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Incident at Nabha: Interaction between Indian States and British Indian Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Barbara N. Ramusack
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Extract

With this one sentence paragraph Jawaharlal Nehru began a description of his visit to and subsequent arrest and trial in the Punjab state of Nabha during the agitation over the abdication of its princely ruler, Maharaja Ripudaman Singh. Though Nehru treated his experiences as an alarming but politically insignificant initiation into Indian state politics, the abdication of Nabha and concomitant events came to have major repercussions on political developments within the Sikh community and on the evolution of British policies within the Punjab. This incident at Nabha originated in a senseless but bitter personal feud between Ripudaman Singh and his neighbor, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. It assumed wider ramifications when each rival sought support for his respective position from such varied groups as the British government, Sikh organizations like the newly formed Shiromani Gurdawara Parbandhak Committee (the Central Gurdwara Management Committee which will hereafter be referred to as the S.G.P.C.) and the Akali Dal, the Indian National Congress and assorted Indian nationalist and Sikh religious leaders. As these new forces entered the dispute, the area of controversy was broadened and issues of political significance were raised.

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Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , May 1969 , pp. 563 - 577
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1969

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References

1 Nehru, Jawaharlal, Toward Freedom (Boston: Beacon Press, 1958), p. 97Google Scholar.

2 Nabha to Minchin, 6 July 1923, National Archives of India (Hereafter NAI), Government of India (Hereafter GOI), Home-Political (Hereafter H-P), 1924, File No. 401.

3 Patiala had an area of 5,942 square miles with a population of 1,499,739; Jind had 1,259 square miles with a population of 308,183; Nabha had 928 square miles with a population of 263,334. Census of India, 1921. Vol. XV. Punjab and Delhi, Part II. Tables (Lahore: Punjab Government Publication, 1922), 3. During the fiscal year of 1914–15 their revenues totalled approximately ninety lakhs of rupees for Patiala, twenty-two lakhs for Jind and nineteen lakhs for Nabha. Report on the Administration of the Punjab and Its Dependencies for 1914–1915 (Lahore: Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916), pp. 1–3Google Scholar.

4 Michael O'Dwyer, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, to Lord Chelmsford, Viceroy, 28 Mar. 1917, Commonwealth Relations Office Library (Hereafter CROL), Chelmsford Collection, MSS Eur E 264/18. O'Dwyer claimed “It's a sad wreck of what might have been a fine career, for he [Nabha] has ability—though misdirected—and some good qualities. He also cannot help seeing his hated neighbor Patiala, who in some respects started so badly, had steadily pulled himself together, shaken off evil habits and associates and is rapidly becoming a power in the land.”

5 Montagu on 22–23 October 1912, CROL, Montagu Collection, MSS Eur D 523/38.

6 For a biased account of this rivalry see Syngal, Munnalal, The Patriot Prince or the Life Story of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha Who Died as a Martyr (Ludhiana: Doaba House, 1961), pp. 49–50, 85–91. Syngal was a former Nabha officialGoogle Scholar.

7 Tribune, 2 September 1917, p. 6.

8 Fortnightly report from the Punjab States for the first half of Jan. 1922, NAI, GOI, H-P, July 1921–Dec. 1922. File No. 18.

9 The most recent accounts of these developments in Sikh history are in Singh, Khushwant, A History of the Sikhs, Volume 2: 1839–1964 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966)Google Scholar and Nayar, Baldev Raj, Minority Politics in the Punjab (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Other accounts helpful if read with discretion are The Gurdwara Reform Movement and the Sikh Awakening with an introduction by Sahni, Ruchi Ram (Lahore: Publisher unknown, 1922)Google Scholar, Caveeshar, Sardul Singh, The Sikh Studies (Lahore: National Publication, 1937)Google Scholar and Sahni, Ruchi Ram, Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines (Amritsar: Sikh Ithas Research Board of the S.G.P.C., n. d.)Google Scholar.

10 Gargaj Akali, 12–13 May 1922, and Pardesi Khalsa, 15 May 1922, in the Punjab Press Abstracts (hereafter the PPA), 1922, p. 238 and p. 246. This accusation against Kaul is repeated by Syngal, The Patriot Prince …, p. 101.

11 Notice of Kaul's appointment appeared in the Tribune, 4 August 1916, p. 1.

12 Quam Parast, 21 May 1922 asked the S.G.P.C. to intervene and the Akali, 9 June 1922, deplored the quarrel, PPA, 1922, p. 256 and p. 274.

13 Truth about Nabha (Amritsar: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, 1923 as reproduced by the Pacific Coast Khalsa Diwan Society of Stockton, California), pp. 53–54. Syngal, The Patriot Prince …, pp. 86–88, 91–102.

14 Fortnightly report from the Punjab States for the second half of January 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1923, File No. 25.

15 Tribune, 2 June 1923, p. 3, and Akali-te-Pardesi, 1 June 1923.

16 Narsinghd Rao to G. D. Ogilvie, 21 April 1923, Minchin to Political Dept. GOI, 5 May 1923, Nabha to Reading, 5 May 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1924, File No. 401.

17 Minchin to J. P. Thompson, Political Secretary, GOI, 5 June 1923, and additional detail supplied in Minchin to G. D. Ogilvie, Officiating Political Secretary, GOI, 7 August 1923, Ibid.

18 Note by J. P. Thompson, 7 June 1923, Ibid.

19 Reading to Peel, 12 June 1923, Peel to Reading, 14 June 1923, Reading to Peel, 17 June 1923, Ibid.

20 Peel to Reading, 19 June 1923, Reading to Peel, 26 June 1923, Ibid.

21 Telephone call from Minchin to A. C. MacNabb, Punjab Govt., 2 July 1923, Ibid.

22 Minchin to Thompson, 4 July 1923, Reading to Peel, 4 July 1923, Ibid.

23 Minchin to Thompson, 7 July 1923, Ibid. Mr. O'Grady later presented claims for services rendered to the GOI, even though the GOI had not specifically engaged him to pressure Nabha. G. D. Ogilvie as Officiating Political Secretary agreed to a settlement of his claims in full in an effort to end O'Grady's connection with Nabha as soon as possible. See Ogilvie's note dated 18 August 1923 and Ogilvie to Minchin on 12 October 1923, Ibid.

24 Report of the Special Commissioner on Disputes between Patiala and Nabha and the Findings of the Government of India, 7 July 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1923, File No. 148-II.

25 Ibid.

26 For example, see Kirpan Bahadur, 10 July 1923, Khalsa Samachar, 12 July 1923, Partap, 13 July 1923, Bande Mataram, 14 July 1923, PPA, p. 375, 376, 377–78, 378–79 respectively.

27 Truth about Nabha, pp. 30–50.

28 See Babbar Sher, 9 July 1923, Akali-te-Pardesi, 14 July 1923, Nation, 9 July 1923, Parkash, 15 July 1923, Loyal Gazette, 15 July 1923, PPA, 1923, p. 374, 376, 377, 379–80, 380 respectively. Also Syngal, The Patriot Prince …, pp. 19–39 for the controversy over the investiture ceremony.

29 Chelmsford to Chamberlain, 12 May 1916, Chamberlain to Chelmsford 6 July 1916, Chelmsford to Chamberlain, 29 July 1916, CROL, MSS Eur E 264/2 on Chelmsford's own efforts and his use of Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior as an intermediary. Also O'Dwyer to Chelmsford, 5 November 1916, CROL, MSS, Eur E 264/16.

30 Tribune, 12 July 1923, p. 4.

31 Report of the Criminal Investigation Department (Hereafter CID), Punjab Government, presented to conference of GOI and Punjab officials held by Malcolm Hailey, Home Member, GOI, 25 July 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1924, File No. 401.

32 C. M. G. Ogilvie to Minchin, 14 July 1923, Ibid.

33 Note by Patiala handed to Reading on 6 June 1923, Ibid.

34 Patiala's press communiqué dated 14 July 1923, Ibid.

35 Minchin to G. D. Ogilvie reporting the substance of an interview between Minchin and Kaul, 16 July 1923, and Kaul to Minchin, 19 July 1923, Ibid.

36 Tribune, 20 July 1923, p. 5.

37 Hailey to G. de Montmorency, Private Secretary to Reading, 26 July 1923, and Reading to Peel, 30 July 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1924, File No. 401.

38 Conference proceedings on 25 July 1923, Ibid.

39 S.G.P.C. to Reading, 2 August 1923, Ibid. and Tribune, 3 August 1923, p. 1.

40 Report on August 6th meeting of S.G.P.C. by J. M. Dunnett, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, and Dunnett to A. Langley, Commissioner of Lahore Division, 9 August 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1924, File No. 401.

41 C. M. G. Ogilvie to Minchin, 24 August 1923, 26 August 1923, 28 August 1923, Ibid.

42 C. M. G. Ogilvie to Minchin, 29 August 1923, Ibid.

43 The Punjab CID was unable to infiltrate this meeting but gathered information through a variety of sources. C. A. H. Townsend, Chief Secretary of the Punjab Government, to Home and Foreign and Political Departments, GOI, 6 September 1923, Ibid.

44 C. M. G. Ogilvie in note dated 12 September 1923, Ibid.

45 Wilson-Johnston to Minchin, 15 September 1923, Ibid. For pro-Akali versions, see Ruchi Ram Sahni, The Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines, pp. 211–12, and Truth about Nabha, pp. 79–80.

46 Reading to Peel, 16 September 1923, and minutes of meeting on 19 September 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1924, File No. 401.

47 Nehru, Toward Freedom, p. 97.

48 Wilson-Johnston to Minchin, 20 September 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1924, File No. 401.

49 G. D. Ogilvie to Wilson-Johnston, 24 September 1923, Ibid.

50 Wilson-Johnston to G. D. Ogilvie, 25 September 1923, and G. D. Ogilvie to Wilson-Johnston, 26 September 1923, Ibid.

51 G. D. Ogilvie to Wilson-Johnston forwarding Punjab CID summaries on S.G.P.C., 28 September 1923, plus CID report on S.G.P.C. meeting of 29 Sept. 1923, Ibid. A comprehensive resolution condemning the Government's sacrilegious action was passed by the S.G.P.C. on 29 September 1923; for a copy of the resolution and comment see Ruchi Ram Sahni, The Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines, pp. 215–19.

52 Tribune, 16 October 1923, p. 3, Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, II, p. 209, M. N. Mitra, Indian Quarterly Register, I, 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1924), p. 99.

53 See the resolutions on the Akalis passed by the Working Committee of the Congress on 20–31 January 1924 and 26–27 February 1924, Mitra, Indian Quarterly Register, I, 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1924), pp. 22–23.

54 For a full set of statements from all sides about the February firing, see Mitra, Indian Quarterly Register, I, 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1924), pp. 100–12. According to the Government report on the firing, the casualties were fourteen dead and thirty-four wounded (p. 107). While the S.G.P.C. communiqué termed the Government figures as “absurdly low,” it could only say the known dead were seven and the wounded were nineteen (p. 108).

55 Gandhi to Akalis, 25 February 1923, and Lala Lajpat Rai to S.G.P.C., Mitra, Indian Quarterly Register, I 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1924), pp. 112–112 (a).

56 Mitra, Indian Quarterly Register, I, 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1924), pp. 112 (a)–112 (e).

57 Bharat Mata, 12 June 1922, PPA, p. 293 about Nabha and the Kukas and Jathedar, 19 October 1922, PPA, p. 529 about Nabha and the gurdwara.

58 Reading's comment on Minchin's letter of 16 July 1923 and G. D. Ogilvie to Minchin, 18 July 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1924, File No. 401 and Minchin to J. P. Thompson, 11 March 1924, NAI, GOI, Foreign & Political (Hereafter F & P), 1928, File No. 62 (6)-H.

59 Minchin to G. D. Ogilvie, 6 September 1923 and 10 September 1923, about promises of help from Patiala and Faridkot, and the note by C. M. G. Ogilvie, dated 12 September 1923, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1924, File No. 401. For adverse comment about the princely cooperation in the suppression of the Nabha agitation see, Ruchi Ram Sahni, The Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines, pp. 208–209, 222–23.

60 For insight into the reorganization and the CID work against the Akalis within Patiala state, see a boasting note by Liaqat Hayat Khan dated 17 June 1925, Punjab State Archives, Patiala (Hereafter PSAP), Patiala State Records, Prime Minister's Office, Basta No. 18, Serial No. 538.

61 Lt.-Col. E. G. Gregson in Nabha to J. P. Thompson, Political Secretary GOI, 8 April 1924, NAI, GOI, H-P, 1924, File No. 67. Patiala and Jind state troops took an active part in the handling of the Third Shahidi Jatha at the beginning of April 1924.

62 For Patiala's motives in hosting the Conference see a note by Arjan Shah Singh dated 8 January 1924 and Kaul to Patiala 10 January 1924, PSAP, Patiala State Records, Ijlas-i-Khas, Basta No. 24, File No. 355.

63 Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, II, pp. 211–12.

64 Nehru, Toward Freedom, pp. 101–102.

65 B. J. Glancy, Political Secretary, GOI, to G. D. Ogilvie, Secretary to the Indian States Committee, 25 February 1928, NAI, GOI, F & P, 1928, Political, File No. 238-P.