katchen
Banned
Hyderabad, conflict and rebellion
The problem with Hyderabad, underneath the surface is that the territory that comprised the Nizam of Hyderabad IOTL included the Northeast Deccan, which has large "tribal" populations of ethnic groups that are not Hindu, are very low caste and marginalized aboriginal Indian peoples. It is not surprising that this area has been a hotbed of Maoist "Naxalite" insurgency up until the present day IOTL. The area is relatively sparsely populated and likely to have similar problems ITTL as well, hampering economic growth and industrialization.I think an independent Hyderabad would be interesting, its the only state I've studied enough (however imperfectly) to comment upon. While its true that it was gradually losing influence to Mysore, I don't think we can easily discount it post 18th century. I'm somewhat interested in the status of its ever disputed province of Berar.
Hyderabad backed Britain whilst it battling the Maratha's (although the Maratha's were most likely on a downward slope) Because of this Hyderabad was rewarded Berar which was an incredibly rich cotton growing province. The east india company later repossessed Berar inorder to resolve Hyderbad's debts, a minor miracle because the east india company typically used this as an excuse to annex principalities. My question is, would an independent Hyderabad have eventually obtained this province without British intervention?
That being said, I can see an independent Hyderabad taking the position as the Belgium of India. Its extremely rich in coal, has ideal growing conditions for cotton, and possesses sizable deposits of iron. Hyderabad, also had a somewhat of a trend of a modernizing administrative elite. Given these factors, Hyderabad could fairly easily become a center for textiles and heavy industry.