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Princely state in British India
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Hyderabad State (pronunciationⓘ), also referred to as the Nizamate of Hyderabad, was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the Marathwada region of Maharashtra in the Republic of India.
The state was ruled from 1724 to 1948 by the Nizam, who was initially a viceroy of the Mughal Empire in the Deccan. It had also become a protectorate under the Maratha Empire, until the empire's overthrow in 1818 and gradually became one of the first princely states to come under British paramountcy by signing a subsidiary alliance agreement. At the time of the British Raj in 1901, the state had a revenue of ₹41.7 million (equivalent to ₹16 billion or US$170 million in 2026). The native inhabitants of Hyderabad State, regardless of ethnic origin, are called "Mulki" (countryman), a term still used today. The ruler of the state was also called as Nizam-ul-Mulk (Nizam of the country).
The dynasty declared itself an independent monarchy during the final years of the British Raj. After the Partition of India, Hyderabad signed a standstill agreement with the new dominion of India, continuing all previous arrangements except for the stationing of Indian troops in the state. Hyderabad's location in the middle of the Indian Union, as well as its diverse cultural heritage led to India's invasion and annexation of the state in 1948. Subsequently, Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam, signed an instrument of accession, joining India.
Hyderabad State was founded by Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan who was the governor of Deccan under the Mughals from 1713 to 1721. In 1724, following the Battle of Shakar Kheda, he resumed rule from the Mughal provincial capital of Aurangabad, under the title of Asaf Jah (granted by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah). His other title, Nizam ul-Mulk (Order of the Realm), became the title of his position "Nizam of Hyderabad". By the end of his rule, the Nizam had become independent from the Mughals, and had founded the Asaf Jahi dynasty.
Following the decline of the Mughal power, the region of Deccan saw the rise of the Maratha Empire. The Nizam himself saw many invasions by the Maratha Empire in the 1720s, which resulted in the Nizam paying a regular Chauth (tax) to the Marathas. The major battles fought between the Marathas and the Nizam include Palkhed, Rakshasbhuvan, and Kharda, all which the Nizam lost. Following the conquest of Deccan by Shahu I and the imposition of Chauth by him, Nizam remained a tributary of the Marathas for all intent and purposes and hence, Hyderabad became a protectorate of the Maratha Empire.
In 1763, the Nizam shifted the capital to the city of Hyderabad. From 1778, a British East India Company (EIC) resident and EIC soldiers were installed in his dominions. In 1795, the Nizam lost some of his territories to the Marathas, mainly Berar. The territorial gains of the Nizam from Mysore as a British ally were ceded to the East India Company to meet the cost of maintaining the EIC garrison. By 1818 following the overthrow of the Maratha Empire by the Company after the Third Anglo-Maratha War, the Maratha protection of Hyderabad was quickly replaced by the Company's subsidiary alliance and thereby, the Peshwa, who maintained all the suzerinial lands, was deposed from his suzerainty from Hyderabad and was replaced with a viceroy.
In 1768, the Nizam signed the Treaty of Masulipatanam ceding the Northern Circars to British. Later in 1779, the Nizams along with Marathas and Hyder Ali Mysore came together and formed an alliance against the British. This resulted in the British defeating the alliance and subsequently the Nizam in 1788 had to cede Guntur to the British. Subsequently the Nizams had to sign various treaties, the most important of this was the signing of Treaty of Subsidiary Alliance under which Nizams had ceded most of the power to the British. Gradually the entire coastal areas were lost to the British and Hyderabad became a landlocked kingdom.
In 1798, Nizam ʿĀlī Khan (Asaf Jah II) was forced to enter into an agreement that put Hyderabad under British protection. He was the first Indian prince to sign such an agreement. (Consequently, the ruler of Hyderabad rated a 23-gun salute during the period of British India.) The British Indian government retained the right to intervene in case of misrule.
Hyderabad under Asaf Jah II was a British ally in the second and third Maratha Wars (1803–05, 1817–19), Anglo-Mysore wars, and would remain loyal to the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (1857–58).
His son, Asaf Jah III Mir Akbar Ali Khan (known as Sikandar Jah) ruled from 1803 to 1829. During his rule, a British cantonment was built in Hyderabad and the area was named in his honour, Secunderabad. The British Residency at Koti was also built during his reign by the then British Resident James Achilles Kirkpatrick.
Sikander Jah was succeeded by Asaf Jah IV, who ruled from 1829 to 1857 and was succeeded by his son Asaf Jah V.
Asaf Jah V's reign from 1857 to 1869 was marked by reforms by his Prime Minister Salar Jung I. Before this time, there was no regular or systematic form of administration, and the duties were in the hands of the Diwan (Prime Minister), and corruption was thus widespread.
In 1867, the State was divided into five divisions and seventeen districts, and subedars (governors) were appointed for the five Divisions and talukdars and tehsildars for the districts. The judicial, public works, medical, educational, municipal, and police departments were re-organised. In 1868, sadr-i-mahrams (Assistant Ministers) were appointed for the Judicial, Revenue, Police, and Miscellaneous Departments.
Later on, Asaf Jah VI succeeded the position.
Asaf Jah VI Mir Mahbub Ali Khan became the Nizam at the age of three years. His regents were Salar Jung I and Shams-ul-Umra III and later on Asman Jah and Viqar-ul-Umra. He assumed full rule at the age of 17 and ruled until he died in 1911. His reign saw the official language of Hyderabad State shift from Persian to Urdu, a change implemented in the 1880s during the short tenure of Prime Minister Salar Jung II.
The Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was established during his reign to connect Hyderabad State to the rest of British India. It was headquartered at Secunderabad Railway Station. The railway marked the beginning of industry in Hyderabad, and factories were built in Hyderabad city.
During his rule, the Great Musi Flood of 1908 struck the city of Hyderabad, which killed an estimated 50,000 people. The Nizam opened all his palaces for public asylum.
He also abolished Sati where women used to jump into their husband's burning pyre, by issuing a royal firman.
The last Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan ruled the state from 1911 until 1948. He was given the title "Faithful Ally of the British Empire". After Operation Polo, he continued to rule the state until January 1950, but in name only.
The Nizam established the Hyderabad State Bank. Hyderabad was the only independent state in the Indian subcontinent that had its own currency, the Hyderabadi rupee. The Begumpet Airport was established in the 1930s with formation of Hyderabad Aero Club by the Nizam. Initially, it was used as a domestic and international airport for Nizam's Deccan Airways, the earliest airline in British India. The terminal building was created in 1937.
To prevent another great flood, the Nizam also constructed two lakes, namely the Osman Sagar and Himayath Sagar. The Osmania General Hospital, Jubilee Hall, State Library (then known as Asifia Kutubkhana) and Public Gardens (then known as Bagh e Aam) were constructed during this period.
In 1947 India gained independence and Pakistan came into existence. The British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one or the other or to remain independent. On 11 June 1947, the Nizam issued a declaration to the effect that he had decided not to participate in the Constituent Assembly of either Pakistan or India.
However, the Nizams were Muslim ruling over a predominantly Hindu population. India insisted that the great majority of residents wanted to join India.
The Nizam was in a weak position as his army numbered only 24,000 men, of whom only some 6,000 were fully trained and equipped.
On 21 August 1948, the Secretary-General of the Hyderabad Department of External Affairs requested the President of the United Nations Security Council, under Article 35(2) of the United Nations Charter, to consider the "grave dispute, which, unless settled by international law and justice, is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security".
On 4 September the Prime Minister of Hyderabad Mir Laiq Ali announced to the Hyderabad Assembly that a delegation was about to leave for Lake Success, headed by Moin Nawaz Jung. The Nizam also appealed, without success, to the British Labour Government and to the King for assistance, to fulfil their obligations and promises to Hyderabad by "immediate intervention". Hyderabad only had the support of Winston Churchill and the British Conservatives.
At 4 a.m. on 13 September 1948, India's Hyderabad Campaign, code-named "Operation Polo" by the Indian Army, began. Indian troops invaded Hyderabad from all points of the compass. On 13 September 1948, the Secretary-General of the Hyderabad Department of External Affairs in a cablegram informed the United Nations Security Council that Hyderabad was being invaded by Indian forces and that hostilities had broken out. The Security Council took notice of it on 16 September in Paris. The representative of Hyderabad called for immediate action by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The Hyderabad representative responded to India's excuse for the intervention by pointing out that the Stand-still Agreement between the two countries had expressly provided that nothing in it should give India the right to send in troops to assist in the maintenance of internal order.
At 5 p.m. on 17 September, the Nizam's army surrendered. The Government of Hyderabad resigned, and military governors and chief ministers were appointed by the Nizam at India's direction. The new military government was headed by Major General J. N. Chaudhuri who had led Operation Polo. A firman issued by the Nizam on 24 November 1949, accepted that the Indian Constitution applied to the State of Hyderabad.
The Nizam signed an Instrument of Accession to India on 25 January 1950. The next day, India became a Republic, and the Nizam was given the new title of Rajpramukh. India formally incorporated the state of Hyderabad into the Union of India and ended the rule of the Nizams.
After the incorporation of Hyderabad State into India, M. K. Vellodi was appointed as Chief Minister of the state. The Rajpramukh now had little power and the administration of the state was with the help of bureaucrats from Madras state and Bombay state.
In the 1952 Legislative Assembly election, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected Chief Minister of Hyderabad State. During this time there were violent agitations by some Telanganites to send back bureaucrats from Madras state, and to strictly implement 'Mulki-rules' (local jobs for locals only), which was part of Hyderabad state law since 1919.
In 1956 during the reorganisation of the Indian States based along linguistic lines, the state of Hyderabad was split up among Andhra Pradesh and Bombay state (later Maharashtra) and Karnataka.
On 2 June 2014, the state of Telangana was formed splitting from the rest of Andhra Pradesh state and formed the 29th state of India, with Hyderabad as its capital.
Wilfred Cantwell Smith states that Hyderabad was an area where the political and social structure from medieval Muslim rule had been preserved more or less intact into modern times. The last Nizam was reputed to be the wealthiest man in the world. He was supported by an aristocracy of 1,100 feudal lords who owned a further 30% of the state's land, with some 4 million tenant farmers. The state also owned 50% or more of the capital in all the major enterprises, allowing the Nizam to earn further profits and control their affairs.
Next in the social structure were the administrative and official classes, comprising about 1,500 officials. A number of them were recruited from outside the state. The lower-level government employees were also predominantly Muslim. Effectively, the Muslims of Hyderabad represented an 'upper caste' of the social structure.
All power was vested in the Nizam. He ruled with the help of an Executive Council or Cabinet, established in 1893, whose members he was free to appoint and dismiss. The government of the Nizam recruited heavily from the North Indian Hindu Kayastha caste for administrative posts. There was also an Assembly, whose role was mostly advisory. More than half of its members were appointed by the Nizam and the rest were elected from a carefully limited franchise. There were representatives of Hindus, Parsis, Christians and Depressed Classes in the Assembly. Their influence was however limited due to their small numbers.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Hyderabad State”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.