Modern Hyderabad (Deccan)/Chapter 15
CHAPTER XV.
The Hon'ble the British Resident.
When we visit the Residency bazaars in Hyderabad to-day, and learn that the British Resident now exercises there civil and criminal jurisdiction over 17,971 people, we find it difficult to picture the Residency area of one hundred years ago. At that time the Resident lived in one of the garden houses of the minister of the day and he had little responsibility and little influence.
In "The Nizam," by Henry George Briggs, we find the following curious account of the present fine-looking Residency. Writing to Lady Clive, in October 1799, while passing through Hyderabad on his way to Persia, via Bombay, Sir John Malcolm says : — "I will conclude this letter by relating an anecdote connected with the projected edifice (the Residency) that will satisfy you. The princes of the East do not lose much of their valuable time in the study of geography. Major Achilles Kirkpatrick, the Resident at this Court, wished to obtain a grant of one or two fields to erect this structure upon. He requested the engineer of the English force stationed at Hyderabad to make an exact survey of the spot and when this was finished upon a large sheet he carried it to the Darbar and, showing it to the Nizam, requested he would grant the English Government a grant of the land. The Prince, after gravely examining the survey, said he was sorry he could not comply with the request. When the Resident was retiring, not a little disconcerted at the refusal of a favour which he deemed so trifling, Mir Alum (the minister), said to him, with a smile, "Do not be annoyed. You frightened the Nizam with the size of the plan you showed him. Your fields were almost as large as any of the maps of his kingdom he has yet seen. No wonder," added the Mir, laughing, "he did not like to make such a cession. Make a survey on a reduced scale and the difficulty will vanish." The Resident could hardly believe that this would be the case; but when at his next interview he presented the plan upon a small card, the cheerful assent of the Prince satisfied him that the Mir had been quite correct in his guess at the cause of his former failure." In due course the building was proceeded with, and the Residency was completed in 1807 by Lieutenant S. Russell, of the Madras Engineers.
The attack made on the Residency in 1857 is also very graphically described by Mr. Briggs in his book, "The Nizam."
The growth of the power of the Resident and the importance of the area that now goes by the name of "the Residency Bazaars" was largely due to the fact that the Hon'ble the Resident had to administer the Assigned districts. And the many bankers who now live in the Residency bazaars are said to have been drawn to the neighbourhood by Residents who experienced much difficulty in obtaining good money with which to pay the troops, when there were in the State many mints and many kinds of coins.
The Secunderabad cantonment (six miles north-east of Hyderabad city), where the Resident hoists the British flag during the rains, has now a population of 113,499 persons, including 7,000 English and Indian troops, which form the Secunderabad portion of the 9th Division of the Southern Army, whose headquarters are at Ootacamund. This military station, which is one of the largest in India, was originally the station of the Subsidiary Force. The combined cantonment now comprises Secunderabad, Chikalguda, Bowanpalli, Begampett, Trimulgherry and Bolarum, and covers an area of nineteen square miles.
Residents and Acting Residents.
Mr. John Holland was the first represent-ative of the Governor-General at the Court of the Nizam, and he arrived at Hyderabad in 1779. He was succeeded by Mr. J. Grant, who retired in 1784.
Mr. R. Johnson . . . . 1784
Captain Kennaway . . . . 1788
Captain J. A. Kirkpatrick . . 1797
Captain W. A. Kirkpatrick . . 1798
Mr. H. Russell . . . . 1805
Captain T. Sydenham . . . . 1806
Lieutenant C. Russell . . . . 1810
Mr. H. Russell . . . . 1811
Mr. C. T. Metcalfe . . . . 1820
Captain H. S. Barnett . . . . 1825
Mr. W. B. Martin . . . . 1825
Mr. E. C. Ravenshaw . . . . 1830
Colonel J. Stewart . . . . 1830
Major J. Cameron . . . . 1838
Brigadier J. Wahab, c.B. . . 1838
Major G. Tomkyns . . . . 1838
Colonel J. S. Fraser . . . . 1838 Major C. Davidson .. .. 1852
Colonel Low, c.b. . . . . 1853
Major C. Davidson .. .. 1853
Mr. G. A. Bushby . . . . 1853
Captain A. R. Thornhill . . 1856
Colonel C. Davidson . . . . 1857
Major A. R. Thornhill . . . . 1862
Sir J. U. Yule, k.c.s.i, c.b. . . 1863
Sir R. Temple, k.c.s.i. . . . . 1867
Mr. G. J. Cordery . . . . 1868
Hon'ble A. A. Roberts, c.b., c.s.i. . . 1868
Mr. C. B. Saunders, c.b. . . 1868
Colonel E. C. Ross, c.s.i. . . 1886
Mr. G. J. Cordery .. .. 1886
Major D. Robertson . . . . 1887
Mr. A. P. Howell . . . . 1888
Sir D. Fitzpatrick, k.c.s.i. . . 1889
Mr. T. W. Chichele Plowden, c.s.i., i.c.s. 1891
Hon'ble Lieutenant-Colonel Sir D. W. K. Barr, k.c.s.i. . . . . 1901
Hon'ble C. S. Bayley, c.s.i., i.c.s. . . 1905
Hon'ble M. F. O'Dwyer, i.c.s. . . 1908
Hon'ble C. S. Bayley, c.s.i., i.c.s. . . 1908
Lieutenant-Colonel A. F. Pinhey, c.s.i., c.i.e. . . . . 1911
Hon'ble S. M. Fraser . . . . 1914
Lieutenant-Colonel A. F. Pinhey, c.s.i., c.i.e. . . . . 1914