Hyderabad State

Hyderabad State (pronunciation^ⓘ) was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the Marathwada region of Maharashtra in India.

The state was ruled from 1724 to 1948 by the Nizam, who was initially a viceroy of the Mughal empire in the Deccan. Hyderabad gradually became the first princely state to come under British paramountcy signing a subsidiary alliance agreement. During the British rule in 1901, the state had a revenue of ₹4,17,00,000. The native inhabitants of Hyderabad State, regardless of ethnic origin, are called "Mulki" (countryman), a term still used today.

The dynasty declared itself an independent monarchy during the final years of the British Raj. After the Partition of India, Hyderabad signed a standstill agreement with the new dominion of India, continuing all previous arrangements except for the stationing of Indian troops in the state. Hyderabad's location in the middle of the Indian Union, as well as its diverse cultural heritage led to India's annexation of the state in 1948. Subsequently, Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam, signed an instrument of accession, joining India.

Hyderabad State was founded by Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan who was the governor of Deccan under the Mughals from 1713 to 1721. In 1724, following the Battle of Shakar Kheda, he resumed rule from the Mughal provincial capital of Aurangabad, under the title of Asaf Jah (granted by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah). His other title, Nizam ul-Mulk (Order of the Realm), became the title of his position "Nizam of Hyderabad". By the end of his rule, the Nizam had become independent from the Mughals, and had founded the Asaf Jahi dynasty.

Following the decline of the Mughal power, the region of Deccan saw the rise of the Maratha Empire. The Nizam himself saw many invasions by the Marathas in the 1720s, which resulted in the Nizam paying a regular Chauth (tax) to the Marathas. The major battles fought between the Marathas and the Nizam include Palkhed, Rakshasbhuvan, and Kharda, all which the Nizam lost. Following the conquest of Deccan by Bajirao I and the imposition of Chauth by him, Nizam remained a tributary of the Marathas for all intent and purposes.

In 1763, the Nizam shifted the capital to the city of Hyderabad. From 1778, a British East India Company (EIC) resident and EIC soldiers were installed in his dominions. In 1795, the Nizam lost some of his territories to the Marathas. The territorial gains of the Nizam from Mysore as a British ally were ceded to the East India Company to meet the cost of maintaining the EIC garrison.

In 1768, the Nizam signed the Treaty of Masulipatam ceding the Northern Circars to British. Later in 1779, the Nizams along with Marathas and Hyder Ali Mysore came together and formed an alliance against the British. This resulted in British defeating the alliance and subsequently Nizam in 1788 had to cede Guntur to British. Subsequently the Nizams had to sign various treaties, the most important of this was the signing of Treaty of Subsidiary Alliance under which Nizams had ceded most of the power to the British. Gradually the entire coastal areas were lost to the British and Hyderabad became a landlocked kingdom.

In 1798, Nizam ʿĀlī Khan (Asaf Jah II) was forced to enter into an agreement that put Hyderabad under British protection. He was the first Indian prince to sign such an agreement. (Consequently, the ruler of Hyderabad rated a 23-gun salute during the period of British India.)^{[citation needed]} The Crown retained the right to intervene in case of misrule.