This is an excerpt from the recently released book Film City Urbanism in India: Hyderabad from princely city to global city, 1890-2000, published by Cambridge University Press.

Film came to Hyderabad at the cusp of several social and administrative changes. There were several modernizing currents in Hyderabad and Secunderabad; film became one of them.

British and American newspapers and magazines were rife with reports of narratives of travellers, travelling showmen, and their encounters with strange places. Hyderabad regularly featured in them as an oriental fantasy. For instance, a report titled ‘India and Farther’ from The Stage in 1889 described the experiences of the tour of a performing company to ‘India and other eastern countries’. The performance company travelled from Rangoon to Madras by sea, and then to Bangalore, Kolar Gold Fields in Mysore State, and Secunderabad. They passed Hyderabad where they had to travel by the Nizam’s State Railway to reach Secunderabad. These companies were travelling on the colonial network between various British regiments (Rangoon, Madras, Bangalore, Kolar, and Secunderabad), presumably performing to a largely British audience. Cantonments were good markets for travelling performance companies. The princely city of Hyderabad was not an intended destination but had to be traversed to reach the Secunderabad cantonment. The descriptions of the performing companies indicate the perceived cultural difference between the princely city and the cantonment. They described Trimulgherry, a suburb of Secunderabad cantonment, as follows:

Trimulgherry is the suburb of Secunderabad, where the British lines are. There are plenty of regiments here both European and native, consequently plenty of regimental theatres, besides a splendidly appointed one in town. A good company can make a good long stay here if desirable.

At the same time, the Nizam and his subjects were described using terms like ‘the Nizam and his eccentric subjects’, ‘treacherous lot’, ‘who went about in ordinary course of business armed to teeth with old fashioned swords, pistols, daggers etc’. Charles V. Bell, a ‘globe-trotting manager’ of a performing company described his visit to Hyderabad as ‘out of ordinary’, the Nizam as ‘the most powerful prince in India’, and the city using the terms ‘a forbidden city’ and ‘sacred soil’. Bell wrote that the city was dangerous for White men, with no guarantee for their lives. White men could not enter the territory, and if they did, they could not be sure if they would come back alive. Bell’s company went to Hyderabad on the invitation of the Nizam, on ‘his private elephants’. The report stated that ‘so pleased was the Indian prince with the company’s performance, Mr. Bell says, that he invited them to join him on a six-month tiger hunt’.

These orientalist descriptions set up Hyderabad as a mysterious destination which other companies could aspire to visit. The princely cities were seen as ‘dangerous’ and ‘forbidden’ places, which for the same reason were exciting for a brave adventurer. They were inviting performance companies to play out the colonial fantasy of conquering strange places. The tour was considered to be incomplete without visiting these places. Playing in these places meant worldwide acclaim. The other outcome of such descriptions was that Hyderabad became a destination of travellers from all over the world; it became a significant market for performances.

The above descriptions also point out how performing companies were engaging with the existing patronage system in Hyderabad. The invitation to the tiger hunt could have meant that the travelling company would be housed by the Hyderabad state for six months at the expense of the Nizam. They might have had to perform at the behest of the Nizam or his nobles. In another instance, a Frederic Culpitt visited Hyderabad on the invitation of His Excellency the Maharajah of Tarbun. The Hyderabad state had several vassal maharajahs who operated under the Nizam; additionally, small landlords and wealthy individuals also called themselves maharajah. The Maharajah of Tarbun could be one such wealthy patron who hosted the performing company. Patronage was usually in terms of gifts. The European and American travelling companies moved across geographical markets in search of a paying audience but when they reached the ‘proverbial orient’, they were embedded into the  existing patronage system. The presence of multiple patrons made Hyderabad a lucrative destination.

The aforementioned series of articles from London newspapers about the travels of the performing companies set up an interesting backdrop within which the coming of cinema to Hyderabad and Secunderabad is to be placed. It was at the intersection of Hyderabad as an oriental fantasy, as a lucrative market, and embedded in the patronage system for arts. Patronage of art and culture was one of the important aspects of the patrimonial system of Hyderabad. The Hyderabadi noble was supposed to cultivate the virtues of gentleness (inkisari), simplicity (sadagi), selflessness (khulus), friendliness (marawwat), goodness (karam, neki), sympathy (hamdardi), and generosity (sakhawat, faiyaz). Generosity was not just about helping the needy but giving gifts and donations. These gifts helped the upkeep of the hierarchical structure of society. The nobility derived legitimacy of their distinction through these cultivated manners and ways of being. Patronage to art was closely related to the cultivation of this natural temperament (mizaj). The noble was to create a congenial atmosphere for the arts to flourish. Monetary support was only secondary to providing encouragement for art. The aim of patronage to art and science was to cultivate tradition for its own sake and not for producing any practical results. Patronage of art did not require any further justification; appreciation of it was a reason in itself. The nobles often derived their own raison d’etre in patronizing arts.

C. Yamini Krishna works on film history, urban history and Deccan history.

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