Telangana History

Telangana is a region in the present state of Andhra Pradesh, India and formerly was part of Hyderabad State which was ruled by the Nizams. It is bordered by the states of Maharashtra to the north and north-west, Karnataka to the west, Chattisgarh to the north-east and Orissa to the east.The Telangana region has an area of 114,840 square kilometres (44,340 sq mi), and a population of 35,286,757 (2011 census) which is 41.6% of Andhra Pradesh state population.

     The Telangana region have 10 districts: Hyderabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy, and Warangal. The Musi River, Krishna and Godavari rivers flow through the region from west to east.

Telangana Region was erstwhile Hyderabad State till 1956, ruled by the Asaf Jahi Nizam VII (Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur). During his days, he was reputed to be the richest man in the world, having a fortune estimated at  $2 billion in the early 1940s, which is double the annual revenue ($1 billion) of the newly independent Union Government of India in 1950 (Union Government of India’s treasury). He was featured on the cover of TIME magazine (www.time.com) on February 22, 1937. However, today he ranks 5th richest person in the history of the world, the wealthiest-ever Asian, the wealthiest-ever Indian and the second wealthiest monarch in world history.

The state of Hyderabad was the largest of the princely states in pre-independence India, among other 600 princely states; with an area of 86,000 square miles (223,000 km²) (roughly the size of present-day United Kingdom). The Nizam VII was the highest-ranking prince in India, entitled to a 21-gun salute, held the unique title of “Nizam”, was created “His Exalted Highness” and “Faithful Ally of the British Crown” after World War one, for his financial contribution to the British Empire’s war effort

Nizam is held to have been a benevolent ruler who patronized education, science and development, literature, art, architecture, culture, jewelry collection and rich food. His 37-year rule witnessed the introduction of electricity, railways, roads and airways. Several lakes in and around Hyderabad city were excavated and some irrigation projects on the Tungabhadra river were undertaken. Nearly all the major public buildings in Hyderabad city, such as the Osmania General Hospital, High Court, Asafiya Library now known as State Central Library, Town Hall now known as Assembly Hall, Jubilee Hall, Hyderabad Museum, now known as  State Museum,  Nizamia Observatory and many other monuments were built during his reign.

Nizam started his own bank, the Hyderabad State Bank (now State Bank of Hyderabad) as the state’s central bank, which managed the Osmania sikka, the currency of the Hyderabad state. It was the only state which had its own currency, the Hyderabadi Rupee, which was different from the rest of India. Hyderabad was the only state in British India where the ruler was allowed to issue currency notes. A 100 rupee note was introduced in 1918.

Nizam used to encourage local artisans, wherein the Telangana Weaver created world history by weaving a saree, a six-meter drape worn by women, that fits into a matchbox.

 Hyderabad was the fifth largest city in India before 1947, with excellent administrative buildings, roads, railway network, airports, police, army and other infrastructure. Lets look at developments done in the Nizam’s period

After Indian independence in 1947, the country was partitioned on communal lines. The Nizam ruled over more than 16 million people of territory when the British withdrew from the sub-continent in 1947. The Nizam refused to join either India or Pakistan, preferring to form a separate kingdom within the British Commonwealth of nations, but the proposal was rejected by the British government.

Hyderabad state was liberated from Nizam on September 17, 1948, using military force, in what was known as Operation Polo, led by Sri Sardar Vallabhai Patel and made part of Indian Union and was a separate State during 1948-56. In 1952, the first legislative Assembly elections were held wherein, Sri Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, was elected as the first Chief Minister.

STATES REORGANISATION COMMITTEE

After formation of Andhra State on linguistic basis, there were demands on creation of states on linguistic basis in several other parts of the country.

In 1953, the Central Govt, has appointed Supreme Court Judge, Sayyid Fazal Ali to head the States Reorganization Committee (SRC) to recommend reorganizing the states on linguistic basis, and the report was submitted in the year 1955. The SRC committee clearly mentioned that 8 Telugu speaking districts of Telangana area should be made into a separate state called Hyderabad and if interested in future its assembly must vote with 2/3 rd majority in 1961(after two elections), so that Telangana can be a part of a United Telugu State, because the committee felt that these two regions are unequal partners. Lets look at what is given in the SRC report: