Everyone knows India gained independence at midnight, but few are aware that the first census in Hyderabad state in 1881 was also conducted at night. This was a single-night census where people were enumerated at the places they were sleeping, rather than in houses or households.
Why a Night Census?
Since the census was an all-night affair, the date of February 17 was selected during the fortnight of the waxing moon phase, a few days before the full moon. This allowed enumerators to use natural moonlight to carry out their duties, as there was no electricity supply. Night-time census operations remained the norm until 1931, while the 1941 census was held under the shadow of World War II. In fact, this practice was followed across British presidencies and princely states in British India.
Challenges in Wildlife Areas
In places infested with wildlife, such as big cats, the census was conducted during the day. The population of the erstwhile Hyderabad state (parts of which now form Telangana) increased by 600% over the last 145 years. During the same period, the population of Hyderabad city went up by 31 times, from 367,417 in 1881 to an estimated 1.16 crore now.
Glimpses from the 1901 Census Report
Though a detailed note was not prepared for the 1881 census for Hyderabad, the census report of 1901 provides vivid glimpses of the two earlier censuses (1881 and 1891). It includes details on how they were conducted, the expenditure involved, and literate persons volunteering to take up the task of enumerator without any payment in rural areas. The report also covers population religion-wise and language-wise, and the method of tabulation and verification for accuracy.
According to the Census of India, 1901 Volume XXII (Hyderabad) by Mirza Mehdy Khan, in charge of census operations, Hyderabad, Deccan, the census in the Nizam's dominions was conducted synchronously with that of the rest of British India and native states.
Dates and Moonlight
While February 17 was selected for the census in 1881 and February 26 in 1891, March 1 was chosen for 1901. The reasons given by the Census Commissioner for India in 1901 was that there was a full moon on March 5, 1901. The commissioner stated: "The last decennial census was taken on the night of Thursday, the 26th February 1891, and it is desirable to adopt for the coming census a date corresponding, as near as possible, to that date. There will be a full moon on the 5th March 1901. The census should be taken a few days before the full moon, because the light will then be available in the early part of the night and people will not ordinarily have left their homes to attend the lunar bathing festivals."
Ensuring People Were Home
The census commissioner ensured that people were present at home and not away attending some festival or jatras. The report mentions two such events on March 1: "This precaution notwithstanding, it was apprehended that the Oarasu (Urs) of Abdun Nabi Shah in the city of Hanamkondah (Hanmakonda) and the Jatras of Dharmapuri in Elgandal and Narottam-Pahad in Raichur, both of which fell on the night of the 1st March, would interfere with the arrangements made for the satisfactory final enumeration in the districts of Warangal, Elgandal and Raichur."
The report noted that the difficulties were successfully tided over by the officers of the districts concerned. "They devised effective measures and saw that the accuracy of the statistics was in no way vitiated. But their resourcefulness gave no promise of standing them in good stead in the case of Pakhal, a taluk in the district of Warangal. There the country is wild and, what is more, infested with wild beasts - a circumstance which, being fraught with danger to life, rendered the counting by night out of the question. A day census there, therefore, became a necessity, and the enumeration was consequently made on the morning of the 2nd March," it pointed out.
Urban Areas and Enumeration Process
The only areas declared as urban in 1901 were Chadarghaut (Chadarghat) and the Hyderabad city municipalities, as also the cities of Hanamkonda, Gulbarga, and Aurangabad. "The whole of the Dominions was divided into 746 charges; these again were sub-divided into 6,203 circles, which in turn were split up into 57,152 blocks. Each block, which was the unit of the census administration, had, on an average, 39.9 (about 40) houses and was placed under an enumerator."
As in the 2026-2027 census, the work of enumeration was done in two stages in 1881. Interestingly, only those present on the night of the census were enumerated. "No reckoning, it must be remembered, was made of such visitors as were not likely to be present on the night of the census; but entries were made of such of the absent members of families as were likely to be present in the house on the census night," the report stated. The total expenditure incurred for the census was Rs 1.97 lakh (British currency) as against Rs 3.13 lakh in 1891.
Population Density and Growth
The density of population in Hyderabad city in 1901 was 17,248 per square mile, with an average household having 4.4 members. The population of the city increased from 367,417 in 1881 to 415,039 in 1891 and to 448,466 in 1901. The city of Hyderabad, for census purposes, included the municipality of Chaderghat, Secunderabad and Bolarum cantonments, and the Residency Bazaars, according to the 1901 census report.
