However, we can’t imagine Hyderabad to have become so successful and popular just because of being a tourism place. Today, there are many PSUs, IT/ITES companies and of course so many facilities – both entertainment and living wise, not because Hyderabad is one of the tourist places of South India, but because of its cosmopolitan nature that made it easy for people across all over the nation as well as all over the world to migrate, mingle and work with the people here. It made the globalization in Hyderabad easy. And without Western influence, this wouldn’t have been possible.

Both British as well as French have equal importance in setting up many institutions that became the root of solid Western education system in Hyderabad, back since 17th century itself. This also helped in expanding the city with Western culture in northern side of the Musi river.

The Nizam, during various times, had both French and British as part of his army, but maintained in separate locations outside his main city. Only the money required for maintaining the army was provided by the Nizam. The places assigned were almost inhabited by the people of the Hyderabad, who were, by that time, living either very far from the capital city or very inside it. Thus, both the armies have built the area – from the scratch – all by themselves.

Since the foreign army were not forced to build their cantonment areas resembling native cities – they built them as a city of their own respective country. Thus, the cantonment areas had all facilities that a cantonment city of a French or British nation used to have. These facilities included prominent institutions, industries, schools, etc. that made their culture to prevail even after decades of their leaving the city.

The French were the earliest of the two, to have resided in the city along with their army. The most noted officers of the French was Monsieur Raymond, also called Musa Ram by the natives. He was the then French General, in the service of Nawab Mir Nizam Ali Khan, the 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad. It was him who set up a place, around which many major institutions of the city prevail even today. The place was Gunfoundry, a factory that manufactures cannon and cannonballs – a modern institution set up in 17th century of the Hyderabad city.

Raymond soon established a great credibility and stature for himself among Nizam and his subjects. His distinction, temper, talent and character marked with a rare spirit of sainthood made him so much beloved of the Nizam and his subjects, that the British envied it. His cannon factory used to manufacture world class guns and cannons, as per historians.

St. Jospeh's Cathedral

The Gunfoundry was set up around in 1786. However, in 1798 Raymond’s death resulted in disarmament of the French by the British who overtook the area.

The oldest church of the city, St. George’s church, was built by these British in 1844 AD in the same area. This structure later became a Boy’s school and the church expanded into a beautiful monument in same area.

Rosary Convent

Though the French army left Hyderabad, the French missionaries set up All Saint’s School, existing even today as one of the premier institutes of Hyderabad. It then also became reason for establishment of 2 more premier institutes – Little Flower High School (1953) and St. Paul’s High School (1954).

All Saint's School

All these institutes resulted in inculcating scientific thought, mindsets in people of Hyderabad. The republican nature of the French has probably resulted in weak feudalism and castism in Hyderabad compared to other parts of Telangana area.

When Nizam wanted to start a bank, he chose the same locality rather than some other part of the city. Today the same bank has become the headquarters of the State Bank of Hyderabad, the largest associate bank of the SBI.

SBH

Though Gunfoundry is in ruins today because cannons and cannon balls are not relevant these days, it was the reason for establishing an area and culture that made Hyderabad match with the ideals of the modern civilization in Global village culture.

We can also notice that monuments and structures are not required to build a city culture that is positive and enduring. Apart from this Gunfoundry area and Secunderabad, which used to be the British cantonment area, there are no such great institutions in other parts of Hyderabad city including Banjara hills, Jubilee hills or the Hi-tech city or the Old city that encourage cosmopolitan culture, quality education, republican and non-feudalistic outlook.

Sure Old city has historical edifices and The Hills/Cyberabad have modern edifices. But the ability to educate (transform) person from inside has happened only in Gunfoundry and Secunderabad areas. The rest of the city represents tribal, feudal or blue collar outlook.

Anybody who has lived abroad and came back to Cyberabad will vouch that it represents Hollywood/fancy-land rather than a main street of America or Europe.

The supporting institutions that got set up as the by-products of the Gunfoundry have stayed relevant and survived even 225 years later. More importantly, they have established the common ground so that Hyderabad could be part of the Global world.

India, the newly liberated country in 1947 was able to establish itself as a complete free country only after the merger of the then Hyderabad state into the Indian Union. However, the merger of Hyderabad state into Indian Union was not peaceful as its ruler decided to join neither India nor Pakistan after the British left. The Indian armed forces had to take military action against him to merge Hyderabad with the Indian Union. The military action though called as a police action (also called as Operation Polo), was literally a war on the Hyderabad state.

When India got independence in 1947, there were more than 560 Princely States in Indian sub-continent. Some of them were Kashmir, Mysore, Junagad, Udaipur, Janjira, Aundh, Cochin and Hyderabad.

Hyderabad state (outlined in red color) superimposed on today's India map

The state of Hyderabad
The State of Hyderabad under the leadership of Mir Osman Ali Khan (7th and the last Nizam), was the largest of all the princely states in India. The Nizam was considered as the world’s richest man during that time (in 1937 Time magazine described him as the world’s richest man). Hyderabad was spread across a vast area (2,14,190 sq. kms). According to 1941 census, it was populated with more than 1 crore 60 lakh people of which a majority were Hindus (around 85%). Hyderabad State was well developed and had its own army, railway network, airline, telecommunication system, postal system, radio broadcasting service and even own currency.

Nizam declares independence
The then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian Home Minister, Sardar Patel and the governor general of India, Lord Mountbatten asked all these princely states to integrate with the Indian Union stating that it might become difficult for them to rule with the rapid and rising demand of democracy by the people. Despite the call given, the Nizam declared himself as independent. However, many of the princely states acceded into Indian Union. In the Nizam’s view, the concept of acceding the Hyderabad state to India or even to Pakistan was against his dignity. Even his own constitutional advisors including Walter Monckton (close friend of Lord Louis Mountbatten) could not convince him to integrate into the Indian Union. The Nizam declared on 15th August 1947 that Hyderabad would remain an independent state through a firman (decree).

Asafia Flag

Kasim Razvi unfurls Asafia flag
Kasim Razvi, a politically powerful civilian leader and a close advisor of the Nizam, encouraged him to deny the accession of Hyderabad into Indian Union. Kasim Razvi unfurled the Asafia Flag and declared that the flag was the emblem of the suzerainty of God on the earth. Kasim Razvi on many occasions asserted that Hyderabad was always independent and it had no obligation to join the Indian Union.

Indian government’s unsuccessful negotiations with Nizam
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel requested the Government of Hyderabad to accede into India – Hyderabad being in the heart of the Indian Union. Many number of proposals made by the Government of India were rejected by the Nizam, Razvi and Mir Laiq Ali, the Prime Minister of Hyderabad. Sardar Patel approached Lord Mountbatten who advised him to resolve the issue without any violence. Accordingly, the Indian government offered ‘Standstill Agreement’ to Hyderabad assuring that no military action would be taken and his status quo would be maintained. This agreement gave Nizam and Kasim Razvi enough time to strengthen their armed forces and Razakars with modern weapons.

Nizam prepares himself for the war
The Nizam made unsuccessful attempts to seek the President Harry S. Truman of USA and the United Nations to settle the dispute.  The Nizam, who wanted independent nation or a dominion state with British, felt insecure and started strengthening his troops. The Hyderabad State Army was commanded by an Arab, Major General El Edroos. It consisted of 22,000 men split into three armoured regiments, a horse cavalry regiment, 11 infantry battalions and artillery. The forces also included irregular units with horse cavalry and a garrison battalion. In addition to these, there were about 2 lakh Razakars (Muslim civilians trained as soldiers) under the command of Kasim Razvi. Around 50 thousands of them were armed with modern small weapons and the remaining predominantly armed with swords and muzzle-loaders.

It is said that the Government of Hyderabad received arms from the Portuguese administration based in Goa, Sidney Cotton (an Australian arms trader) and Pakistan.

War in Kashmir
Meanwhile, Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of the princely state of Kashmir refused to accede to either Pakistan or India. When Pakistan invaded Kashmir in 1948, he sought help from the Indian government and agreed to accede Kashmir into the Indian Union. In order to rescue Kashmir, India sent troops to Kashmir. The date for the attack on Hyderabad was fixed as 13th September, even though the commander-in-chief (C in C), General Sir Roy Bucher warned that Hyderabad would be an additional war front after Kashmir for the Indian army.

Operation Polo (Hyderabad Police Action)

Lt. Gen. Rajendra Singhji

The Indian army came up with the Goddard Plan (laid out by the C in C of the Southern Command, Lt. Gen E.N. Goddard). The plan envisaged two main attacks – one from Vijayawada in the East and another from Solapur in the West. Smaller entries were to be made from the South to protect the railway lines of communications. Also an entry from the North along the Aurangabad/Jalna area was to be made. Lt. Gen. Rajendra Singhji, DSO took the overall command.

Major General J.N. Chaudhari

Major General J.N. Chaudhari led the attack from Solapur and was composed of four task forces: Strike Force with a mix of fast moving infantry, light artillery and cavalry; Smash Force mostly consisting of armoured units and artillery; Kill Force composed of engineering units and infantry; and Vir Force comprised of engineering units, infantry and anti-tank.

Major General A.A. Rudra led the attack from Vijaywada, which included the 2/5 Gurkha Rifles, one squadron of the 17th (Poona) Horse, and a troop from the 19th Field Battery along with ancillary and engineering units. Four infantry battalions were also used to neutralize and protect lines of communication along the way.

Brigadier N.V.Bal of the Indian forces ensured the safety of the rail communications on the Southern borders of Hyderabad. Headquartered in Guntakal, he took the responsibility of the bridges at Kurnool, Tungabhadra and Hospet. His troops included the 5/5 Gorkha Rifles, 1 Mysore Infantry and Mysore Lancers (on horses) and two armoured trains for patrolling.

The task of capturing Aurangabad, an important military and civil center was given to Major General D.S.Brar. He organized 6 columns to capture it. A column under Lt Col. P.S.Thapa comprising 2 companies of 17th Sikh, 3/5 Gorkha Rifles, a squadron of Stuarts and armored cars from Armoured Corps School, 20 Field Battery and Engineers and ancillary was tasked to capture the city of Aurangabad moving along the Nangaon – Aurangabad axis. Two squadrons of Hawker Tempest aircraft were prepared for air support from the Pune base.

Infantry and Armored Forces of Indian Army deployed in Operation Polo were: 7th Brigade, 2nd Sikh Infantry, 1st Armoured Brigade, 9 DOGRA, 3rd Cavalry, 18th King Edward’s Own Cavalry, 9 Para Field Regiment, 10 Field Company Engineers, 3/2 Punjab Regiment, 2/1 Gurkha Rifles, 1 Mewar Infantry, 1st Mysore, 5/5 Gurkha, 2/5 Gurkha, 3/11 Gurkha Rifles, 8th Cavalry, 3 Sikh Light infantry, 2 Jodhpur infantry, 18 Cavalry, 3/11 Gurkhas, 9/2 Punjab, 6 Jat, 6 Kumaon.

The Operation Polo also used AirForce, which included 2 Squadrons of IAF Tempests from Pune. There were air strikes between Umarga and Rajasur (Rajeshwar) now in Maharashtra (Day 2, 14 Sep 1948) – on the hills that overlooked a 8KM narrow pass; Suryapet, Nalgonda (Day 3, 15 Sep 1948).

The full details of the war with the day by day account is summarized well at this site.

The Operation Polo lasted for a very short time – all the Hyderabad forces were defeated within 5 days by the Indian army. The war started on 13th September 1948 and ended on 17th September 1948, is considered as the day when the ‘free India’ is complete.

Surrender of the Nizam

Cheerful Villagers of India - Welcoming Indian Army

When the Indian army defeated the Hyderabad forces from all directions, the Prime Minister Laiq Ali and his entire cabinet resigned. On 17th September 1948, the Nizam went on air and asked his remaining forces to surrender. The Nizam banned the Razakkars and allowed the troops of the Indian army to occupy the core areas of the state such as Secunderabad and Bolarum. Thus the police action ended. Major General El Edroos and his Hyderabad State Army surrendered. Major General G.N. Chaudhary of the Indian army took over as military governor of the state of Hyderabad.

Events after the police action

Nizam with Sardar Patel after surrender

The events after the Police Action were very quick and there was a total change in the political scenario of the state. Mir Laiq Ali and Kasim Razvi were arrested. The merger of Hyderabad dominions into the Indian Union was announced and the Major  General Chaudhari, who took over as Military Governor of Hyderabad stayed in that position till the end of 1949. In January 1950, M. K.Vellodi, a senior civil servant was made the Chief Minister of the state. The Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan was designated ‘Raj Pramukh’ of the state. After the 1952 General Elections, Burgula Rama Krishna Rao took charge of Hyderabad.

Though the rule of the last Nizam of Hyderabad saw many economic and administrative developments, it is not really considered as democratic as he focused mainly on maintaining his regime and kingdom. He imposed Urdu though Urdu was not the native language for most part of the region. In order to maintain his kingdom, the recruitment of police and military was not drawn democratically, especially for the positions of leadership. It depended on the foreign mercenary forces. The merger of Hyderabad was breakdown of a medieval royal state to democratic modern state. It was replacement of monarchy with a superior state. The concept of modern state is superior to a monarchy. It gives an opportunity for a competent person to come into power and perform for few years and then revert back to a regular citizen’s role.

PSUs And Cosmopolitan Hyderabad
PSUs influenced the demographics of any region in significant way. As Hyderabad hosted large number of PSUs, defense establishments, and defense and civil research institutes, it led to generation of large-scale employment leading to migration from outside states into Hyderabad. Hyderabad has over 30 public sector undertakings of which 10 are central government undertakings. The migrant people who came to do blue collared jobs as well as white collared jobs also brought their culture and different languages. The culture of Hyderabad, which encouraged relationship of mutual respect among people along with freedom to follow their own beliefs, gave impetus to cosmopolitan culture. They over the years mingled in the culture of Hyderabad resulting in a cosmopolitan look.

The Emergence of PSU also gave impetus to various small scale and ancillary industries in Hyderabad, which again led to influx of large number of people from outside. Foundation of PSUs in different areas in and around Hyderabad led to development of infrastructure like electricity, water, roads etc. The PSUs also developed the nearby regions in terms of planned townships, good basic facilities, transport, schools etc. The availability of good infrastructure also helped migrants to thrive in Hyderabad. Due to PSUs, other supporting sectors like Education, Health, Hotel, and Banking etc also evolved.

Some of the prominent PSUs in Hyderabad are Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, HAL, and NMDC. The PSU companies played pivotal role in industrial development, creating infrastructure, and taking ahead the economy.

With increased urbanization and large number of people coming to Hyderabad, the types of people changed. A new type of upper middle class evolved which was cosmopolitan in nature due to its economic privilege. They were liberal and concentrated more on living in urban society. This upper middle class that developed did white collared jobs, and for them good living conditions were more vital.

Prominent PSUs In Hyderabad
There are many PSUs, defense establishments, and defense and civil research institutes in Hyderabad. Hyderabad has over 30 public sector undertakings of which 10 are central government undertakings. Some of the prominent PSUs like BHEL, BEL, HAL, NMDC, and HMT came up in Hyderabad in early 60’s. Hyderabad also has various defense establishments like Air Force Academy in Dundigal near Hyderabad, defense research institutes like DLRL and DRDL, and civil research institutes like CCMB. Various administrative institutes of national importance like Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) and National Police Academy (NPA), which has the responsibility to maintain administrative structure of country, are situated in Hyderabad. Institutes like National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) and Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) situated in Hyderabad caters to various technologies based requirements. The headquarters of South Central Railway is also located in Secunderabad, which looks after railway service in Andhra Pradesh and some parts of other states.

Thus, the PSUs and Central government institutions played a major role in development of Hyderabad. Although the PSUs in Hyderabad are not in limelight today, they played a very vital role in building strong base for industries.

Born to Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Asaf Jah VI, Osman Ali Khan became apparent heir to the throne of Hyderabad after death of his elder brother in 1887. Many eminent scholars were engaged to teach him Urdu, Persian and English. He was a great scholar and wrote poetry in Persian and Urdu.

Richest man in the world:
Mir Osman Ali Khan succeeded his father Mir Mahboob Ali Khan on his death in 1911. The state of Hyderabad was the largest of the princely states with an area of 86,000 square miles or 2,23,000 sq.kms, which is nearly the size of today’s United Kingdom. Nizam was considered as the richest man during his days. He is Fifth on Forbes ‘All Time Wealthiest’ list of 2008. He was even featured on the cover of the 1937 ‘Time’ magazine. It was estimated that he had $2 billion fortune in early 1940s.

Developments under his rule:
One of Nizam’s first assignments after he ascended to throne was to take Mokshagundam Visweswaraiah’s advice on how to control the floods and use the excess floodwater. He undertook work of embankment of the Musi River and constructed Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar Dams at Gandipet on Visweswaraiah’s advice. It was because of his foresight and commitment to the welfare of his people, old city suffered minimum damage in the recent floods. He also undertook some irrigation projects on the Tungabhadra River.

It is said that upto 11 percent of the Nizam’s budget was spent on education. He set up many schools, colleges, universities including Osmania University and even a ‘Department for Translation’. He made primary education compulsory and provided free of cost education to the weaker sections of the society. He made immense donations to many institutions such as the Jamia Nizamia, the Darul Uloom Deoband, the Banaras Hindu University and even to some universities abroad.

The Nizam was responsible for starting earliest public sector undertakings such as Nizam Sugar Factory and Singareni Collieries. He set up the ‘City Improvement Board’ and replaced slums with planned colonies.

Mir Osman Ali Khan started his own bank called the ‘Hyderabad State Bank’, which is now referred as State Bank of Hyderabad. Hyderabad was the only state which had its own currency, the Hyderabadi rupee, in British India.

During his reign, many major buildings like Osmania General Hospital, Andhra Pradesh High Court, Asafiya Library (State Central Library), Town Hall (Assembly Hall), Jubilee Hall, Hyderabad Museum (State Museum), and the magnificent Hyderabad House at New Delhi were built.

Mir Osman Ali Khan was one of the great rulers of Hyderabad, who initiated many development programs in Hyderabad. Developments under his rule speak out his passion to serve the people. Despite of his major contribution to the developments in Hyderabad, he is often criticized for his only ambitious desire of becoming independent with the help of Razakars. Mir Osman Ali Khan died on 24^th February, 1967.

Hyderabad state (outlined in red color) superimposed on today's India map

There are a lot of myths and huge ignorance surrounding the formation of Andhra Pradesh. People generally assume that it was historically one through time. However, Andhra Pradesh witnessed many changes before it emerged as the first linguistic state on November 1, 1956. The years 1947 to 1956 were very crucial in the history of Andhra Pradesh. When India got independence on August 15, 1947, the three main regions of Andhra Pradesh – Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana were not part of Andhra Pradesh state.

Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema belonged to Madras Presidency as a province of British India. Telangana was part of Hyderabad state, which was an independent native Indian state. Though, there were 568 native Indian states, Hyderabad State was the most important native state and was administered directly by the Governor General of India.

Madras Presidency (in green color) - 1909. The area in darker shade of green represents Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions

The ruler of Hyderabad State was considered the most senior or superior native Indian ruler. Hyderabad state included Telangana, 4 Kannada districts in Gulberga division & 4 Marathi districts in Aurangabad division.

There was a big difference between these two regions. Unlike Madras Presidency, Hyderabad state was not under direct British rule. The law of Madras Presidency rested upon the laws passed by the British Parliament. In contrast, Hyderabad state had its own law. English was the official language of Madras Presidency, where as it was Urdu for Hyderabad state. Which means all records were kept only in Urdu (for this reason the old land records are in Urdu). The maintenance of all records in Urdu is symbolic of the differences between the two vastly different administrative systems. Urdu was a compulsory subject in Hyderabad state and almost all educated people knew Urdu like people know English today.

Hyderabad state had its own financial, military, judicial, police, general, public works and revenue departments.

The administration of Rayalseema and Coastal Andhra mostly followed the current system in India that was derived from British administration systems. Whereas Hyderabad State followed the Moghul administration systems (with changes made over time).

Nizam wants Hyderabad State to be an independent country – refuses to join Indian Union
Though India got independence on 15th August 1947, till 18th September 1948 (i.e., 1 year, 1 month and 4 days later) it was not part of the Indian Union. The last Nizam of Hyderabad resisted Indian government’s efforts to merge Hyderabad state into the Indian Union. He even approached the United Nations for recognition of Hyderabad State as a separate country. Indian Union’s negotiations with the Nizam were abortive. The Nizam Government refused to accede his territory to Indian Union.

Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema are administered as part of Madras Presidency (1947-1952)
Meanwhile, after India became independent on August 15, 1947, Ramaswamy Reddiyar was the first Chief Minister of Madras state (Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions are part of Madras State). Poosapati Sanjeevi Kumarswamy Raja was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from April 6, 1949 to April 10, 1952. Madras State was the name by which Madras Presidency was known from January 26, 1950.

Merger of Hyderabad state into Indian Union
Government of India launched ‘Police Action’ code named ‘Operation Polo’ on September 13, 1948 against Nizam. Nizam’s forces surrendered within five days on 18 September 1948 and the merger of Hyderabad state into the Indian Union announced formally. For full details about the liberation of Hyderabad, please click here.

Hyderabad State post merger with India
Until the end of 1949, Major-General J.N.Chaudhuri was the Military Governor of Hyderabad. The government of India appointed M. K. Vellodi as a Chief Minister of Hyderabad state in 26 January 1950 (Republic day) till 6th March 1952 i.e. the completion of the first elections in Independent India. He was a Senior Civil servant in the Government of India. The Nizam was designated ‘Raj Pramukh’ in January 1950 (resigned in 1956, when Hyderabad was split along linguistic lines).

Indian leaders consider and abandon the formation of linguistic States immediately after independence
At Independence, India was a fledgling and vulnerable nation that was created by a partition on religious lines, tested by communal riots across North India and a war in Kashmir. Even the respected British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said, “India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the Equator.” The leaders of India started considering the idea of linguistic state to consolidate and give a new identity to the fledgling nation. Moreover, the demarcation of the states (called provinces in British India) was based on history and to maintain the princely states. As a modern democracy, this structure was no longer relevant.

The Government of India formed ‘The Dar Commission’ under the Chairmanship of S.K.Dar, which did not recommend the creation of States on the linguistic criteria. This drew adverse reactions in the Telugu speaking regions. The Congress Party immediately constituted an unofficial Committee consisting Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramaiah, popularly known as the J.V.P. Committee. In April 1949, the Committee recommended that the creation of linguistic provinces should be postponed by few years.

First Elections in Free India (1952)
The first general elections are held in India in 1952. Elections were held both for state and central government. Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema went to elections under the Madras State. Hyderabad State goes to elections separately.

Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected as a chief minister of Hyderabad state
Elections were held for the Hyderabad State in 1952 general elections. Of the 175 MLA seats, Congress wins 93. Left leaning parties like People Democratic Front(42), peasants & workers party of India(10), Socialist party of India(10) and independents(15) are the other major seat winners. Burgula Rama Krishna Rao took charge as Chief Minister of the Hyderabad state after 1952 general elections.

Elections in Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions are held as part of Madras State. Congress forms government with C Rajagopalachari as the chief minister.

Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema form Andhra State
Potti Sri Ramulu one of the strong leaders of the separate Andhra movement, took indefinite fasting from October 19, 1952 demanding for a separate Andhra state from the Madras state for the Telugus. On December 15, Potti Sri Ramulu breathed his last breath in the fasting camp. As the news of his death broke, violence spread all over the southern parts of the country. As a result of Potti Sri Ramulu’s sacrifice, the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the Andhra state consisting eleven districts of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema on October 1, 1953 with Kurnool as its capital city.

Andhra Pradesh

The Formation of Andhra Pradesh
However, Telugu speaking people demanded for their long cherished Visalandhra formation, but people of Hyderabad state were unanimous in their demand for splitting the state into three parts. The States Reorganization Commission headed by Syed Fazal Ali heard the views of different people and organizations. Based on the Commission’s conclusions, the Congress Party High Command preferred Visalandhra and enlarged the state by including nine Telugu speaking districts of Hyderabad state to eleven districts of Andhra state to form Andhra Pradesh with 20 districts. In the process, the Hyderabad state was split among Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra State. Aurangabad division merged with Maharashtra and Gulbarga division merged with Karnataka. The rest of the two divisions of the state – Gulshanabad or Medak and Nizamabad merged with Andhra State.

Thus, the state of ‘Andhra Pradesh’ emerged merging all the districts of Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana on November 1, 1956, with Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as the Chief Minister and C.M Trivedi as the Governor.

Suggested Reading:
Liberation of Hyderabad State
Hyderabad Little Known History
Significant Contributors to Hyderabad City

Charminar

Today, Hyderabad is the largest city in Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) State and its capital city.  The prior statement does not clearly show the difference in development between Hyderabad and other cities in AP like Vishakapatnam, Vijaywada, Guntur, Kurnool, Tirupathi, Warangal and Karimnagar.   On many parameters Hyderabad is way ahead of other cities from A.P.  on parameters like population, infrastructure, public services, cosmopolitan outlook, education, presence of institutions of repute and quality of living.

If ones goes out to any other city in A.P. – the outlook is NOT cosmopolitan.  Barring Vishakapatnam, the others are still rustic agricultural towns.

One of the reasons for the cosmpolitan outlook of Hyderabad could be that the Nizam’s territory included populations having different mother tongues – the erstwhile Hyderabad state now covers present day Andhra Pradesh (mostly Telangana area),  parts of present day Karnataka and a significant part of present day Maharashtra (upto Aurangabad).  Since the Nizam was originally a Governor of the Moghuls (based out of Delhi), there was lot of North Indian influence on Hyderabad.  Being the Capital of erswhile Hyderabad State, it was the nerve center and had visitors from all part of the  Hyderabad State.  It would also have regular visitors from the sorrounding kingdoms.  This history created a foundation for a cosmopolitan outlook as seen in Hyderabad today.

Many old timers who went to good schools (mostly used to be Missionary or Convent schools) had an almost equal number of Hindu, Muslim and Christian classmates.  This forced the brighest people from Hyderabad to get to know other cultures early in their lives, thereby cultivating a cosmopolitan culture in Hyderabad.

This is the first post on this topic. There will be many more posts on this topic in the coming weeks and months that will hopefully help you understand the culture of Hyderabad.

Suggested Reading:
Formation of Andhra Pradesh – 1947 to 1956