Vallabhai Patel, was one of the towering figures of pre-Independence Indian politics. Given the appellation “Sardar” (leader), he also became known as the “Iron Man of Indian politics”.

He is correctly remembered as perhaps the only figure in the Indian National Congress, India’s main political party of the era, who didn’t flinch in the face of the aggression displayed by the colonial administration as well as Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s Muslim League. He is one of the architects of the India that we see today, being largely responsible for successfully negotiating the incorporation into Independent India of the hundreds of ‘princely states’ of British India.

Vallabhai was born in the village of Nadiad in Gujarat. His father was named Jhaverbhai, and had fought in the 1857 Indian War of Independence. Right from the early years of his life, there are anecdotes of Vallabhai having demonstrated considerable boldness. Once when he was a child he was suffering from an infected boil under his armpit. The cure in his village for such an injury was to have it burnt off with a hot iron. The physician with the iron rod hesitated when about to treat him, seeing his tender age. Vallabhai was impatient "The iron will go cold. Hurry up, brand the boil." The man with the rod still hesitated. Vallabhai picked up the glowing rod and burnt the boil himself, returned the rod to its position, and calmly went about his day!

On another occasion Vallabhai took the lead in tackling one of his school teacher’s dubious textbook racketeering. A teacher of his used to sell the books that the pupils in his class needed for their studies, as a personal business. So far so good. But he used to pressure them into buying books from him only, making life difficult from students who purchased the same books from elsewhere. Vallabhai was angered by this. He organised his co-students so that not a single pupil would attend the class until the teacher stopped doing this.

Vallabhai later became a barrister. His family did not have enough money to fund his further education. However in those days a candidate could sit for these examinations without necessarily being enrolled in a course. With support from his elder brother, he studied books and occasionally visited court. Vallabhai passed the examinations and soon moved to the town of Godhra, and set up a small law practice, which soon became very successful. In his years at Godhra, he got married, and had two children, named Dhayabhai and Maniben.

Unfortunately his married life did not last for long. Vallabhai’s wife passed away when he was only 33. He did not wish to marry again. In the years that followed, Vallabhai steeped himself further into his profession. He went to England for further studies, and set up a practice in Ahmedabad, in which he was soon earning 8,000 – 10,000 rupees a month, a very significant sum at those times. For leisure he spent his time at a local club playing cards. He developed a very anglicised style and way of life, and is reported to have sometimes laughed at the Satyagraha movement of Mahatma Gandhi. But one day his daughter Mahniben expressed her wish to go to a political conference where Gandhi was present, and Vallabhai went with her. His heart was stirred with Gandhi’s words, and he joined the movement.

Sardar Patel’s political career was immediately successful and eventful. In 1918, a year in which heavy rains severely damaged the crops in Gujarat’s countryside, the colonial administration demanded unrealistically high taxation, which caused immense hardship. The struggle against the British taxation was successfully led by Sardar Patel, who henceforth became a hero in the Gujarat countryside.

It was in 1920 that Vallabhai finally ended his practice as a barrister, and made service of his motherland as his only aim in life. Amongst his first endeavors was to set up the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, a school in which children were educated with a view to make them fit to serve India. Vallabhai exhorted people to send their children to this school rather than receive the education which colonial administration were promoting. He led the Nagpur flag satyagraha from May to August in 1923 in protest against an order stopping the carrying of the national flag, an order which the government was forced to withdraw. These are just a few of Vallabhai’s successful campaigns on behalf of the Indian people. He remained a major figure in many agitations and campaigns, endearing him to the Indian public. One could write many pages about Sardar Patel’s activities in these pre-independence years.

A striking feature of Patel’s career is his thoroughly deserved reputation as the ‘architect of India’s integrity’. There were more than 600 stately divisions in India at the time. Many of these rulers dreamed of their little territories becoming independent states when the British left India. Vallabhai undertook a mission to convince all of the rulers of the princely states to throw in their stakes with a united India, employing his renowned skill as a thorough debater from his time as a barrister. This fateful mission was successful in the majority of cases, winning over even some of the most stubborn Rajas. It is largely due to Patel’s extensive diplomatic mission that there is a large united India as opposed to many smaller states.

Another feature of Vallabhai’s career is his steadfast and unflinching stand against aggression of Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s Muslim League. When on August 16th 1946 Muslims in Calcutta launched murderous pogroms against Hindus (called "Direct Action Day"), Patel was one of the few leaders who boldly spoke on behalf of Hindus. When the Hindus finally retaliated, the entire Indian political scene was criticising Hindus and blaming them. Vallabhai told them that they should be ashamed of their stance of remaining quiet during the Muslim pogroms while blaming the Hindu retaliation, especially because the police force did not intervene on the Hindus’ behalf when they were being attacked. Later Vallabhai co-ordinated the ‘Police Action’ which resulted in the annexation of Hyderabad to India. The Nizam of Hyderabad refused to join India and pledged his support for Pakistan, despite the fact that India surrounded Hyderabad. When Hindus in Hyderabad showed their support for India, the Nizam unleashed private gangs called Razakars to harass the Hindus into submission. Patel ensured that the matter was dealt with firmly. When the Hindus were being driven out of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) he suggested the annexing 30% of East Pakistan to India to settle the refugees. Unfortunately there was little he could do without Jawaharlal Nehru’s permission, as Nehru was by then the Prime Minister. Hence the Hindu ethnic cleansing went without redress.

Vallabhai was instrumental in the restoration of Somnath Mandir, together with his colleagues Jam Saheb and K. M. Munshi. From the 11th century invaders had destroyed this temple 7 times, and each time it had been rebuilt by Hindus, until its final destruction in the 15th century, when Hindus abandoned the site. The temple was restored, as a symbol of renascent India.

In some ways, Vallabhai differed from Gandhi. He was less insistent on absolute non-violence, yet he regarded Mahatma Gandhi with the utmost reverence. His heart was broken when Nathuram Godse assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.

Vallabhai was set to become Prime Minister of India. 12 out of 15 provinces nominated him as Prime Minister (not even one of the provinces elected Nehru). Yet Nehru was Gandhiji’s favourite, and told Gandhi that unless he could become Prime Minister, he would not participate in the new government at all. Hence Gandhiji requested Vallabhai to step aside to pacify Nehru, who wouldn’t have it otherwise. This is regarded by many as Gandhiji’s great blunder. India would have faired differently had Sardar Patel been the first Prime Minister. Yet fate willed it otherwise, and it was not to be.

Sardar Patel passed away on the 15th December 1950 in Mumbai. His life was a great example of steadfast service to the causes in which he believed, and is worthy of emulation.