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Instrument of Accession (Jammu and Kashmir)
Encyclopedia
The Instrument of Accession is a legal document executed by Maharajah Hari Singh
, ruler of the princely state
of Jammu and Kashmir, on 26 October 1947. By executing this document under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947
, Maharajah Hari Singh agreed to accede to the Dominion of India .
In a letter sent to Maharajah Hari Singh on 27 October 1947, the then Governor-General of India
, Lord Mountbatten
accepted the accession with a remark, “it is my Government's wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader the question of the State's accession should be settled by a reference to the people.” Lord Mountbatten’s remark and the offer made by the Government of India to conduct a plebiscite or referendum to determine the future status of Kashmir led to a dispute between India and Pakistan regarding the legality of the accession of Kashmir to India. India claims that the accession is unconditional and final while Pakistan maintains that the accession is fraudulent.
The accession to India is celebrated on Accession Day
, which is held annually on October 26.
The preamble says that:
It is further specified that:
Thus the power of the Dominion to make laws was restricted to the matters mentioned in the Schedule namely Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communications and a few ancillary subjects specified in the schedule. For all other matters concurrence of the State Government was essential.
Hari Singh
Maharaja Hari Singh was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in India.He was married four times...
, ruler of the princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
of Jammu and Kashmir, on 26 October 1947. By executing this document under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947
Indian Independence Act 1947
The Indian Independence Act 1947 was as an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan...
, Maharajah Hari Singh agreed to accede to the Dominion of India .
In a letter sent to Maharajah Hari Singh on 27 October 1947, the then Governor-General of India
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
, Lord Mountbatten
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
accepted the accession with a remark, “it is my Government's wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader the question of the State's accession should be settled by a reference to the people.” Lord Mountbatten’s remark and the offer made by the Government of India to conduct a plebiscite or referendum to determine the future status of Kashmir led to a dispute between India and Pakistan regarding the legality of the accession of Kashmir to India. India claims that the accession is unconditional and final while Pakistan maintains that the accession is fraudulent.
The accession to India is celebrated on Accession Day
Accession Day (Jammu and Kashmir)
Accession Day is a holiday in India's northernmost state, Jammu and Kashmir, commemorating 26 October 1947, when Maharaja Hari Singh signed of the Instrument of Accession, in which Jammu and Kashmir joined the Dominion of India. Festivities of the day include holding rallies, bursting of...
, which is held annually on October 26.
It is further specified that:
Thus the power of the Dominion to make laws was restricted to the matters mentioned in the Schedule namely Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communications and a few ancillary subjects specified in the schedule. For all other matters concurrence of the State Government was essential.
See also
- Instrument of AccessionInstrument of AccessionThe Instrument of Accession was a legal document created in 1947 to enable each of the rulers of the princely states under British suzerainty to join one of the new dominions of India or Pakistan created by the Partition of British India.-Background:...
- Instrument of Accession of Junagadh
- History of Kashmir.
External links
- Page 1 of the instrument
- Page 2 of the instrument
- Original Accession Document
- The full instrument in text mode.
- Proclamation of May 1, 1951 on Jammu & Kashmir Constituent Assembly by Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh from the Official website of Government of Jammu and Kashmir, India
- Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet Resources by the Library, University of California, Berkeley, USA; niversity of California, Berkeley Library Bibliographies and Web-Bibliographies list]
- Andrew Whitehead's book A Mission in Kashmir, which challenges the official account of the signing of the accession document