Indo-Pakistan War 1947-1948 Module - V

Major Wars Post

Independence

16
Note
INDO-PAKISTAN WAR
(1947-1948)

India and Pakistan gained independence amidst population displacement and violence.
Kashmir became the major bone of contention during the Partition. War with Pakistan
in August1947 led to the signing of instrument of accession between Maharaja Hari
Singh and Government of India on 26th October 1947. This further caused tensions in
Pakistan and it sent its troops and Mujahideens to take over Kashmir. War of 1947
was the first of the many wars between India and Pakistan. Two other states were
Army under tooks operations to ensure national integration, were Hyderabad where
operation polo was launched . Other one was in Goa, the Portuguese and their
sympathisers were driven out by the combined action of Navy, Air Force and the
Army and the operation was called VIJAY.

Objectives
After studying this lesson, you will be able to:
 identify the reasons behind the problem of Kashmir;
 describe the role played by Indian Air Force during the India-Pakistan war of
1947-48 and
 describe the liberation of Hyderabad and Goa.

16.1 Genesis of the Kashmir Problem

In August 1947 when the Indian subcontinent became independent, rulers of the 565
princely states, whose lands comprised two-fifths of India [Map 16.1] and a population
of 99 million, had to decide which of the two new countries to join, India or Pakistan.
This is how India looked like before 1947.

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Independence

Note

Map 16.1 Pre-Partition Map of India

The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, whose state was situated between the two new
countries, could not decide which country to join. The King, Maharaja Hari Singh was
a Hindu but his population was predominantly Muslim. Instead he signed a "standstill"
agreement with Pakistan in order that services such as trade, travel and communication
would be uninterrupted. India did not sign a similar agreement. Pakistan violated this
agreement as soon as it was signed and started applying economic and other pressures
to force it to accede to Pakistan. The only rail link with Jammu & Kashmir was cut off
and the traffic along the main road Srinagar-Rawalpindi was also interfered with. When
these pressures failed, tribal raids were organized from Pakistan into various parts of
Jammu & Kashmir. This became the beginning of the Kashmir problem.

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Activity 16.1 Independence

Look up the Internet and write down in your notebook, who are Mujahideen.

16.1.1 : Invasion of Kashmir Valley

The invasion of the valley was carried out from across the Pakistan border. The
Note
invasion was well planned and carried out in two phases. When first phase commenced
thousands of raiders came across the border and carried out several border raids
along the Pakistan - Kashmir border. This phase started on 20th October 1947.
These raiders mostly comprised of Hazara and Pashtun tribesmen from Pakistan's
North-West Frontier Province.
The invaders came into Kashmir in two lots. One from Muzaffarabad towards Srinagar
and the other came from Nowshera-Poonch area. They quickly captured towns and
villages and came upto Srinagar town. On 24th October the ruler, Maharaja Hari
Singh, sent an urgent message to Governor General of India, Lord Mountbatten, seeking
immediate India's help to stop the invaders. When Pakistan launched a large-scale
offensive, Kashmir accepted to merge with India by signing the Instrument of Accession
on 26th October 1947. Indian army was quickly deployed in Srinagar and Poonch
and defeated the invaders.
Pakistan invaded Kargil, Srinagar and Poonch in October 1947. All these areas
were of Muslim majority population

Map 16.2: The Invasion route

Intext Questions 16.1

1. Who was Maharaja Hari Singh ?
2. Who were the first invaders in Kashmir during 1947 ?
3. When was the Instrument of Accession signed between the Government of India
and Maharaja Hari Singh?

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Independence Activity 16.2
See the map above and identify the places from where the raiders from Pakistan came
into India in 1947.
16.2 The Indian Armed Forces in 1947
Note

ARMY India Pakistan

Armoured Regiments 12 6
Artillery Regiments 18.5 8.5
Infantry Battalions 88 33

AIR FORCE India Pakistan

Fighter Squadrons 6 2
Transport Squadrons 1 1

NAVY India Pakistan

Sloops 4 2
Mine Sweepers 3 1

16.2.1 Major Battles During the War in 1947-48

During the war of 1947-48, the Indian Army took part in several battles at different
areas. It happened during the winter and summer seasons. It is important to learn the
major battles, which will help you to understand the course of the war and the strategies
employed. Given below are the major battles fought in Kashmir to throw out the
Pakistanis during winter of 1947.
The battles took place in Srinagar, Kargil and Poonch
Operation Gulmarg: Battle in Srinagar
Three hundred men of 1 Sikh, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dewan
Ranjit Rai, were flown to Srinagar on the morning of 27th October. Colonel Rai's task
was to secure the airfield as well as Srinagar town. The raiders were delayed for
nearly two days by Col Rai's gallantry efforts. This valuable time enabled our army to
rush more troops to Srinagar airfield. Colonel Rai had played a vital role in the defence
of Srinagar and was awarded Maha Vir Chakra, posthumously.

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Intext Questions 16.2 Independence

1. Which areas in Jammu and Kashmir did raiders from Pakistan capture?
2. Who was Lieutenant Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai and why was he awarded Maha
Vir Chakra in 1947?
Battle of Shelatang Note

Airplanes of the Indian Air Force brought in more troops, guns and ammunition at
Srinagar airfield. The next task was to throw out the invaders from the Kashmir valley.
This was done by one brigade sized force of the Indian Army. The main attack took
place in a place called Shelatang. The attack was so quick and fierce that the enemy
was defeated within 20 minutes. All the raiders panicked and ran towards
Muzaffarabad. The Indian Air Force bombed and fired at the raiders causing huge
casualities. Baramula town and Uri were captured quickly thus ending the war in
Kashmir valley.
Attack on Naushera
The winter months meant hardly any operations in the north and action was confined
to the south, in Jammu area. Enemy was concentrating his troops for an attack on
Naushera which was an important place between Jammu and Poonch. The enemy
attacked Naushera on the night of 5th and 6th February from three sides. After a bitter
battle, the attack was repulsed with heavy losses to the enemy. It was also the biggest
battle of the Kashmir War. Enemy was defeated because of our very effective Artillery.
Attack on Poonch
The raiders attacked Poonch town in October 1947 and surrounded it. Indian Army
led by Lieutenant Colonel Pritam Singh was already inside the Poonch and he started
defended the town. The army went on patrols by night and fought and killed the
raiders. This action did not allow the enemy to enter Poonch town. Later in December
1947, Air Force landed their aircraft carrying more troops and guns. Similar to what
was done in Srinagar. Because of the attacks by raiders, the area faced problem of
refugees & their settlement. The Air Force aircraft after dropping the army soldiers
carried the refugees to Jammu and other safe areas. The daring attacks by Indian
Army stopped the raiders from coming any further.
16.2.2 Attack on Kargil: Operation Bison
You have learnt that the Pakistani invaders had come to Kargil also. An operation was
launched on 01 November 1948 through Zoji La pass to capture Kargil. It was a
daring attack led by General Thimayya. He used tanks, artillery and Air Force to

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defeat the Pakistanis. By 22 November 1947 all areas upto Kargil were free of the
Independence
invaders. At this time Colonel Sher Jung Thapa defended Skardu. He defeated all
attacks by the enemy for one long year without any additional troops or ammunition.
Finally he had to surrender to the Pakistanis as no reinforcement could be provided to
him and Skardu is now in Pak occupied Kashmir (POK).

Note Intext Questions 16.3

1. On a map of India mark the following:
(a) Zoji La
(b) Kargil, Dras and Matayin.
2. What was the name of the operation for the liberation of Kargil in the year
1948?
The Ceasefire
The Kashmir dispute was referred to the U.N. on the advice of Lord Mountbatten by
the then Prime Minster, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. In December 1947, India had
complainend with ledged the United Nations Organisation about the attack on Kashmir,
by regular and irregular troops from across Pakistan. In the early stages Pakistan kept
denying that her troops were involved in the fighting, and was saying that it was a
revolt by the local tribes; later on, however, Pakistan accepted her direct involvement.
The United Nations Security Council, by a resolution of 13th August 1948, called for
an immediate cease-fire between the two sides and for setting up of a commission to
supervise the cease-fire. Both sides agreed to the cease-fire and it came into being on
1st January 1949. And a commission known as United Nations Commission for India
and Pakistan (UNCIP) was set up to supervise the ceasefire. United Nations Military
Observers Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was made responsible to ensure
that either side did not violate the ceasefire line.

16.3 Annexation of Hyderabad

British India consisted of Princely States and Provinces. About 60 percentage of the
Indian subcontinent's territory were provinces and 40 percentages were Princely States.
Provinces were British territories completely under British control while the Princely
states were states in British India with local rulers or kings with honorary titles like
Maharaja, Raja, Maharana, Rana, Nizam etc. Among these Hyderabad was one of
the princely states ruled by Nizam in South India.
1) Hyderabad was a multilingual state with people speaking Telugu, Marathi,
Kannada and Urdu. It consisted of present-day Telangana, Karnataka,

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Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan was a
Independence
Muslim ruler who ruled a Hindu majority state. It was recognized as the richest
state and the Nizam was the richest man in the world. The state was actually
self-reliant, had its own currency (Hyderabadi Rupee), its own army, railway
network, radio network, postal system etc. In Map 16.3 we see the provinces
in Indian continent prior to 1947.
Note

Map 16.3: India during British period

2) After the crown rule ended, the last Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten
gave the princely states the choice to either join India or Pakistan or remain
independent. The Nizam of Hyderabad initially approached the British
Government with a request to take on the status of an independent constitutional
monarchy under the British Commonwealth of Nations. This request, however,
was rejected by the Governor General of India. When it was clear that India
would not accept an independent Hyderabad, the Nizam even threatened to
throw in his lot with Pakistan. The Nizam had a tendency towards Pakistan and
India was waging a war in Jammu and Kashmir with the same nation; India
became cautious with Hyderabad. The Nizam was adamant and unwilling to

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consider any other option which eventually led India to send the army to
Independence
Hyderabad and crush the rebellion.
16.3.1 Operation Polo
1) As a first step, the Central Government came up with the Standstill Agreement,
in November, 1947, which only sought an assurance, that Hyderabad would
Note not accede to Pakistan, and would remain in India. In accordance with the
Standstill Agreement, K.M. Munshi was appointed as the Indian Government's
envoy and Agent General to Hyderabad. Munshi was mistreated by the Nizam's
Government; he was not even given proper accommodation. The Razakars
were a private army maintained by the Nizam of Hyderabad. This army started
harassing and looting the general public. Against such a background, the Indian
Home Minister Sardar Patel decided to annex Hyderabad.
2) Operation POLO was the code name for the Hyderabad Police Action. Indian
Army sent infantry, tanks and artillery to take part in the operations. The operation
began on 13 September 1948 with battle fought at Naldurg Fort near Solapur.
The operation itself took five days in which the Razakars and the Hyderabadi
military were defeated swiftly.
3) The 'Hyderabad State Army' was Completely routed, with 490 dead and 122
injured, and around 1647 becoming prisoners. The Razakars' fate was even
worse, they lost 1373 of their men, and 1911 were captured, and with it their
pipe dream of hosting an independent Hyderabad too varnished. Nizam knew
he had lost the game. It ended the autocratic-feudal regime and integrated the
Hyderabad State into Indian union. Many voices were raised questioning the
legitimacy of the decision to annex Hyderabad. However, it was necesoary to
launch an operation to make the geographically and culturally integral state of
Hyderabad as part of India.

Intext Questions 16.4

1. What do you know about Police Action in Hyderabad?
2. Why was annexation of Hyderabad necessary?
3. When was Operation POLO launched?

16.3.2 Annexation of Goa

Background
(a) Portuguese were the first to come to India as traders followed by the Dutch, the
British and the French. Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama arrived at Calicut, an

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important sea port located on the South-West India on May 20, 1498 AD. The
Independence
rise of Portuguese in India took place in 1505 AD, Francisco de Almeida was
appointed as first Portuguese Governor in India. His policy to control the Indian
Ocean was known as the Blue Water Policy.
(b) Goa was captured by the Portuguese Governor Alfonso de Alberqueque in
1510 AD and he is considered the real founder of Portuguese power in India.
Note
Goa subsequently became the headquarters of Portuguese settlement in India.
The Portuguese hold over the coastal areas and superiority in naval power helped
them significantly. By the end of 16th century, the Portuguese captured not only
Goa, Daman, Diu and Salsette but also vast stretches of land along the Indian
coast.
The Goa Inquisition
The Portuguese colonial administration enacted anti-Hindu laws with the intent to
humiliate Hindus and encourage conversions to Christianity. They passed laws banning
Christians from employing Hindus and making the public worship by Hindus a
punishable violation. The Goa Inquisition refers to the office of Inquisition acting in the
Indian state of Goa and the rest of Portuguese empire in Asia established in 1560.
Post Independent India's View on Goa
After India's independence from the British in 1947, Portugal refused to accede to
India's request to relinquish control of its Indian territory. From 1954 the Portuguese
brutally suppressed peaceful Satyagraha campaigns by Indians, aimed at forcing the
Portuguese to leave Goa. The Portuguese used force and took actions. The leaders.
As a result India closed its consulate which had operated at Panjim since 1947, imposing
an economic embargo against the territory of Portuguese Goa. The Indian government
adopted a 'wait and watch' attitude from 1955 to 1961 with numerous representations
to the Portuguese Salazar regime and attempts to highlight the issue before the
International community. In 1961, India launched Operation Vijay and liberated Goa
from the Portugeuse. The Salazar regime in Portugal refused to recognize Indian
sovereignty over Goa, Daman and Diu and continued representation in Portugal's
National Assembly until 1974. Following the Carnation Revolution that year, the new
government in Lisbon restored diplomatic relations with India, recognizing Indian
sovereignty over Goa, Daman and Diu. Due to the military takeover, and wishes of the
people of Portuguese India were not taken officially, the people continue to have the
right to Portuguese citizenship. Since 2006, that has been restricted to those born
during Portuguese rule.

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Operation Vijay
Independence
The liberation of Goa was the process in which the Republic of India annexed the
Portuguese occupied Indian territories of Goa, Daman and Diu. It started with the
action carried out by the Indian Armed Forces led by General Chaudhari on 13
December 1961. This action is referred as the "Liberation of Goa". The armed action
was code named 'Operation VIJAY' by the Indian Armed Forces. The operation
Note
involved air, sea and land strikes for over 36 hours, and it was a decisive victory for
the Republic of India, ending 451 years of rule of Portugal over its remaining enclaves
in India. The engagement lasted two days and twenty-two Indians and thirty Portuguese
were killed in the fighting. The brief conflict drew a mixture of worldwide praise and
condemnation. In India, the action was seen as liberation of Indian territory, while
Portugal viewed it as an aggression against national soil and its citizens.
(a) The strategy employed was very successful as the Indian Army sealed main land
routes connecting Goa and India and co-ordination with Air Force and Navy
was the backbone of success. With Indian Air Force bombarding radio station
at Bambolim and the airport at Dabolim and the Navy placing its advance force
comprising frigates INS Betwa, INS Beas and gigantic aircraft carrier INS Vikrant
along the coast of Goa, the blockade was complete.
(b) Finally on 19th December 1961 Indian national flag was hoisted by Major
General K.P.Candeth and at 6 PM the operation came to halt with Portuguese
Governor Salo deSilva formally surrendering to Brig. K.S. Dhillon under
headlights of the car of Portuguese Governor.

Activity 16.3
List the Param Veer Chakra winners during 1947-48 Jammu & Kashmir. Find the
images of winners and paste on the map of J & K on the location where they fought
the war.

Intext Questions 16.5

1. What was Operation Vijay?
2. When was Operation VIJAY launched?
3. When was Goa liberated from the Portuguese?

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What You Have Learnt Independence

 The background to the Kashmir conflict.

 The strength of the Indian Armed Forces post independence.
 The major operations carried out by the Indian Armed Forces during the 1947-
48 War with Pakistan, that includes Operation Gulmarg, Battle of Shelatang, Note
Attack on Naushera and the subsequent summer operations.
 Annexation of Hydrabad through armed operation named POLO.
 Liberation of Goa from the Portugese occupation through armed operation named
VIJAY.

Terminal Exercises
1. Write a brief note on the background of 1947 India Pakistan War.
2. List out the course of actions carried out by the Indian Armed Forces during
`Operation Gulmarg'.
3. What were the princely states and provinces in British India before Independence?
4. Explain the major events that led to the annexation of Hyderabad with Indian
Union.
Answers to Intext Questions
16.1 1. Maharaja Hari Singh was the King of Kashmir at the time of India Pakistan
War in 1947-1948.
2. Hazara Tribesmen, Pashtun tribesmen.
3. 26th October 1947.
16.2 1. Muzaffarabad, Domel, Uri and Baramula.
2. Lieutenant Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai commanded the 1 Sikh Division.
He stopped the advance of the Pakistani invaders and secured Srinagar
airport. Against overwhelming odds Rai and his soldiers fought for two
days and he was killed in defence of Srinagar. For his brave action he was
awarded the Mahavir Chakra.
16.3 1. Locate in the map of India.
2. Operation Bison
16.4 1. It was an operation carried out by the Indian Security Forces to annex
Hyderabad into the Indian Union.
2. The ruler of Hyderabad wanted a separate nation and did not want to be
a part of India.

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3. 13 September 1948.
Independence
16.5 1. Operation VIJAY was a military action carried out by the Indian Armed
Forces to liberate the Portuguese occupied Indian Territories.
2. 13 December 1961.
3. 19 December 1961.
Note

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