There are not many studies available on the economic history of South India. This book "Economic History of Hyderabad State (Warangal Suba), 1911-1950" written by Dr. V. Rama-krishna Reddy is a welcome addition in the field of economic history. It throws vivid light on the economic conditions in the Nizam's dominions in general and of the districts of Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad in particular.
Dr. V. Ramakrishna Reddy who, at present is an Assistant Professor in History at the Andhra Pradesh Open University, has taken great pains in consulting several original files in Urdu and English at the Board of Revenue and Andhra Pradesh State Archives which is no mean task as the files at these centres are yet to be properly indexed.
He also consulted the relevant files in the Statistics Department and the several Commission reports on tenancy, banking and agricultural conditions in the erstwhile Hyderabad State besides referring to several contemporary Newspapers in Telugu, Urdu and English.
The scholar has dealt in detail about the village administration and has brought out the subtle differences in the then existing land tenure systems in the Hyderabad State like the Ijara, Kowl, Banjar and Agrahara apart from delineating on the different set ups in sarf-i-khas, paigah, Inam, Jagir, Samsthan and the difference between the Shikmidars and Pattedars. The then existing agricultural conditions, production and prices in the Hyderabad State have been dealt with.
On the whole, the material drawn by the scholar from primary and seco ndary sources is rich in variety and magnitude. It adds to the value of the book as an original source material. Dr. Ramakrishna Reddy is to be congratulated for having brought out such a valuable book in the realm of economic history. This being his doctoral thesis, one hopes that he wo ld come out with similar scholarly works in future.
Beneath the pomp and splendour of the Nizam's rule in Hyderabad State, lay hidden the depressed and exploited lives of the common people. If Warangal Suba is taken as a unit for study in this regard, it could be seen clearly that whereas the region abounded in natural, forest, agricultural, industrial, labour and trade resources, the actual economic development that has been experienced was not at all commensurate, ultimately resulting in a far lower standard of living than that was witnessed in adjacent states. The intricate reasons that lay behind this situation and the effects that emanated from it, had been examined, basing primarily on the rich wealth of information that was contained in voluminous Warangal Subedari Records and State Departmental Files, the former of which are all in Urdu language, and have been for the first time brought to use.
My grateful thanks, in this connection are due to Prof. Sarojini Regani, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Osmania University, for guiding me at each and every stage in my endeavour. I owe a deep sense of gratitude to her for having spared her valuable and precious time in going through the work and writing a 'Foreword'. I am also obliged to the authorities and the concerned staff of State Archives, the Andhra Pradesh Board of Revenue, State Library, Salar Jung Museum Library, Osmania University Library and Bureau of Economics, Hyderabad, the National Archives, Nehru Memorial Museum Library and Jawaharlal Nehru University Library, New Delhi, and the Collectorate of Warangal, for rendering me valuable cooperation in the collection of relevant data that is available at their respective centres. I am very much grateful to Md. Asadullah, S. Zia-ul-Haq and M.A. Alavi for assisting me in the examination of Urdu records.
My special thanks are due to U.G.C., New Delhi for granting me the Teacher Fellowship, Director of Higher Education, Andhra Pradesh, for sponsoring my candidature for the Fellow-ship and the Director, Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi and the Registrar, Telugu University, Hyderabad for extending me grant for printing this work. Last, but not the least, I am obliged to Gian Publishing House, Delhi, for having successfully brought out the work within a short time.
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