It was early in 1948, a few days after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. I was living in Alwar, the then capital of a princely state. The Maharaja was claiming that he was a sovereign monarch and not under the authority of the government in Delhi. An impression was created that he had a hand in the ghastly act of the murder of Gandhi. He was summoned to Delhi and placed under virtual house arrest while the administration of the state was taken over by a Central government officer. The feudal elements in the state protested and brandished their swords. Hearing all that, Patel paid a visi