On 13 September 1948, the newly- created Union of India deployed its armed forces to coerce an intransigent Hyderabad in joining it. Commonly known as the “police action” and often imagined and recalled in such an attenuated manner imbuing the action with a civilian character, the four-day “Operation Polo” was in actuality a highly coordinated military operation bringing an end to the autocracy.

A Fallen State