Hyderabad State

Hyderabad State

The Hyderābād State pronunciation was located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 until 1948, by a hereditary Nizam. The capital city was Hyderabad.

The region became part of the Mughal Empire in the 1680s. When the empire began to weaken in the 18th century, a Mughal official, Asif Jah, defeated a rival Mughal governor's attempt to seize control of the empire's southern provinces, declaring himself Nizam-al-Mulk of Hyderabad in 1724. The Mughal emperor, under renewed attack from the Marathas, was unable to prevent it.

Nizam's Dominions in the 18th century extended from Aurangabad and Berar in the north to Tiruchirapally in the south, encompassing the entire area of 'Circars' (later annexed by French and British forces), and parts of today's Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The areas in what is now Tamil Nadu were administered by the Nawab of the Carnatic, who acknowledged the Nizam's suzerainty. However, with the death of the first Nizam and the arrival of foreign forces, the dominions gradually lost their coastal territories.

From 1798 Hyderabad was one of the princely states existing alongside British India. By a subsidiary alliance it had ceded to the British the control of its external affairs but retained control of its internal affairs.

In 1903 the Berar region of the state was separated and merged into the Central Provinces of British India, to form the Central Provinces and Berar.

In 1947, at the time of the partition of India and the formation of the Union of India and the Dominion of Pakistan, the effect of the Indian Independence Act 1947 was to give the then Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, full independence, with the option of acceeding either to India or to Pakistan; however, he initially decided not to join either new nation. When India sought to deny Hyderabad the option of remaining independent, the Nizam considered acceeding to Pakistan. Foreseeing an Indian invasion, the Nizam petitioned King George VI for military assistance, but the government of Clement Attlee gave him none, whether military or diplomatic, so that he believed the British had reneged on their promises. A delegation, including Muhammad Hamidullah, professor of international law at Osmania University, was sent to lobby the United Nations, but before the scheduled debate on the matter, India had, with military force, invaded and annexed the enclave of Hyderabad State into the Indian Union. Pakistan protested in the United Nations, but to no avail. Colloquially, the invasion became known as a 'Police Action', but this is a misnomer for what was called Operation Polo, led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in 1948, the year following Indian independence.

The Nizams patronized Islamic art, Islamic Architecture, culture and literature, which became central to Hyderabadi Muslim identity. The Nizam was known for his huge wealth and jewelry collection; he had been the richest man in the world until the end of his reign. The Nizams also developed the railway, and the introduction of electricity; developed roads, airways, irrigation and reservoirs; in fact, all major public buildings in Hyderabad City were built during his reign. He pushed education, science, and establishment of Osmania University. The Nizams drew on Sharia law to guide the administration of the state.