Vallabhbhai Patel
Vallabhbhai Patel, known as Sardar, was independent India's first deputy prime minister and home minister, and the man who assembled the country out of 565 princely states. Born in Nadiad in Gujarat in 1875 to a farming family, he studied law privately, saved for years to travel to London, and qualified at the Middle Temple in 1913, finishing top of his class. He was a successful barrister in Ahmedabad and initially dismissive of Gandhi before joining him. He led the Kheda satyagraha in 1918 and the Bardoli tax revolt in 1928, whose success earned him the title Sardar, or chief, from the women of the district. He organised the Congress machine, raised its funds and served as its president in 1931. At independence in August 1947 the British lapsed their paramountcy over the princely states, leaving each nominally free to join India, join Pakistan or stand alone. Patel, with his secretary V. P. Menon, secured accession from almost all of them within months by offering privy purses and guarantees while making the alternative plain. Three resisted. Junagadh's ruler acceded to Pakistan and was removed after a plebiscite. Hyderabad, the largest, was annexed in September 1948 by Operation Polo, a five-day military action followed by communal killings whose scale the government suppressed. Kashmir went to Nehru and became a war. He and Nehru disagreed frequently — over the handling of Kashmir, over economic policy, and over the response to communal violence. As home minister he banned the RSS after Gandhi's assassination in 1948. He built the Indian Administrative Service and the police structure the republic still uses. He died in December 1950.
- Lived: 1875 CE – 1950 CE
- Nationality: Indian
- Roles: independence_leader, deputy_prime_minister
