Hyderabad City District , 1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Hyderabad City District
{Haidarabad). — Head-quarters of Hyderabad District, Sind, Bombay, situated in 25° 23' N. and 68° 25' E., on the North-Western Railway. Population: {1872) 43,088, (1881) 48,153, (1891) 58,048, and (1901) 69,378, including 4,588 in cantonments. Of the population in 1901, 24,831 were Muhammadans, 43,499 Hindus, and 710 Christians. The city ranks seventh in the Presidency in point of population. Upon the site of the present fort is supposed to have stood the ancient town of Nerankot, which in the eighth century submitted to Muhammad bin Kasim Sakifi. In 1768 the present city was founded by Ghulam Shah Kalhora ; and it remained the chief town of Sind until 1843, when, after the battle of Miani, it surrendered to the British, and the capital was transferred to Karachi. The city is built on the most northerly hills of the Ganjo range, a site of great natural strength, 3^ miles east of the Indus, with which it is connected by the high road to Gidu Bandar. In the fort, which covers an area of 36 acres, are the arsenal of the province, transferred hither from Karachi in 186 r, and the palaces of the ex-AmIrs of Sind. Besides 4 high schools with 1,319 pupils in 1903-4, Hyderabad con- tains a training college for males with an attached technical class (121 students), a normal class for females (3), a training college for mistresses (6), a midwifery school (3), an agricultural school (109), an engineering class {34), and a medical school (43). 'I'he total number of schools is 50, of which 6 are for girls. The city contains a civil hospital and a dispensary.
Hyderabad is now plentifully supplied witli water, which is pumped up from the Indus by powerful machinery, located on the river bank at Gidu. Thence the water passes along an aqueduct raised on masonry arches, into two large reservoirs or depositing tanks, situated about 500 yards from the river bank, each capable of holding over 1,000,000 gallons. From these tanks the water flows by gravitation to within a short distance of the foot of the rocky plateau on which the fort is built ; from here the water is pumped up into a tank inside the fort, whence it is distributed to the city and cantonments by gravitation.
Hyderabad, as the historic capital of Sind, is the centre of all the provincial communications — road, telegraphic, postal. From the date of its foundation (1768), its manufactures — ornamented silks, silver- and gold-work, and lacquered ware — have been the chief in the province, and during the last thirty years have gained prizes at the industrial ex- hibitions of Europe. The garrison is composed of British and Native infantry, 2 batteries of artillery, and an ammunition column. The barracks are built in twelve blocks, with hospitals, bazar, (!v:c., to the north-west of the city. The only noteworthy antiquities are the tombs of the Kalhora and Talpur rulers. The Residency, memorable for its gallant defence by Sir James Outram against the Baluchis in 1843, which was situated 3 miles from Hyderabad, no longer exists.
The municipality was established in 1853, and had an average income during the decade ending 1901 of Rs. 2-2 lakhs. In 1903-4 the income and expenditure amounted to 2-7 and 2-8 lakhs respec- tively. The chief sources of income are octroi (Rs. 1,30,000) and water rate (Rs. 22,000) ; and the chief heads of expenditure are general administration and collection of taxes (Rs. 39,000), public safety (Rs. 7,400), water-supply and drainage (Rs. 22,000), conservancy (Rs. 37,000), hospitals and dispensaries (Rs. 15,000), public works (Rs. 13,000), and education (Rs. 18,000). The income of the cantonment fund in 1903-4 was Rs. 43,000, and the expenditure Rs. 33,800.
