The Court of Wards in Hyderabad

Abstract

In 1882 under Salar Jung’s guidance, the Hyderabad government adopted an administrative mechanism, the Court of Wards. The Court of Wards served as a kind of babysitter for young heirs, administrator for their estates, and shelter from the personal interests of the Nizams. For the heirs, it was literally ma-bap (mother-father). It was where legal practice settled many of the disputes rather than leaving them to the whims of the Nizam or armed conflict between family members. Implemented in much of India, the Court was a modified version of British law that allowed the Company and Crown to expand its control in the princely states. It foreshadowed India’s secular democratic underpinnings, and in Hyderabad, had profound effects on the samasthans; it would remain the key to their survival well into the twentieth century.