Hyderabad: The largest princely state, with its own coinage, currency, stamps, and 21-gun salutes. The Nizam held the special title of "His Exalted Highness." The state was multilingual, with Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, and Urdu speakers. The southern and southeastern region in particular was Telugu-dominant.
When the partition plan was announced on 3 June 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad declared his intention to remain an independent sovereign dominion. Despite multiple attempts to integrate Hyderabad into the Indian Union, the Nizam continued his engagement with Pakistan. He demanded to sign the Standstill Agreement without the Instrument of Accession, but his government repeatedly violated the agreement's terms.
On 9 September 1948, India launched Operation Polo, leading to Hyderabad's surrender on 17 September. When India adopted its Constitution on 26 January 1950, Hyderabad State was classified as a Part B state, with a multilingual population, dominated by Telugu, Kannada, and Marathi speakers.
Sri Potti Sriramulu's fast unto death for a Telugu state lead to Nehru's announcement of Andhra State on 1st Oct 1953. Soon after, the State Reorganisation Commission was formed to redraw boundaries, considering linguistic and cultural factors. The merger of Andhra and Telangana into Vishalandhra was proposed.
1952 Mulki Rules Conflict: The Telangana region had long-standing domicile rules, the Mulki Rules, reserving government job positions for locals (Mulki's). In 1952, the first Mulki agitation erupted over the recruitment of non-locals into local-designated positions, marking significant resistance in Hyderabad. In 1956, the SRC received a proposal to integrate Hyderabad State with Telugu-speaking Andhra. However, the SRC feared that merging the two regions would be problematic due to them being unequal in terms of development. Therefore, the SRC suggested spinning Telangana off as a separate state (Hyderabad State) for five years until 1961, when unification would be revisited.
The Gentlemen’s Agreement between Telangana and Andhra leaders promised equitable development and representation in Telangana, including a regional council. Despite the SRC’s recommendation, the States Reorganisation Act merged Andhra and Telangana into Andhra Pradesh, effective 1st November 1956.
The Mulki Rules agitation of 1952 contributed to the rise of the Telangana Praja Samithi, which led a campaign demanding Telangana statehood. Legal challenges to the rules led the Supreme Court to uphold them, spurring the Jai Andhra movement advocating for Andhra and Telangana's separation. This unrest culminated in ministerial resignations and the imposition of President's Rule in Andhra Pradesh in 1973.
In September 1973, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi introduced a six-point formula dividing Andhra Pradesh into six zones, allocating 85% of jobs and academic seats within each zone to locals. The Mulki Rules became redundant, leading to their repeal in December 1973.
In April 2001, KCR left the TDP and founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) with the single goal of creating Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital. In 2009, KCR began a fast-unto-death demanding Telangana statehood. Popular support grew, and on 9 December 2009, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram announced that Telangana would become a reality.
On 2 June 2014, Telangana was formed as a separate state through the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. June 2nd is celebrated as Telangana Day, and KCR became the first Chief Minister. Hyderabad became Telangana's permanent capital. When Telangana was created, ten districts from Andhra Pradesh were transferred to the state. The names of these districts are provided below. Interestingly, these districts comprised of parts of Hyderabad state that were transferred to the state of Andhra Pradesh at the time of its creation.
Between 2014-2021, Telangana districts increased more than threefold from 10 to 33. Excluding Hyderabad and Khammam districts, all districts were split to create new districts for administrative convenience. Here is a snapshot of all the splits
Sources: White Paper on Indian States (1950); The Story of Integration of India - V P Menon (1956); Administrative Atlas of India (2011); Origin Story of India’s States - Venkataraghavan Subha Srinivasan (2021), Lakpura (n.d.).
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