Historychatter Podcast

In the third episode on the incorporation of princely states within independent India, I take up a detailed case study of Hyderabad. It was the largest princely state in British India, and the Nizam of Hyderabad aspired for an Azad Hyderabad or independent Hyderabad.
It was not an unreasonable aspiration as such. If it were to be independent, Hyderabad would have been as wealthy as the top twenty members of the United Nations in 1947-48. He had the support of hardline Muslim fanatics and of course of Jinnah and the Muslim League.
The situation became more complex with counter moliztion of Hindus and Sikhs and the rebellion in Telangana by oppressed peasants under the leadership of communists.

The Nizam sent a delegation to the United Nations to make a case for Hyderabad's independence. It was a terrible prospect for India.
The Hyderabad crisis festered even as Mountbatten left India in June 1948.
India had to sign standstill agreements and appoint an Agent General. There were regular border problems with several parts of India throughout 1947 and 1948.
We discuss these border skirmishes in detail.
Finally, though, there was no option left but for direct military intervention.

Join us on #HistoryChatter 🎤 as we bring to you a 4-part #docuseries-
India United: Princely States and the Indian Republic New

Episodes Streaming from 06.08.2023 on @eplogmedia app or your preferred streaming platforms

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Integration of various princely states to the newly independent state of India was carried out primarily by the States Department. It came into being in July,1947 and was headed by Sardar Patel. He was ably assisted by V P Menon, who held the highest position among Indian officials of the Raj, as constitutional advisor to the last three British Viceroys. He laid down the legal and constitutional protocols for the accession of princely states. He also carried out a number of meetings with Indian princes, persuading, cajoling and occasionally intimidating them, to strengthen India’s hands. Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy, firmly stood behind Patel and Menon. This special Independence Day episode of HistoryChatter looks into these legal and constitutional issues, and the personal drama, associated with the work of the states department between July and August 1947.

Join us on #HistoryChatter 🎤 as we bring to you a 4-part #docuseries-
India United: Princely States and the Indian Republic New

Episodes Streaming from 06.08.2023 on @eplogmedia app or your preferred streaming platforms

You can follow us and leave us feedback on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @eplogmedia,

For advertising/partnerships send you can send us an email at [email protected].

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DISCLAIMER: The views expressed on all the shows produced and distributed by Ep.Log Media are personal to the host and the guest of the shows respectively and with no intention to harm the sentiments of any individual/organization.
The said content is not obscene or blasphemous or defamatory of any event and/or person deceased or alive or in contempt of court or breach of contract or breach of privilege, or in violation of any provisions of the statute, nor hurt the sentiments of any religious groups/ person/government/non-government authorities and/or breach or be against any declared public policy of any nation or state.

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Given a choice, many native princes did not want to become a part of the independent Indian republic in 1947.
Quite a few of them had even hatched a conspiracy to create a confederacy of princely states. Some influential British officials still supported those ambitions, albeit with an imperialist motive.

But Jawaharlal Nehru was implacably opposed to these fantasies. He had personally suffered at the hands of autocratic princes on several occasions. Journalist Sandeep Bamzai argues that a particular clause in the Indian Independence ACT was inserted solely to preserve these states and embarrass the fledgling Indian republic with multiple small independent states all around it.

The first episode of a four part series on the integration of princely states with India lays bare these complex legal and political background of the 565 princely states in India on the eve of independence and partition.

Join us on #HistoryChatter 🎤 as we bring to you a 4-part #docuseries-
India United: Princely States and the Indian Republic New

Episodes Streaming from 06.08.2023 on @eplogmedia app or your preferred streaming platforms

You can follow us and leave us feedback on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @eplogmedia,

For advertising/partnerships send you can send us an email at [email protected].

If you like this show, please subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts, so other people can find us. You can also find us on https://www.eplog.media

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed on all the shows produced and distributed by Ep.Log Media are personal to the host and the guest of the shows respectively and with no intention to harm the sentiments of any individual/organization.
The said content is not obscene or blasphemous or defamatory of any event and/or person deceased or alive or in contempt of court or breach of contract or breach of privilege, or in violation of any provisions of the statute, nor hurt the sentiments of any religious groups/ person/government/non-government authorities and/or breach or be against any declared public policy of any nation or state.

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🗓️15th of August 1947

On one side we see it as the day of India's Independence, on the other, the day when the country got partitioned.

But there's one more side that is not much talked about, Just as our freedom struggle ended, a new quest began-
To unite the Indian States & its people‼️

What if India were 29 countries and not 29 states?

What if Rajasthan would have become a part of Pakistan?

But it is a story that has to be told, a story of how the princely states joined India

Join us on #HistoryChatter 🎤 as we bring to you a 5-part #docuseries-
India United: Princely States and the Indian Republic New

Episodes Streaming from 06.08.2023 on @eplogmedia app or your preferred streaming platforms

You can follow us and leave us feedback on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @eplogmedia,

For advertising/partnerships send you can send us an email at [email protected].

If you like this show, please subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts, so other people can find us. You can also find us on https://www.eplog.media

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed on all the shows produced and distributed by Ep.Log Media are personal to the host and the guest of the shows respectively and with no intention to harm the sentiments of any individual/organization.
The said content is not obscene or blasphemous or defamatory of any event and/or person deceased or alive or in contempt of court or breach of contract or breach of privilege, or in violation of any provisions of the statute, nor hurt the sentiments of any religious groups/ person/government/non-government authorities and/or breach or be against any declared public policy of any nation or state.

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The Government of India began to encourage the manufacture of a small car only by the 1970s. Sanjay Gandhi, Prime Minister’s son and an automobile fanatic, carried out the audacious Maruti experiment during the 1970s. It was a giant dream, and ended up as a bigger failure.
His mother Indira Gandhi finally revived the dream.
For once, capable managers were hired, and the government or the bureaucracy did not interfere. This unusual arrangement was never repeated in any other Public Sector Unit (PSU) in India.

The final episode of the great Indian car dream recalls the initial tragedy and then every stage of the final triumph of Maruti.
Maruti would since change the history of the automobile sector in India forever.

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If you like this show, please subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts, so other people can find us. You can also find us on https://www.eplog.media

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed on all the shows produced and distributed by Ep.Log Media are personal to the host and the guest of the shows respectively and with no intention to harm the sentiments of any individual/organization.
The said content is not obscene or blasphemous or defamatory of any event and/or person deceased or alive or in contempt of court or breach of contract or breach of privilege, or in violation of any provisions of the statute, nor hurt the sentiments of any religious groups/ person/government/non-government authorities and/or breach or be against any declared public policy of any nation or state.

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The first thirty years after independence were a bumpy ride for the private car dream. Automobile was considered integral to India’s self sufficiency but the private car was not a part of that scheme. The government focused on setting up a manufacturing base for automobiles in India. But larger vehicles for defence and freight and mass transport sectors received greater priority. The articulate professional class too believed public transport had to be given greater priority.  There was apprehension private cars would choke the roads and cause pollution. In fact, there were suggestions as early as fifty years ago that India should consider electric vehicles.

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DISCLAIMER: The views expressed on all the shows produced and distributed by Ep.Log Media are personal to the host and the guest of the shows respectively and with no intention to harm the sentiments of any individual/organization.
The said content is not obscene or blasphemous or defamatory of any event and/or person deceased or alive or in contempt of court or breach of contract or breach of privilege, or in violation of any provisions of the statute, nor hurt the sentiments of any religious groups/ person/government/non-government authorities and/or breach or be against any declared public policy of any nation or state.

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A small car is not an unattainable aspiration for a middle-class family in India today. Forty years ago though, it was. Cars were considered an unaffordable luxury until the mid-eighties when Maruti 800 finally came along. However, attempts had begun as early as the 1930s to set up an automobile manufacturing industry in India.
I take up this journey in a three-part series. The first episode profiles the early pioneers and their audacious but finally aborted attempts during the 1930s and 1940s.

The second episode tracks the painfully slow and sputtering growth of the industry between the 1950s to 1970s.
The final episode charts the rise and shine of the automobile industry in India since the 1980s. It offers a ringside view of the Maruti growth story as a case study.

 

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A small car is not an unattainable aspiration for a middle-class family in India today. Forty years ago though, it was!

Cars were considered an unaffordable luxury until the mid-eighties when Maruti 800 finally came along. However, attempts had begun as early as the 1930s to set up an automobile manufacturing industry in India.

From the makers of HistoryChatter Podcast, we bring to you this exciting 3-part series on how this dream was made a reality amidst the Chaos, Controversy, Failures and Revolt.

Episodes Streaming Every Sunday from 16th July 2023

You can follow us and leave us feedback on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @eplogmedia,

For advertising/partnerships send you can send us an email at [email protected].

If you like this show, please subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts, so other people can find us. You can also find us on https://www.eplog.media

DISCLAIMER: Listener Discretion Advised. The views expressed on all the shows produced and distributed by Ep.Log Media are personal to the host and the guest of the shows respectively and with no intention to harm the sentiments of any individual/organization.
The said content is not obscene or blasphemous or defamatory of any event and/or person deceased or alive or in contempt of court or breach of contract or breach of privilege, or in violation of any provisions of the statute, nor hurt the sentiments of any religious groups/ person/government/non-government authorities and/or breach or be against any declared public policy of any nation or state.
Ep.Log Media does not take any liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information presented in the podcast. Listener discretion is advised.

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HistoryChatter enters into contemporary history in this special episode. Anirban speaks to political scientists Prof. Sudha Pai and Dr. Sajjan Kumar on the recent past and prospects of Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh. Pai and Kumar have recently published the much-acclaimed book 'Maya, Modi and Azad: Dalit Politics in the Time of Hindutva'.
They argue that the Bahujan Samaj Party is probably in a terminal decline and Dalits in Uttar Pradesh now display a unique paradox of political preference for the BJP in elections and political protest against perceived atrocities under the leadership of a new generation of leaders such as Chandrasekhar Azad Ravan.
They spoke in detail about how this unique transformation gradually took place since the 1990s.

Finally, they argue that the multiple faces of Dalit politics are not an exception, but possibly the norm. Extension of larger political and economic processes such as globalization is one of the factors behind what they see as a fragmentation of the Dalit self which they portray as a sign of deepening democracy.

Pai and Kumar make these and many more points in the course of an engaging conversation with Anirban against the background of their new book.

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DISCLAIMER: Listener Discretion Advised. The views expressed on all the shows produced and distributed by Ep.Log Media are personal to the host and the guest of the shows respectively and with no intention to harm the sentiments of any individual/organization.
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Once the British conquered India, they invested in learning Indian languages. Initially, they searched for one common language for the whole subcontinent. The search for a common vernacular in India made an adventurer called John Gilchrist virtually invent a new language called Hindustani.

The language was common enough in north India but its rise to the status of a pan-Indian lingua franca was a British colonial project. Yet, by the late nineteenth century, Hindustani was virtually divided down the middle into Hindi and Urdu.
By the 1940s, the language, like the subcontinent, was literally partitioned and made to disappear.

No one admits to speaking Hindustani in India today even when they use it in practice.

 

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DISCLAIMER: The views expressed on all the shows produced and distributed by Ep.Log Media are personal to the host and the guest of the shows respectively and with no intention to harm the sentiments of any individual/organization.
The said content is not obscene or blasphemous or defamatory of any event and/or person deceased or alive or in contempt of court or breach of contract or breach of privilege, or in violation of any provisions of the statute, nor hurt the sentiments of any religious groups/ person/government/non-government authorities and/or breach or be against any declared public policy of any nation or state.
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