“We must celebrate our democracy. More importantly, it must be nurtured, preserved and deepened.”

Episode 1 of The India Project, The Princely States, opens with these lines, going on to explore how one of the fundamental challenges to the idea of a unified India came from its princely states. From Hyderabad under the Nizam to the kingdom of Travancore, from Junagadh to Bhopal, each state was presented with the option of joining the dominion of India or Pakistan. As the clock ticked towards August 15, 1947, how did the builders of the nation resolve the intricacies of this maze?

The India Project is an ambitious project with investigative reporter Josy Joseph. Author, most recently, of A Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India, and The Silent Coup: A History of India’s Deep State, Josy unearths documents that shed new light on the birth of Indian democracy and its institutions through snippets and stories.

Acknowledgements:

Tryst With Destiny | India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru addresses the nation of India (English). YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrEkYscgbqE&t=58s

1946 Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru’s Constituent Assembly Speech at Delhi (Hindi). YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrEkYscgbqE&t=58s

Credits:

A man of great contradictions… that is how the learned and venerable reformer and technocrat Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer is introduced in the second episode of The India Project with Josy Joseph. In the summer of 1947, Sir CP had drawn up an aggressive plan for independence… not of India, but of the princely state of Travancore, of which he was the Diwan from 1936 to 1947. As the clock ticked, it appeared as if Travancore would hoist its own national flag even before India would. Until one night in July, as Sir CP finished addressing the audience at a concert commemorating the anniversary of the former Maharaja and Carnatic music composer Swathi Thirunal, a sickle swished in the dark.

Episode 2 of The India Project unravels the intrigues and covert correspondences leading up to Travancore’s eventual accession to the Union of India. Until the turning point — the attempted assassination of Sir CP.

Listen to discover more.

The India Project, narrated by investigative reporter and author Josy Joseph, chronicles the formation of the republic through documents that shed new light on the genesis of Indian democracy and its institutions.

Acknowledgements:

Tryst With Destiny - Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s address to the nation on August 15, 1947 | YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrEkYscgbqE&t=58s

Nagumomu - Abheri performed by Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer | YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofgoh6Ef3io

Thanks to Confluence Media for CP’s Letter to the Maharaja

Performed by Narayan Krishnaswamy

Music used from

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/maharajah-of-bikaners-birthday

Credits:

Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar.

A car chase in Bombay climaxes in a cold-blooded street murder and a foiled abduction. A cornered potentate, chastened by a scandal, agrees reluctantly to abdicate. Amid the power play of dangerous liaisons, this episode of The India Project packs it all in.

After our exploration of the fraught politics of The Princely States in Episode 1 and the mutinous designs of Travancore to renege on the Union in Episode 2, we journey to Indore, a princely state in present-day Madhya Pradesh, where palace intrigues deepen the Maharaja’s decision — accede to the Union of India, or secede and face the consequences. After the abdication of Maharaja Tukoji Rao III Holkar XIII, scion of the Holkar dynasty, his young happy-go-lucky heir Yashwant Rao Holkar II has been installed on the throne, a move that marks the beginning of British control of Indore. Years later, barely weeks from August 15, 1947, the flamboyant ruler is in the crosshairs of a crisis as he tries to assert his dominion’s independence.

Acknowledgements:

Audio excerpts in this episode are drawn from the following sources:

Lord Louis Mountbatten at New Delhi talks (1947) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUWNDK6ZDt4

Thief Of Baghdad- 1940 ( Hindi) 1:16:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBorHUADApc&t=4578s

Sazaa Full Movie - Dev Anand - Nimmi - Shyama | Old Hindi Movies | Classic Bollywood Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-sE_SUrH40

Sheesh Mahal (1950) Full Movie | शीश महल | Sohrab Modi, Naseem Banu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HeeJCq0XPY&feature=youtu.be

Raj Nartaki 1940 Hindi Classical Full Movie || Prithviraj Kapoor, Sadhna Bose || Hindi Movies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d43ZbFo39s&t=2079s

AI voices from Murf.ai

Credits:

Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar