Hyderabad State was a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

and later

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...

, formed after the accession of the State of Hyderabad into the Union on 17 September 1948. It existed from 1948 to 1956. Hyderabad State comprised present day

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

Marathwada Marathwada () is a geographical region of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Maharashtra. It was formed during the Nizam of Hyderabad, Nizam's rule and was part of the then Hyderabad State. The region coincides with the Aurang ...

, and Hyderabad-Karnataka. Following the

States Reorganisation Act The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's States and union territories of India, states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries ...

, which implemented a linguistic reorganisation of states, the Hyderabad state was dissolved. Its different regions were merged with

Andhra State Andhra State (IAST: ; ), created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalas ...

, Mysore State and

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created in 1950 from the erstwhile Bombay Province, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Province (in British India roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Mah ...

respectively..

Annexation

ChoudharyAdressingCrowds Nehru Presence FatehMaidan

Following the Nizam's forces surrender on September 17, 1948, a military government headed by Major General J. N. Chaudhuri who led Operation Polo was established. A ''

firman A firman (; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods such firmans were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The English word ''firman'' co ...

'' was issued by the Nizam on November 24, 1949 wherein he accepted henceforth the Indian Constitution to be applicable to the State of Hyderabad. The

Instrument of Accession The Instrument of Accession was a legal document first introduced by the Government of India Act 1935 and used in 1947 to enable each of the rulers of the princely states under British paramountcy to join one of the new dominions of Dominion ...

was signed by the Nizam on January 25, 1950. Later the next day, as India became a

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

on January 26, Nizam took over as the '' Raj Pramukh''.

Resolution at the United Nations

On September 20, 1948, during the 359th meeting of

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

a representative from India informed that Nizam had instructed the representative of Hyderabad decided to withdraw the complaint from Security Council. On 22 September 1948 a cable sent by Nizam to

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

confirmed the same. The cable also stated that that Hyderabad delegation at United Nations ceased to have any authority to either represent

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

or the Nizam. The Hyderabad delegation denied this, however on 24 September the delegation of Hyderabad confirmed the same and informed Security Council that Hyderabad State has surrendered and Government India had instructed Agents-General of Hyderabad to suspend all overseas activities.

Government formation after Integration

A military government headed by Major General J. N. Chaudhuri who led Operation Polo was established. He stayed on as Military Governor till December 1949. On 1 December 1949, the military government was dissolved and a civilian government headed by M. K. Vellodi was formed in its place. Later in 1952, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao became the second Chief Minister of Hyderabad State and the first democratically elected Chief Minister. The last Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan continued as the head of state as ''

Rajpramukh Rajpramukh was an administrative title in India which existed from India's independence in 1947 until 1956. Rajpramukhs were the appointed governors of certain Indian provinces and states. Background The British Indian Empire, which incl ...

'' till 1956 when Hyderabad State was split on linguistic basis and reorganised into three states. The state witnessed Mulkhi agitation in 1952 by the locals after government jobs meant for the locals were given to non-locals.

Elections

In the first State Assembly election in India, 1952, Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected Chief Minister of Hyderabad State. During this time there were violent agitations by some Telanganites to send back bureaucrats from Madras state, and to strictly implement 'Mulki-rules'(Local jobs for locals only), which was part of Hyderabad state law since 1919.

List of districts of Hyderabad State

Administratively, Hyderabad State was made up of sixteen districts, grouped into four divisions:.

Reorganisation on linguistic basis

In 1956 during the reorganisation of the Indian states based along linguistic lines, the Telugu-speaking region of the state of Hyderabad State was merged with

. The Marathi speaking region was merged with

and Kannada speaking region with Mysore State. The

States Reorganisation Commission The States Reorganisation Commission of India (SRC) constituted by the Central Government of India in December 1953 to recommend the reorganization of state boundaries. In September 1955, after two years of study, the Commission, comprising Just ...

(SRC) was not in favour of an immediate merger of Telugu-speaking

region of Hyderabad State with

, despite their common language. Para 378 of the SRC report said ''One of the principal causes of opposition of Vishalandhra also seems to be the apprehension felt by the educationally backward people of Telangana that they may be swamped and exploited by the more advanced people of the coastal areas.''

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (ISO: , , AP) is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu is the most widely spoken language in the state, as well as its official lang ...

and the Telugu speaking parts of Hyderabad State were merged to form

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

on 1 November 1956, after providing safeguards to Telangana in the form of

Gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding wikt:agreement, agreement between two or more parties. It is typically Oral contract, oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspok ...

. In June 2014, Andhra Pradesh was split and Telangana was created as a separate state. Hyderabad city remained as the joint capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for 10 years till 1st June 2024.

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