Patel invoked the patriotism of India's monarchs, asking them to join in the freedom of their nation and act as responsible rulers who cared about the future of their people. He persuaded the princes of 565 states of the impossibility of independence from the Indian republic, especially in the presence of growing opposition from their subjects. With political foresight, he consolidated the small kingdoms. The entire nation was with him. He tackled the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Nawab of Junagarh who initially did not want to join India.