Annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli
| Annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 India
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 Portugal
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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J.D. Nagarwala, DIG of Maharashtra Police Francis Mascarenhas, leader of UFG Raja Wakankar, leader of RSS Prabhakar Sinari, leader of AGD |
Virgílio Fidalgo, Administrator of Nagar Haveli |
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| Strength | |||||||
| Volunteer fighters of UFG, NMLO, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and AGD Indian Police forces |
320 Portuguese India Police constables, customs guards and rural guards | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 2 killed | ||||||
| Free Dadra (1954) Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1954–61) |
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| मोफत दादरा आणि नगर हवेली મફત દાદરા અને નગર હવેલી |
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| De facto independent state claimed by Portugal | ||||||||||
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| Capital |
Dadra (1954) Silvassa (1954-1961) |
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| Languages | English, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi | |||||||||
| Government | Provisional | |||||||||
| Administrator | ||||||||||
| • | 1954 | R. V. Mudras | ||||||||
| • | 1954 | Vishwanath Lawande | ||||||||
| • | 1954-1955 | Appasaheb Karmalkar | ||||||||
| • | 1955-1960 | Antonio Furtado | ||||||||
| • | 1960-1961 | K. G. Badlani | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | ||||||||||
| • | 1961 | K. G. Badlani | ||||||||
| Legislature | Varishta Panchayat | |||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | |||||||||
| • | Liberation of Dadra | 22 July 1954 | ||||||||
| • | Liberation of Nagar Haveli | 2 August 1954 | ||||||||
| • | Integration into India | 11 August 1961 | ||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||
| • | 1961 | 487 km² (188 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | ||||||||||
| • | 1961 est. | 58,000 | ||||||||
| Density | 119.1 /km² (308.5 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Currency | Portuguese Indian rupia, later Indian rupee | |||||||||
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The Annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli was the conflict in which the territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli passed from Portuguese rule to Indian Union rule in 1954.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli were small Portuguese overseas territories, part of Portuguese India from 1779 until 1954. The territories were enclaves, without any access to the sea, administered by the Portuguese Governor of the Daman district.
After India attained independence in 1947, some residents, with the help of volunteers of organisations such as the United Front of Goans (UFG), the National Movement Liberation Organisation (NMLO), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Azad Gomantak Dal occupied Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1954 and displaced Portuguese rule. The territories were subsequently merged into the Indian Union in 1961.
After Indian independence in 1947, pro-India activists in the Portuguese Indian provinces, as well as Indians from other places, proposed of removing Portuguese control of Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and integrating them with India. This was in line with the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, who had, before India's independence, affirmed that "Goa cannot be allowed to exist as a separate entity in opposition to the laws of the free State [of India]".
Appasaheb Karmalkar, a bank employee with the Goa government took the reins of the National Liberation Movement Organization (NLMO) for the liberation of the Portuguese-ruled Indian territories. Simultaneously the AGD (led by Vishwanath Lavande, Dattatreya Deshpande, Prabhakar Sinari and Gole) and volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (led by Raja Wakankar and Nana Kajrekar) had been planning an armed assault for freeing Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Wakankar and Kajrekar visited the area around Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman several times in 1953 to study the topography and to get acquainted with the local workers and leaders who were agitating for the liberation of the Portuguese territory. In April 1954 the NLMO, AGD and RSS agreed to form a United Front for liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. At a meeting in Elphinstone garden, an armed assault was planned. Independently, another organisation, United Front of Goans (UFG), also pursued similar plans.
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