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Imperial perfidy BAHAWALPUR: THE KINGDOM from which the ruler was
unable to extricate him-
THAT VANISHED self. “An agreement with
NABEL LOYD’S Anabel Loyd the Government of India
Bahawalpur is an VINTAGE/ PENGUIN (in 1936), for its liquation
Aaccount of the his- Rs.959 in annual payments for the
tory of this princely state Pages 285 next fifty years until 1986,
of the late colonial period, became the sword over
and its territories after ac- the head of the ruler of
cession to Pakistan when it Bahawalpur,” writes Loyd.
ceased to exist as a distinct tutional status as a former A history of the Colonial officials ignored
political entity. The pro- princely state. princely state of Ba- the counsel of Bahawalpu-
cesses whereby Bahawal- By the time the British hawalpur, its decline ri officials, who considered
pur was absorbed and began penetrating this under British rule and the project ill-conceived,
new, frequently altering, region in the early 19th extinction after the especially as the water the
administrative arrange- century, the kingdom of partition of India river was capable of carry-
ments were introduced Bahawalpur extended ing was overestimated.
for the governance of its from the borders of Partition brought a
territories are discussed Jaisalmer and Bikaner Khan V, from 1907 to fresh set of problems. The
together with the fate of in the west, to the Sutlej 1947; the period of transi- tragedy of Punjab was
the erstwhile ruling family. and Indus in the north. It tion from the integration replayed throughout the
Loyd brings the story was sandwiched between of the state to its extinc- province, though the scale
down to the ongoing dis- Ranjit Singh’s kingdom in tion in 1955, and his death and details varied. In the
putes over the extensive the north and Sind in the in 1966. case of Bahawalpur com-
properties of the family. west. In view of its strate- Sadiq Muhammad was munal violence and blood-
Nevertheless, there is gic location, in the early an infant when he suc- shed were definitely on a
little reason to lament the 1830s the British sought ceeded his father in 1907 scale much lower than that
end of princely rule in to enlist collaboration of and was invested with full in British Punjab.
the state in the post-1947 the Bahawalpur court. The powers of a princely ruler Sadiq Muhammad
period. Princely states in diplomatic expertise at the only in 1924. It may be assured Mahatma Gan-
the subcontinent existed disposal of the East India mentioned that the extent dhi that the state would
because British colonial- Company was too much of a ruler’s ‘full author- extend full protection
ism found them useful for for the state’s ruling elites ity’ was determined by to Hindus, and “no-one
stabilising and governing and soon they signed the Crown. Between 1907 would interfere with their
the empire. They acquired agreements which in the and 1924 the state was religion.” V.P. Menon not-
their legitimacy from the long run undermined the administered by a council ed that Bahawalpur was “a
paramount power and in authority of the court. of regency under British paradise compared to East
turn legitimised imperial The company would go supervision. Punjab,” an indication
authority. The end of Brit- on to use Bahawalpur as Shortly before the ad- of the contrast which the
ish rule put an end to their a base for its campaigns ministration was handed state presented to those
relevance. in the region when during over to Sadiq Muhammad, parts of Punjab which
Loyd’s narrative is the late 1830s and early a heavy financial burden the British had governed
marked by a sense of loss, 1840s Sind, Baluchistan, was imposed on Baha- directly for a century.
and perhaps even betrayal Punjab and Afghanistan walpur in the form of its In 1955, the state was
of the state and its ruling became targets of its share of expenditure for a absorbed into the admin-
family. This is reflected in expansionist thrust. This major irrigation scheme, istrative unit designated
the nostalgic reference to strengthened the ties the Sutlej Valley Project. as West Pakistan under
Bahawalpur as the ‘king- between Bahawalpur and Work on the project com- the One-Unit scheme,
dom that vanished’ in the the British, and gave the menced in 1922. To meet and divided into three
subtitle of the book. The state considerable political its financial commitments, districts, formally marking
travails of the state after importance. the state was obliged to its extinction as a princely
1947 were a product of A substantial part of take a massive loan from state. The erstwhile ruler
the political trajectory of the book deals with the the British India govern- retained some privileges,
Pakistan and not directly several decades-long rule ment, the repayment of mostly of ceremonial
the outcome of its consti- of Sadiq Muhammad which proved to be a trap nature.

94 EDUCATIONWORLD MAY 2021