UPSC Prelims 2007 Q12: Modern History – Post - Independence India
Who wrote the book "The Story of the Integration of Indian States"?
- (a) B. N. Rau
- (b) C. Rajagopalachari
- (c) Krishna Menon
- (d) V. P. Menon
Answer: (d) V. P. Menon
Explanation
Author of "The Story of the Integration of Indian States"
| Candidate | Actual role |
|---|---|
| B. N. Rau | Jurist, advised the Constituent Assembly |
| C. Rajagopalachari | Statesman, not this book's author |
| Krishna Menon | Diplomat, unrelated to this book |
| V. P. Menon | Civil servant who worked with Patel on states' integration; wrote this book |
V. P. Menon, the civil servant who worked closely with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on integrating princely states into the Indian Union post-1947, wrote this authoritative first-hand account.
Answer: (d) V. P. Menon.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Incorrect. B. N. Rau was a jurist who advised the Constituent Assembly, not this book's author.
- (b) Incorrect. C. Rajagopalachari was a statesman, not the author of this specific book.
- (c) Incorrect. Krishna Menon was a diplomat, unrelated to this book.
- (d) CORRECT. V. P. Menon, the key civil servant in states' integration, authored this book.
Key point
"The Story of the Integration of Indian States" was written by V. P. Menon.
Remember
"The Story of the Integration of Indian States" — author: V. P. Menon.
Common mistakes
- Confusing V. P. Menon with the similarly-named V. K. Krishna Menon.
- Not knowing V. P. Menon's direct role (with Patel) in the actual states' integration process.
- Mixing this book up with other partition/integration-era memoirs.
Exam tip
V. P. Menon worked directly under Patel on states' integration — he wrote the first-hand account.
Sources
- V. P. Menon — The Story of the Integration of the Indian States (Orient Longman, 1956)
- NCERT Class XII Political Science — Politics in India since Independence — Challenges of Nation Building