Indian kings queued up to sign one by one to join the Union of India. Some of the princely states accepted their merger but with great bitterness. A king of central India, while signing the Instrument of Accession, stumbled and died of a heart attack. After signing, the Maharaja of Baroda cried like a child putting his hand around Menon's neck.
Bhopal tried to form a federation of Central Indian States but it failed. When Travancore refused to sign the Instrument of Accession, the people of Travancore on the orders of Sardar Patel agitated against the Maharaja. The people of Travancore fought on the streets with the Travancore State Police. On 29 July, an unknown person stabbed Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyer, the Prime Minister of the princely state of Travancore, and badly injured him. Ramaswamy suffered a deep injury on his face.
The attacker managed to escape. This attack decided. The Maharaja telegraphed the Viceroy that he was ready to sign. Sardar Patel ordered the local Congress Committee to stop the demonstration against the Maharaja. Travancore found in India.
The events of Travancore had a magical effect on the native kings. He got a big lesson and started signing more numbers. The events of Travancore shook the rulers of Hyderabad, Bhopal, Jodhpur and Indore. He started seeing his future bleak but he was still not ready to give up his stubbornness.
The Viceroy called the rulers of Bhopal, Jodhpur and Indore or their Diwans for talks. As a result of these talks, the kings of Jodhpur and Indore accepted to join India.
India became independent on 15 August 1947. 12 out of 566 Indian princely states – Bahawalpur, Khairpur, Kalat, Las Bela, Makran, Kharan, Amb (Tanaval), Chitral, Hunza, Dhir, Nagar and Swat, were surrounded by Pakistani territories. That's why they were included in Pakistan. The remaining 554 princely states remained in India.
Of these, except Junagadh (Saurashtra), Bhopal, Hyderabad (South India) and Jammu and Kashmir, 550 princely states agreed to join the Indian Union before 15 August 1947 due to the efforts of Sardar Patel. The states of Junagadh, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Jammu and Kashmir did not agree to accede to India.
Expressing satisfaction over the unification of India, George VI has written - I am very happy that almost all the Indian states have decided to join one or the other colony. He could never stand alone in the world.