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Hyderabad
Hyderabad [1] is the capital of Andhra Pradesh in Southern India, located on the banks of the Musi River and the Deccan Plateau. Hyderabad and Secunderabad are "twin cities" near Hussain Sagar Lake (also known as Tank Bund in local parlance) but both cities have grown so much that now they have become one big city. The city and district of Hyderabad are coterminous. Hyderabad district is entirely contained within the Rangareddi district of Andhra Pradesh. Many of the suburbs of the city are actually in Rangareddi.
A city rich with history and tradition, Hyderabad now competes with Bangalore, Chennai for the crown of India's IT capital; Microsoft, Google and Oracle have their India headquarters here.
Culture and History
If you are traveling to Hyderabad on business — as is increasingly the case now — it is easy to miss the 400-year-old Hyderabad. The city that immediately hits the eye is a sprawling metropolis of shopping malls and office buildings with glass facades. The whole of the city seems to be under construction or renovation and the roads are jammed because flyovers are being constructed.
The "old city" that was once the seat of the Nizam, the ruler of the largest and the most opulent "princely state", and the twin city of Secunderabad where the British maintained a cantonment to keep the army within striking distance of the Nizam can be seen only if you take the time out to see them.
Hyderabad's many epithets include the City of Pearls, the City of Nawabs, the Biryani City and, because of its high-tech draw, Cyberabad.
History
Hyderabad's history dates back to 1463, when Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk established the fortress of Golconda around 8 km to the west of the present day old city. He had quelled rebellion in the Telangana region and had was appointed the subedar, or administrator of the region as a result. By 1518, he had become independent from the Bahmani sultan and declared himself the Sultan, under the name of Quli Qutb Shah and established the Qutb Shahi dynasty. In 1589, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, a grandson of Quli Qutb Shah, took the decision to move his capital from the Golconda fort to the present day location of Hyderabad to alleviate water shortages at the old location. In 1591, he ordered the construction of the Charminar, reportedly in gratitude to Allah for cutting short a plague epidemic before it could do too much damage.
The name "Hyderabad" reportedly had its origins in an affair between Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah and a local Telugu courtesan named Bhagmati. He named the city Bhagyanagar after her, and after she converted to Islam and took on the name of "Hyder Mahal", he named the city Hyderabad to keep pace. Hyderabad was built on a grid plan with help from Iranian architects. French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier favorably compared Hyderabad to Orleans.
The Qutb Shahi dynasty lasted till 1687, when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb defeated the sultanate and took over Hyderabad. He appointed his governor over the region and granted him the title of Nizam-ul-Mulk. Mughal rule was shortlived, however, as in 1724, the Nizam Asaf Jah I gained independence from a declining Mughal empire. Legend has it that while on a hunting expedition, he met a holy man who offered him some kulchas and asked him to eat as much as he could. Asaf Jah ate only seven, and the holy man prophesied that his dynasty would last for seven generations. Sure enough, the seventh ruler in the dynasty was the last. In honour of the legend, the flag of the Nizams featured a kulcha.
Around 1763 Asif Jah II, defeated by the Marathas and threatened by Tipu Sultan of Mysore, entered into a subsidiary alliance with a British. Hyderabad ended up as the capital of the largest princely state in British India, the Hyderabad state. This state was the richest in the country and in the 1930s Time magazine rated the Nizam the richest man in the world. In 1947, with India's independence, the seventh Nizam was reluctant to cede his prinicipality to the newly independent India, prefering Pakistan instead. India sent in its troops and the 200 year old prophesy was fulfilled. Hyderabad became the capital of the newly formed state of Andhra Pradesh in 1956 and steadily grew in size.
The next major events in Hyderabad's history took place when Chandrababu Naidu became the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1995. Among his key policies was a major initiative to turn the city into an IT hub. He cleaned up the streets, laid out IT parks and did much to attract technology companies into the city. A major achievement for him was when Microsoft chose Hyderabad as its India headquarters over rival Bangalore. Today, as Bangalore chokes over its infrastructure, Hyderabad's well-laid out streets are proving to be a major attraction for software and IT-enabled companies. Hyderabad takes its brand as an IT destination very seriously. Cyberabad is not just a nickname. The technology enclave of Madhapur has actually been officially named Hi tec city, and Cyberabad too is commonly used in official documents.
Hyderabad is now renamed as Greater Hyderabad.
Orientation
The old city of Hyderabad lies on the south bank of the Musi river, which roughly flows from the West to East. Most of the historical attractions, including, the Charminar, considered the centre of old Hyderabad, lie on this bank. Secunderabad, which was once a separate city, lies some distance to the north of the old city. Between Secunderabad and the old city lies the new city of Hyderabad, the administrative capital of Andhra Pradesh, which was built on the north bank of the Musi river after independence. The dividing line between the two cities is the Sardar Patel road which also goes East-West. The most prominent landmark here is the Hussain Sagar lake and most administrative offices are located around it.
The newly developed "Hi-tec city" is 9 km to the west of the new city, in a place called Madhapur. This is where most technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) firms have their campuses.
Culture and attitudes
In many senses, Hyderabad is the meeting ground between North and South India. The city has a culture of its own, distinct from the rest of Andhra Pradesh, showing Islamic influences and also the courtly influence of being the capital of the Nizamate. This, however, is more true for the old city. The new city is, and looks like, just another provincial capital of a state of India. Secunderabad is more cosmopolitan, as the Cantonment area is located in this part of the city.
In recent years, due to the influx of young men and women from various parts of the country, Hyderabad's culture and attitudes have taken a turn towards "modernity", but keep in mind that this is still a deeply conservative place.
Climate
Hyderabad, like many other indian cities has a tropical climate. The best time to visit the city is from mid - November to mid - February.Temperatures are mild with abundant sunshine during this time. Average temperatures during this time range from a low of 15°C (59°F) to a high of 29°C (85°F). March to June is hot and dry with occasional thunderstorms. Highs can reach 40°C (104°F) or more and lack of air-conditioning can make it feel very uncomfortable. July, August, September and October can be quite warm and humid and monsoon rain spells can last for days at a stretch. The city is sometimes affected by low pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal during this season causing heavy rain for days.
Talk
English is widely spoken in this city especially with the younger crowds and the officials. Hyderabad is one of the places where Urdu developed, and the dialect of Urdu spoken here, primarily by the large Muslim population, is called Deccani Urdu of Dakhani Urdu (Urdu of the Deccan.) Because of the influence of Urdu, Hindi is widely spoken here. It will be in a dialect that will sound strange to a native Hindi speaker - but your Hindi phrasebook will still be useful. Telugu, the language of Andhra Pradesh, is widely spoken.
Travel to Hyderabad & Visa Requirements
Hyderabad is well connected to all parts of the country by air, rail and road.
Flights and airtickets to Hyderabad
Hyderabad's new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (IATA: HYD) [2] is located at Shamshabad, 40 km away from the old airport at Begumpet, which is now closed. The new airport is one of the best aviation facilities in India and a real relief compared to the chaos of Delhi and Mumbai airports. Getting to the airport now requires a bit of extra time. Till the express road to the airport is completed, you will need to allow at least 1:00 to 1:45 hours to get there before check in.
Domestic check in and security put together take around 10 minutes in total.
Direct international connectivity from Hyderabad is available for many countries. International carriers operating from Hyderabad are Air India, British Airways, Emirates, Gulf Air, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Srilankan Airlines and Thai Airways.
Domestic connectivity is excellent with Air India (erstwhile Indian Airline), Deccan, GoAir, IndiGo, Jet Airways, JetLite, Kingfisher, Paramount and SpiceJet operating from here.
Once you arrive at Hyderabad airport, one option is to take the air-conditioned buses run by the airport (Aero Express) to three designated points in the city (1) Begumpet (Paryatak Bhavan) (2) Secunderabad (Keyes High School) (3) Hi-Tec City (Opposite Shilparamam) at a fixed price of Rs 150 including taxes and two designated points in the city (4) Charminar (City College) (5) Mehdipatnam (Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital) at Rs 120 including taxes per seat (travel time varies between 45 to 100 minutes depending on time of day and traffic conditions). The buses have a frequency of a bus every 30 minutes between 03:30 am and 23:00 pm and every hour at midnight, 1:00 am, 2:00 am and 3:00 am. You can reach the designated points and then take auto or metered cabs from there.
Alternatively, you can hire metered air-conditioned radio cabs at Rs 15 per km like Dot Cabs (+91-40-2424-2424), Easy Cabs (+91-40-4343-4343), Meru Cabs (+91-40-4422-4422), Orange Radio Cabs (+91-40-4445-4647) and Select Cabs (+91-40-4415-1515). Easy and Meru are officially approved by the Airport and are available just after exiting out of the terminal building. For the rest, you need to call and book with advance time of 15 minutes to 1 hour. These cabs charge 25
Ask for advice at the Hyderabad travel forum
This page was last edited at 04:35, on 27 December 2008 by Jani Patokallio. Based on work by Phani Durbhakula and Srinivas Jhawar, Wikitravel user(s) Texugo, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.
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