the state was the largest and premier of all princely states within the british indian empire. after the pakistani and indian independences, the 7th nizam of hyderabad, osman ali khan, asaf jah vii decided that the princely state of hyderabad will not join the new dominion of india or dominion of pakistan. his decision found favour with pakistan but not with india, when he formally declared it on the 24th of august in 1947 respectively. the nizam’s state was a prosperous one and had its own army, railway and airline network, postal system and radio network. on 15th august 1947, india declared itself an independent nation. and so did hyderabad.