How Hyderabad Lost Its Independence to India?
A Muslim Tragedy: How Hyderabad Lost Its Independence to India?
Muslim rule was established in Hyderabad at the end of the 13th century. Since then, Hyderabad became a center of flourishing Muslim art and culture, which significantly influenced the entire Deccan region. Even after the establishment of British rule in India, Hyderabad did not fully relinquish its independence. It became a princely state under a treaty with the British government. Spanning 82,698 square miles, Hyderabad was larger in area than present-day Bangladesh.
Don’t Miss Out the Stories:
- Top Toothpaste Brands Reviewed: Safety, Quality, and Performance Insights
- Which Is the Safest Toothpaste? A Guide to Choosing the Best for Your Oral Health
- Are You Using Healthy Toothpaste? Learn About the Harmful Ingredients It Might Contain
- How Air Pollution is Harmful to Kids? How to reduce Risk?
- Impact of Zakat Donations on Society
Not only in size, but Hyderabad had all the qualifications to remain an independent and sovereign state due to its wealth, prosperity, and resources. The region was rich in minerals such as coal, gold, iron, and diamonds. In agriculture, it produced substantial quantities of rice, wheat, jowar, bajra, sesame, linseed, maize, and tobacco. Hyderabad had an elected democratic government, its own judiciary, legal system, currency, military, high court, customs department, university, national flag, and anthem. It even maintained diplomatic relations with other countries and had representation at the United Nations.
The Decision to Stay Independent
On July 16, 1947, the British Secretary of State for India, Lord Listowel, declared in the House of Lords:
“From now on, the British government withdraws its representatives from the princely states of India and ceases its official activities there. Whether these states join the Indian or Pakistani Dominion, or maintain their independence, is entirely up to them. The British government will not attempt to influence their decision.”
Hyderabad chose not to join India or Pakistan and decided to remain independent. It even applied for membership in the United Nations. However, Indian leaders decided to forcibly integrate this Muslim-majority state into India. They launched a military operation called “Operation Polo”, named after the game polo, which was popular in the Deccan region.
On September 17, 1948, the last independent Muslim monarchy in India lost its independence. Hyderabad’s pro-independence forces were defeated by the Indian Armed Forces that day.
The fall of Hyderabad
Osman Ali Khan, the last ruler of Hyderabad and the ninth Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, resisted the Indian invasion for six days. However, to avoid widespread bloodshed, his forces eventually surrendered. This marked the end of a nearly 600-year-old independent state and 224 years of rule by the Asaf Jahi dynasty.
On September 13, 1948, India’s then Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel authorized the entry of Indian troops into Hyderabad to annex the state. The operation caused widespread devastation, particularly in the Marathwada region.
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ordered a government inquiry into the atrocities. However, the findings were never made public. In his essay “Hyderabad: A Muslim Tragedy,“ Professor Wilfred Cantwell Smith referred to testimonies of conscientious Hindu eyewitnesses, stating:
“After the war ended, Muslims were subjected to mass violence and barbaric attacks. Those who survived the destruction were left terrified and helpless. Thousands of Muslims were killed, and hundreds of thousands were displaced. These atrocities were carried out under the pretext of retaliating against alleged acts of violence by Muslim forces.”
(This account was published in The Middle East Journal, Volume 4, 1950.)
A Rich Cultural Heritage Lost
Due to its direct connections with the Arab world and Iran, Hyderabad-Deccan became a hub of Islamic culture. Persian was widely spoken in the region. Even before the advent of Islam, the Deccan had remained mostly independent, except for brief periods of subjugation under North Indian rulers. During the reign of the Turkic Muslim Tughlaq dynasty, the region gained independence in 1347 under the leadership of Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah, an Iranian-born general who founded the Bahmani Sultanate.
In the early 17th century, the Bahmani Sultanate split into five smaller states, with three major powers: the Nizam Shahi state of Ahmednagar, the Adil Shahi state of Bijapur, and the Qutb Shahi state of Hyderabad-Golkonda. These states became Shia Muslim domains and recognized the Safavid rulers of Iran as their sovereigns rather than the Mughal emperors of India. The rulers of the Adil Shahi and Qutb Shahi dynasties were predominantly Iranian Turks. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb conquered these two kingdoms in 1686 and 1687.
In 1724, the Deccan regained independence under the leadership of the astute general Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, who founded the Asaf Jahi dynasty. A distinguished Persian poet, Asaf Jah was present in Delhi during Nadir Shah’s invasion of India. The conqueror offered Asaf Jah the governance of the entire Indian subcontinent, but he respectfully declined out of loyalty to the defeated Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah.
