[4][5] He served in three Southern states, Madras (before its disintegration), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), and Mysore (Karnataka), at different times.
[7] Those days Andhra Pradesh was divided between the British Indian province of Madras and the princely state of Hyderabad.
[11] The then Union Home Minister, Sardar Vallabbhai Patel, had chosen Monnappa to quell the mutiny in Hyderabad.
was a title of honour accompanied by a medal, issued in India during the era of British rule, to individuals who have performed great service to the nation.
The Nizam of Hyderabad, like the Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir, too entertained notions of an independent state and had so far managed to avoid accession.
In the meantime, the Nizam sought to widen the issue by moving the United Nations, took the advice and assistance of Pakistan, and began stockpiling arms.
The Times in London reported on 9 August 1948 that the Hyderabad army was strengthened to 40,000 and supplies of arms were being received, presumably from Pakistan.
On 16 September, faced with imminent defeat, the Nizam summoned Prime Minister Mir Laik Ali and requested his resignation by the morning of the following day.
On the noon of 17 September, a messenger brought a personal note from the Nizam to India's Agent General to Hyderabad, K.M.
Munshi also suggested that the Nizam might make a broadcast welcoming the Indian "Police action" and withdrawing his complaint to the Security Council.
The Nizam received the ceremonial post of Rajpramukh (equivalent to a governor) in 1950 but resigned from this office when the states were re-organized in 1956.
[15] Following the escape of Mir Laiq Ali after his resignation and Hyderabad's surrender, PK Monnappa, IP, then Inspector-General of Police from Madras State, had been specially brought in to replace BBS Jetley.
At the time of India's independence, Hyderabad was the largest Indian princely state in terms of population and GNP.
At that time, Monnappa was made the first police chief of the newly formed state of Andhra Pradesh.
[19] Legend has it that during his recruitment interview, which he attended dressed in the traditional Kodava-robed costume (the Kuppya Chele), the British officers were awed by his personality.
He established the Pemmanda Monnappa scholarship fund in 2010 for South Indians studying at Cambridge University.