Hyderabad: From the Feudal City to a Hi-Tech Metropolis

Abstract

Steeped deeply in tradition, yet at the same time moving fast to catch up with the emergent e-age, Hyderabad is an ‘eclectic mix of history and culture, a chaotic concoction of the medieval, the modern, and an uncouth adoption of post-modern’ urban value. Strategically located in South Central India, it is a city where north and south India meet to present a truly Indian culture and civilisation in all its manifestations. In Andhra Pradesh, the region of Telugu-speaking people, Hyderabad is an Urdu-speaking city with Hindus and Muslims, being in equal number. Together they constitute 95 per cent of the population of the city. The Old City, New City and Secunderabad, and the upcoming IT and technology hub, Cyberabad, represent the separation as well as blend of three generations: the medieval, the modern, and the post modern. The city was founded by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, the ruling family of Golconda (11 km away), in 1591. The Shahs were earlier a feudatory of the Bahmani Sultanate, which was the first independent Islamic and Shiite Kingdom in South India. The Bahmanis ruled from Ahsanabad (Gulbarga in Karnataka) between 1347 and 1425. In 1425, the capital was shifted to Muhammadabad (Bidar in Karnataka). The sultanate reached its peak during the vizierate of Mahmud Gawan (1466-81). After ad 1500, it split into five sultanates (known as Deccan Sultanates): Ahmednagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. Golconda had declared independence in 1512.