The agitation that sprung up in Hyderabad state in 1883 on the subject of the Chanda Railway was the first movement of its kind in the princely state.
In 1870, the Nizam of Hyderabad entered into an agreement with the British to build a train line from Wadi (in present-day Karnataka) to Hyderabad. Salar Jung, I, the legendary Prime Minister of the Hyderabad state was instrumental in this effort. Mir Mahbub Ali Khan occupied the throne of the Nizam at this time. The train line was particularly desirable to the British administration due to the possibility of acquiring connectivity to the Singareni coal mine. To this end, Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway Company was formed, and huge amounts of money were invested into this venture. The details of this enterprise were of course not made available to the public in any significant manner. However, it was commonly viewed that the plan was financially not sustainable. Some sources state that the cost of the venture ran into the whereabouts of three lakh pounds.
In an unprecedented act of political organization around a cause, a committee of intellectuals was formed to study the question of whether the railway line project was a desirable endeavour, given the difficult financial conditions prevailing at the time. Aghoranath Chattopadhyay, Dastur Ausagi Hoshang, Mulla Abdul Qayum, and Ramachandra Pillai were some of the individuals involved in this effort. These luminaries asked the state to share information with them regarding the details of the railway line project. This in itself was an unprecedented act and an extremely significant milestone in the political development of the region. These brave individuals had to pay a price for their efforts – they were expelled from the positions they held in government. Later, however, they were reinstated.
News of the movement spread to other parts of India as well – reports were published in the Times of India as well as in the Bengal Gazette. While the agitation did not have the effect of stopping the proposed railway line, the fact that it took place at all reveals an important shift in the political dynamics of the time. The movement marked the beginning of political activity – particularly, political organization – in the state of Hyderabad. It sprung up not just out of disagreement with the Nizam’s plan, but out of a deeper understanding of the nature of British capitalism. The individuals involved in the Chanda Railway movement went on to play important roles in the many political movements that occurred in the state in the years to come. The agitation also occurred at a significant time in history – just two years before the establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885, it was a time of political awakening in many parts of the country, and the birth of a new and unprecedented political consciousness.
Source: P Srija and Richa Kulkarni, OTs, 96th Foundation Course, 2022, LBSNAA, Mussoorie