Hyderabad Liberation Day: Here's everything about erstwhile Hyderabad before Independence

In a run-up to September 17, NewsMeter will be publishing reports from eminent personalities. Our reports will delve deep into the historic significance of the day. Without going into the politics of the event, we will be discussing the long fight against Nizam rule, armed resistance, freedom struggle, Operation Polo et al.

Our articles will focus on India's Independence from the Britishers and the partition. We will highlight how princely states joined the Indian union. How Nizam-ruled Hyderabad, which comprised three linguistic regions: the Telugu-speaking Telangana area (including the capital city, Hyderabad), the Marathi-speaking Marathwada, and a small Kannada-speaking region, was brought into the Indian dominion.

We assure our readers that our articles will be enriching and worth preserving for posterity.

Hyderabad: Prior to Indian independence, Hyderabad state was a princely state within British India's territory consisting of three linguistic regions—Telugu-speaking Telangana (including the capital city Hyderabad), Marathi-speaking Marathwada, and a small Kannada-speaking area. It included eight Telangana districts, five Maharashtra districts, and three Karnataka districts.

The districts that were part of the former Hyderabad state were Aurangabad, Bhir, Pardhani, Osmanabad (the current Latur district was part of Osmanabad district), Nanded, Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Mahbubnagar, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Warangal, and Bastar. Administratively, Hyderabad state was divided into four divisions and comprised 16 districts. Auranagabad, Gulbarga, Medak, and Warangal are the four divisions.

Hyderabad had an area of 82,000 square miles and a population of more than 16 million people. There were 2 million Muslims, 13 million Hindus, and 1 million Christians. There were 4 million Marathas and 2 million Karnataka residents.

During the reorganisation of Indian states along linguistic lines in 1956, the Telugu-speaking region of Hyderabad state was merged with Andhra Pradesh. The Marathi-speaking region became part of Bombay state (modern-day Maharashtra), and the Kannada-speaking region became part of Karnataka state.

According to the 1941 Hyderabad State Census, 2,187,005 people spoke Urdu as their native language, 7,529,229 spoke Telugu, 3,947,089 spoke Marathi, and 1,724,180 spoke Kanarese (Kannada). The Hyderabadi Muslim population, including the ruling Asaf Jahi dynasty, numbered around 2,097,475, while Hindus numbered around 9,171,318.

This year, the Centre and the state are planning to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Hyderabad Liberation Day on 17 September. The BJP has invited Union Home minister Amit Shah to kick off the year-long celebrations while the TRS has also decided to hold a year-long celebration. The MIM wrote to the Center urging them to call it National Integration Day.