Chapter 7 The Position of Tuban

“Honorable Ali Khan, on behalf of the British Empire, allow me to pay my truest respects to you, a longtime and loyal ally.” Alan Wilson was an old civil servant when he opened his mouth, with just the right amount of smile, he showed his favor to the unprepossessing Tuban Emperor, “For three hundred years, Hyderabad, as well as the royal family, and the British Empire have been very pleasant to work with each other, and we have benefited greatly from this rapprochement, both in the past and in the future, and I hope that our friendship will always continue. ”

“The similarity between you and the previous commissioners is that you speak the same programmed words.” Mir Osman Ali Khan smiled slightly, pointing out what the other had in common, and waved his hand for the servants in the palace to go and prepare the meal, “I have just finished my worship, and I now invite the new commissioner of Hyderabad to join me for lunch, and in the process come to enhance our relationship with each other.”

“I feel very honored. Honorable Maharaja, your proficiency in English amazes me.” Alan Wilson made a buttery look and agreed to the other party’s invitation.

Because of the dimension, Hyderabad was considered to be in South India, but because of the Deccan Plateau, the temperature here was not much higher than that of New Delhi, and in the climate of the beginning of the year, one could feel a hint of coolness.

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

It was not until the silver plate was licked clean that Mir Osman Ali Khan spoke slowly, “As the new Commissioner of Hyderabad, I am very pleased to welcome you, both from New Delhi and London, and I believe that careful consideration has been given to your arrival.”

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

From inquiring whether the Anglo-Indian Army’s advance into Burma was going well, to hearing that Prime Minister Churchill was about to go to Yalta to hold a meeting with the Soviets, everything was known. Far from the plate-licking look he had just worn.

After circling around, Mir Osman Ali Khan asked, seemingly somewhat unconcerned, “I heard that Nehru and Ali Jinnah had a falling out, causing a lot of trouble for both New Delhi and London. To be honest, I personally am not a big fan of such squabbles.”

“I certainly don’t like it from the British point of view either, Honorable Maharaja.” As soon as Alan Wilson heard this, he took a long look at Mir Osman Ali Khan’s demeanor, always feeling as if the other man meant what he said, and spoke slowly, “It seems as if the Maharaja is concerned enough about some of the wind rumors to want urgent answers.”

“Well, I have heard something, and although it is a little 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 hold back, his thin body matched by a booming voice, “I wonder what London thinks of the current, independence movement in British India? Whether it be the claims of Ali Jinnah or Nehru?”

Alan Wilson simply wanted to scratch his head, the question was beyond what he, as Commissioner, could answer. As to whether British India continues to exist, whether to try to maintain it or let go and let India become independent. It is believed that in London now, neither the Conservative Party nor the Labor Party has a precise answer, and it should still be under discussion.

It seems that Mir Osman Ali Khan’s concern for this issue is more than normal, otherwise he would not have asked him, a newly arrived commissioner, a little too eagerly.

But the point was that he could not really answer this question, but he had just met with the monarch here and could not give a clear answer, which could damage the relationship, damage the relationship between the British Empire and Hyderabad is not a big deal, damage to the personal relationship is Alan Wilson did not want to see.

The other party can not only be the ruler of Hyderabad, once India’s independence was ousted, to know that Mir Osman Ali Khan is still the world’s richest man who has been on the cover of the U.S. Time magazine, even if the loss of the ruler’s status, the huge wealth is still high, even if it is digging up the Golden Temple of Allen Wilson can not be an exception.

“This issue, in fact, London does not have a definitive conclusion, honorable Maharaja, but in a private capacity, 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 a private name.

“Oh? Please speak!” Mir Osman Ali Khan’s face was calm and he didn’t know what he was thinking.

“Actually, the idea of the Congress Party represented by Nehru himself, which is a known fact, is that it wants India after independence to maintain the framework of one nation, and wants the legacy of the entire South Asia of the British Empire.” Alan Wilson said this and added, “This is based on the premise that India’s eventual independence will be successful, and as for the PML-N, represented by Ali Jinnah, is very resistant to the idea of living in the same country as the Hindus, and judging from the attitude so far, Ali Jinnah’s attitude is very strong, and he would rather fight a civil war than compromise.”

“Jinnah’s attitude, I have heard about it.” Mir Osman Ali Khan nodded his head, clearly recognizing Alan Wilson’s analysis of the two most powerful native political figures in South Asia at the moment, and turned his words around to say, “But what about the position of a bunch of native states, including Hyderabad? I wonder what the Commissioner has to say about that.”

“Let’s envision it according to the worst possible outcome!” Alan Wilson also knew that this was not the time to hide, it was necessary to make this monarch of Hyderabad recognize in the first meeting that he, the commissioner, had something to offer and was not a rice bucket who had bribed his way up to the position of commissioner, even if he did bribe his way into being a commissioner.

Mir Osman Ali Khan was concerned about the belonging of Tupang, which was at stake. Alan Wilson also knew that the issue of Tupang had caused a series of disputes after India’s independence.

Without mentioning Kashmir and without mentioning Hyderabad, let’s talk about two issues that didn’t attract much attention, Sikkim and Bhutan. In later times one was annexed by India in the 1960s and the other became an Indian protectorate.

And on the current map of British India, both Sikkim and Bhutan are part of British India under the name of Tuktuks. India keeps starting wars and also thinks that it needs to restore the map of British India, in other words, India is taking on the map of British India since time immemorial.

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