after 1971: Indira Gandhi - Victory boosted Gandhi’s popularity

Enjoyed being compared to Durga

• March 1972:

  • Ordered elections in 13 states. Won all

• Used mandate to Reorganise Northeast under North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act

• Create modern map: Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam

• Also ended Privy Purse (Pakistan followed months later)

• Nizam of Hyderabad - Once among the most powerful Muslim rulers globally

• Fled to Australian outback and Became a sheep farmer

• His son - Heir to Hyderabad and Ottoman thrones - Worked as a cameraman on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Lesser-known fact: One of BJP’s early major funders was Nusli Wadia -  grandson of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

• Historical irony: Jinnah family helped found Pakistan, and helped lay financial foundations of the BJP in India

EPILOGUE

 Over forty years (1931-1971), the Indian Empire fragmented into twelve nation-states

Affects one-fifth of the world’s population

In the 21st century, it is easier for Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis to meet in England than in South Asia