ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter is not about any individual but about the idea of Hyderabad. It first gives the historical background of the emergence and development of Hyderabad State as a separate entity over the past four centuries and more – initially during the Qutubshahi and then during the Asafjahi regimes.
After the British conquest of India, the Asafjahi regime of Hyderabad –like various other princely States – entered into what was called ‘subsidiary alliance’ with the British who, under the arrangements, became the ‘Paramount Power’ over the Princely States in India. But, practically, these States were on their own within their territorial limits. So was Hyderabad – and over time, it emerged as rather unique among all the Princely States of India. The trajectory of this journey of Hyderabad – especially over the course of the nineteenth century and up to the middle of the twentieth – namely till India’s Independence and Hyderabad’s integration with India – is the subject matter of this chapter.
