Hyderabad State is a state of British India located in the south-central region of the Indian subcontinent, and was ruled, from 1724 to 1967, by a hereditary Nizam. The capital is the city of Hyderabad. Hyderabad state has a population of 27,334,868 and an area of 215,339 km², making it both the largest and most populous of India's states and one of the largest subdivisions of India overall.
The Asaf Jahan was a dynasty of Turkic origin from the region around Samarkand in the modern-day Uzbek SSR of the Soviet Union, who came to India in the late 17th century, and became employees of the Mughal Empire. The region became part of the Mughal Empire in the 1680s. When the empire began to weaken in the 18th century, Asif Jah defeated a rival Mughal governor's attempt to seize control of the empire's southern provinces, declaring himself Nizam-al-Mulk of Hyderabad in 1724. The Mughal emperor, under renewed attack from the Marathas, was unable to prevent it. Following the decline of the Mughal power, India saw the rise of Maratha Empire. The Nizam himself saw many invasions by the Marathas. Some of the major battles fought between Marathas and Nizam include Battle of Rakshasbhuvan and Battle of Palkhed.
In 1798, Hyderabad became a princely state under the British East India Company's suzerainty. By a subsidiary alliance it had ceded to the British East India company the control of its external affairs. In 1903, the Berar region of the state was separated and merged into the Central Provinces of British India, to form the Central Provinces and Berar.
In 1938, at the time of signing of the Empire Act, the British offered the various princely states in the sub-continent the option of either joining the new British Empire and receiving equal rights, or becoming an independent state. The Nizam, attending the conference in person, decided to remain part of Britain. His decision was a major catalyst for other princely states to join the new Britain. From 1938 until 1967, Hyderabad was a separate Imperial Dominion, with the Nizam serving as Premier and its own Governor General. Upon the Nizam's death, a referendum was held in which it was decided that Hyderabad would become part of the Imperial Dominion of India.