Question

What percent of population constituted Telugu speaking people in Hyderabad in 1951?
A.25
B.30
C.45
D.50

Answer 1

Hint:Hyderabad was the largest of princely states, surrounded completely by the Indian territory at the time of independence. It was controlled by the Nizam and entered into a standstill agreement with the government of India in 1947 as the negotiations were going on. In September 1948, it’s accession happened. All this time, Hyderabad was a Muslim majority state, with Urdu and Telugu being the most spoken language of the state. The former was the official language of the state.

Complete answer:
Today, Hyderabad is the most populous city which serves as a capital to both the states - Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The history of its languages go back to the time of the Asaf Jah dynasty prior to independence.
Under the Nizam, the Hindi-Muslim communal tensions were controlled. In 1947, violence by Razakars, the Muslim militia towards the Hindu communities deeply affected the Indian government. In 1948, the Indian army invaded Hyderabad through its easy routes and conquered the forces of Nizam. This was followed by more communal killings.

In 1950, Hyderabad became the state of Hyderabad in the union of India. In 1956, it split up as the Telugu speaking areas were combined with Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad became the capital.
Following negotiations about Hyderabad’s disposition, and the approval of split from Indian parliament, Telangana was formed in 2014. It was agreed that Hyderabad shall be the capital of both states for a period of up to ten years to allow Andhra Pradesh time to build its own capital. All these years, the common languages spoken are Telugu, Urdu, Kannada and Marathi in Hyderabad. Urdu and Telugu are most spoken, out of these. The former was the official language.

Hence, the correct answer is option (D).

Note: In contemporary Hyderabad, a new dialect ‘Hyderabadi’ has emerged as a mix of Telugu, Hindi and Urdu. The Telugu spoken in Hyderabad has many Urdu words in it, and similarly, the Urdu spoken here is also distinct, with influences of Marathi, Telugu, and Hindi. There are also many influences of the English language.