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Chapter 7 - The position of princely state

"Respected Ali Khan, please allow me to represent the British Empire to you, long-time loyal ally, to express the truest respect." Alan Wilson is an old civil servant as soon as he opens his mouth, with just the right smile, showing goodwill to the unattractive earth emperor, "For three hundred years, Hyderabad, as well as the royal family, and the British Empire has always been very happy cooperation, this amicable relationship has benefited us a lot, whether in the past or in the future, I hope our friendship has continued. "

"The similarity between you and the previous commissioner is that you speak the same programmatic words." Mir Uthman Ali Khan smiled slightly, nodding at the commonality of the other, and waved his hand for the servants in the palace to prepare the meal, "I have just finished my service and now invite the new commissioner of Hyderabad to join me for lunch, and by the way, to enhance our relationship with each other."

"I feel very honored. I am amazed at your proficiency in English, revered Maharaja." Ellen Wilson made a complimentary face and agreed to the other party's invitation.

Because of the dimension, Hyderabad is considered to be in South India, but because of the Deccan plateau, the temperature here is not much higher than that of New Delhi, and in the climate at the beginning of the year, it makes people feel a little cooler.

But apparently Mir Osman Ali Khan, as a native Hyderabad monarch, has gotten used to the climate here and prepared cutlery for Alan Wilson, and himself grabbed rice with his hands like an ordinary Indian, even if the knife and fork were ready to be placed next to the plate.

Until the silver plate licked clean, Mir Osman Ali Khan only slowly spoke, "As the new Hyderabad commissioner, I very welcome your arrival, whether it is New Delhi or London side, I believe it has been carefully considered."

It was only at this time that Alan Wilson realized that this Hyderabadi monarch, although he had never left his own native state, was very well informed and had fallen into the eyes of the other side long before he had even left New Delhi.

From asking whether the British-Indian Corps' advance into Burma was going well, to hearing that Prime Minister Churchill was about to go to Yalta for a meeting with the Soviets, everything was understood in detail. Far from the plate licking look of just now.

Circling around, Mir Osman Ali Khan asked, seemingly somewhat unconcerned, "I heard that Nehru and Ari Jinnah were having a lot of trouble, bringing a lot of trouble to both New Delhi and London. To be honest, I personally am not very fond of such quarrels."

"From the British point of view, I certainly don't like it either, esteemed Maharaja." As soon as Alan Wilson heard this, he took a careful look at Mir Osman Ali Khan's expression, always feeling that the other party seemed to mean something, and spoke slowly, "It seems that the Maharaja is concerned about some of the rumors and wants urgent answers."

"Well, I have heard something, and although it is a bit bad to ask it when the war is not yet over, please understand that it involves the big question of Hyderabad's existence." Mir Osman Ali Khan did not hide, and his thin body matched his loud voice, "I wonder what London thinks of the current, independence movement in British India? Whether it is the claim of Ari Jinnah or Nehru?"

Alan Wilson simply wanted to scratch his head, this question was beyond the scope of what he, the commissioner, could answer. For the British India to continue to exist, whether to try to maintain, or let go of India's independence. I believe that now London, whether the Conservative Party or the Labour Party do not have a precise answer, should still be under discussion.

It seems that Mir Osman Ali Khan is more than concerned about this issue, otherwise he would not have asked him, a newly arrived commissioner, a little too impatient.

But the point is that he really can not answer this question, but just met with the monarch here, can not give a clear answer, which may damage the relationship, damage the British Empire and Hyderabad's relationship is nothing, damage to personal relations is Alan Wilson does not want to see.

The other side can not only be the ruler of Hyderabad, once the independence of India was ousted, you know Mir Osman Ali Khan or the world's richest man on the cover of the U.S. Times, even if the loss of the ruler's position, the huge wealth is still high regard, even if the digging of the golden temple of Alan Wilson can not be an exception.

"This issue, in fact, there is not a definite conclusion on the part of London, honored maharaja, but in the name of private individuals, I can envision several possible scenarios to judge what kind of attitude the maharaja will take at that time." Alan Wilson made a very sincere expression and spoke in his private name.

"Oh? Please say!" Mir Osman Ali Khan's face was calm, and he did not know what he was thinking.

"In fact, it is a well-known fact that the idea of the Congress Party, represented by Nehru himself, is that it wants a post-independence India that can maintain the framework of a country that wants the entire South Asian legacy of the British Empire." Allen Wilson said this added, "This is based on the premise that India finally succeeded in independence, and as for the PML, represented by Ali Jinnah, is very resistant to the idea of living in the same country as the Hindus, and from the current attitude, Ali Jinnah's attitude is very strong, and would rather fight a civil war than compromise."

"Jinnah's attitude, I have also heard about it." Mir Osman Ali Khan nodded, apparently approving Alan Wilson's analysis of the two most powerful native political figures in South Asia at the moment, and turned his words to say, "But what about the status of a host of native states, including Hyderabad? I wonder what the commissioner has to say about that."

"Let's envision the worst possible outcome!" Alan Wilson also knew that this was not the time to hide and had to make this monarch of Hyderabad recognize, at the first meeting, that he, the commissioner, had something to offer and was not a rice bucket who came up with a bribe, even if he did pay a bribe to become the commissioner.

Mir Osman Ali Khan was concerned with the question of the ownership of the princely state, which involved his interests. Alan Wilson also knew that the issue of the Turkish state had caused a series of disputes after India's independence.

Without mentioning Kashmir and without mentioning Hyderabad, let's talk about two issues that did not raise big concerns, Sikkim and Bhutan. In later times one was annexed by India in the 1960s and the other became an Indian protectorate.

And on the present map of British India, both Sikkim and Bhutan are part of British India, under the name of native states. India has constantly set off wars and also believes that it needs to restore the map of British India, in other words, India is taking on the map of British India since ancient times.

Putting this aside for a moment, what Nehru thought was clearly not the concern of the Hyderabadi monarch Mir Osman Ali Khan, and in fact the two had diametrically opposed positions.