V. P. MenonVappala Pangunni Menon (Malayalam:) CSICIE (30 September 1893 – 31 December 1965) was an Indian civil servant who served as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of the States, under Sardar Patel to integrate 562 princely states. By appointment from Viceroy and Governor-General of IndiaWavell, he also served as Secretary to the Governor-General (Public) and later as Secretary to the Interim Government of India (Cabinet).
Princely stateA princely state (also called native state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British Indian government, but rather by an indigenous ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to a subsidiary alliance and the suzerainty or paramountcy of the British Crown.
Dominion of PakistanToday part ofPakistanBangladeshIndiaThe Dominion of Pakistan, officially Pakistan, was the Pakistani state between 1947 and 1956, when it existed as an independent federal dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations. It was established on 14 August 1947 when it was created from British India under the Indian Independence Act 1947 of the British parliament, which also established an independent Dominion of India on 15 August.
Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)Today part ofDisputed; see Kashmir conflictJammu and Kashmir, also known as Kashmir and Jammu, was a princely state in a subsidiary alliance with the British East India Company from 1846 to 1858, and under the paramountcy (or tutelage) of the British Crown from 1858 until British withdrawal and the partition of British India in 1947.
Dominion of IndiaToday part ofIndiaBangladeshThe Dominion of India, officially the Union of India, was an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations existing between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Until its independence, India had been ruled as an informal empire by the United Kingdom.
States DepartmentThe States Department, later States Ministry, was a department of the Government of India headed by the Minister of States. Its responsibility was to deal with the princely states and manage their relationship with independent India. The department was formed in June 1947 to replace the Political Department of the British Government, which had administered relations between the British Crown and British India on the one side and the princely states on the other.British Raj1858–1947 Crown rule in IndiaThe British Raj ( ; from Hindustanirāj, 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the period of rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, lasting from 1858 to 1947. It is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India.
Indian Political DepartmentThe Indian Political Department, formerly part of the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India, was a government department in British India. The department looked after the diplomatic and "political" relations with the subsidiary states of the British Raj in India, and some states overseas. The nature of its work was indirect rule.
Jawaharlal NehruPrime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964Prime Minister of India1947–1964Life and eventsIndian National CongressChamparan SatyagrahaIndian independence movementNon-cooperation movementPurna SwarajSalt MarchAundh ExperimentQuit India MovementTryst with DestinyThe light has gone out of our livesConstituent Assembly of IndiaInterim Government of India1950 Cambridge electionLiaquat–Nehru PactPolitical integration of IndiaInternational trips by NehruNon-Aligned MovementFirst Nehru ministrySecond Nehru ministryThird Nehru ministryFourth Nehru ministryAccession of Jammu and KashmirAnnexation of JunagarhAnnexation of HyderabadAnnexation of GoaAnnexation of Dadra and Nagar HaveliIndia–Pakistan war of 1947–1948Sino-Indian WarDeath and state funeral of Jawaharlal NehruPhilosophyGandhian socialismScientific temperSecular humanismSecularismPublicationsAn AutobiographyBefore Freedom: Nehru's Letters to His Sister 1909–1947The Discovery of IndiaGlimpses of World HistoryLetters from a Father to His DaughterNational HeraldInfluencesTheosophyG.
DominionSelf-governing countries of the British Empire
The CrownThe Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms, analogous to the concept of the government in legal systems influenced by Roman civil law. English common law never developed a concept of the state and left supreme executive power with the monarch. The concept of the Crown as a corporation sole developed in the Kingdom of England as a separation of the physical crown and property of the kingdom from the person and personal property of the monarch.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.