HYDERABAD, in Sind, in lat. 25° 23' 5" N., and long. se 24' 51" E., was built in 1768 on the site of the ancient Patala or Patalene by Ghulam Shah, Kalhora. It was the chief town of the territories ruled by the Talpur dynasty, until 14th February 1843, when, after the battle of 3liani (Ileeanee), it surrendered to the British, and the capital was transferred to Karachi (Kura chee). Tho Hyderabad country was conquered from the Talpur dynasty, Amirs of Sind, by a British Indian army under Sir Charles Napier. The ancient name of Hyderabad was Neroon or Nirun, and Abulfada described it as almost equi distant between Dabul (Dewul or Tatta) and Mansura, Schwan, or Minagara, the latitude of which is 26° 11'. Its territory is of great ethnic interest, having been a refuge of Aryan, Baluch, Jat, Moghul, Pathan, and Rajput races for cen turies before the birth of Christ ; and Assyrians, Bactrians, Greeks, Arabs, and Rajputs have ruled up to and within its borders. The territory is now a British revenue district, under the Com missioner of Sind, between lat. 24° 13' and 27° 15' N., and long. 67° 51' and 69° 22' E. The popu lation consists of Mahomedans, 560,349; Hindus, 118,652 ; with other creeds and tribes, 44,882 ; total, 728,883. Of tho Mahomedans, more than three-fifths, or 373,703, are Sindi, Chiefly Sunni of the Halpotra, Junijo, Dul, Powar, Thebo, Sumro, Sand, Katiyar, and other clans, descend ants of the original population converted to Islam during the Ummayid dynasty of Khalifas.
The Baluchi Mahomedans (128,785) are in a great number of tribes, the chief being the Rind, Bhugti, Chang, Talpur, Jatoi, Laghari, Chandio, Kaloi, Khaso, Jakrani, Lashari.
Pathans are found chiefly about Hyderabad and Upper Sind, along with Bokhari, Matari, Shimzi, and Lekhiraji Syuds. Together they number 15,815 persons.
The Sind Memons were formerly Kachhi Hindus, who emigrated to Sind under the KaIliora rule, and devoted themselves to agriculture and cattle - breeding. The Khwaja are dexcendants of fugitives from Persia when their creed (the Ismailyeli heresy) was persecuted by if nlaku Khan. The Memons and Khwajas aggregate 13,000. Sidi, natives of Maskat (Muscat), Zanzibar, and Abyssinia, who until the British conquest were bought and sold as slaves. Tho Shikaris or Daphers of Tanda number 1353. They are Mahomedans, but they eat carrion, and are ex cluded from the mosques. Among Hindus the most numerous caste is the Vaisya or Baniya, aggregating about 85,000, and of these nearly four-fifths belong to the Lohano tribe, and the majority of Hindu shopkeepers and traders also belong to the Lohano caste. In their complex subdivisions, they are mixed up with the Maho medans. Although wearing the thread, they become the disciples of Mahomedan teachers, assume their dress, eat meat, drink spirits, and disregard all the customs of orthodox Hindus with regard to receiving food from inferiors, etc. Their marriage ceremonies are so expensive that many of them remain single till late in life.
The canals begin to fill about May, in proportion to the annual rise of the Indus, and are again dry by October. None are perennial in the Tando deputy collectorate, and in Hala only one,—the Mahmuda.—Inip. Gac. See India.