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HYDERABAD, HAIDARABAD

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 32 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HYDERABAD, HAIDARABAD , also known as the See also:Nizam's Dominions, the See also:principal native See also:state of See also:India in extent, See also:population and See also:political importance; See also:area, 82,698 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 11,141,142, showing a decrease of 3'4% in the See also:decade: estimated See also:revenue 41 crores of Hyderabad rupees (£2,500,000). The state occupies a large portion of the eastern See also:plateau of the See also:Deccan. It is bounded on the See also:north and north-See also:east by See also:Berar, on the See also:south and south-east by See also:Madras, and on the See also:west by Bombay. The See also:country presents much variety of See also:surface and feature; but it may be broadly divided into two tracts, distinguished from one another geologically and ethnically, which are locally known from the See also:languages spoken as Telingana and Marathwara. In some parts it is mountainous, wooded and picturesque, in others See also:flat and undulating. The open country includes lands of all descriptions, including many See also:rich and fertile plains, much See also:good See also:land not yet brought under cultivation, and numerous tracts too sterile ever to be cultivated. In the north-west the See also:geological formations are volcanic, consisting principally of See also:trap, but in some parts of See also:basalt; in the See also:middle, See also:southern and south-western parts the country is overlaid with gneissic formations. The territory is well watered, See also:rivers being numerous, and tanks or artificial pieces of See also:water abundant, especially in Telingana. The principal rivers are the See also:Godavari, with its tributaries the Dudna, Manjira and Pranhita; the See also:Wardha, with its tributary the Penganga; and the See also:Kistna, with its tributary the See also:Tungabhadra. The See also:climate may be considered in See also:general good; and as there are no arid See also:bare deserts, hot winds are little See also:felt. More than See also:half the revenue of the state is derived from the land, and the development of the country by See also:irrigation and See also:railways has caused considerable expansion in this revenue, though the See also:rate of increase in the decade 1891–1901 was retarded by a See also:succession of unfavourable seasons.

The See also:

soil is generally fertile, though in some parts it consists of chilka, a red and gritty See also:mould little fitted for purposes of See also:agriculture. The principal crops are millets of various kinds, See also:rice, See also:wheat, oil-seeds, See also:cotton, See also:tobacco, See also:sugar-See also:cane, and fruits and See also:garden produce in See also:great variety. See also:Silk, known as tussur, the produce of a See also:wild See also:species of See also:worm, is utilized on a large See also:scale. See also:Lac, suitable for use as a See also:resin or dye, gums and See also:oils are found in great quantities. Hides, raw and tanned, are articles of some importance in See also:commerce. The principal exports are cotton, oil-seeds, country-clothes and hides; the imports are See also:salt, See also:grain, See also:timber, See also:European piece-goods and hardware. The See also:mineral See also:wealth of the state consists of See also:coal, See also:copper, See also:iron, diamonds and See also:gold; but the development of these resources has not hitherto been very successful. The only coal mine now worked is the large one at Singareni, with an See also:annual out-turn of nearly half a million tons. This coal has enabled the nizam's guaranteed state railway to be worked so cheaply that it now returns a handsome profit to the state. It also gives encouragement to much-needed schemes of railway See also:extension, and to the erection of cotton presses and of See also:spinning and See also:weaving See also:mills. The Hyderabad-Godavari railway (opened in Igor) traverses a rich cotton country, and cotton presses have been erected along the See also:line. The currency of the state is based on the hali sikka, which contains approximately the same See also:weight of See also:silver as the See also:British See also:rupee, but its See also:exchange value See also:fell heavily after 1893, when See also:free coinage ceased in the See also:mint.

In 1904, however, a new See also:

coin (the Mahbubia rupee) was minted; the See also:supply was regulated, and the rate of exchange became about 115 =10o British rupees. The state suffered from See also:famine during 1900, the See also:total number of persons in See also:receipt of See also:relief rising to nearly 5oo,000 in See also:June of that See also:year. The nizam met the demands for relief with great liberality. The nizam of Hyderabad is the principal See also:Mahommedan ruler in India. The See also:family was founded by Asaf Jah, a distinguished See also:Turkoman soldier of the See also:emperor See also:Aurangzeb, who in 1713 was appointed subandar of the Deccan, with the See also:title of nizamul-mulk (regulator of the state), but eventually threw off the See also:control of the See also:Delhi See also:court. Azaf Jah's See also:death in 1748 was followed by an internecine struggle for the See also:throne among his descendants, in which the British and the See also:French took See also:part. At one See also:time the French nominee, Salabat Jang, established himself with the help of See also:Bussy. But finally, in 176r, when the British had secured their predominance throughout southern India, Nizam See also:Ali took his See also:place and ruled till 1803. It was he who confirmed the See also:grant of the See also:Northern Circars in 1766, and joined in the two See also:wars against Tippoo See also:Sultan in 1792 and 1799. The additions of territory which he acquired by these wars was afterwards (1800) ceded to the British, as See also:payment for the subsidiary force which he had undertaken to maintain. By a later treaty in 18J3, the districts known as Berar were " assigned " to defray the cost of the Hyderabad contingent. In 1857 when the See also:Mutiny See also:broke out, the attitude of Hyderabad as the premier native state and the See also:cynosure of the Mahommedans in India became a See also:matter of extreme importance; but Afzul-ud-Dowla, the See also:father of the See also:present ruler, and his famous See also:minister, See also:Sir Salar Jang, remained loyal to the British.

An attack on the residency was repulsed, and the Hyderabad contingent displayed their See also:

loyalty in the See also:field against the rebels. In 1902 by a treaty made by See also:Lord Curzon, Berar was leased in See also:perpetuity to the British See also:government, and the Hyderabad contingent was merged in the See also:Indian See also:army. The nizam Mir Mahbub Ali See also:Khan Bahadur, Asaf Jah, a See also:direct descendant of the famous nizam-ul-mulk, was See also:born on the 18th of See also:August 1866. On the death of his father in 1869 he succeeded to the throne as a See also:minor, and was invested with full See also:powers in 1884. He is notable as the originator of the Imperial Service Troops, which now See also:form the contribution of the native chiefs to the See also:defence of India. On the occasion of the See also:Panjdeh incident in 1885 he made an offer of See also:money and men, and subsequently on the occasion of See also:Queen See also:Victoria's See also:Jubilee in 1887 he offered 20 lakhs (130,000) annually for three years for the purpose of frontier defence. It was finally decided that the native chiefs should maintain small but well-equipped bodies of See also:infantry and See also:cavalry for imperial defence. For many years past the Hyderabad finances were in a very unhealthy See also:condition; the See also:expenditure consistently outran the revenue, and the nobles, who held their See also:tenure under an obsolete feudalsystem, vied with each other in ostentatious extravagance. But in 1902, on the revision of the Berar agreement, the nizam received 25 lakhs (£167,000) a year for the See also:rent of Berar, thus substituting a fixed for a fluctuating source of income, and a British See also:financial adviser was appointed for the purpose of reorganizing the resources of the state. See S. H. Bilgrami and C.

Willmott, See also:

Historical and Descriptive See also:Sketch of the Nizam's Dominions (Bombay, 1883-1884). HYDERABAD or HAIDARABAD, See also:capital of the above state, is situated on the right See also:bank of the See also:river Musi, a tributary of the Kistna, with See also:Golconda to the west, and the residency and its bazaars and the British See also:cantonment of See also:Secunderabad to the north-east. It is the See also:fourth largest See also:city in India; pop. (Igor) 448,466, including suburbs and cantonment. The city itself is in shape a parallelogram, with an area of more than 2 sq. m. It was founded in 1589 by Mahommed Kuli, fifth of the Kutb Shahi See also:kings, of whose.See also:period several important buildings remain as monuments. The principal of these is the See also:Char Minar or Four Minarets (1591). The minarets rise from See also:arches facing the See also:cardinal points, and stand in the centre of the city, with four roads radiating from their See also:base. The Ashur Khana (1594), a ceremonial See also:building, the See also:hospital, the Gosha Mahal See also:palace and the See also:Mecca See also:mosque, a sombre building designed after a mosque at Mecca, surrounding a paved quadrangle 36o ft. square, were the other principal buildings of the Kutb Shahi period, though the mosque was only completed in the time of Aurangzeb. The city proper is surrounded by a See also:stone See also:wall with thirteen See also:gates, completed in the time of the first nizam, who made Hyderabad his capital. The suburbs, of which the most important is Chadarghat, extend over an additional area of 9 sq. m. There are several See also:fine palaces built by various nizams, and the British residency is an imposing building in a large See also:park on the See also:left bank of the Musi, N.E. of the city.

The bazaars surrounding it, and under its See also:

jurisdiction, are extremely picturesque and are thronged with natives from all parts of India. Four See also:bridges crossed the Musi, the most notable of which was the Furana Pul, of 23 arches, built in 1593. On the '27th and 28th of See also:September 1908, however, the Musi, swollen by torrential rainfall (during which 15 in. fell in 36 See also:hours), See also:rose in See also:flood to a height of 12 ft. above the bridges and swept them away. The damage done was widespread; several important buildings were involved, including the palace of Salar Jang and the Victoria See also:zenana hospital, while the beautiful grounds of the residency were destroyed. A large and densely populated part of the city was wrecked, and thousands of lives were lost. The principal educational establishments are the Nizam See also:college (first grade), See also:engineering, See also:law, medical, normal, See also:industrial and See also:Sanskrit See also:schools, and a number of schools for Europeans and Eurasians. Hyderabad is an important centre of general See also:trade, and there is a cotton See also:mill in its vicinity. The city is supplied with water from two notable See also:works, the Husain See also:Sagar and the Mir Alam, both large lakes retained by great dams. Secunderabad, the British military cantonment, is situated 52 M. N. of the residency; it includes Bolaram, the former headquarters of the Hyderabad contingent.

End of Article: HYDERABAD, HAIDARABAD

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