Integration of Princely States

As British paramountcy lapsed in 1947, the Government of India worked to secure the accession and administrative integration of more than 560 princely states. Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel and States Department secretary V. P. Menon were central to the process. Most rulers signed Instruments of Accession peacefully, while Junagadh, Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir followed distinct and more contested political and military trajectories.