H Y D 



407 



H Y D 



of any armed party approaching their walls ; and, on 

 one occasion, actually fired on some ladies and gentle- 

 men, who were amusing themselves m looking at the 

 tomb*. Some years ago, a detachment of the Com- 

 pany's troops with a convoy of provisions having halted 

 near them, the Kill idar, or commandant, sent out a message 

 to the officer in charge, desiring him to remove his en- 

 campment to a greater distance, and threatening that 

 the guns on the works would be used to enforce com' 

 pKemr The officer replied verbally, that he would 

 not decamp until the next morning ; and, pointing to 

 a line of spirit carts, added, that, if a single shot were 

 fired at him from the fort, he was ready to return the 

 compliment. The regularity of his line of carriages, 

 and their compact form, made them be mistaken for so 

 many mortars and battering guns, and immediately 

 produced a more conciliatory tone, with quiet posses- 

 sion of the ground. < 



A great part of the province is occupied by Jaghire- 

 dars, some of whom are military officers in the service 

 of the N'iznm, a* already mentioned ; and the rest are 

 Hindoo Rajah* or Zemindars, whose ancestors have 

 long possessed their estates, and over whom the Nizam 

 exercises a very uncertain and undefined authority. A* 

 Hyderabad is one of the few remaining Mogul govern- 

 ments, a greater proportion of Mahommedans are to 

 be found among the higher and middle classes of the 

 inhabitants ; but the great mas* of the lower classes 

 are still Hindoo* in the proportion of above ten to one. 

 In the colder season of the year, the lower classes use 

 a coarse woollen blanket made in the country, while 

 the higher rank* wear shawl* and qi. \ 



few of the noblemen and military 1 :em- 



selve* in broad doth, a* a piece of fashionable luxury ; 

 and the regular infantry, a* well as the troops . 

 principal Jaghiredars, are dressed in British red cloth. 



in erpiUl of the above province, and 



of the NisanT* dominions, is situated in 17 1 V N. Lat. 

 and 7*> J + ,'. on the Mooseee Nnddee, below 



its junction with the Moosaah, which flows past the 

 walls of Golconda. It was founded about the year 

 15S5 by Mahommed Kooli Koottub Shah, and, in 

 sequence of its vicinity to the river, soon ar 

 ascendancy over the neighbouring city of Ma 

 of which nothing now remains, except a few trace* of 

 the strongest buildings. It was taken and pillaged by 

 the army of Aurengzebe in I' t~, its principal inhabi- 

 having retired to the neighbouring fortrea* of 

 Golconda. The late Niaam Ali, father of the rei^ 

 prince, made it the seat of the royal residence in place 

 of Aurungabad, which bad hitherto been the capital, 

 but which, by the fluctuation of hi* territories, had 

 become less centrical, and too adjacent to the Mahratta 

 frontier. The new capital has been exempt from plun- 

 der and every hostile molestation, erer since it became 

 the residence of the court, (a circumstance rarely 



ralleled in India for so long a period) and has rapidly 

 increased in wealth and population. It i urrounded 

 Ttaftoa. by a stone wall, which would afford no defence against 

 artillery, but which serve* a* a protection from the in- 

 cursion* of cavalry. It is about four miles in length 

 within the walls, ami three in breadth. There are 

 large magazines in the city belonging to the Nizam, 

 hi which are deposited the presents received at various 

 tHBea from the different native and European power*. 

 The rooms are filled, almost from the floor to the ceil- 



ing, with bales of woollens, cases of glass, glass-ware, 

 china-ware, clocks, watches, and other articles of Eu- 

 ropean manufacture, which always continue locked up 

 in the magazine;. The houses and gardens of the 

 Company's civil and military officers, and of a few other 

 European gentlemen resident in. the place, form the 

 principal ornament of the environs. Hyderabad. lu\- 

 mg long been the principal Mahomroedan station in 

 the I )eccan, contains a considerable number of mosques, 

 and exhibits more of the old forms pjid ceremonies of 

 the Mogul government than any other metropolis in 

 Hindustan. The noblemen of the place have been bred 

 either as soldiers or courtiers; and, as hoarded trea- 

 sures would expose them to the avaricious machinations 

 of their superiors, they generally spend their fortunes Manners of 

 freely, in keeping up lar^e retinues, or in the fashion- the inhabi- 

 able profligacy of their court. When any property is unl * 

 laid up, it is commonly in the form of ornaments for 

 their females and children, which are always more re- 

 markable for their weight than workmanship. A few 

 of the wealthier Mahommedans, especially the Nizam's 

 ministers, are fond of furnishing their houses richly 

 with articles of European and Chinese manufacture, 

 such as porcelain, crystal, lustres, chintz sofa covers, 

 and some articles of plate. A favourite piece of IMX- 

 ury among them is to have an Arena Khana, a room of 

 which the roof and side* are entirely covered with 

 mirror plate*. 



His Highness'* ministers frequently entertain th 

 sident and his suite at their palace*. The amusement 

 at these parties are troops of dancing girls (kunchi- 

 nee*,) wrestler* (puhlwauns,) mimics (bhans,) and mu- 

 sicians of various kinds, who afford some diversion to a 

 newly-arrived European, but toon become tiresome, 

 and often disgusting. A dinner, partly in the EnglMi 

 tyle, and a magnificent display of fireworks, commonly 

 clo*e the day's entertainment-'. Some of the Mahom- 

 medan chief's sit at table, and partake of the same fare 

 with the Europeans, from which pork in every shape, 

 it may be supposed, is carefully excluded. I he inha- 

 bitant* of the city, both Mahommedans and Hindoos, ch " arter - 

 though very polished in their manner*, are Ix.th igno- 

 rant ami profligate. Crimes are here o 

 day with impunity, and even wit: -, nhicii 



would strike with wonder and horror the inha 

 any country in Europe. A father, who hail murders 

 wife for not quietly acquiescing in his preference >: 

 daughter, observed, that ' no one had a better rip 

 thetruk than the planter of tlic tree." The government 

 derive* a current revenue from licence* to carry on the 

 meat horrid practice*. Amongst inch a people, and 

 with such a government, truth and morality, a* it may 

 be supposed, are very rare qualities. The present num- 

 ber of inhabitants, including those of the suburbs, i* es- 

 timated at 1 80,000. The distance of the city from Cal- 

 cutta is 900 mile* ; from Madras, 59 1 : from Bombay, 

 480 ; from Seringapatam, 4O6 ; from Delhi, <.'1. 

 Orme's Hiftory of Military Trantactiont in India ; 

 Atiatic Annual Regitteri ; Sir John Malcolm's Political 

 Hiitory of India ; Ferishta's History of Ike Dtccan, 

 traiulaltd by 3, Scott, Esq. ; Kennel's Memoir of a Map 

 of Hindottan; and Hamilton's Sail India Gasettter. 



HYDRAl'I.ICS. See HvnnoDYiiAiiici. 

 in !l:<>< I I.E. See SUHQMT. 

 HVmJ< M'HALUS. See MroiciXB. 



(7) 



i U> John lobUon, Btq. F.H.S.E. 



