Akbar Hydari
Sir Muhammed Akbar Hydari Nawab Hyder Jung Bahādur (born November 8, 1869 in Bombay ; † September 1941 in New Delhi ), was long-time finance minister and from 1936/37 to 1941 divan of the Indian princely state of Hyderabad .
Youth and education
Akbar Hydari was the son of the merchant Nazarally Hydarally, who was mainly active in the Chinese trade. At the age of 14 he passed the entrance examination to the University of Bombay , and he had Latin as an elective. He graduated from St. Xavier's College with a BA (Hons) at the age of 17 .
Life path
After passing the aptitude test, he joined the colonial financial administration in 1888. Various positions followed according to his career: 1890 Assistant Accountant General of the United Provinces (UP), 1897 Deputy Accountant General for Bombay, 1900 Madras Press Accountant, 1901 Controller Indian Treasuries, 1904 Accountant General of the Central Provinces .
In 1905 he was deputated to Hyderabad , initially as Accountant General, and in 1907 he was appointed to the Council as Financial Secretary . Four years later, he was also responsible as State Secretary for Home Affairs. He was interested in education throughout his life and promoted the establishment of Osmania University , the first in India to use Urdu as the language of instruction. In 1917 he was elected President of the All-India Mohammedan Educational Conference . In 1919 he was acting as general director of the Office for Trade and Industry.
Finance minister
In 1920 he was appointed Accountant General of Bombay. In 1921, however, he returned from Hyderabad as the successor to Sir Robert Glancy , as Finance Member (Minister of Finance) on the Council, now called Executive Council . His responsibilities also included overseeing the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway (NGSR). In addition, he became director of the Shahābād Cement Co. in 1922 and of the semi-state Singareni Collieries Co., which had replaced the mining concession of the Hyderabad (Deccan) Company in late 1920. Since 1925 he was on the Mining Board , in the same year he also became Chairman of the Inter-University Board. Furthermore, he was interested in classical studies, he founded an archaeological institute whose first task in 1928 was the renovation of the frescoes in Ajanta . In 1927 he was the founding chairman of the Muslim League within the Theosophical Society of Madras. In 1928 he was appointed Privy Councilor on the British side and made a Knight Bachelor .
He reorganized the administration of state finances, so that accounts were more strictly separated according to official areas. State budgets were drawn up for three years each, even if the individual departments continued to issue annual invoices, but carry-overs were allowed. The more effective budget planning rehabilitated the budget, so that it was possible to take over the shares of the NGSR and to nationalize the company through the resulting surpluses in 1930. He then also became the first president of the railway company. The world economic crisis , with the accompanying fall in prices for raw materials - in the case of Hyderabad especially cotton - could be survived without tax increases.
In the run-up to the constitutional reform taking place for British India , which brought greater democratic self-government at the provincial level, he had to represent the views of the autocratic Nizam Asaf Jah VII against the proposed federation of princely states. As a coming from outside (non- mulki ) he had a hard time with the local aristocratic elite. For Hyderabad, which did not work in the Chamber of Princes , he took part in the second and third Round Table Conferences in London in 1930 and 1931. During his stay he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford University . At the third round table he took his son, who was in British colonial service, with him as an advisor for Hyderabad.
Divan
As the successor to Kishen Pershad , he was officially appointed divan on March 18, 1937 . In fact, he had represented his ailing predecessor for some time. Political activity in the democratic sense was banned in Hyderabad since 1921. However, parties such as the Muslim Ittehad-ul-Musalmeen, the short-lived Nizam's Subject League and an offshoot of the INC . The latter was banned in July 1938. A first satyagraha for real religious freedom took place in late 1938. Up to 20,000 people were arrested, most of them from British India for payment. The government of Bombay Province, under INC control since the 1937 election, showed no interest in stopping the demonstrators. A commission ( Aiyanagar Committee ) was convened to discuss moderate democratic reforms, but its report was not published. The British declaration of war on Germany on September 3, 1939 then provided a welcome reason to stop any reform.
The Viceroy Lord Linlithgow appointed him to his Executive Council in 1941 with responsibility for broadcasting (propaganda).
family
He was married since 1893 to Amena († 1940), a daughter of Haji Najmuddin, from the Tyabi clan, which is powerful in Bombay. With her he had four sons and two daughters. The son of Muhammed Saleh Akbar Hydari , born in 1894 , often just called Akbar, rose to the post of governor of Assam in 1947 in the service of the Government of India.
Works
- Akbar Hydari: A Mahomedan university for India. Bombay? 1904.
- Sir Akbar Hydari: General Report Of The Theosophical Society. Madras 1928. ( full text )
- Sir Akbar Hydari: Presidential address at the Bombay Presidency Mulsim Educational Conference held at Poona, September 7th, 1934. Govt. Central Press, Hyderabad 1934.
- Stella Kramrisch, Sir Akbar Hydari: A survey of painting in the Deccan. India Society, Hyderabad 1937.
- Ali Yavar Jung (Ali Yavar), Akbar Hydari (chairman): Report of proceedings. Committee of States' Ministers. Bombay, 12th, 13th & 14th April 1939. New Delhi 1939.
literature
- Laureen Baillie (Ed.): Indian Biographical Archive. Munich, ISBN 3-598-34104-0
- Dick Kooiman: The Nizam's Last Victory: Hyderabad on Eve of Second World War. In: Economic and Political Weekly. Volume 33, No. 12 (Mar. 21-27, 1998), pp. 645-660.
- SP Sen: Dictionary of Indian Biography. Calcutta 1972, Volume I, p. 35.
Individual evidence
- ^ Description of the company: Hyderabad (Deccan) Company: A Short Description of the Singareni Collieries; 1928
- ↑ P. Kesava Mengar: Hyderabad Railway Purchase. Hyderabad 1930
- ↑ see Hydari's correspondence with Gandhi in: Jamnalal Bajaj : Foundation of Human Skills, Volume IV, pp. 158–182
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hydari, Akbar |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Politician of the Indian princely state of Hyderabad |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 8, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bombay |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 1941 |
| Place of death | New Delhi |