Hyderabad, The Charminar in the old city of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.L. Werner/Superstockcity, capital of Andhra Pradesh state, south-central India. It is Andhra Pradesh’s largest and most populous city and is the major urban centre for all of south-central interior India.



Fort of Golconda near Hyderabad, India.Christophe Boisvieux/CorbisHyderabad was founded by the Quṭb Shāhi sultans of Golconda, under whom the kingdom of Golconda attained a position of importance second only to that of the Mughal Empire in the north. The old fortress town of Golconda had proved inadequate as the kingdom’s capital, and so about 1591 Muḥammad Qulī Quṭb Shāhi, the fifth of the Quṭb Shāhis, built a new city called Hyderabad on the east bank of the Musi River, a few miles from old Golconda. The Charminar, a grand architectural composition in Indo-Saracenic style with open arches and four minarets, is regarded as the supreme achievement of the Quṭb Shāhī period. It formed the centrepiece around which the city was planned. The Mecca Mosque, which was built later, can accommodate 10,000 people. The mosque was the site of a bombing attack in 2007 that killed several Muslims and injured many others. The incident aggravated Muslim-Hindu tensions in the city, which has experienced periodic outbreaks of violence over the years.

Hyderabad was known for its beauty and affluence, but this glory lasted only as long as the Quṭb Shāhīs, for the Mughals conquered Hyderabad in 1685. The Mughal occupation was accompanied by plunder and destruction and was followed by the intervention of European powers in Indian affairs. In 1724 Āṣaf Jāh Nizam al-Mulk, the Mughal viceroy in the Deccan, declared independence. This Deccan kingdom, with Hyderabad as its capital, came to be known as Hyderabad. The Āṣaf Jāhīs, during the 19th century, started to rebuild, expanding to the north of the old city across the Musi. Farther north, Secunderabad grew as a British cantonment, connected to Hyderabad by a bund (embankment) 1 mile (1.6 km) long on the Husain Sagar Lake. The bund now serves as a promenade and is the pride of the city. Many new structures, reflecting a beautiful blend of Hindu and Muslim styles, have been added along it.

Under the nizams the Hindu and Muslim populations lived in amity, although immediately after Indian independence in 1947 a fanatical Muslim faction, the Raẕākārs, fomented tensions in the state and in the city. The Indian government intervened, and eventually the state of Hyderabad was acceded to India. In 1956 the state was split up; its Telugu-speaking areas were combined with the erstwhile Andhra state to form the state of Andhra Pradesh with Hyderabad as the capital.

The contemporary city

Hyderabad has become a centre of trade and commerce. Cigarettes and textiles are manufactured, and service activities have been expanded. The city has good transport facilities. There are rail and air services to Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore (Bengaluru), as well as to historical sites including the Ajanta and Ellora caves, both of which were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1983. Taxis, auto-rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, private vehicles, and suburban bus and rail services provide local transport.

Initially, Hyderabad was the location of two colleges of the University of Madras. In 1918, however, the nizam established Osmania University, and it is now one of the best universities in India. The University of Hyderabad was established in 1974. An agricultural university and a number of advanced research and training institutes are also located there, as are several nongovernmental institutions, notably the American Studies Research Centre and the German Institute of Oriental Research.


The public gardens provide the main recreational facilities. Many parks and the large parade grounds in Secunderabad offer space for play and relaxation. The zoological gardens and the university’s botanical gardens are popular picnic spots. Hyderabad is reputed for its football (soccer) and cricket. There is also a racecourse.