The History of Horse Raching during in Nizams Hyderabad - Maula Ali to Malakpet Race course

History of the Malakpet Race Course

The Malakpet Race Course is one of the oldest surviving racecourses in India and is deeply connected with the history of the Nizams of Hyderabad.

Origins: Racing Begins at Moula Ali (1868)

Horse racing in Hyderabad began in 1868 during the reign of Mir Mahbub Ali Khan. The first race meetings were held at Moula Ali and were known as the "Deccan Races." Horse racing was a major aristocratic pastime in Hyderabad, reflecting the Nizam's strong interest in horses and cavalry traditions. (Wikipedia)

Shift to Malakpet (1886)

In 1886, the racecourse was shifted from Moula Ali to Malakpet. The move was made because the Sixth Nizam wanted the racecourse closer to his residence, Mahbub Mansion, which overlooked the track. This effectively made the racecourse part of the royal estate and daily life of the Nizam. (hydraces.com)

A unique fact often mentioned in racing circles is that the Malakpet racecourse was effectively the Nizam's private racecourse, located adjacent to his palace grounds. (hydraces.com)

The Nizam and Horse Culture

The Sixth Nizam was known to be an enthusiastic horseman. Most of his palaces maintained stables, and horse breeding, polo, cavalry sports and racing enjoyed strong patronage under the Hyderabad State. The famous Nizam's Gold Cup, still run today, traces its origins to this period. (inhorseracing.com)

The Grandstand and Deen Dayal Photographs

The famous photographer Lala Deen Dayal photographed the grandstand and racecourse in the late nineteenth century. These photographs provide some of the earliest visual records of sporting life in Hyderabad under the Nizams. (Wikipedia)

After Independence

Following Indian independence and the integration of Hyderabad State in 1948, racing went through a period of decline and reorganization. The modern Hyderabad Race Club was formed in 1961. Racing was revived and reorganized, and the club developed the facilities that exist today. The racecourse continued operating at Malakpet, preserving the historic location chosen by the Sixth Nizam nearly eighty years earlier. (Wikipedia)

Present-Day Significance

Today the racecourse occupies roughly 160–170 acres in the heart of Hyderabad and remains one of India's premier racing venues. Major races include:

• Nizam's Gold Cup

• President of India Gold Cup

• Deccan Derby

• Colts Championship Stakes

• Fillies Championship Stakes

The racecourse is one of the few large surviving open spaces in the old city area and remains a living reminder of Hyderabad's aristocratic sporting culture. (Wikipedia)

A Lesser-Known Historical Point

The very name Malakpet predates the racecourse. It derives from Malik Yakut (or Malik Yaqoub), a noble/retainer during the Qutb Shahi period who held lands in the area. The racecourse transformed what had been a peripheral suburb into one of the fashionable elite quarters of late nineteenth-century Hyderabad. (Google Arts & Culture)

To conclude

The Malakpet Race Course began as a royal sporting ground created by the Sixth Nizam in 1886 beside his Mahbub Mansion palace, evolved into one of India's most prestigious racing venues, and remains one of the most tangible surviving symbols of Hyderabad's equestrian and aristocratic heritage. (hydraces.com)

An interesting next chapter is the connection between the racecourse, Mahbub Mansion, the nearby polo grounds, the Hyderabad Lancers, and the cavalry culture of the Nizam's State Forces—all of which formed a single sporting-military landscape in late nineteenth-century Malakpet.

Chapter 2: The Sporting and Military Landscape of Malakpet

When the racecourse moved from Moula Ali to Malakpet in 1886, it was not merely a change of venue. It helped create an entire aristocratic sporting district on the eastern edge of Hyderabad. The racecourse, the royal palaces, cavalry lines, polo grounds and training areas together formed one interconnected landscape of power, leisure and military prestige. (Wikipedia)

The Nizam's Neighbourhood

The Sixth Nizam, Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, wanted the racecourse close to his residence. Malakpet therefore became a favored royal suburb. Nearby stood Mahbub Mansion, from where members of the royal household could watch races. Contemporary accounts note that royal ladies observed the races from screened viewing areas within the palace. (Wikipedia)

The area around the racecourse gradually filled with noble estates, gardens, stables and residences of officials connected with the Nizam's court.

Horses and the Hyderabad State

To understand Malakpet, one must remember that Hyderabad was not merely a princely state—it was a state whose military prestige rested heavily on horses.

The Hyderabad Contingent, the Paigah cavalry, the Arab horse traditions of the Deccan and later the Hyderabad Lancers all depended upon horse breeding, riding schools, training grounds and stables. Horse racing was therefore not an isolated sport. It was closely linked to a broader equestrian culture that valued horsemanship as a mark of nobility and military excellence.

Many leading racing patrons were also military officers, jagirdars or nobles who maintained private stables.

Polo and Cavalry Culture

The same aristocratic circles that attended races also played polo.

Polo was enormously popular among:

• The Nizam and princes

• Paigah nobles

• Senior military officers

• British officers stationed in Secunderabad

• The Hyderabad Lancers

Matches were played between Hyderabad teams, British regimental teams and visiting military units. The sport became a symbol of elite status and cavalry skill.

Although the most famous polo grounds were associated with the Secunderabad cantonment, the Malakpet–Chaderghat belt formed part of the wider horse-sporting world of Hyderabad, where racehorses, polo ponies and military mounts were all trained and maintained.

The Hyderabad Lancers Connection

The famed Hyderabad Lancers were among the most prestigious cavalry formations in princely India.

Many officers and sowars naturally participated in Hyderabad's horse culture. Racing, riding competitions, ceremonial parades and polo often involved overlapping social circles.

For Hyderabad's aristocracy, a good cavalry horse, a successful racehorse and a polo pony were all symbols of prestige.

This helps explain why areas associated with cavalry traditions—such as Fazlancer (often locally linked to "First Lancers"), Malakpet, Chaderghat and Secunderabad—became identified with horse culture.

A Social Centre of Hyderabad

By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, race days at Malakpet were among Hyderabad's major social events.

One could see:

• The Nizam and royal family

• Paigah nobles

• Jagirdars

• British officers

• Wealthy merchants

• Visiting dignitaries

The grandstands photographed by Lala Deen Dayal show that the racecourse was not simply a sporting venue but also a place where Hyderabad's elite gathered and displayed status. (Wikipedia)

The Decline of the Horse Age

The arrival of motor vehicles and mechanized warfare gradually reduced the military importance of horses after the First World War.

Yet racing survived because it had become embedded in Hyderabad's social life. While cavalry regiments faded, the racecourse remained. Today it is one of the last surviving physical reminders of the era when horses shaped Hyderabad's military, social and aristocratic identity. (Wikipedia)

A Forgotten Past

Standing at Malakpet today, it is difficult to imagine that a century ago the area was part of a vast equestrian world stretching from:

• the racecourse,

• royal stables,

• cavalry lines,

• polo grounds,

• aristocratic mansions,

• and the British cantonment of Secunderabad.

Together they formed one of the most important horse cultures in princely India—comparable in prestige to racing and polo centres at Calcutta, Bombay and Mysore. (In Horse Racing)