Hyderabad State
State of India
1948–1956
Coat of arms
Hyderabad in India (1951)
Area
• Coordinates	17°00′N 78°50′E / 17.000°N 78.833°E / 17.000; 78.833
History
• Hyderabad State formed from Hyderabad Princely State	1948
• Reorganized and renamed United Andhra Pradesh	1956
Preceded by Succeeded by Hyderabad State United Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Maharashtra
Today part of	Telangana Maharashtra Karnataka
States of India since 1947

Hyderabad state until 1956

Hyderabad State was a state in Dominion and later Republic of India, formed after the accession of the State of Hyderabad into the Union on 17 September 1948.^[1] It existed from 1948 to 1956.

Following the States Reorganisation Act, which implemented a linguistic reorganization of states, the Hyderabad state was dissolved. Its different sections were merged with Andhra State, Mysore State and Bombay State respectively.^[2]

History

The princely state of Hyderabad was annexed by India in September 1948 through a military operation code named Operation Polo, which was dubbed a "police action".^[3][4][5]

At the time of Partition in 1947, the princely states of India, who in principle had self-government within their own territories, were subject to subsidiary alliances with the British, giving them control of their external relations. With the Indian Independence Act 1947, the British abandoned all such alliances, leaving the states with the option of opting for full independence.^[6][7] However, by 1948 almost all had acceded to either India or Pakistan. One major exception was that of the wealthiest and most powerful principality, Hyderabad, where the Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, a Muslim ruler who presided over a largely Hindu population, chose independence and hoped to maintain this with an irregular army.^[8]: 224 The Nizam was also beset by the Telangana rebellion, which he was unable to crush.^[8]: 224

In November 1947, Hyderabad signed a standstill agreement with the Dominion of India, continuing all previous arrangements except for the stationing of Indian troops in the state. Claiming that it feared the establishment of a Communist state in Hyderabad.^[9][10] Nizam's power had weakened because of the Telangana Rebellion and the rise of a radical militia known as the Razakars whom he could not put down. India invaded the state in September 1948, following a crippling economic blockade, and multiple attempts at destabilizing the state through railway disruptions, the bombing of government buildings, and raids on border villages.^[11][12][13] After the defeat of Razakars, the Nizam signed an instrument of accession, joining India.^[14][15]

The operation led to massive violence on communal lines, at times perpetrated by the Indian Army.^[16] The Sunderlal Committee, appointed by Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, concluded that between 30,000–40,000 people had died in total in the state, in a report which was not released until 2013.^[17] Other responsible observers estimated the number of deaths to be 200,000 or higher.^[18]

Military Governor

Major General El Edroos (at right) offers his surrender of the Hyderabad State Forces to Major General (later General and Army Chief) J. N. Chaudhuri at Secunderabad.

After the Annexation into the Indian Union, Major General J. N. Chaudhuri who led Operation Polo stayed on as Military Governor till December 1949.

The state witnessed Mulkhi agitation in 1952 by the locals after government jobs meant for the locals were given to non-locals.

No	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Selected former office(s)
1		Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri	17 September 1948	25 January 1949	130 days	Led of Operation Polo (Indian Army General officer)

Rajpramukh

Hyderabad State had its last Nizam, HEH Mir Osman Ali Khan (1886–1967) as Rajpramukh from 26 January 1950 to 31 October 1956.^[19]

No	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Selected former office(s)
1		Mir Osman Ali Khan	26 January 1950	31 October 1956	6 years, 279 days	10th Nizam of Hyderabad

Elections

In the first State Assembly election in India, 1952, Dr. 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.^[20]

List of districts of Hyderabad State

Administratively, Hyderabad State was made up of sixteen districts, grouped into four divisions:

Districts of Hyderabad State
Hyderabad State Political Map
Category	Districts
Location	Hyderabad State
Number	4 divisions 16 districts
Government	Nizam Rule

Official name	Division	Map
Aurangabad	Aurangabad Division
Bhir
Nander
Parbhani
Bidar	Gulbarga Division
Gulbarga
Osmanabad
Raichur
Atraf-i-Baldah	Gulshanabad (Medak) Division
Mahbubnagar
Medak
Nalgonda
Nizamabad
Adilabad	Warangal Division
Karimnagar
Warangal

Linguistic reorganization

In 1956 during the reorganisation of the Indian states based along linguistic lines, the Telugu-speaking region of the state of Hyderabad State was merged with Andhra State. The Marathi speaking region was merged with Bombay State and Kannada speaking region with Mysore State.

The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) was not in favour of an immediate merger of Telugu speaking Telangana region of Hyderabad State with Andhra State, despite their common language. Para 378 of the SRC report said One of the principal causes of opposition of Vishalandhra also seems to be the apprehension felt by the educationally backward people of Telangana that they may be swamped and exploited by the more advanced people of the coastal areas.

Andhra state and Hyderabad State were merged to form Andhra Pradesh on 1 November 1956, after providing safeguards to Telangana in the form of Gentlemen's agreement. But in June 2014, Telangana re-emerged as a separate state. Hyderabad city will continue to be the capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for 10 years.

Chief Ministers of Hyderabad State

Hyderabad State included nine Telugu districts of Telangana, four Kannada districts in Gulbarga division and four Marathi districts in Aurangabad division.

1956 map of Southern India showing Hyderabad state in yellowish green. After the States reorganisation in 1956, regions west of the red and blue lines merged with Bombay and Mysore States respectively and the remaining part (Telangana) was merged with Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh.

No	Name	Portrait	Term of office		Party[lower-alpha 1]		Days in office
1	M. K. Vellodi		26 January 1950	6 March 1952	Independent (civil service)		770
2	Burgula Ramakrishna Rao		6 March 1952	31 October 1956	Indian National Congress		1701

See also

• Nizams Hyderabad State (1724–1948)

Notes

References

Sources

• Chandra, Bipan; Mukherjee, Aditya; Mukherjee, Mridula (2008) [first published 1999], India Since Independence, Penguin Books India, ISBN 978-0-14-310409-4
• Noorani, A. G. (2014), The Destruction of Hyderabad, Hurst & Co, ISBN 978-1-84904-439-4
• Smith, Wilfred Cantwell (January 1950), "Hyderabad: Muslim Tragedy", Middle East Journal, 4 (1): 27–51, JSTOR 4322137

Further reading

• Sherman, Taylor C. (2007). "The integration of the princely state of Hyderabad and the making of the postcolonial state in India, 1948 – 56" (PDF). Indian Economic & Social History Review. 44 (4): 489–516. doi:10.1177/001946460704400404. S2CID 145000228.