Maharaja Jiwajirao Madhorao Scindia of Ujjain and Gwalior became Patel’s friend and assisted him in unifying Indian states

Dr Rajendra Prasad observed on May 13, 1959, how the legacy of Sardar Patel was being sidelined. He mentioned how Sardar Patel had been forgotten, but he also acknowledged that there was a prominent individual in India who was standing in support and appreciation of Sardar Patel, when many found it unneeded. This man was Scindia, the then Maharaja of Ujjain and Gwalior or, as he was called, HH Maharaja Jiwajirao Madhorao Scindia of Ujjain and Gwalior.

He was later on to become a close friend of Sardar Patel and his close aide VP Menon. He played a positive role in ensuring the unity of India and was made the first Rajpramukh of Madhya Bharat province after Independence of India. Prasad said, "Even Sardar Patel's portrait in the Parliament House is the gift of a ruling Prince [Gwalior]. Let us not, therefore, run away with the thought that his services are any less valuable because we choose not to recognise them.”

This admiration of Scindia for Patel was only natural. The Maharaja was inspired by his ancestor Mahadji Scindia, who is known for being the most important man in the latter half of the eighteenth century in South Asia (as per Historian Henry George Keene in entire Asia), ensuring the unity of the subcontinent when not just the Afghans but the British were also looking to occupy the throne of Delhi.

Famous political philosopher James Mill acknowledged the danger to the existence of the British in India if Mahadji Scindia lived longer, and after Mahadji Scindia died, Colonel George Bruce Malleson, author of Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas, called him the most farsighted statesman India had ever produced.

Mahadji Scindia prevented a likely partition of India by the Durrani Afghan Empire of Ahmad Shah Abdali and his son Taimur, when in 1771 Scindia conquered Delhi. He extended his de facto empire all the way to the areas of present-day northern Pakistan, the then subas of Lahore and Attock. He also defeated the British at Wadgaon, Sirsi, Prayagraj, Kolaras, Shivpuri, Sarangpur, and many other places. This sent a clear message to Indians that, if united, they can easily defeat the British.

Jiwaji was well aware that what Patel was doing was actually substantially similar to Mahadji Scindia’s work. He felt an attachment to the project of national integration, and the persona of Sardar Patel.

A friendship to unite India

After a couple of months of the death of Maulana Azad in 1954, his oil painting was installed in the Parliament House. But there was no oil painting of Sardar Patel in Parliament, even four years after his death. This was disappointing and preposterous despite his immense contributions to India.

Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior, who was present in parliament when Maulana Azad’s portrait was installed, noticed how the legacy of his late friend was being sidelined. He pointed this out to President Rajendra Prasad. Rajendra Babu immediately gave his approval, after which Maharaja Scindia started making the necessary arrangements to get Sardar's picture put up in the Parliament House.

Scindia spent a significant amount of money from his personal funds in order to paint Sardar's portrait. The President took prompt action to get the picture installed in Parliament House. On the occasion of unveiling the portrait of Sardar, Scindia offered tributes to Sardar Patel. Talking about Sardar Patel, Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia said, "Here is the man whom I once hated. The man who later terrified me is shown here. Here is the man whom I admire and love."

While Sardar Patel had once mentioned in a letter to Jiwajirao Scindia, “I would like to thank you and Her Highness for the hospitality and consideration extended to us during our stay in Gwalior. All of us were overwhelmed by the attention bestowed on us by both of you. By vacating your palace for our sake, you won our hearts completely. I am afraid we imposed a great deal of strain on both of you, but you cheerfully put up with all this. We shall always carry the most pleasant recollections of our visit to Gwalior.”

The intensity of love and admiration that Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia and Sardar Patel had for each other is manifested from these statements.

Sardar Patel came to Gwalior to meet Maharaja Scindia not alone but with his daughter Maniben. As mentioned in the paragraph before, Maharaja Scindia vacated his palace for them. It was Sardar Patel that Scindia invited to inaugurate the first medical college of Central India, Gajra Raja Medical College, on December 5, 1948. When states like Bhopal were planning with Jinnah to Balkanise India, Scindia and Patel stressed the need for Indian unity that they should work for.

Jawaharlal Nehru once said that the Gwalior state of Scindia had full capacity and resources to remain an independent country. However, it never worked in that direction because, as per Nehru, of the patriotism of Maharaja Scindia and his utmost respect for India. Nehru was right when he said this, since India then had only five princely states that were substantial and prosperous enough to be entitled to a 21-gun salute. Scindia’s Gwalior was one of them.

Scindia helped Sardar for Swaraj

The help that Maharaja Scindia gave to Sardar Patel and the sacrifices he made for a united India were many. He decided to support Patel wholeheartedly in his nationalist endeavour to unify India. Menon has documented Scindia’s help to Sardar. This was when several other princely states were looking forward to furthering their interests with the help of Pakistan, specifically Bhopal. Menon writes in his book The Story of The Integration of Indian States that Maharaja Scindia was the first among the rulers of the five 21-gun-salute states to agree to integration, a step which was motivated by the good of the country.

Menon wrote about Jiwaji: “He has always moved with the times. He had announced his intention to grant a responsible government as early as December 1946, and in May 1947 he readily gave his support to an interim government of popular representatives as well as a constitution-making body.”

The Government of India had got Rs 74 crore from the merger of more than five hundred princely estates; out of that, Rs 54 crore was the contribution of Maharaja Scindia according to Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia.

According to Menon, the rulers of Gwalior were not prone to extravagance. Expressing his gratitude to the generous contribution by the Maharaja, Patel had said in the Lok Sabha, “The people who are opposing the Privy Purse for the erstwhile kings, they do not know that this amount will accrue only from interest on the contribution made by Maharaja Gwalior.”

The government won't have to give anything from its treasuries, according to Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia. Scindia and Sardar also mentioned the threat of China to India long before the 1962 India-China war. They shared a realistic approach to international relations. Unfortunately, the role of Patel and the Scindias of Gwalior in uniting India was downplayed. But, under the new dispensation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is recognising the ignored and less known heroes and heroines.

(The writer is head, Scindia Research Centre, Gwalior)