September 17, 1948, Hyderabad

The bespectacled and unassuming lawyer received the invite for a meeting at 4 PM, and he broke out in a wry smile. He could afford to do so, the man who had called him for the meeting, was no ordinary person. Time magazine in its February 1937 edition, had put him on the cover page and called him the world’s richest man, a man who used the 100 million $ worth Jacob’s Diamond as a paperweight, and whose personal fortune ran into billions. 

Along with Baroda, Mysore, Gwalior, Jammu and Kashmir, he was one of those princely rulers, who had the privilege of receiving a 21-gun Salute. His Exalted Highness Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Siddiqi GSCI, GBE Asaf Jah VII as he was officially called, presided over a kingdom that was around 215,339 sqkm in area, the largest of all the princely states in India. The State of Hyderabad stretched from Aurangabad in the North West to Mahbubnagar in the South East, from Adilabad in the North East to Raichur in the South West.

The bespectacled, unassuming lawyer on the other hand hailed from a relatively humble family, in Broach, Gujarat, and was educated in Baroda, known to be excellent at academics too.  Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, aka K.M.Munshi, was a student of  Aurobindo Ghosh, at Baroda, later made a name for himself as a successful lawyer,  in Bombay, and was also a well-known writer too. 

He was born on December 30, 1887, at Bharuch, he graduated from the MS University in Vadodara, with honours. He later received his LLB from Mumbai University in 1910 and was a registered lawyer. His professor at MS University was Shri Aurobindo who would have had a great influence on his life. Other major influences on him were Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Bhulabhai Desai, and the Maharaja of Vadodara.

He initially was part of the revolutionary group in Congress under the influence of Aurobindo. He even took part in bombmaking. He however later joined the more moderate group, under the influence of Surendranath Banerjee in 1920. Though elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly, he resigned after the Bardoli Satyagraha and took part in the civil disobedience movement in 1930 and was arrested for 6 months. He was arrested again later in 1932.

Elected again in the 1937 Bombay Presidency election, he served as Home Minister. During his tenure, he managed to control the communal riots there. There was a good reason why Sardar Patel would later send him to Hyderabad during Operation Polo. One of the supporters of Akhand Bharat, he felt a non-violent approach would be of no use to Hindus after the Direct Action Day and the Muslim League attacks on Hindus in the North West, as well as in Bengal.

Munshi played a crucial role in two princely states after independence which had their own issues of accession to India- Junagadh and Hyderabad. He played a crucial role in the integration of Junagadh into the Indian Union after its Nawab had fled to Pakistan along with his family, as well as the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple. While Sardar Patel started the reconstruction of Somnath after independence, it was Munshi who led the effort on the ground and ensured its completion after the Sardar passed away, in the face of stiff opposition from Nehru.

His successful handling of the communal riots in the Bombay Presidency, made Sardar Patel appoint him as Agent General to Hyderabad State during Operation Polo and it was Munshi who accepted the Nizam’s surrender. The Nizam had actually refused to meet Munshi and even put him under house arrest. And finally after Operation Polo, he had to surrender to him. Pics of Munshi with the Indian Army in Hyderabad.

He was also on the Committee that drafted the Constitution, along with B.R. Ambedkar and initiated the Van Mahotsav in 1950 to increase tree cover. In 1959 however Munshi left the Congress party, and was one of the founders of the Swatantra Party, along with Rajaji which had a true conservative policy, believing in a free market and private property.

Munshi was also one of the founders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in 1964, along with Golwalkar, Chinmayananda, S.S.Apte and Keshavaram Shastri, to consolidate the Hindu society. In many ways he was one of the early Right Wing or Conservative political leaders in India, supporting the free market and private property, as well as a more Hindu-oriented outlook.

The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was established by Munshi on November 7, 1938, along with his wife Leelavati promoted traditional knowledge with modern education, one of the premier educational institutions. He also established the Mumbadevi Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya to teach Sanskrit and ancient Hindu texts. He also founded the Bhavan’s College, Hansraj Morarji Public School, Rajhans Vidyalaya and Sanjeewan Vidyalaya at Panchgani. As a fellow of the University of Bombay, he ensured adequate representation of native languages and started the Department of Chemical Technology.

Munshi was one of the greatest writers ever in Gujarati literature and wrote under the pen name of Ghanshyam Vyas. He started a monthly called Bhargava and well-known Bhavan’s Journal. Among his famous works were the Patan trilogy a series of historical fiction novels set against the backdrop of the Solanki rulers. Patan Ni Prabhuta (Glory of Patan), Gujarat No Nath and Rajadhiraja were the 3 books.

His Krishnavatara a 7-volume work is one of the finest books on Shree Krishna and the Mahabharat, though he could not complete the last volume on Kurukshetra. He also wrote books on the Somnath Temple, Parashuram and Prithivi Vallabh another historical novel, set in the Malwa region. And the plays Brahmacharyashram, Dr. Madhurika.

Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi passed away on February 8, 1971, in Mumbai at the age of 83, leaving a rich legacy in the form of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and his literary work. Truly a life well lived.