Memoirs of Cyril Jones (People, Society, and Railways in Hyderabad)

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Cyril Jones joined the Nizam's State Railways (N.S.R.) as an Asstt. Engineer in 1904 and was associated with it for over three decades in various capacities rising to the position of its Managing Director. His duties led to extensive travels in the State which afforded him ample opportunities of interacting with local elites, officials and people and to look closely at the society of his times.

Cyril Jones, however, does not restrict himself to a narration of his official domain. He throws a good deal of light on the social life, customs and manners of people and the nobility of Hyderabad during the period of his stay in the State. Full of lively comments on men and matters, they make an interesting and instructive reading.

As an introduction, Y. Saraswati Rao's paper provides a concise history of N.S.R. from its inception in 1860 to its extinction in 1950.A bibliographical essay at the end of the book brings together what little has been so far written on the Nizam's State Railways. Quality photographs supported by maps enhance the value of the book.

A book that would be found useful by those interested in the development of railway system and the people of erstwhile Hyderabad State in the early decades of twentieth century.

Omar Khalidi was born in Hyderabad in 1956. He was educated in India and the United States. He wrote several articles on the Muslim society and politics in India. His most recent publication was Hyderabad: After the Fall (1988). He was affiliated with the Aga Khan Program for IslamicArchitecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Hyderabad, Deccan under the Nizams (c.1720 — 1948) was the largest princely dominion in India. With its own army, postal service, currency, and communications system it had most of the attributes of a modern State in the making. This collection of essays, while primarily concerned with one component of communication system, namely the railways of the erstwhile state of Hyderabad, officially known as the Nizam's State Railways (N.S.R.), also provides insights into the social life of Hyderabad.

Y. Saraswati Rao provides a concise history of N.S.R., from its inception in the 1860s to its extinction in 1950. This is followed by an autobiographical account by Cyril Walter Lloyd Jones (1881-1981) the British railway engineer who had been closely, associated with the N.S.R., edited by his grandson David Lloyd Jones. Writings by or about technical or managerial personnel of railways in India are few, and therefore Cyril Jones's record of his experience in Hyderabad is valuable for its rarity, if nothing else. In addition to the development of railways, his account provides us useful glimpses of the nobility, state officials, people and society of the Hyderabad state during the period of his stay. Finally, the editor of the volume has combed through various books and journals to produce a bibliographic essay that brings together what little has been written on the Nizam's State Railways.

The publication of the book was greatly assisted by Gbalib Ibn Awad Al—Quaiti of Hadramawt, for which he de serves my special thanks.

**Contents and Sample Pages**